The first week of school is now over. So far, so good. We had a glitch with the girls riding the bus... they didn't have them set up yet, then no one called when they were. Finally, I was able to get it all straightened out today. Starting Monday, I will have a glorious 45 minutes of empty house before going to walk them home from the bus stop. Ahhh.
Olivia is in the third grade this year. I can't believe how grown up she looks, especially with her glasses.
She starts Alpha (the talented and gifted program) this year. It's 150 minutes a week... I'm not sure if that's 30 minutes a day or how it's broken up. They are supposed to have an open house soon, and I'm curious to know what all they will be doing. I really hope she enjoys it, because she certainly isn't thrilled about it.
Isabelle is in the second grade this year. Again, too grown up.
She has been so exhausted by the time she gets home that she's had a melt down every afternoon. Oh, how I wish she could nap at school!
And my Zoe... my Kindergartener.
She comes home every day to tell me the names of her new friends. She was so afraid that she wouldn't make any friends. She's such a sweetheart, I can't imagine anyone not liking her.
I managed to not cry the first day. Only because Bill was with me, I'm sure.
The flare above Olivia's head makes me think of The Sims. LOL
They are so excited this year that they got to pick out "real" backpacks. Up until this year, they had to have mesh or clear plastic back packs. Boring. But neither their supply lists or dress code mentioned anything about the backpacks having to be see-through this year. I double checked, just to be sure.
And, I just have to say that Isabelle isn't really all that into One Direction, I think she just knows they're cool. If they had had a Justin Bieber backback, she would have grabbed it, and she probably has heard maybe 2 of his songs... It's my first taste of my kids just trying to fit in...
I just noticed the shadow of the little paper doll Isabelle's carrying. It looks like they're being followed by a tiny big-headed person. =)
All in all, it's been a very good week. They earned their allowance for the week by helping me out with chores with minimal complaining. And, miracle of miracles, Olivia voluntarily took a bath Thursday night. I do make her bathe, but it's always under protest.
I'm hoping it will be a good year!
Current Book: I'm in the middle of Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, but my library loan for Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz came in and I only have 2 weeks to read it (and there's a hold list for it, so I can't renew it), so I'm focusing on that right now. I've read it before, but before I read the newest Odd book, I want to reread them... I was a little confused when I read the last one because it had been so long since reading the older ones. I still haven't finished Search inside Yourself, but it's due back at the library tomorrow and there's a hold list, so I can't renew it. I may end up buying it.
Current Music: Macklemore. I can thank the girls' day camp for that. Isabelle's been singing Thrift Store nonstop and I had to listen to it because all I knew was something about $20 in my pocket. I actually like it, much to my surprise. =)
Current Guilty Pleasure: Dozing off in the afternoon..
Current Nail Color: I bought some silver polish for my toes, haven't made the time to paint them, though.
Current Drink: I found some kombucha at Kroger yesterday. That's exciting (and much closer than the other places that sell it)
Current Food: PBJ toast
Current Favorite Show: I haven't watched TV this week, but I really want to sit down and catch up on Wilfred.
Current Wish List: An "I believe in The Blerch" shirt
Current Needs: A new ceiling fan in the kitchen... the light chain pulled out at the switch and it's dark in here...
Current Indulgence: Diet Dr. Pepper
Current Blessing: Realizing that there are "regulars" out on Sunday mornings on the trails and that they recognize me =)
Current Outfit: Jean shorts and a henley from Old Navy
Current Excitement: First day of school tomorrow!
It's official. Summer break is over! This is the first summer that I haven't threatened to quit my job or drastically cut my hours to stay home with the kids. No major disasters at all! I'm happy, even if it means the kids are getting older...
I can't say that the summer went as planned, but it never does. Walking Wednesdays only lasted a few weeks before the heat and whining won out. The girls only went swimming once. I haven't seen the rec center in weeks (but I'm still walking and trying to run, and starting to get back into working out at home). Bridge books were abandoned pretty quickly. I don't think the girls read more than a few books on their own. Even so, it was a good summer. Maybe one summer I can stick to a plan.
The new school year is like another New Year's. New resolutions, new habits to try to form... and hopefully I'll do a good job of keeping them. I've done my very best to get as organized as possible for this school year, and I'm determined to make it run as smoothly as possible. I've even written up a schedule for how the afternoons and evenings will go. Fingers crossed it helps. =)
It's been a crazy week. I feel like I've had very little down time. Running here and there, trying to clean and declutter the house, tying up odds and ends before school starts.
I took the girls to get haircuts the other day.
Isabelle cried when I told her I wanted to get her hair trimmed. Her hair grows so slowly and she's really wanted to grow it long. I told her I wouldn't make her if it was going to upset her that much, but I suspected she'd want to once we got there. And I was right.
I didn't expect her to want to cut it off, though. I love it like this though. Very Ramona-esque. =)
We also had to go shoe shopping. Ugh. They're such girls.
We did have a little fun with it. Bill hates these kind of shoes, so I had to send him the picture and tell him we bought some.
We got these instead. Do you know how hard it is to find girls' shoes that aren't glittery? Impossible almost. Ugh. But I love that two of them went with the Converse-like shoes. I couldn't get them to buy actual Converse, but close enough.
We had Open House on Friday. Zoe has the same Kindergarten teacher that Olivia and Isabelle both had, and I would have been upset otherwise. She's just amazing. I had to hide behind some papers I was holding a few times... just taking Zoe to class for Open House made me choke up.
Isabelle has Olivia's teacher from last year, which is great, too.
Olivia's teacher seems very sweet, so I have hopes that this will be a good year. Better than last year, I hope. I had hoped that her BFF was in a different class, but no such luck. I know that sounds awful, I really think she'd do better if they weren't together all day.
That's about all that's been going on. Hopefully soon I will find the time to sit down and tell you all about my mom's new dog...
Meet Mr. Farley.
And I'll leave you with the cute little scene I discovered on my long distance walk/run last Sunday...
Sorry I've been a slacker blogger lately. I've been a pout pout fish and I didn't want to spread the dreary-wearies all over the place.
Current book: Well, I just finished The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (cute book... it's YA, very kid friendly) last night so I need to decide on a new book. I have Neverwhere and Coraline (both by NG) to choose from. I'm still plugging away through Search Inside Yourself, as well. Non-fiction books are difficult for me to get into sometimes.
Current music: I'm on a tiny Justin Timberlake kick, but only a few songs. I think I could listen to My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark by Fall Out Boy on continuous repeat at the moment though. It's been a long time since I've been on a pop music streak, so I feel weird. LOL
Current guilty pleasure: Chocolate covered espresso beans. Probably was not a good idea to eat a crap ton of them at 10pm last night with a 6am alarm set to go run/walk....
Current nail color: Fingers - naked. I don't paint them. I have to hand wash dishes and it wouldn't last long enough to justify it. Toes - chipped red. I need a pedi.
Current drink: Water.
Current food: I really want some Benihana's fried rice. I made a knock off last week, it was satisfactory, but I still am craving it.
Current favorite show: Didn't watch any TV at all this week. I gave up on Big Brother a little over a week ago.
Current wish list: I want one of these bracelets... with 13.1 on it
I also want a heart rate monitor and new running shoes. I need to focus on back to school first.
Current needs: A nap. 8.5 miles on caffeinated sleep has left me a little sluggish.
Current indulgence: Ice cream. I've eaten way too much lately. We went to Baskin Robbins on Friday and I had my all-time favorite - their chocolate peanut butter. Mmmmmm
Current blessing: Seeing my mom so happy over her new baby, Mr. Farley. He's such a cute dog.
Current excitement: The girls go back to school in a week! I'll have about an hour every day between getting off work and their arrival home to myself! Also, I figured out how to make the scale move in the right direction again! LOL
I'll be sure to come back and update you sooner than next week, OK? OK!
(Linking up @ siddathornton)
I seem to be on a bit of a self-improvement kick... not just with my weight loss and fitness goals, but just in general. I'm reading two different books aimed towards cultivating happiness right now. The Happiness Project, which I've mentioned before, and Search Inside Yourself by Chade-Meng Tan (which is about meditation, and really funny.)
I generally do think of myself as a pretty positive and happy person, but I've been in a bit of a funk lately and want to boost myself out of it. Even if I hadn't been in a low mood, I think everyone can stand to be a little happier, no matter how happy they already are.
I've been reminded of when I used to keep a gratitude journal, and I really want to get back to that. So, the plan is that throughout the week, I am going to keep a list of things that make me happy and that I'm thankful for and publish it here every Saturday. This week will be short, since I didn't start this list earlier in the week. Hopefully, it's a ridiculously long list every week!
Music to make me happy this week
- Mirrors by Justin Timberlake
- Friday I'm In Love by The Cure
- There's No Going Back by Sick Puppies
- Need You Tonight by INXS
I finished American Gods by Neil Gaiman (awesome book, BTW), and now have a stack of Neil Gaiman books beside me... Coraline, The Graveyard Book, and Neverwhere.
I'm happy that school shopping is done!
My Mom is getting a new dog next week, and he comes with the best name... Mr. Farley. I just can't get over how flipping cute that name is and that my Mom doesn't want to change it!
I've been trying to wear jewelry more this past week. I usually wear all three pieces of our wedding set (Bill can't wear his), an opal ring with 2 tiny diamonds, and a turquoise ring and some bracelets. I realized the other day that, without even planning it, I wear all three of the girls' birthstones... opal for Olivia, diamond for Isabelle, and turquoise for Zoe. =)
I was made a Healthy Body forum administrator in a group on CafeMom. I'm pretty excited about that and hope that it helps keep me on track and accountable since I've been such a slacker this summer.
I hope everyone had a good week!
Zoe doesn't go to the same day camp as her sisters, she's pretty much back in Mother's Day Out for the summer, and she has to be picked up at 2:30pm. On one hand, it's a bummer because I was really looking forward to having a little free time two days a week. But on the other hand, I get to spend a little one-on-one time with her.
She never wants to just go chill out at home, so we go get ice cream sometimes, or wander the bookstore, or go to the playground. Today, we were trying to decide where to go and passed the Lakewood fountain so she asked if we could go to the playground by the fountain. Sure thing.
We parked and walked down there, only to discover the playground equipment had been removed. I wasn't all that shocked... it was looking pretty shabby the last time we had been there. But Zoe was bummed. We wandered around a little bit, looked at the fountain, and then decided to leave.
On the way back to the van, Zoe found a purple foil star on the ground. Purple is her favorite color, so she thought it was so cool. She picked it up, and then saw another star and then another... there was a little trail of them leading to the playground area. So she followed it, picking up the tiny stars as she went.
We went down into the tire chips looking for more stars, and then Zoe gasped and took off to the far side of the playground. This is what she found...
A huge pile of tiny purple foil stars.
Of course, I knew it was just a package of star glitter that someone had dumped out, but Zoe was just amazed and couldn't figure out where all the stars could have come from. She asked me, and not wanting to ruin the magic of it for her, I told her I didn't know. She looked at me and said "I bet it was fairies!"
Oh, how I wish she didn't have to grow up!
I am totally taking this idea from Katy, and linking up to siddathornton.
So... Currently I am...
READING
American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I'm hooked. It's very dark, fits in nicely with my love for Stephen King and Dean Koontz. I'm also reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. It's giving me tons of ideas for changes to implement in my own life. I might write more about it later. Needless to say two EXTREMELY different books. One dark/one light. One fiction/one non-fiction. It works, though. Normally I can't read two books at once and keep them straight. =)
WRITING
Ummm.. a grocery list is about the extent of my creativity lately.
LISTENING
This week hasn't been very musical for me, and my usual hard angry rock isn't doing it for me. I listened to Jason Mraz earlier this week. I'm digging Justin Timberlake, which is very odd for me. And that Daft Punk song, that Isabelle loves, and is NOT appropriate for her to listen to but she has no idea was "getting lucky" is, so I let it slide because I'm just begging for her teacher to call me in three weeks when school starts to discuss what Isabelle is singing in class.
THINKING
I need to get focused again. The past few weeks have been just me turning into my self and avoiding everything. I have to stop it.
SMELLING
Smoke. I had migraines this week and I always smell smoke (when there is no smoke around) for days before I get one. Luckily they were fairly painless migraines, but they left me wiped out nonetheless.
WISHING
That I didn't have to deal with change at work. I do like the new girl we hired, but I miss my old coworker. =(
HOPING
To wake up and snap back into my usual routine, instead of feeling sluggish and bored with everything. I need to get back to my workouts, to tracking calories, to being excited again.
WEARING
I decided this summer that I was tired of always wearing tshirts all the time, so I've bought other tops here and there. And apparently I gravitate towards shirts that are a little low cut. I mean, looking straight on, it's decent, but from my vantage point, I look down and all I see are my boobs.
LOVING
Our Roku. Except for the fact that the girls have discovered Bratz movies. NOT loving that at all.
WANTING
To spend the rest of summer at home.
NEEDING
To be more "present." Reading sucks me in and I tend to ignore the world, which is why I hadn't been reading much. I need to strike a balance.
FEELING
Like a slug. Not working out is not working out ;)
CLICKING
I know this is to talk about fun/interesting websites, but I've been bored with the internet this week, so you get pictures.... clicking my camera. Yeah!
July's Aleda's Challenge picture. I almost forgot to take it. See my low cut shirt... LOL
My baby Dodo, looking too grown.
I showed Olivia pictures of people with extreme lazy eye. She has worn her glasses every day without nagging ever since.
This is my favorite hairstyle for Isabelle. I think all three of my girls are gorgeous, but certain pictures, like this one, make me fear for the teenage years when all the boys come calling.
Have a great week!
