Amie Graduated Preschool May 7, 08

It was so fun! Never more than 6 kids in the class that was 2 days a week. Amie learned so much. There was never a day that she didn't look forward to preschool. But, all school years end and last Wed the 7th was her official last day of preschool.

Since the last week of preschool was taught at my house the "ceremony" fell to me. It was more like, I felt we had to do something so we threw it together with 1 days practice. I had the girls make their own books with a thank you to the moms on the front. Inside were some of the things they learned this year. It was a lot of work for 1 day! The poor girls just wanted to play... but we rushed that and then did a practice ceremony with the Pledge of allegiance and a few songs that showed their alphabet and numbers knowledge. Then they presented their moms with the books (Amie and I pretended I was surprised to get hers). Then we headed to the park for the party. A big thanks to Abby's mom for the pink cupcakes. :)

the coolest part - Caidgen and Blue both got to be there! Blue just switched to 10 hour shifts and he has Wednesdays off so he got to see his little girl perform. And there was a HUGE incinerating car accident right in front of caidgen's school the night before and his school was closed wed. What are the chances? It was the only school closure all year and it happened to be on Blue's day home. It was like a Saturday for us!

So I took Caidgen to the park with us. This is him running beside the car ---he insisted on running! I think it's so funny!

Mother's Day

***This is my journal entry, so if you're not interested in the whole thing, no worries!

May 11, 2008
Being married to Blue means I can always expect a great mother’s day. It makes me a little uncomfortable even, all the attention. But I woke up to an empty bed and the smell of some major cooking so I knew it was coming. Just as I started to descend the stairs I heard Blue tell the kids, “It’s all ready now. Caidgen, you take that. Amie, you get that. Caidgen, it’s your job to make sure the dog stays downstairs. Okay, come on…” I tippy toed back into bed to fake a surprise. Come on! I’m terrible with these situations! There is nothing of fakeness in me. But I tried for the kid’s sake to act surprised when they open the door squealing, “Happy Mother’s Day!”
Blue did surprise me this time, actually. A real bed tray. New dishes holding the spread of a wonderful breakfast. Even his egg concoction was new. I love that there is always a New Orleans flare to his cooking. I loved the OJ – a simple and predictable breakfast juice, but for people with low blood sugar it’s like nectar from the gods. I loved the moist muffin and the fresh berry mix. I loved that the rose was huge and had babies breath with it ( I meant to put some in Amie’s hair for church but forgot). What I love the most is how happy the kids are to give gifts. They are typical children who would get a new toy every day if I let them, but I catch moments of their generosity and feel in those times that we are raising them right.
For example, Amie thought I didn’t get any real gifts because in my gorgeous bag were 3 small gift certificates. THREE? A little much, Blue, don’t you think? I got a spa pedi, a facial and a pregnancy massage – all within minutes of my house. And as if that was just not enough he assured me he would give me tip money and meet me for lunch on that day. It really embarrasses me. But after 7 years I am getting that he dreams even bigger than he can give and it’s just not going to change. That’s off the subject though… So I was thrilled with everything but Amie was a little worried. Never mind that she was there when all the certificates were purchased and Blue explained what they were for. She HAD to go get me a cute pillow. “Here, Mommy, since you didn’t get any presents in your bag.” She tucked it behind my head. Then she HAD to get me a teddy bear and a two-textured blanket. After snuggling up with me she explained how the satin side is for me to rub when I’m hot (she’s hot blooded like her dad, just trying to survive in this desert).
All this hoopla got Caidgen a little worried and before too long I had another bear wrapped in a special blanket (Caidgen PINNED his bear to the blanket so it would stay wrapped nicely for me). I love seeing the uniqueness of the kids come through in their giving. Isn’t that perfect? The Lord wants us all to give and serve others but he makes us unique and we should give/serve in ways that are natural to us.
So today was nice. Blue covered the house stuff – well, he tried, but it’s hard when you’re not home! We had church and then went straight to his Mom’s for dinner. He felt bad that I couldn’t “lounge around all day,” but I was happy to see Cathy and hopefully express our love to her. And I was happily surprised to see Laura’s family too. Tylie was precious and happy all night. Butch even made me smile by cooking for us. This was a rare moment for him and everyone gushed about it. Grandma hakes even stayed a while with us and I was grateful that with her huge family she made time for us. Excellent food and company.
I want to remember too, how much I enjoyed teaching my lesson. I veered from the manual and did the whole thing on mothers. That’s one thing I bring with me from my Protestant days. Holidays were really recognized at church and I haven’t really experienced that here. So while the kids may have been just heartbroken not to learn about “I’m Thankful for My Hands,” they heard all about how the Lord loves Mothers and loves them by giving them mothers. I really felt the Spirit. Caidgen helped me plan the crafts and I could tell he really wanted to come. Since there were a lot of markers and glue and paint and stamping I thought he could be a great little helper to Tracy and I… so in he came. I hope Tracy wasn’t overwhelmed with the mess potential! We kept it really calm and I even had foamy soap ready to go.
I’m so proud of Blue for taking his teaching job seriously. He has a real problem boy and 12 other rambunctious 11 and 12 year olds to connect with. All I have heard about the “problem child” is basically gossip…scary gossip. After his 1st time with him, Blue came home and said, “I think I know how to reach him.” I knew right then that it was going to be a good year for both Blue and this kid. That’s what makes a good teacher – watching the unique quirks of a child and learning how to connect. I was so proud of Blue because in my eyes it’s a mark of compassion and strength to help and not just complain about hard personalities.
It’s been a month since that day. Today the boy told Blue, “You’re the best teacher I’ve ever had.” He also left his comic books at home today – Blue and I and I’m sure the boy too all know that this is a big step forward. It makes me smile to remember and write about it.

Look what the Chinese Invented!

Last Friday was multicultural day at cage's school. His teacher and I picked China as the country to host... I wanted to do a table since I'm the class mom and Mrs. D was really stressing out about it. Of course I didn't plan for my whole family to have a week of the stomach flu and me to get the nausea of it ON Friday, and of course I also overlooked that my mother was getting married the NEXT day! Blue helped me throw toilet paper (that's right - they invented it), a wheelbarrow, a rocket (Cage was so proud to show his buddies his rocket), matches, compasses, a kite and other silly inventions in a bag and I dragged myself to his class before school started. I'm proud to say our little kindergarten room kicked butt on all the others! We have great moms. The kids all got passports and had to go room to room and do an activity in each room in order to get a stamp. Amie was so bummed I couldn't lead a group...but I was seriously needing a bed. My only regret is that a boy was mean to Ami and I didn't kick his little &$$...you can see her sitting with the kids. Well, she loves to be big in Cage's class and we are there so much that the teacher lets her. She found a spot at the front of the group and a boy yelled at her rudely (as kindys do), "YOU can't sit there!" I quickly helped her to another spot rather than reprimand the boy since she's not in his class....But in all the bustle I didn't notice that Ami stopped bustling. She didn't speak until we left. She was so hurt. I overlooked it since she is not one to usually care what people say. But now I wish I had told him to speak kindly and had him say it over in a nicer way. That or pushed him down and called him names! I told Ami that and she was all better. :)

"I'm not smart at school..."

Albert Einstein - couldn't speak until he was 4, couldn't read until he was 7, and was advised to drop out of grade school

Winston Churchill - failed the 6th grade

Lucille Ball - was dismissed from drama school for being quiet and shy

Henry Ford - barely squeaked through high school

Isaac Newton - did poorly in math

Ludwig van Beethoven - was once told by his music teacher, "as a composer, he is hopeless."

AFTER Field Day

So my Friend Barbara and I took the kids to the Olive Mill after Field Day for lunch. I feel so lucky to have this amazing Italian Restaurant so close. There are beautiful fields and stone tables with umbrellas to eat under. We can sit and enjoy the breeze while the kids run and play in Olive trees. It beats McDonalds any day. A definite benefit of living in QC.

But this was the first day there was irrigation in the fields. Barbara and I both agree that it's okay for our kids to get their feet wet...what we didn't know was that under this huge tree they were playing under was at least an 8 foot circumference of deep muddy water...

Caidgen - the boy of the group of course found the mud and began to throw it at the kids. I looked up from my pasta salad to glimpse little Ami's white shirt suddenly brown spotted...I sprang into action but it was far too late. In the end all we could do was laugh and hunt in vain for Amie's flip flop that was drowned in the mud. We snuck our kids out through a back way so none of the hoity toitys would see them. Blue says he did such things a lot growing up. I'm glad I can give that to the kids even though we don't live on a lot of land!

Field Day April 25

Field Day at Caid's school! Blue loves to run with Caidgen so he was really bummed that he couldn't go. He told Caidgen this so Caidgen insisted that I video tape it so he could show his dad. "Dad really wants to see me, Mom. You better bring the camera." It was all serious business with him. He did a lot more than run though - chicken tosses and cherry pickers and relay races... all kinds of stuff. It was really fun. And at the assembly at the end of the day, Caidgen ended up with a 2nd place ribbon. :) It means a lot. Point of example - today he was back at school after a week of stomach flu. I picked him up and he said, "I'm sure glad I got 2nd place. That's really good."
"What do you mean, Caidgen?"
"Well, I was really tired today and I remembered that I had to run really hard to get second place so I didn't slow down today."
wow. That was more than I ever expected him to take from the little Field Day ribbon.