Kinder Orientation

Eddie started Kindergarden orientation this week (it lasts 2 weeks) and we did too. Everyone has always said you have to be an advocate for your child in the public school system, but we are learning first hand how many moving parts there are for a school aged kid (and this is just orientation). I can only imagine familes who do not have preschool experience.


These pictures are from today, Wednesday, 2 days after the start of kprep, when they were able to finally get him on a bus route. We're in a gray area where we could walk him to school as it's just over a mile, but they provide a bus and the neighborhood kids all like to ride the bus...they sent a letter the end of July saying bus routes were being finalized. I called last week because we hadn't heard anything about what time to be at the bus stop. Come to find out there was a mailing earlier in July that we never received that you had to opt in for transportation. The school said I was out of luck, so I called the transportation division of the school system and they said it would be no problem to work Eddie into the route, but that it would be Wednesday before he could ride the bus. The school had to offically request it though. Needless to say, the secretary and I have not started out on a good foot.


I figure I'm not in as bad of shape with the staff as my neighbor who is in the same boat with regard to not getting the bus transport form, but who got so frustrated with the school that she put her husband on the phone, and he escalated it to the principal.



There are 6 classes with what appears to be just under 18 kids/class. This is about what it will be like during the school year, with closer to 20 kids (the orientation is optional). His buddy down the street, Jake is in a different class, so it's been interesting to see on the first day Jake was sent home with a folder containing a welcome letter and a form to fill out. Eddie had nothing, except that they put an 's' on the end of his name, so it read 'Edwards'. The teacher said she'd correct it for the next day.


Tuesday came and she now spelled his name 'Eddy'. Eddie pointed out to her that this was not the correct spelling and she said she'd fix it. He came home yesterday with a worksheet he'd done where he was to cut out 3 squares, paste them in the windows of the bus and color the bus. He also had a popsicle stick with "Eddy" spelled on it that he said he was supposed to give the teacher to fix. My favorite though was the brochure from the school about how we could get him on the meal plan so he could buy food. It referenced an enclosed form which was of course not enclosed. They are serving breakfast and lunch during this program. Based on the menu, I'm not sure I want him buying the school food:
Monday's breakfast: trix, animal crackers, fruit juice and chocolate milk (apparently animal crackers count as a 'bread'). Today's breakfast is a breakfast bun plus, I can only imagine what that is going to be like. The lunches at least seem a little bit better. Jake came home on Tuesday with a letter inviting his mom to a mom sponsored meet n greet on Friday afternoon. Our folder didn't have that, so we'll see if it was only for Jake's class...


On Monday and Tuesday we walked Jake and Eddie to school. The first day took 30 minutes just to get them dropped off and settled in. We and the boys were fine, but we had to wait in line for 15 mintues for them to place a nametag on the kids, tell us what room to take him to and introduce him to the teacher. To be fair they also had to sort out all the kids getting off the buses, but wow. Plus, there was no security whatsoever. Considering the school is locked down like Fort Knox the rest of the school year, I found this interesting.


The bus was running late this morning, so we waited 20 minutes for it to come. There seems to have been a rash of kindergarden kids getting put on the wrong buses and then getting dropped off at the wrong place over the last year even though policies are supposed to be in place to prevent this. So, I made a low-key big fuss to Eddie that he needed to make sure he got on the bus #1 (displayed in several places) with this same driver, that he made sure his friend Jake was also on the bus. He is supposed to arrive home at 1:37. I will remain calm until about 1:45. My neighbor and I are hopeful we get the correct children back this afternoon because as Eddie got on the bus this morning and he got a 'bus #1' sticker, the driver cheerfully asked, 'Jake [last name]'. I corrected him and told him Jake was at the next stop. Come to find out at Jake's stop, the driver thought Jake was Eddie, so we'll see how this works out.



The two days we were 'walkers', Eddie kept saying he wanted me to drive him. He wondered if I would be able to get on the bus with him and ride to school with him. This morning he asked how long he would have to get to his seat before the bus started moving and I told him that it would wait until he was in his seat. He was definitely a little nervous (who could blame him), but there were no tears (from him), and he hopped right on the bus without hesitation. I still to this day remember getting on the bus for my first day of kindergarden and the bus driver, Mr. Jackson, commenting on me being so little, he wondered how I would climb the step to get on the bus. It was definitely a big first step, but it got easier each day.

I blacked out the name on the bus and the school name in the last picture, that is not grafitti on the bus.

The last couple weeks...

I've grown tired of looking at the picture of zuchinni every time I bring up my blog and bet you are too.  When we finally settled in at home mid July, the weeds in our garden had taken over the plants we wanted produce from.  Don't know if you can tell, but outside the wooden border are all weeds!  Some produce has managed to survive and we'll still have a healthy crop of tomatos, but yikes!


Because of Eddie's rash, we had to cancel our original quickie trip to Ohio and instead go the following weekend.  Den and I were just so beat from travel that wasn't relaxing and the stress of a child who is not feeling well that we just wanted to sit and do nothing...except visit Swenson's of course.  Eddie is so proud to be helping to carry the leaf for the kitchen table.  We were in Ohio just over 24 hours and in that time must have experienced 3 intense t-storms.  The last one, which ultimately nailed our hometown, was so intense, it was like a blizzard--you literately couldn't see out the window the rain was coming so hard.  Somehow the kids slept through each one!  I am happy to report that Eddie is feeling much better and we have learned that he has some seriously sensitive skin that needs pampering. 

Back from Ohio and Den and I were off for our first ever full weekend away from both kids.  To state the record correctly, I had been away from Eddie one time at 17 months and then Den and I had an overnight or two before our 'big' 4/5 night trip to Puerto Rico the January before Josie was born.  Since she was born, we had been away 2 or 3 times for 1 night, or about 12 hours away and I went away once for 2 nights of scrapbooking.  So it was with great excitment that we looked forward to 2 whole mornings to sleep in as we attended the wedding of a friend.  Cookie stayed with the kids and they literately never once asked when we were coming home.  I'm used to them not wanting to talk with Den when he calls from out of town, so I wasn't bothered that they didn't want to talk to us, only amused that Cookie was so surprised at how well they did.  We were pressed for time in Philly between the weekend's schedule, but were so excited all the same to be kid free and get back to the hotel at 11 each night.  On the way home we made plans to bring the kids back...
I had been unable to decide which dress to wear and so brought shoes for each of the dresses, plus bought a new pair while we were there.  Den and I were amused with how much we managed to pack for what should have been a light packing trip.  He had 3 pair of shoes, which is highly unusual for him. I was torn between wanting to wear cute shoes and wanting to wear comfortable, 'I can walk a mile' shoes.  I hate packing so it is with dread that I prepare us to travel soon to a family reunion in Wisc.  It will be nice while we are there, but everything in between--ugh.  Not sure that even the kids will sit through 14-16 hours of videos after so many road trips this summer.  And there aren't enough stickers made to last that long.  I have got to come up with some other things to occupy their time in the car...any and all ideas welcome.  We usually pack a ton of books, and allow them to pick a couple things each they'd like to bring. 

Tuesday Tidbits

1. While in Wisc. I got to read a magazine--almost 1/2 way through.  In it was a receipe for this zuchinni dish.  G'ma Wisc. was kind enough to tear it out so we could try it at home.  I'm happy to report we loved it.  We told the kids it was a dug out canoe and the mixture was people and animals.  Josie gobbled all but the boat, and Eddie took bites that didn't add up to much.  They both enjoyed the 'river' of rice.  Den and I loved it and it seemed pretty easy to make.

2. Quick, name this fruit.  I will give you a hint--we thought it was watermelon until we cut it open.  We plant watermelon each year and usually only get a couple because I never think they are ready because they are the personal size, so picked this just to check.  Boy were we surprised when we sliced through...

3. J had quite the hair today--so good Den took a picture.  She was apparently proud of its energy.

4. Eddie was supposed to take a basketball camp from 9-3 each day this week.  I then signed J up for a camp running 8:30-noon.  Perfect, I'd have the mornings free and see what it would be like in the fall when Ed is at Kinder and J at preschool.  I had all sorts of misgivings about sending a 3 year old off to a camp without her brother that wasn't even at the preschool she'd attend in the fall, but had decided to soldier on.  Then Eddie got sick.  J has LOVED the camp.  When I picked her up the first day she asked if she could go again.  Problem is she has been a terror the rest of the day because she is so tired. 

5. Finally got the chance to check out the veggie garden (as evidenced by the above photo).  I will have to post it later, but the weeds had completely taken over.  Climbed up over the top of the tomato cages, obscured the green peppers and established themselves almost better than the veggies.  I spent 45 minutes this morning getting one 12 foot row weeded and another 45 minutes getting a second row.  Just 3 more rows to go.  This always happens when we go away for a longer trip in the summer, but because we didn't get mulch down this year, woowee.  I need to research better weed blocking options.

Am I the Only One...

I've recently had others comment that our kids seem to be sick a lot.  They definitely do seem to be sick more than most kids I know.  I've also been sick more times since having kids than I feel I was an an adult all together. Just since May, J's massive and long lasting fever, Ed's stomach bug, which he shared with me and now this. Is it me, or do I just share when my kids are sick more than others?  As I mentioned in a previous post, Eddie is sick with a really bad itchy rash.  I'd say it is an 11 out of a scale of 1-10 on itchiness.  I will spare the details except to say that Ed and his parents have not had a decent night's sleep in about a week and that he asked last night if he was going to itch until he was 6 years old. 

Remarkably, he has been in great spirits, no other symptoms, nada.  Just a rash that itches so badly it will make you want to take your skin off.

We were put on 3 perscription meds on Monday, including a topical, and an anti-biotic as well as several over the counter options, this was to cover the bases of whatever could be causing the problem.  That seemed to have helped the rash a little, the swelling a lot, but not the itch.  Today we were put on prednizone and given some new topicals and told to stop the anti-biotic as it's possible an allergic reaction is developing.  Mental note:  Eddie is potentially allergic to cefelexin.  So now he's got the original rash and then a secondary rash that is now spread all over.  The first dose of prednisone seems to be working as Eddie commented on how much better he felt, announcing that he was ready to go to grandma's.  Too bad that trip was to have occured this weekend and it was a little late to head over...Needless to say, we will be scheduling a visit with a derm on Monday.  I've never been so thankful in all my life to know a doctor personally as I am to know my grad school roommate who luck would have it is a dermatologist!

The man deserves sainthood for reassuring me that my son was not going to die from his illness (it is apparently possible).  All while trying to prepare for his wedding in two weeks--thanks Dr. Dave!

Beach and Wisc

We are now back from our back to back trips...
We drove down to the beach the day before our house rental was to begin as it was going to take most of the day to get there. 
1. Left Sat. Jul 2 at 6:20 in the morning and glad we did because traffic started up by our house around 7am.  We ended up taking a lot of back roads after witnessing a motorcycle cartwheel off the freeway.  I was apparently one of the first to call 911. 
2. Ate a dinner of fried foods.  Fried corn on the cob (yummy), 4 kinds of fried seafood, and then hush puppies.  Elapsed time from being seated to being finished eating:  30 minutes.  Fastest dinner ever.
3. Den took the kids to the hotel pool at 8am for a dip before heading to the beach.  Inspired several other kids and reluctant parents to a similarly early swim.
4. Brunch with old friends of Den's where a dead manta ray lay unbeknownest to us in a fish tank.  Then the resturant staff tried to get the ray out and lost the net in the tank.  Called in an expert who ultimately removed the dead ray.  Entire episode took the entire 2 hours we ate and talked and tried not to stare at the dead ray and net.  Eddie talked about it the whole day, wondering what they would do with the dead ray.
5.  House ready early.  Checked in and headed for the beach. 
6.  Beach, beach and more beach.  G'parents came with us to the beach quite a bit and the kids loved having them around.  Got the kids boogy boarding.  J LOVES the waves.  Eddie prefers playing on the sand and chasing minnows in the tidal pools, but both thoroughly enjoyed themselves and I am happy to report no shark sitings. 
7. We did have dolphin sitings.  Both only about 20 yards off the beach at low tide and also at the inlet where we had dinner one night.  Got to watch them chase down and catch some fish.  There were literately fish flying out of the water and dolphins were doing a Sea World show for us less than a hundred yards away after their dinner.  Apparently it was a regular feeding area for the dolphins.
8.  Checked out the Charleston acquarium.  It was a nice size for a 1/2 day and had some interesting programs.  We rushed through in order to get to...the beach!  Nice cafe, not so good gift store.
9.  Tried unsucessfully to rent bikes to run the kids around the island.  Mental note:  do not visit the beach over the July 4 week again. 
10. Drove back all day Thurs.using almost exclusively back roads.  Only thing we think we left behind was Eddie's brand new swim shirt.  :(  Friday morning, packed up for Wisc. flight that afternoon.

1.  Arrived into Wisc. at 11pm on Friday.  Was the most peaceful 2 hour drive from the airport we've had since kids came into the picture.  The kids fell asleep about 10 minutes into the drive.  Might need to do this again. 
2. Sat. we Visit Pioneer Days at local museum where g'ma volunteers.  Eddie was fascinated by the well and pump here.  Out of the picture is the windmill.  The cool thing about visiting a place like this with g'ma is she can tell you first hand about having a windmill pump on her family farm growing up and teaching in a one room schoolhouse.  It's like talking to a living, breathing, Laura Ingalls Wilder.   Hard to say if the pump or this tractor ride the 100 yards to our car was more of the highlight for the kids. 
3. Sunday, my round up of shopping while Den took the kids fishing, where they were skunked.
4. Monday, visit to the local doctor to treat really severe rash on Eddie.  The rash was slow coming and we had been treating it with all sorts of over the counter products, thinking if we gave them a couple days they would work, but after not sleeping and severe swelling and rash, we had an 8am apointment.  After consults with our friend the dermatologist and our pediatrician back home, got Eddie on a treatment plan of 3 perscription meds and 2 anti-itch meds as well as our friend Ben.  Poor kid was in misery and basically didn't sleep for 3 nights, yet trooper that he is, continued to be in good spirits.
5. Flight back, we got a ride on the electric carts because Eddie's rash made walking difficult.  Once we landed back home, I called the peds while still on the plane and got an apointment for that afternoon. 
Disappointed that Eddie felt so poorly on our trip, as he had been looking forward to the visit. 

Difficult to get back into the swing of things...I'm ready to plan the next trip!

Grandparent Heaven

Just got back from 4 nights at beautiful Isle of Palms, just outside of Charleston, SC.  It's a great beach, perfect for little kids and these 4 had a blast.  G'parents were in heaven, but I think are exhausted.  They are 2 3-year olds, 1 3.5 year old, and one 5.5 year old. 

Everyone is smiling and looking up with no obscursions in the faces, so I call it a sucessful photo.

The month of June

Aside from my phone, this pretty much sums of the total of my photos for the month of June.  Has to be about the fewest photos I've ever taken in a month. 
Our garden seems to be doing well...not that I would know as late, as I haven't been there in a while and our weeds are likely doing as well as the produce.  We didn't get out with the mulch very well this year.  This was our first crop.  The green beans did great and are about done, so we'll plant a new set in a couple weeks.  I'm hoping to try some fall spinach and see how it does...anyone ever sucessful with fall spinach?

Eddie is playing with the toy he'd just gotten that day--he was making it into all sorts of letters and numbers and showed me the way that all the pieces connect. In the photo of J she posing with a birthday gift she recently became interested in using--the crown and purse.  So interested that she wears the crown all over town.  I'll try and post the picture from my phone with her in hello kitty rainboots wearing the crown, it really makes the outfit.

Eddie still takes his asthma meds once/day at night and in the last photo the kids are watching their TV program with some of their 'friends'.  They are into playing 'friends' and delight in packing up their friends to move all over the house and onto the back porch.  They unload the friends and set them up.  They produce puppet shows for the friends and have birthday parties, the whole bit. 

In the last photo, they are exhausted because Eddie is taking a baseball camp this week and while he seems to enjoy it, he has been sleeping in until almost 8 each day.  We try to get them to bed as close to 730/8 as possible.  J is just running hard all day.  btw, she has also (not to jynx anything), but she has been sleeping in underwear now for 3 nights in a row.  I told her if she makes it until Friday, I'll buy her a celebration gift.  Course she insisted on a bunch of water in bed, so I'm not optimistic for tonight, but she does seem to be able to hold it as she doesn't wake up running to the bathroom.  Eddie likely has a few more diapered nights ahead of him, but we are not pressuring him....our nanny is, but we are not.

Den is at one of his regular haunts and the home of my favorite zoo---Fort Wayne, IN.  They have apparently done some updates, so now of course I wish could see it.

For daddy...

Den left before the kids woke up this morning for a trip to his annual middle of nowhere destination.  It was apparently quite the adventure...even for a seasoned traveler.  He connected in ATL and the connecting flight was cancelled due to mechanical (after he was already on the plane).  He was rebooked on 2 flights later in the day, one standby and one with an acutal seat available. 

Then he calls to tell me his luggage (a piece he could have easily carried on with him, and that contains his company logo shirts for his stint at a conference) was lost and that while they are pretty sure it reached ATL, didn't know where it was until about 5-6 hours after he landed.  His next call is as he is chasing down the car rental bus, only to find that his car reservation had been cancelled because he was so late getting there.  Back to the counter to get a car.  Then a couple hour drive in rush hour traffic in a strange town (one of Den's favorite things).  It could have been worse--he could have had the kids with him for all that excitement.

Thought it appropriate to include photos from the local air show weekend back in May.  I do have some photos to post, but am too tired to upload...hey the clock says 12:34 (1.2.3.4).  I love that, but I should not be up at this hour...


J really likes her camera...wish we did.  We're disappointed in the quality of photos it takes...even when we are taking the photos.  Had hoped to get Eddie the same kind of camera in blue,but now it appears we will be looking for another model.  Any recommendations?  Am considering the Olympus 'tough' cameras that are shock resistent, waterproof, etc.

This is a recent photo--she insists on wearing long sleeved pjs at night.  Personally I think it's a clue that the A/C is turned down too low, but Cookie and Den complain they are hot all the time.

I had to wear these sunglasses the other day while driving because the sun was glaring so badly and I'd left mine at home.  Doubt I looked this cute.

I had to work tonight.  Last meeting of the session, get 2 months off from the intensity of meetings, but lots to do in the off season.  I do love my job, but sometimes I wonder how I would survive as a stay at home mom.

Okay, kids will be up in about 6 hours, off to bed.

Truck Touch

I had to work this Saturday and suggested that since Den could not spend from opening until 5pm with the kids at the pool, that he take them to the local 'truck touch' where all the public works vehicles were being set out for people to interact with.  The kids had a good time and it occupied several hours for Den.  Then it was off to the pool.  Dinner with friends that night was at a habachi place that did NOT go over well for the kids.  Josie watched as a nearby table had their food prepared and screamed before the chef got to our table.  Eli, who was with us ran around the corner so as not to be near the flames. 

After dinner, the kids went out and played in a sand volleyball pit, which was great after they had new sheets on and fresh baths.  But it did ocupy them for a while so the adults could talk.  Running around catching fireflies from probably the highlight of the night.  In pat because our kids are usually in bed by the time they come out.  I think Eddie is ready to plants some beans, don't you think?

Speaking of which, our garden is doing well.  We've harvested lots of green beans, already have a cucumber to pick, lots of tomatos and green pappers coming in and will be dtrying potatos for the first time this year.  Somehow we are still getting strawberries.  The kids usually enjoy helping to harvest things, but not not after spending 5 hours at the pool today.

Grocery shopping

This last school year it has just been Josie and I at the grocery store, but now that Eddie is out of preschool, he is now accompanying us.  They enjoy helping both load and unload the groceries from both the cart and at home.  This day that had an especially patient clerk who allowed them to hand her everything (usually the clerk picks the groceries out of the cart in a logical repacking/bagging order).  By the time I got this shot there was nothing more they could reach, so they were a little disappointed to have finished.