Whew! everything you wanted to know (and more) about our week

What a week! School started (with students) on Tuesday, so we're adjusting to our school year routine. I celebrated my birthday on Wednesday with a great day at school (really, I had a great day, for a work day. . . who wouldn't rather be off work on their b-day . . . but again, it was a great day). That evening B got to play with G&G Miller and Billy and I got to go out. On a date. Whoo hoo! We actually ventured downtown IC (when's the last time we did that?) and ate at the always delish Atlas. And of course had to stop at Wal Mart. Because what trip to IC these days doesn't involve that?

On Thursday after work Billy left for a long weekend in Denver . . . which means it was sort of a long weekend in Kalona, too. ;) I love my little B, and loved spending all day Saturday and Sunday with him after being back at school (and away from him more than usual this week) . . . but I salute single parents. Whoa. It's not so relaxing to spend all weekend with an almost two year old. (To be honest, he did spend several hours with my mom on Sat afternoon so Allie and I could go to a movie, at which I did fall asleep. Hey, it was dark, and cool, and somewhat quiet and comfortable in the theater, and the movie was not that great . . . and I. was. tired.).

Anyway, I digress. That evening I (finally!) cleaned the house (including dusting, which has not happened in way too long around here - iiiickkk), got supper, cleaned up supper, and threw B in the bathtub, looking forward to vegging on the couch and watching episodes of The Office on Netflix. I quickly folded/put away laundry while Braden happily splashed in the tub, and was just ready to wash his hair when we had a code brown in the tubby. Sheesh. Luckily I was right there to whisk B out of the tub so that I didn't have to re-bathe him. Unfortunately someone must have enjoyed too much fresh fruit, and the code browns keeps coming (all in diapers, ptl). So poor little man acquired a nasty diaper rash, and mommy did not have a relaxing evening. Sigh.

Today we did get to do this:

(photo not from today) . . . and it was wonderful. Our last dip of the season, as this was the last day the pool was open. Thankfully swimming wore B out, and I was able to work on a digital photobook for him online most of the afternoon. I had received an e-mail coupon from Shutterfly for a free book that expires soon, which motivated me to get crackin'.

So I spent the afternoon working with photos of B circa 5-7 mths, like these:

Oh, man, were you cute, little man. I simply cannot believe that you are (over) a year older than those photos already! Speaking of cute, he still really is. I know, I am biased. But really. And he is becoming quite the chatterbox. So. much. fun. One funny word that he has recently learned is Doris. As in my grandma's neighbor. She must have made a good impression, because he will say her name on request (and still doesn't say very many names). So it is funny to hear him say, "Dor-iss." He also sweetly will say "pleasss" (please) when asking for something - when prompted, and tonight he said "hi daddy" when I held up the phone for him to talk to Billy (still en route home from CO). Today while he was eating dessert and was getting anxious for the next bite, I said, whoa, whoa, whoa. And he repeated "whoa, whoa, whoa" in his sweet little voice. We really do need to capture some of these gems on video.

So now, after much procrastination, I need to work on things for this:

Yep, that's my new classroom (I took my camera to snap first day pics of my kiddos, and while messing around with the settings snapped one of the room - not such a great view, I know - but that's part of what I see from my desk). I think I have everything ready to go for tomorrow and the next few days, but would like to plan a little farther ahead since everything is new to me this year. There's just always something school related that I should be working on . . .

times they are a changin'

Lots of things are changing around here, it seems.

First, summer vacation has come to an end. . . the carefree days of sleeping in late(r) in the mornings, splashing at the pool in the afternoons, and relaxed evenings with no "homework" are over. :( Today was my first "official" contracted day back at school, and the kiddos start on Tuesday.

This school year will be full of change for me as I move to 3rd grade after many years of teaching 2nd. While I am excited about a new challenge, it's also a bit daunting to think about all of the new curriculum I'll have to learn. I'm really glad to have many of my former students - at least they will be familiar!

Our little guy is changing too - in just the last week several people on different occasions have commented on how big/old he looks. And it's true - B is growing up! His vocab grows by the day (which is super fun - he's now adding names and a few phrases to his repertoire), and he's stretching up and growing taller. Tonight he "helped" mommy bake cookies (as a thank you for the custodians doing a few tasks in her room today) . . . in the capacity of quality control/taste tester?

We also (finally?) decided that B could face forward in his carseat. By law he could have faced forward at age 12 mths/20 pounds, but we'd read that rear facing really is much safer even for toddlers. However he's now much more interested in watching the world go by as we travel in the car, and his body is less like a fragile toddler and more like a sturdy little boy, so we've given him a new view. I am glad that we chose to rear face for an extended period of time, and feel good about making it to almost 23 mths. . . since the law may be changing to 2 years instead of 1 year, according to our ped. B now gives us a running commentary on what he sees as we drive (car, car, car, truck, tree, tractor, cow, etc. . . . often throwing in a few extra "tractors").

And finally (these really and truly should be the last of 'em), a few pool pics from our last couple of swimming days. We were so glad that yesterday was sunny and warm and a perfect day for that last afternoon at the pool. It was also extra fun because there weren't many people there, but B's daycare provider and daycare buddies came, as did his cousins - so he had lots of pals to play with. (And while I was back at work today, lucky little B did get to go to the pool again today . . . with the daycare crew!)

We ♥ the pool!

splish splash! (take 3)

I am sure the pool/water pictures may seem redundant, but really, we've spent most of our time in the water this summer.

Swimmin' in the lake off the boat this past weekend . . .

More pool pics (we're liking the waterproof camera - a good investment if you spend a lot of time near the water) . . .

B loves to be chin deep in the water . . . no fear at all

. . . and is starting to purposefully put his head underwater and trying to blow bubbles

He loves to jump in (here's his "here I come pose")

Looking like such a big boy!

Fun with daddy! We've started to visit (or revisit) the pool late in the afternoon after nap and when daddy is home - feels so good when it is hot outside.

justifying my lack of summer accomplishments

This past week I was determined to make some progress on my "things-to-quick-do-before-summer-ends" list that I blogged about earlier . . . and I did. Our store/dump room has been organized. The bathroom has now been primed and painted and you can no longer see that icky wallpaper paste residue that was making its way through the previous coat of paint (whoo hoo!). I also spent a long morning working in my classroom (thanks G&G Miller for watching B) and met with my new co-teacher to figure out what in the world I need to do to prepare for third grade.

So I was feeling pretty good about things.

On Thursday I got out another project on my to-do list: Braden's baby book. I had it mostly filled out, but needed to add a few photos, fill in the dates when he'd gotten shots and when his most recent teeth have appear, and add his height/weight from his last dr. visit. I thought that I could crank all that out easily while B napped, so I also got out a pile of school stuff to work on. One school task that I needed to do was sort a big box of bulletin board letters that had fallen off a shelf and gotten a little mixed up. I am not so much a sit at a desk/table to work kinda gal, so I typically spread stuff out on the floor or coffee table (I'm sure you can guess what is coming . . .)

Well, Braden woke up from his nap a little earlier than expected, so I brought him down to the family room with me to play while I worked on my projects. I ran upstairs to change a load of laundry, and returned to this:

Yep, now my bulletin board letters are not just a little mixed up, they are very well mixed. Seriously, these pictures do NOT do the situation justice. Letters everywhere. every. where.

Yikes. I laughed (what else can you do?) and we went upstairs to do something else until daddy got home so that I could then pick them up (and show him what had happened) . . . there was no cleaning up with Mr. B - I tried, but his idea of cleaning up was to put one or two in the basket, then toss a handful into the air. Sigh.

So - who wants to sort about 500 letters that are now thrown randomly in a box? I guess I have something to do on those nights that I lie awake "worrying" about school (I have this terrible time period that begins about 3 weeks before school starts and that lasts until the first day is over during which I can not fall asleep and just worry about going back to school and all the changes it brings and all that I have to get done).

So, now can you see why I have not gotten a lot of household chores done this summer? My littler "helper" is wayyyyy too helpful. ;)

And just for fun - here's our little mess maker enjoying his yogurt. I've been trying to encourage him to use a spoon, so have been intentionally serving him "non finger food" so that he has to practice. He LOVES yogurt for breakfast . . . I think some of it makes it into his mouth!

PS - yes, I did actually finish the baby book for the most part . . . there are just a few little details that still need to be completed. I hope B likes looking at it someday as much as I do. Wow, has he grown up quickly!

lions & lizards

It has been a lot of fun recently to hear B expand his vocabulary/make animal noises. ;) I still think he's a little "behind" (I guess it's all relative, though), but it is fun to hear new words almost daily. I know I have said this before, but our blog has become sort of an online baby book (honestly, I've found myself referring back to it several times when filling out his actual baby book), so here's a list of B's current vocab. The first part of the list are words he's been saying for a while now:

mama/mom & dada - but doesn't really call to us by those words

ight (light) - with pointing

da? that? (what's that?)

tee - tree

shoe

cheesss - cheese

hot

bah - ball

hot

car

tractor

burger

beans

apple

toes

book

mmmm/yumm (always with lots of the mmmmmm)

and these are more recent additions:

truck

ice

juice

cracker

fruit

cake

milk

nana (banana)

uh-oh

whoa

wow

water (waaa-der)

boat

up

down

ouch

go

wall

cat/kitty

cow

animal

gotcha

box

no (yikes!)

The arrival of August

It's August.

When turning back the July page of the calendar, I tend to cringe. There are things I like about August . . . it is technically still summer, there are still vacation days to be enjoyed, and hey, it's my birthday month!

But, August also brings the beginning of the new school year. Not that school starting is entirely negative - however it does mean that those carefree vacation days are over. About this time of year people start asking teachers, "so, ready for school to start?" The polite thing to say is something along the lines of "I'll be ready when the kids come back," or "It's been a great summer but it will be nice to get back into a routine." (Which are both somewhat true statements, and I teach because I really do enjoy my job . . . but in reality I think most of us would like to say, "nah, I could use another month off," because, be honest, wouldn't you rather be on vacation than at work too? Especially when your job is as intense/demanding as teaching is, and involves a LOT of work at the beginning of each school year).

Regardless, our days are numbered. This has been a great summer: lots of pool time, hanging with Braden, a trip to Chicago, boating, the zoo, and I have read several good books books. I've found that spending my time with a one-(almost two!)-year-old is fun, but also a little bit exhausting. It is very difficult to get anything done with little hands wanting to help do (or "undo") a task. So . . . I have not deep cleaned the house like I usually do, the closets are a mess (I usually clean them all out in the summer), and I have not gotten many of my "summer projects" done. And that makes me cranky. In fact I admit that our house is probably dirtier than it is when I am working outside of the home - 1. we are here more and living = messy, and 2. the moment something is cleaned, it just gets messed up again. But I have to remember that I would not trade all of the giggles, cuddles, splashing and snuggly naps with my sweet boy for the cleanest, most organized house in the world.

In the 18 days I have left of vacation, I know that I will most likely spend some time preparing my classroom (yeah, on my time. we get 3 paid days to prep, but most of those are spent in meetings). But here's a few other things I am going to attempt to accomplish at home:

• paint the bathroom

• clean out pantry and linen closets

• create digital photo albums, or at least get photos sorted and uploaded to shutterfly or snapfish (I really want to get this done and be caught up!)

• clean our "dump" room/storage room - this has to be done sans Braden

I also hope to:

• get to the pool with my waterbaby on sunny days (I sort of hope it rains a few time so I am more inclined to work on the above list!) and not feel guilty about it since this activity is not something we can do year round

• hit the outlet mall and scoop up some end of the season deals

• spend a day at the spa and use my Mother's Day massage gift certificate

We'll see what actually happens in the next 18 days!