At some point a shift happened

So yes, kids get older. Their interests change, they discover things that are new and things that they like. And I also know that a big change does happen when they get older...like teenagers. But really, since the start of school, both kids have really surprised me with their likes that have changed recently.

Trevor's change has been very nice from a homework perspective. I know some of it has to do with the ease of his reading now. Over the last part of the summer, he has really enjoyed rereading his Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and even started writing in his journal part of the do-it-yourself book. So I've tried to run to the library before we head out on a longer car ride in order to get new books for the kids to enjoy in the car. I want to try to distract the kids in other ways than the movie. So for Trevor, I thought he was more interested in the series books, but nah...he'd rather do a comic strip book like Garfield. And he'll reread the books many times, which is also a bonus for me. For his class, his homework is to read at least 20 minutes every day and record how much he reads in a journal which I have to initial. His teacher then gives out a prize at the end of the month for the kid that has read the most. I haven't even had to set a timer for the 20 minutes, it ends up being close to an hour before he realizes he has been reading for a while. Now we just have to make sure to have books that remain interesting to him. Thank goodness for libraries!

Then there is Gwen. She has always loved music, and has gotten some enjoyment out of some of the songs that Russ plays. A newer show on the disney channel is called "A.N.T. Farm" it is about a gifted program for kids that are 10-11 years old that go to high school. I'm guessing that it is targeted at 10-11 year olds, but Gwen LOVES the show. She made me put a picture of the show on her "about me" poster for preschool. I've been looking on other kids and yep, the shows on PBS kids, Nickelodeon, Disney Jr...and then Gwen with A.N.T. Farm. She loves the songs that the main character sings and the title song from the show. She asks to watch any show that is on the DVR or cable box we have from the series. I guess part of the issue might be from me because I've been having the radio on Radio Disney which plays a lot of the tweener songs on it, and she knows most of the words, but oh well. She still loves her baby dolls, princess dolls, and playing dress-up so she isn't 10 years old yet!

A new routine I am still not used to

Ah well, you think you are going to get more time, but nah...probably not. I do eventually think it will slow down, but honestly not until next year. I remember this feeling going from back-to-school straight into Gwen's birthday to Trevor's birthday to Christmas. I guess that's what happens when everyone's birthdays are so close together.

Anyway, we went through a few first days of school here! Trevor's was on the traditional day after Labor Day. Gwen actually had a school gathering, what they called open house for her preschool where we went and dropped off her school supplies. It was only supposed to run from 9 to 10 or you could come in the afternoon but do you think I could get her out of there? Even after I had let her go into the childcare the week prior. Nope, she was ready to spend the whole day there.

Thankfully, Trevor was SO excited to get back to school, and never mentioned one word about being sad that he wasn't going back to his old teacher's class. I think it helped that we met his new teacher and she made him feel very comfortable. The weather has been so nice that we have been walking to and from school a lot. Because his classroom is the farthest away from the front door I have also found an alternate entrance that the other bikers and walkers use for the time being.

His second day of school was a "rough day" as he put it. He has a hard time keeping his ears open if something is going on. For example he is watching tv, and I try to call to him, he wouldn't hear it. If he is reading a book, same thing. If he is playing his imagination games, nope...gone. So it didn't surprise me that he missed his class being called in from recess. By 15 minutes even. So he was told that if he did it again, he would get a pink slip (something that he is terrified to get). I guess his teacher also asked him repeatedly to focus on some classwork which he did not do. That got him another pink slip warning. So that day wasn't the best. But on Friday, he found out that for their weekly choice time, as long as they are able to go outside for recess (as in if the weather allows....no rain, or below zero temperatures/wind chills) they are able to use their Friday choice time as additional outside time. I can tell you at that moment, his school year turned around. He LOVES LOVES LOVES recess. His favorite subject in school is gym. I am pretty sure there is no way to tire him out until the clock turns 9:01pm. He is just full of energy. So that was a big score.

So immediately, I knew I had to figure out how to remedy the recess situation. Explaining to him to pay more attention would not do a bit of difference. I decided to get him a watch with an alarm on it, set to a minute before he was supposed to come inside. So far, so good. I'm not sure if we have the correct time set to come in or not. I may have to adjust it a few more minutes, but he knows to be listening or at least come closer to where they call for classes so he has yet to be late back to class since the watch.

And then Gwen has really been trying to adjust to her new schedule. She goes to preschool M, W, F from 9 to noon. It is a half hour longer per day and one extra day per week than last year. She has I think 4 more kids in her class than last year so it is a bit more to get used to. She has enjoyed seeing a lot of her friends come back and meet new ones as well. The strangest thing I think is that perhaps it is because she has a big schedule adjustment, or because she is having a growth/development spurt, but she is ALL out of sorts. She is sassing off to her friends and family (I am not certain about her preschool teachers...I hope not). And then today, she fell asleep in the car at 10:30 in the morning. Her sleeping has been out of whack. I guess I would call this period one of disorganization for her. So probably is some sort of growth thing. I hope she grows out of her choice of words soon. It worries me that she doesn't really have a whole lot of respect right now. Not to say I don't think I could remedy it by taking away her favorite things, but I just don't want it to have to come to that. Goodness....I never would have thought boys and girls would be THIS different!

And then there is my routine. I am so confused right now. I generally don't have any idea what day of the week it is because I'm thrown all off. I volunteered at school a few days this week and will continue to do so at least once a week, plus PTA responsibilities, plus wondering if I have too few or too many activities for the kids....blah...never ending. Only 20 more days until Gwen's birthday. Gotta get that started soon! Here comes the rush of days...weeks...months!

Finishing up summer vacation

As per usual, I am a little behind on the posting. Over the past few weeks we have been trying to get those last few things done before knowing that school is coming, as well as cooler weather, to not be as hot doing things as used to be. I have had the chance to go to a Twins game, take Trevor on a lunch date to one of our favorite restaurants, and go out to the Science Museum. We did also get a chance to meet Trevor's new teacher last week and make sure that we are all ready to go for the start of school.

Even without all the family activities, I have been also trying to get my stuff together for all the other non-kid tasks I have going on. But really, I want to make sure the kids use their last few days of summer vacation as having fun.

My dad, brothers and I all got to go to a Twins game, and it was always fun to spend a very nice night at an outdoor ball park. AND not have to worry about keeping an eye on someone. We were two rows in front of a person who caught a foul ball, and the game score wasn't very good for the home team, but it was a wonderful event with the family.

Last Wednesday, I was able to get Gwen excited to try out her childcare again before her preschool started up again. I used that time to get a few of my work things done, but also to take Trevor to Benihana for lunch. I have to say it is SO much less expensive for lunch than it is for dinner. We have to remember that for the next time we want to eat there as a family. Trevor was at first not wanting to go because he wanted the family to be there with us. Then he was worried about how much money I was going to have to spend. So he offered to pay for us. I explained that it was my treat, and that I wanted to spend some time with him, just him and me. When we arrived and were seated at a full table, he said he was much more excited. He was worried that it was going to be just him and me at the table. He said he was going to be embarrassed. I let him get an adult order of shrimp and along with most of the table, we ordered double the shrimp sauce. We mostly talked about whatever was on Trevor's mind which, at the time, was how he was sure that this meal was going to cure his cold. He seemed to feel it working and wanted to remember all the steps that he did during the day to drive the cold away. It was a very pleasant conversation and again, one where I didn't have to keep an eye out for the kid running around.

Last Monday, Gwen, Trevor and I went with my dad to the science museum to spend the day. It was meant to be just Trevor, as Gwen is a little young for the science museum, but we made do. We started off in the body section, and Gwen accidentally found the sneezing girl. It FREAKED her out. For those of you that don't know where it is, it is a mist-blowing mechanism that is meant to explain that if someone does not cover their mouth when they sneeze, the germs can travel up to 15 feet through the air. Last time we were there, Trevor loved it. I was surprised that he didn't race right over there and that Gwen found it first. But once he found it, if we were ever in the area, he tried to become the scientist of the area, explaining and demonstrating the activity to anyone around. But then he saw the lab area. It stated it was for ages 8-13 so when Trevor really wanted to get in, the people working the area said that if an adult went with him, he could still enter. So I went with and we did the cheek cell demonstration. It worked and he saw his cells. He also got a small magnifying glass to take with him which he really likes. Gwen tried to play along but was more interested in the things outside the lab.

We headed to the 1st floor which was called the big backyard. I had no idea they had a mini golf course there. My dad decided to be scorekeeper, so the kids and I had fun just playing around. It was a nice enough day so that we even got a splash or two in the water. We came back in to eat lunch and play in the dinosaur and weather area. Finished up with the news anchor jobs and headed back home.

That afternoon we headed up to the school to visit with Trevor's new teacher. Trevor was won over the minute he found out he had a "job". If you don't know, Trevor loves to be asked or find out he can be a helper in some way. I think he sees it as a teaching-type thing, so ever since he found out that he is going to be a lunchroom helper for the first week of class, he has been saying that is why he is looking forward to going back to school.

That brings us to Labor Day weekend. We were at the lake from Thursday night through Sunday night. It is always wonderful to see and play with family. It wasn't warm enough for us to go on a boat ride, although Gwen did get her swimming in on Friday morning before a cool front came in. Trevor also decided he was going to start writing in a diary/journal. He has been reading and rereading his "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books. He has 3 reading books and one activity book and the activity book was where he started his journal. In two days he wrote and illustrated 32 pages in his book. When he finds something he likes, he really goes all out. I don't know that we are going to be able to make it to his birthday without first getting him a new journal. Although with school starting up, I'm not sure how much time he will have.

I am happy to say that I had a glass of wine to celebrate making it through the summer. I hope all you moms did too!

A few more summer activities

As the summer comes to a close, I have been getting ever more steadily busy. School's starting to request forms, supplies, volunteers for activities, then always my own lists of things to do before the kids start back at school. Luckily some of those things involve not doing what kids would consider boring. Over the past two weeks, we were able to go fishing while boating in Lake Minnetonka, and I took the kids to our nearby outdoor mini golf course.

While the kids do boat in Wisconsin, Russ hasn't been able to make it out this summer due to our busy schedule. He is the fisherperson in our family so when his dad invited us on his boat, we knew we were going to be able to get fishing. Now, let me backtrack for a little bit. Trevor has been enjoying a PBS kids show called "Wild Kratts" which is mostly about a two brothers that turn cartoon and are able to experience what it is like to be animals living in the wild. One such show was about small and large mouth bass. Before and after the cartoon part of the show, they will talk about an animal and explain how even kids can make a difference. So when they talked about the bass, they talked about how when fishing, they never use live bait. And whenever they catch a fish, it is on a catch and release mentality.

So while we were driving out to the lake, Russ stopped at a bait shop. Trevor went in with Russ and came out talking about how even though Russ bought a bag full of live minnows, as well as small canister of worms, he was going to use the fake bait. I think that while we were continuing to drive to the lake, Trevor was talking about how the minnows needed to be free. Which is why Russ made it clear to him that although he didn't have to use the live minnows, he was not to let them go free. Well, it seems Trevor had other ideas. As soon as we were at the boat dock, Trevor, Russ, and Gwen were on the boat and Russ had to come back to lock the van. As I was walking up to the boat, Trevor had a slight smirk on his face, and Russ was very unhappy. Can you guess what happened? Yep, Trevor had opened the minnow bag, and dumped them over the side of the boat while Russ had been walking the keys back to the car. And nope, he didn't have any remorse. He was so happy to say they were free. I couldn't help but chuckle, while my back was to Trevor of course. While there were still worms to use, Trevor refused and just used the fake bait. He caught 5 or so fish off of the docks, then another 3 or 4 off of the boat, all using fake bait. Russ tried to use the worms, but then switched to the fake bait. I'm not sure what was on Gwen's line, but I also know that she put the line in the water caught and reeled in her own fish off of a dock that same day. We were all very successful. And by all, I mean those fishing. I am not exactly up for that type of excitement.

The other day, I found a morning where the kids and I could run out to the nearby mini golf course. It was a beautiful morning, and no one was there right when it opened. So we could take our time and not feel rushed. It is amazing how not feeling stressed, pressured, rushed or anything can make for a wonderful time. Trevor enjoyed keeping score and he and I actually tied exactly. So while he didn't win, I think he was ok that we tied as well. Of course at the end, both kids were amazed at how the last hole collected the balls. So after our round of golf I took the kids to our neighborhood ice cream shop called Scoops. Trevor had been to the ice cream place when he was at the parks program. This year, he missed the one trip they made. Strange thing though - he actually had a choice between blue moon and superman and he chose superman. I had a yummy pineapple coconut flavor and Gwen had her chocolate shake.

So we have one week left to the start of school. We have a few more things to do before school starts and then we'll see what our schedule changes to be. I have hopes of having more free time but something tells me I might be wrong in that thought.

Gwen's luck

I guess it really isn't luck. She may simply be going through a growth spurt or something when she becomes a bit more uncoordinated and falls down a lot. She is the girl that has fallen down the starts, fallen off of a high swinging swing, fallen off of a playground flat onto her stomach, and then gotten the cuts and bruises from skinned knees and ankles and such. So this past week with it being a bit more stressful than normal, yep she was at her finest. Thankfully nothing ever is a huge deal, but I always feel so bad for her. On Friday before the wedding, she was outside without any shoes on. I asked her twice to put her shoes on because with the hot asphalt and cement I knew it would be trouble with her. Well, she forgot to step up onto a landing and skinned her ankles pretty good. Right where her crocs hit her ankles and she would hate to have a bandaid on her feet. She was already needing a rest time, so this just compounded the fact.

The wedding went off for her without any crashes or scrapes thankfully although she was tired throughout the day, which I expected. She also went to my parents house that night and came back the next day without any incidents. Sunday night, she woke up once complaining that her ear hurt. I gave her some tylenol and she went down for the rest of the night. I asked her about it again in the morning and she said she was fine. She hadn't had a cold or runny nose so I didn't think it was an ear infection. She has had a few of those. So then the next day, she didn't sleep for longer than 30 minutes before she was complaining about her ear again. So I explained to her that the doctor was just going to check her ear and no shots (because that is what she is afraid of now) and possibly get some medicine. Again, no pain in the morning, eating fine, no runny nose so I was pretty confused. We saw the doctor and I explained the situation to him. He looked in her ear and explained that he thought it was swimmers ear but that she had a big buildup of wax that they needed to remove, otherwise the medication would not work.

In order to remove the wax, they had to flush it out with water. Because she had swimmers ear, it was extremely painful for her. So yeah, she was screaming, I couldn't even watch, just tried to console her as best I could. They flushed a syringe full at least 6-8 times and when the doctor looked again, it hadn't done much. So he had to remove it with a tweezers. That also was painful but at least it was quicker. Then they had to put a small sponge in her ear to keep the medicine close to the eardrum. The poor girl was so scared but understood that we were trying to make her better so she was apologizing and thanking the doctor for everything that was going on. He said she was melting his heart and now that everything is all over, they decided to give her a prize out of their prize box. So I took her home after that and she fell asleep in the car.

We've since had the sponge removed and need to keep doing the medicine drops for the rest of the week but pain seems to be much much better. The nearest we all can figure out happened is all the swimming she loves to do in the lake when we were there two weeks ago. She hasn't swam in a pool since then, only her usual dunks in the bathtub. So we are just hanging out until we get the all-clear. Hopefully she gets through her terrible spills and becomes a graceful girl.

A big wedding

So our entire family was in a wedding this past weekend. The summer has been focused on events leading up to the big day and we took part in as many as possible. I'm pretty sure my mom friends thought I was being my neurotic self trying to make sure the weekend went as smooth as possible. I guess I sort of forgot to include my husband in some of the planning that went on. Sorry honey!

I believe I will have some pictures to add to some of the notes in this blog, but for now I will simply run through what I remember and how we took part.

First off, the kids had vacation bible school at their church for the week. I had told everyone that was involved that we would not be able to attend on the last day, or the singing in church the following Sunday due to the wedding. We were all very excited and although Gwen didn't really understand, she enjoyed counting down the days and me having her and Trevor practice their "walking down the aisle" together.

So on Thursday, I was making my lists...things to bring out to the rehearsal, things to bring the day of the wedding, things to bring for the overnight at my parents house....it was a lot to remember! I'm glad I like lists! Russ got in on Thursday night without a hitch, thank goodness. The boys were off right away on Friday morning to go golfing. The girls got to sleep in a little bit to go meet for lunch, followed by getting their nails done. Gwen has been sleeping past 8am and I knew that she also doesn't like to eat breakfast right away in the morning. So for both days, I packed some fruit in a cooler with her water, some cheese-its, and cheese sticks for in case she was hungry at various times. Yep....we tried to feed her "lunch" of her usual chicken and fries but she wasn't hungry. Or only hungry enough to be hungry again in the car ride on the way to get our nails done. When we went into the nail salon she quickly found the kid pedicure seat and played around in it. She is ok if you want to paint her nails, but cutting them or picking at them freaks her out. She came over and sat with Kyrsten and I while our pedicures were being done, and she made sure to tell me that she didn't want them picking at her toes like they were doing to mine.

So when it was her turn, I asked them to do a modified manicure and pedicure. Gwen did have to stop the woman from using the clippers (I think there was a small language barrier) but she got the pink and even got a little design on both her two fingers and two toes. All us ladies got a pedicure and manicure for the wedding. I was happy that Gwen was pacified until we were done. Either watching us or getting her nails done.

We then had to run back to the mall to pick up a few missing pieces of Trevor's tux. While I know Russ could have picked them up Saturday morning, I didn't want to add to his to-do list because we were getting up early on Saturday and they got to sleep in. Gwen was still pumped up to get onto the next thing, so she stayed awake through both car rides to Kyrsten's house. We headed over to the church for the rehearsal shortly. We had a pretty clean practice where Gwen and Trevor did their practicing with their practice pieces....fabric petals and no rings on the pillow.

Then we headed off to the rehearsal dinner. So, this happened to be at the same place the guys played golf at, and Trevor was at the point where if he thinks he knows where he is, he should have complete run of the place. That, or he simply is going through a phase. He didn't have any interest in eating, or hanging around the inside. He wanted to be outside with some boys, putting or whatever else they could do not around parents. Yikes. Gwen found a few girls her age and loved to show her dolls around and play with them. I could not believe how well Gwen handled herself. Even in comparison to Trevor.....NOT that a parent should compare kids, because every kid is different and unique :-) But COME ON!!! Anyway...I digress. The food was wonderful, the conversation was great, the toasts were awesome! I knew I had to bring the kids home early because the next day was going to be full. I was proud that I kept both kids awake all the way home because I knew Gwen needed a shower before she went to bed. As I gave Gwen a shower, Trevor fell asleep on his bed.

That leads me to the day of the wedding. I didn't even get to talk to Russ much because he stayed behind to chat with the relatives, and there were things I needed to explain and write out for him to do. Namely, because the kids were going home with my parents the night of the wedding, he needed to grab Trevor's pillow (sleeping, not ring bearing). So I explained how the morning was going to go, and wrote down a to-do list for when they woke up. I was up before 7 and I had to wake Gwen up around 7. She wasn't too happy with me, but warmed up to the idea that this was the big day for her! I again packed a cooler full of snacks and water for her, and headed out. We met Kyrsten and Libby at the hotel so that I could leave a car there for Sunday morning. We then were driven to the hair and makeup salon to get our hair done. Again, Gwen was pacified by watching all that was going on and sat still for 95% of her hair getting done as well. I helped a little because I waited to get my make-up done for most of the time her hair was getting done. She also had a bit of play dough from her gift bag from the night before. After hair and make-up was done, we had a little breakfast and headed over to the church to get ready.

We hung around the church, took some pictures, eventually met up with the guys because they had some more food, and waited for the ceremony to start. Pictures were a little tough on Gwen as I think by 12:30 she was already starting to fade. I know they got a handful of pictures but after the first set, she really needed prodding to even step into the pictures.

The ceremony was at 2:00 and the kids did great. Gwen had a little difficulty with the aisle runner, but she didn't show it on her face. Trevor tried his best to look all serious with his "job" of having the real rings and presenting them to the priest.

We all got to blow bubbles to present the couple into their horse and carriage ride. Then there were more pictures. The wedding party got to ride in the limo to more pictures. Gwen and Trevor too. After these pictures, I sent the kids with grandma to hopefully have Gwen take a nap in the car. From what I understand, she did take a nap. Unfortunately, she woke up disoriented and having to go to the bathroom. After some quick thinking by Lee, she got all situated and was ready for the rest of the evening. As soon as dinner was served Trevor was off like a bolt of lightning with some of the family he knew but were helping him get out of his rules that we had set for him. Trevor being Trevor.... We told him that unless he asked either his dad or I to go out, he could not. So he said he asked Grandpa. He was telling everyone that he was going to breakdance, and that he was a really good dancer. Didn't last more than 5 minutes on the dance floor before wanting to go outside again.

It was a lot of fun for everyone involved. The happy couple is now off on their honeymoon and we are the lucky family that gets to watch their kitten while they are gone. If anyone has gotten this far in their reading, I also wanted to thank Derek and Kyrsten for making us a part of their special day and their special events. I know Trevor will remember it for many years, and Gwen has found some new favorites....favorite hairstyle, favorite nail activities....favorite flowers....it was a wonderful time for us all. Thank you!