Cream of Potato Soup

Last night, Mikaele called me after the kids had gone to bed. She was telling me about her new job, and then suddenly the conversation took a turn toward our boys. Her two are starting school this fall as well (though not until next week), so we've been talking a lot about how strange this is for us. Harder for her I think, as she's got two and no more babies at home, but we're definitely feeling the same things as we send our little guys off into the world. Our chat yesterday soon became a series of memories, talking about when they were babies, and wondering where the time went.

So I was a little sad when I went to bed yesterday, thinking about all we had discussed. But I certainly didn't feel that way this morning, as Ev bounded out of bed at 6:30 (a full half hour before the alarm). He was ready to go to school--washed and dressed and fed in record time. Mike and I watched him climb right into the school van like he'd been doing it for years, and he was smiling as waved goodbye to us. He's going to have a great day and a great year, better than we ever thought possible.

Posted by jenny at 8:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Last night, Mike worked late, as he will again tonight. He's trying to tie up a lot of loose ends before classes start at the college, and sometimes it's best for him to work into the evening--he gets a ton of stuff done after all the meetings and phone calls are done for the day. These late days don't happen often, but every once in a while it just needs to be done. The only problem with these sort of days is that it's hard for the boys (mainly Evan) to deal with the change in routine. Honestly, it's hard for me too--the days can be long when you're at home with two little guys, and I always look forward to the help and adult conversation at 5:15.

I realize that I'm very lucky to be able to stay home with the boys. I also realize that I'm lucky to have a husband who works such predictable hours. He doesn't have to go in on weekends, or holidays, or do 12 hour shifts. But I guess I'm spoiled, because these days that he works late leave me a little frazzled. I tend toward frazzled as a natural state, so I guess it's not much of a stretch, but I definitely don't look forward to the long afternoon. For instance, yesterday when Mike got home, I started referring to Evan as "your son". As in, "I can't come get Grady right now, I'm fixing your son a snack." You know it's bad when you start giving your partner sole ownership of the children.

I read somewhere this week that parenting was a job with very long days and very short years (if I can find the exact quote again, I'll share it). That's absolutely true, and I've never heard it said better. The days can seem like weeks sometimes, especially if you've got a teething toddler or a incredibly talkative preschooler. But the years fly by so quickly--I can hardly believe Evan's starting kindergarten, and I wonder almost daily where Grady's babyhood went. I'm guilty of getting caught up in the little things, the annoyances and troubles that can make the days so difficult. I really need to step back and look at the bigger picture. This is their only childhood, and there will be good days and bad days but I need to do my best to make it a happy time.

Today we have stuff to do--a trip up to school to meet with Evan's support teacher for an hour, and then we've got a date with the playground. The weather is perfect for some "last day of summer" fun, and we'll try to enjoy every minute. Even the extra long ones.

Posted by jenny at 8:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Suddenly we're at the end of August. Mike and I celebrated our 7th anniversary yesterday (and he wrote about it just perfectly). We spent the day at Waldameer with my family for Dad's shop picnic, and Norelle and Jesse came up too--it was a lot of fun. And of course our anniversary means school is starting for real. All the kids have been moving back to campus since Saturday, and Evan starts up the day after tomorrow.

Ev had his kindergarten orientation this past Thursday, and it went well. His teacher is wonderful, and he got to meet some of the other kids and practice getting on and off the bus and going through the line at the cafeteria. I think school is going to be fine, but I am concerned about having him ready to get on the bus at 7:45 every morning. I can barely get my butt out of bed by that hour. The next few weeks are not going to be pretty.

Posted by jenny at 9:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It's a gray and rainy day today, and I'm wearing jeans and a sweatshirt and drinking some tea for the first time in months. It's easy to see that the start of school is right around the corner. Living only steps away from a college campus makes this hard to ignore too--students have started moving back, there are more people and cars around, and you can hear the football team up at the stadium in the afternoons. It makes me want to sharpen pencils and get a new pair of shoes.

It's been fun to get Evan ready for school this year (aside from the usual disaster that is trying to find slim jeans). He's got some school clothes now, and yesterday we picked up a big kid bookbag and a new lunchbox. They actually make metal lunchboxes again, which I haven't seen in years. Ev picked out a Diego one, and he's very excited about it. We have kindergarten orientation on Thursday, and then he has a meet and greet with his new teacher next Tuesday. I'm not nervous or worried (yet), I'm just going with the excitement thing because Evan seems to be leaning that way. I can't believe he starts his "official" school career in just 8 days. I'll have to warn him about his permanent record.

As excited as we are for school to start, I'm almost sad to see the summer go. There's always 10 more things I'd like to do with the boys, and never enough time. Maybe I'm feeling it more keenly this year because Evan's going to be gone 5 days a week, all day. There will be no time for playdates or day trips once next Wednesday arrives. Luckily, little G will still be around to keep me company and make sure I don't get too much done around the house.

Posted by jenny at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I don't usually do stuff like this, but Lora tagged me to list 8 random facts about myself. Since I have had no inspiration lately, and since it was Lora's birthday this past week (happy birthday Lora!), I'm going to give it a shot. Below are the rules of the game and my 8 facts, such as they are.

The Rules:

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.

2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.

3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.

4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.

5. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

The List:

1. I am a little obsessed with even numbers when it comes to dates. Most important is an even numbered day, followed by an even month and then an even year. For example, when Mike and I were trying to choose a wedding date, I felt compelled to choose an even month (August), and then I was limited to the 12th or the 26th as those were the even numbered Saturdays that year (2000). I could have possibly gotten married on the 5th, as dates ending in five are fair when there are no even numbers to choose from, but there was no way I could have handled the 19th. It kills me that Evan's birthday is an odd numbered date in an odd numbered month, though he does have an even year. Grady's is a bit better with an even month and year, but it's not perfect because he was born on the 5th. I think about dates this way all the time--I even judge other people's wedding and birth dates based on these criteria.

2. I've always thought that I have great toes/toenails, but this could be because I can't grow long fingernails to save my life. And yet I've never had a pedicure....I should do something about that.

3. This blog has been around since July of 2001 as my pregnancy/parenting outlet, and over the last few years I've come to feel like there's not much more to me besides my life as a mom. I'm trying to change that, both here and in real life. I also try to make the titles of my blog entries lines from whatever song I'm listening to at the time--sometimes that works well, other times not so much.

4. I use only original Zest soap in the shower. It's what we had most of the time when I was growing up, and I can't use anything else. I also (gasp) wash my face with it. Yes, it's true. I'm probably going to look like an apple doll by the time I'm 40, but I'm just too lazy to have a "face routine".

5. My favorite candy of all time is sponge candy. I just adore the stuff. But if you live outside of Erie or western New York, it's quite possible you've never heard of it. I used to dazzle my coworkers in Pittsburgh with the magical sponge--it was all new to them.

6. A good book is like a drug to me. Ask Mike--if I get into a story, I can barely put it down. He feels like I'm completely absent when I'm lost in a novel, and he's right. Unfortunately, this leads me to not read as often as I'd like to. I wish I could learn moderation in many things, this is just one of them.

7. Nothing makes me love my husband more than when he starts talking geek to someone else. I may have no idea what the hell he is talking about, but I just get such a kick out of it. It's like seeing this other side of him, this part of his life that I don't know--he's just so smart, and he knows so much stuff above and beyond what we talk about at home or with the boys. It makes me realize how lucky I am to have him in my life. That sounds weird, doesn't it, that I get all that from his talking about computers.

8. There are three places I've always dreamed of visiting, and two of them are in Canada (Vancouver BC and Prince Edward Island). The other is Germany, preferably the south. And on that note, I wish I'd paid better attention in German class--I can barely speak it, and I really wish I could.

Okay, that's it. I'm not tagging anyone, as I can't think anymore tonight. But if you want to jump in with your own list, feel free!

Posted by jenny at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I'm back to typing because I got my stitches out this morning, and it's so much easier than it was with those things on the tip and side of the thumb I use for everything.

In my absence, Mike has written some funny bits about Evan over on his blog. That Evan, he never stops with the talking. And we never stop being amazed at the things he has to say. He got discharged from occupational therapy last week--he's doing everything a five year old entering kindergarten should be doing. I'm excited about that, though I don't think Evan was. He kept insisting that he has "more OT to do". He also got taken down to one speech session per week at the hospital at my request. Since he'll be in school all day and also getting speech there, I thought it would be best if we didn't burn him out. If you're counting down, Ev starts school in 22 days. I guess we better get school shopping.

Grady's latest trick is climbing up on the furniture. Anything he can hoist his little leg up on is fair game. If I go in the kitchen for a second, I can be sure he'll be standing on the coffee table when I return. He thinks this is hilarious. No matter how many times I say, "No! Danger!", he still goes right back and does it again. He's covered in bumps and bruises from all his little adventures too, but somehow he just keeps right on going. He's now saying "hi" and "Dada" with some regularity, but all the rest of his speech is just screeching and babbling. He does let you know when he wants something by pointing and asking "eh?", but if he doesn't get it that polite "eh" soon becomes an ear piercing shriek.

Evan and Grady have started working together to take me and Mike down. When they are in the back of the car and things aren't going their way, suddenly and without warning they will mobilize. Grady will start this high pitched squealing while Evan will start saying something over and over and over until we just want to jump out of the moving vehicle. It's fun--at least they are bonding as brothers, right?

The two of them are sharing a room now, and it's working better than we had ever imagined. Evan actually suggested it, and we were hesitant at first, but so far it's great. Neither one wakes the other (Ev is a pretty heavy sleeper), and I think they like having the company. Grady's not getting up much at night anymore, perhaps because he can't smell the milk factory, and so everyone is getting a better night's sleep. Let's hope this lovely trend continues.

Posted by jenny at 9:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)