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I have been ready to post about Ian's Kindergarten week.....and I have reached my photo/video limit, to where I cannot upload anymore. So I am trying to figure out my next blog move.

Anyway, stay tuned and hopefully I will get this resolved this weekend!

We had a garage sale this morning......didn't make a lot of money, but we can see the floor of our garage! We might set up one more time in the morning, if not we will sell the bigger items on craigslist, donate and bring books to the used bookstore.

Ian, still trying to earn his Lego Death Star, has reached $100.00 in coins in his jar. So, I am going to bring him to the coin machine and put his money into his savings account. Three more jars to go for the Death Star. He should have it by the time he is 8 years old, at the rate he is saving.

We are dog-sitting with Connor ordering the pups around and dangling lots of tasty morsels in front of them.

Kindergarten Checklist

-"Lego" Batman backpack-check
-Camo lunch box with water bottle-check
-pencil box with new pencils, erasers, sharpener-check
-name on all aforementioned items-check
-lunch decided by Ian and packed by him into his new lunch box-check
(fare includes saltines, cheese slices, applesauce, grapes, granola bar, water and juice box.)
-clothes picked out to wear-check
-bath for both Connor and Ian-check
-phone call from Aunt Soooz-check
-secret note to Ian in lunch box from Mommy-check
-heart attack over cost of after school care-check
-last penguin nose kiss before becoming an official kindergartener-check
-sub plans done so I can pick him up after school tomorrow-check
-camera batteries charged (on both cameras)

Ian went to bed without any fuss and hasn't come out of his room to discuss bears, school, Connor or Wii. I am crossing my fingers for a smooth start. I do worry that Connor might be sad to have to stay home. His day comes on Thursday.

Deep breaths.....

Calling All Kindergarteners

WARNING: My first child is entering Kindergarten on Wednesday. Emotions are going to run high, because I have a soft heart and so does Ian. Expect to read nostalgic "where did the time go?" posts over the next several days.

Tonight was Meet the Teacher for both boys. Ian got to meet his new teacher and explore his classroom. There were several hands-on activities out for the students (and little brothers) to try. Ian gravitated to a kaleidoscope shape puzzle, Legos and this wooden puzzle above. Connor walked around introducing himself. ("Hi. I Connor.") Ian only talked to other kids if prompted.

What did impress me was the number of parents who have enrolled all of their siblings in her classroom over the years. Several former students were tagging along with younger siblings who are just beginning. I think Ian will acclimate smoothly, given the freedom of the classroom and being able to work by himself when he wants.

We also stopped at Connor's classroom with his teacher, Miss Shellie. Their conversation went along these lines:

Connor: Where Miss Shellie?
Miss Shellie: I'm right here.
Connor: No, where Miss Shellie?
Miss Shellie: Connor, I'm Miss Shellie.
Connor: Where is she? I can't find her.
Miss Shellie: Are you looking for Miss Tina?
Connor: No, I looking Miss Shellie.
Miss Shellie: Not sure how much more I can tell you that I'm Miss Shellie.
Connor: Yeah. She gone.

I offered to teach music to both of their classes over my October break, since Connor's class doesn't get music and Ian's class will have music, but not by the school music teacher. (imagine that- as music teachers....we send him to a school where he doesn't get music from a certified music teacher such as ourselves....horrors! )

In other puzzle table news......

We, meaning I, worked on the 750 cat puzzle entitled "100 Cats and One Fish". It should have been called "100 Cats, One Fish and One Piece Missing."
(yikes, look at the dust on my lamp-yick!)

Wall-E lent a hand to our puzzling. Actually Connor just used Wall-E to mow over the pieces, trying to "clean them up".

Julie and I opened up the 2000 piece NYC puzzle and worked on the border. My sitter worked on part of it today too. I would have worked on it tonight, but I had to practice some 12 bar blues on guitar---Tom and I actually practiced together! (Rick-we need a guitar jam session now) Hopefully I can rock some 12 bar blues chords for the high school group tomorrow, while jumping in and out of a hula hoop. You want a video of that one, right? No way, but that is my lesson plan.

Grandma Sheila, we opened your gift and it is waaaaay cool......I'll post that tomorrow!

Sweet Birthday Surprise

I realized that I didn't post my birthday present from the boys. I had been telling Tom all week that I wanted Cold Stone ice cream cupcakes, which Ian picked up on and used as a catalyst for his birthday present to me.

Here it is!

A very girly cupcake maker!

Last Saturday, I opened it up and we made cupcakes. In the microwave. The machine "decorates" the frosting onto the cupcake.

We had a lot of issues with consistency.

The boys did not care.
The picture on the box was much more impressive than ours.

It was a lot of angst-filled fun trying to get the contraption to work right and get the mixes right.

But it's the thought that counts and my son was so proud of this gift.

Introducing..........

our new puzzle table! Now, I was admonished for not taking photos of the entire process, but I was probably busy doing one of the five or six runs to Home Depot.

Tom measured the plywood, had Home Depot trim it twice for us and then we decided to use our existing folding table instead of buying sawhorses. He created some wooden braces on either side and then we added a foam core and felt.

We power-stapled the felt onto the table.

And as Connor would say, "Ta-da!" It was finished last night! I got out a puzzle to test it out and the felt makes it a little tricky to slide a bunch of pieces around, but they don't slide off either. Of course, I realized that I had completed this puzzle before, so this puzzle is only for show.

I took out a cat puzzle that I bought Ian awhile back for him to work on while we were working today. But I am waiting for Julie (check her blog for cool photo)to start the super cool Brooklyn Bridge 2000 piece puzzle.

If you didn't read my husband's comment/timeline of this project, check the previous post for that. He puts an amusing spin on it all. I have to thank Julie for the germination of this project and Tom for the execution. I LOVE IT!!!

Next project.....headboard fabric for the bedroom. Still working on that.

Wii Are Having Fun

I got a few photos of the boys playing Wii over the weekend. They seemed unaware that I was taking photos too, so their expressions are natural and not forced.

Connor isn't quite sure how to work some of the games, but we rented a Wall-E game for him, which he enjoys driving Wall-E around. We'll probably rent Cars for him to try.


Mr. Obsessive has really enjoyed his Wii time and in addition to playing the sports games, is playing Lego Batman(also rented). Once the conversations become too Wii-oriented, he loses the privilege to play. Today, he waited until I asked him about his games before discussing-which I am certain took great self-control.

Not too flattering (don't worry, I cropped much it as not to damage your poor eyes) but I have been playing too. I kept losing the tennis game, so I spent extra time playing to figure it out. Still not winning though.

Puzzle Table Progress: Tom is building my puzzle table RIGHT NOW! I researched puzzle tables for a few months but our house is tiny and nothing seemed to really fit. Tom got plywood last night and cut it down twice for me to a decent size. I got the felt and the foam core for it last night too. He is busy adhering the foam core, stapling the felt and then he is going to brace it onto our smaller folding table. That way, we can remove the puzzle top and use the smaller table and when we use the puzzle table, it will not be too tippy.

You know how Ian is Wii-obsessed.....he gets it from me. Well, both of us. I love, love, love jigsaw puzzles. My grandmother always had a jigsaw puzzle going when I was a kid. I can sit for hours and work on a puzzle. I am really happy that Tom is taking his time-even when he started school today-to finish the table. He is a really good guy.

High school music update--quite a bunch! My second group of only four was semi-impressed with instruments. When I played "The Twist" on my iPod, they sprang to life....one girl who was crunched over in her wheelchair sat up tall and was moving so much. She kept grabbing me with very scratchy hands, trying to keep me dancing with her. Today, my first group was really excited to play instruments and actually told me, "It's drum time now!" "It's guitar time now!" I really have to step up the guitar playing and I have to get some good music for them to move and dance. One girl, who is the one who can recite lyrics to almost all the songs, actually shut down and refused to move once music was over. She was disappointed and didn't want us to stop.

I know I was worried about teaching this age group. But I think things fall into my lap for a reason.

I am definitely having a lot of fun.

Content

School went well....except for squirrely kindergarteners (they settle down around December).

Met my friend Julie at the bookstore---which turned into an after lunch/before dinner meal of decadent lobster bisque and spinach/artichoke appetizer and small desserts served in teacups. Lots of great conversation and sometimes I feel like she is my kindred spirit since we oddly have a lot of things in common. (p/s I have to know how the Wii Active is, J!! Especially after that dessert AND coffee. You didn't see me add fifteen sugars to mine.)

Using my bookstore gift card, I bought a 2000 piece jigsaw puzzle which I am very excited about....AND Julie came up with a great puzzle table idea, which involves Tom making me the table part and then covering it in felt. I can put the top in the garage when I am not using it. I cannot WAIT to start the table so I can work on my new puzzle. (Hey, Suz-the puzzle's a photograph of "The City".)

Also looked for fabric for the headboard I want to make with no luck.

Boys are playing Wii. Enjoying the last two days with Daddy before he heads back to work.

Got the kindergarten supply list for Ian today. I am beginning to feel emotional about the start of kindergarten one week from tomorrow. Expect the sappy kindergarten posts at any moment.

But for now, I am content.

Toys on the Expensive

Yep, so yesterday I posted about our garage sale finds.

Today I post that we also, using gift cards and birthday money, purchased a Wii.

Ian and Tom have serious video game stamina, but I wanted something active for all of us AND something we could all do inside during our hundred million degree weather. And we love it.

Tom and I deliberated over this purchase for a few weeks on and off. I questioned everyone and questioned if the boys (Ian and Tom) would actually turn it off and not play.

Well, we played Wii quite a bit last night between here and Julie's house. This morning, Ian and Connor were back to the garage sale finds, plus they "helped" sort my general music instruments and toys, finding my super long stuffed snake and played with him for awhile.

Happening right now: Tom is replacing the moulding in the hallway. Connor holding flashlight and Ian is apparently hammering. Connor isn't too happy about his apprentice position, but Ian is very serious. I love that Tom includes them in his projects.

I wonder if I could find a house project Wii game......

Toys on the Cheap

My next neighbor stopped by yesterday to say she would be holding a garage sale this morning, with a hint that several Thomas trains would be available if the boys were interested. I walked over this morning and got Connor a Thomas pillow and blanket and a race car tower.

The boys later saw the sale and wanted to walk over. We ended getting a bunch of plastic Thomas tracks and trains, a broken Transformer and a squirt gun. The boys have been happy playing all morning with their new toys. Even the broken Transformer has been enjoyable for Ian.

Is it Friday Yet?

Man, this is a long week! Going back to work seems to make the week feel like an eternity. Here are some things that I have learned this week:

-I despise teaching in the middle of 115 degree weather. Especially when children are kept indoors for seven hours straight.

-I despise 115 degree weather, period.

-You can tell how a Kindergarten class is going to behave based on their first few days and how their teacher manages their behavior. Tom and I talked about that tonight. Actually, it goes for almost any grade.

-I love my Special Education classes. The high school kids were a great deal of fun. Over half of the one class is non-verbal, but they had a wonderful time with instruments. My colleague and I are writing a grant to get some adaptive instruments to share between us for our classes. It feels like I am the one being rewarded. These are terrific kids.

-I hate saying goodbye to the boys in the morning.

-School has me obsessing that Ian will start Kindergarten in less than two weeks. Honestly, I don't know how true 9-to-5 working parents do it. I am agonizing over his after school care. I have to find Connor a daycare that can bus him and that I can afford. I keep railing on the inside over how things will work out. I wish it were easier.

-Life isn't as bad as I make it out to be. I just get tired and cranky when I think about it all.

-The musical birthday message from my favorite singing sister-in-law was a lovely end to my school day today. Thanks, Terri! We'll get swim photos going for you.

-My free birthday ice cream from Cold Stone will be delicious tomorrow!

Okay....off to celebrate that is Friday tomorrow. Finally!

Whew!

It's been quiet here on the blog and I know I haven't posted birthday pictures yet......school is under way, plus we are finishing our pool-sitting this afternoon and evenings are busy with the boys and for me, lesson organizing.

Treacherous Taconic

This highway is one of the most dangerous roads I have ever traveled on. It's a two lane, narrow highway and in many, if not most spots, has only a guardrail separating north and southbound lanes. It used to have east/west parkway crossovers, but due to the number of fatal accidents, closed them. There are exits into town, but other than that, it is miles of trees and blind curves. I hated driving on the Taconic at night, especially because of deer and because the bright lights of oncoming cars would almost disorient you. There is an abandoned gas station entering the parkway from Rte 684 and then I think there is no gas or civilization for miles.

One of the more idiotic moments in my life (I've had a few) was running out of gas on the Taconic coming home from Westchester in the afternoon. The "shoulder" was an embankment that tilted the car almost completely sideways. As if running out of gas was stupid enough, I decided to leave the car and walk along the "shoulder" to get to the then-open gas station. This was before the era of the cell phone. It was so incredibly dangerous.

I was saddened to read that yet another fatal accident has occurred and made national news.

Makes me certain that I'll be taking the long way and avoiding the Taconic whenever I go home.

Read more here.

Birthday Blastoff

Well, it's a quiet morning, but we are heading for donuts and the pool for swim time. But the best moment of the morning has already happened.

Connor, whom we are loosely potty-training and who sits happily with no action whatsoever, was instructed to check potty this morning.

No one was in there, the lights were off and I happened to walk by and notice there's was action in the potty!!

I know! Why the heck would I blog this? Is it TMI?

Nah, it's my birthday. And a great present that he actually knew what to do.
I doled out handfuls of M&M's (Ian has been "potty assistant" although he was MIA for this operation) and Connor got some rock star treatment for about five minutes.

Rest of the day....getting Tom's car at Honda (he says he is on a first-name basis with the shuttle driver-not a good sign) picking up Cold Stone ice cream cupcakes (yes, I am branching off from our traditional Carvel cake and going for the cupcake. Of course, we could get both....) then trying to decide dinner with the boys and Julie and Sean. Let's just say sangria WILL be on the menu. Also thinking about treating myself to a brand-new nail polish color, like turquoise. Oh, and the mysterious presents to be opened later too.


I really believe you are as old as you act. I probably border on acting too young, but despite the skunk stripe I seem to be growing in the middle of my head, I am happy and healthy with a great family and terrific friends.

And a kid who is actually using the potty. I mean, what's not to be happy about?? :)

Hmmm

Do you think Ian's been playing a lot of X-box?

Connor comes in this afternoon, asking....

"I play Ian-box? I play Ian-box?"


Oh, boy.

Impatience

As my birthday rolls around this weekend, my son Ian proclaimed:

"Mommy, I got you TWO PRESENTS. They are awesome, you can't even believe it!"

Apparently, Tom took him to Target once, where he forgot his wallet. They returned a second time where Ian has gotten me a birthday gift. So, I have been messing around with him.

"Hey, Ian. Can you tell me what my present is?"

"No."

"How about a hint?"

"I am NOT telling you. So stop asking."

"Is it a girly present?"

"Okay, Mommy. If you ask me one more time, you are NOT getting the present at all!"

Connor this week asked,

"Mommy, are you girly?"

"Probably. Are you?"

"No, I Connor." (plays with my hair for a moment) "Mommy, that better? Mommy, that girly?" Sooo funny.

And tonight, after being put to bed, Ian comes out of his room like this:

My impatience for them to fall asleep is much greater than finding out my birthday present.

Centipede Crushdown

Well, being back to work this week is going well. I don't have much going on this morning, but tomorrow is a marathon meeting from 8:00 to 4:00pm. Who does that on a Friday before school starts? In addition to teaching K-3, I will be teaching high school students who are also multiply disabled, which they are billing as music therapy. It's a cost-cutting move that eliminates music therapists who are actually board-certified. I don't completely agree with this move, as much as I enjoy working with these groups. I believe music therapists can offer a great deal more, but I am willing to try and do my best.

Today, I am off to advocate for those of us teaching music therapy to get a workshop or some kind of training to help us along. Of course, yesterday, I asked for some budget money to purchase a few classroom items and was denied at two schools. Now I get to ask the district for some money or beg, borrow and steal from other schools. With the budget crunch, I know how that is going to go, but I am armed with my new music therapy angle since we have NO music therapy resources. My husband eloquently pointed out that they don't really need to give me money as a traveler. It's like being a second-rate citizen.

We headed to the pool last night for another hour and a half swim session. This time, Ian put his entire head underwater several times! He even tried swimming under the water for a few minutes. Connor tried it but instead of pinching his nose closed, he kept pinching his mouth closed. Ian called Aunt Terri (our family swim expert) to relay his news.

Then, Tom and I played several games of old arcade game Centipede, where I continued to win. Tom could NOT allow me to win, so we had to keep playing until he won. Then, we tried Asteroids and then Pong. Wearing the big L sign on my forehead for Pong. But it was a lot of fun.

Off to start the day....

Pool Boys

We are pool-sitting this week and next.....which given our temperatures, the pool is very, very cool.

Tom and I took the boys over yesterday morning. Ian usually perches on the pool steps, directing traffic and reluctant to venture beyond his comfort level. He does wear a flotation getup, that basically covers his mid-section, but leaves his arms and legs free.

We did our best to coax him into the water and a few times he would hang on to me or Tom for a short bit. I even resorted to some bribery of getting him to jump out to me. (video game time-at first, I tried money, but he responded to video games. Shocking.) He jumped a few times and then we left him alone.

And once we left him alone, as Tom said, he finally got brave enough to get into the water and actually swim. He began by spider-crawling along the wall with Connor, followed by going across the shallow end of the pool side to side.

Today when I got home from work, I rounded up the boys to go over to the pool again while Tom was working. Ian swam (yes, he had the floaties on, but I don't think he sat on the steps once.) and swam and an hour and a half later, I had to drag both of them from the pool. Connor has the same floaty device and he was happy to cling to me with a few breakaway moments of swimming. I had them jumping from the side to me and Connor finally figured out that he didn't really need me to swim. They had a grand time.

Of course, it wouldn't be complete without Ian's "games."

Ian: Mommy, we're going to play a game. It's going to be really hard to win. So, here's what you do. I'm the bad guy and you're the good guy. Good guys swim really, really slow (demonstrates) and bad guys can swim however they want. Most of the time, they swim fast. Got it?

Mommy: So, I am destined to lose this game, is that right?

Ian: No, Mommy. If you go slow and I beat you, I win. But if you go fast and I go slow, then I still win because good guys don't swim fast. Let's play!

Mommy: plays and loses game.

Later on....

Ian: Mommy, it's time for another game. This one is going to be awesome. Go stand over there and hold your arms out, put your head in the water and wait for me to tell you when to go.

Mommy: Uh, no.

Ian: Just do it.

Mommy: Yeah, I'm not interested in drowning while waiting for you.

Ian: Okaay. Just keep your head up then. Now, I am going to swim to you and count. Then Connor is going to swim to you and count. Whoever gets there first wins.

Mommy: You have a distinct advantage in that you are faster and I don't think Connor is paying any attention to this game. (Connor is busy drinking water from the pool fountain)

Ian: Connor, come here. Connor! Connor, come here.

Connor: No.

Ian: Yeess!

Connor: Uh, no.

Ian: Then I win.

Connor: Okay.

On and on with the games, but actually it was pretty fun. Connor had a bellyache afterward, but I think he drank quite a bit of pool water. That didn't stop him from enjoying his favorite snack of Smarties.

Hopefully we'll have more pool adventures tomorrow.

The Way It Was

Walter Cronkite was on our television quite a bit when I was a kid. My mom usually had the evening news on around dinner time and I certainly remember watching Mr. Cronkite, probably without really understanding his contribution to journalism until I was much older.

My aunt called me this evening and brought up a very special memory, that I had forgotten about and it has taken me much of the evening to recall it. My uncle Chet was a harbor policeman at the New Rochelle, NY marina for many years. I used to visit him and my aunt Suzy (I had an Aunt Suzy too!) many times during my childhood. For a few years, they lived on a houseboat in the marina and I remember sleeping on the boat and running up and down the docks, exploring.

When I was younger and I don't remember how old, I actually got to go sailing with Walter Cronkite and was served peanut butter sandwiches on board for lunch. I think we probably visited more than once. My mom might recall more details and unfortunately both my aunt and uncle are both passed away so there is no way to get more of the stories and how they met him.

May Mr. Cronkite have peace and love on his next journey.

My aunt told me more stories of how my great-grandfather and great-grandmother hobnobbed with other famous people as my great-grandfather worked for CBS. I really appreciated her phone call tonight.

Here's a photo of the last time I saw my uncle Chet at the New Rochelle marina before he died.

Well, I am in the final hours of my summer vacation as I prepare to return to work in the morning. We spent the early morning in the pool while my car was in the shop. Ian swam, using his new flotation suit, all over the pool. Following that, we looked at couches and loveseats-just looking and no buying.

Then, I spent two hours in the dentist's chair replacing a filling that had leaked with decay under the filling. For some reason, the older I have gotten, the more nervous I have gotten about visiting the dentist. However, he had to numb three different nerves and after three shots of novacaine, I could still feel the drill, so I think I ended up with a total of five shots of novacaine. I was apparently very tense, because my hands were clenched and I was almost crying a few times. He suggested that my next dental work included a pre-prescription of Valium or Vicodin to calm my nerves. I wish I had known that before today's adventure.

Once he finished that tooth, he found the beginning of an early cavity in between my teeth that didn't come up on x-ray, but he actually showed it to me in the mirror. So, more drilling and two hours later, I was done. Once the novocaine wore off, my jaw and forearms were aching from tension, not to mention the soreness from the dental work, so I holed up in the back bedroom and took a long nap with some Motrin. I still don't feel great, but it's done.

Back to school in July seems wrong on so many levels.

And My Final Answer Is........

During our summer vacations, my sister-in-laws, mother-in-law and I take a day off and enjoy some lunch and spa time. Since none of us seemed to be in the mood to take a lot of family photos, this happens to be a photo from last year's spa in California. This year we returned to a spa out on the east end of Long Island for some pampering and some lunch at a great Italian restaurant. ("you got your awesome Italian guys, great Italian women, great Italian food....")

This year, most of the crew was staying at Kristen and Chris' house this year and I decided to take a night off before spa night to hang out with my favorite sisters. Terri has a fun conversation starter game with bunches of questions and she brought along the girlfriend version of the game. So, we sat around the table, drinking sangria and wine, answering questions.

One of the questions-and I cannot recall the exact question-but was something about a famous person that you resemble. I could not think of anyone until I looked at Raven's blog this morning and saw someone that is the closest resemblance I have seen yet. Actually, I wish I resembled her more for her accomplishments, but I think I might be a little too opinionated and underqualified for her position. Decision making isn't a strong point, but hopefully it is hers.



Sonia Sotomayor Me!

Now, my family will want to take note that she is of Puerto Rican descent. I will not elaborate on this comment, but I know that will be of interest to them. I, of course, am other Latina. With respect to her nomination process, I am going to skip the political banter, because I am on vacation until Tuesday.

I will also add that I do not in any way resemble Margaret Thatcher. This one's for you, Chris!