Dear Parents,
The Nursery School children make a special contribution to St. Patrick's Community Service program. On the third Wednesday of each month, they chop vegetables for soup that is distributed by the Grate Patrol, an organization that feeds the homeless of our city. Every month your family will be asked to contribute one or two washed vegetables that will be chopped by the children and added to the soup pot.
A wide variety of vegetables helps make our soup more tasty and nutritious. The children are able to cut, tear, or snap carrot sticks, scallions, cabbage, leafy greens, green or yellow squash, tomatoes, green beans, parsley, and mushrooms. We also need canned chicken broth, beans, rice, herbs, and bullion to give the soup additional flavor.
Our Nursery children look forward to this activity every month. If you would like to help the children prepare the vegetables, you may sign up for an hour on one of these days at Back to School Night.
Thank you for your support of this important project.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
So Right
An open letter to Mr. Right ...
Eight ... and as happy as I was when I met you in Syracuse. Life is different and it isn't just you and me anymore. There is a whole lot more - most significantly two gorgeous boys. Both that have a little of me (or a lot) and a little of you (or a lot), but they remind me every day how perfect you are. Maybe not perfect, but perfect for me.
I may not tell you every morning, but I did win the lottery. Unless it is an unfair morning ... one of a small handful of mornings in the last 5 years when I've woken up with a hangover and you still make me get up with the kids. I swear at you on those mornings. But then as I'm ready to scream and lose my mind (on any given day that has served up too many servings of stress) -- you swoop in and make things right. A super-calm Daddy, ready to tackle two boys under 5 and wrestle them silly or get them ready for bed ... or you are the very steady head - ready to listen to my list of what's wrong with the world and help me work through it. You are a great partner and I don't imagine one day of this ride without you. The boys have made it more intense, but for me this ride still includes the laughter that came with "secret dating" on CNN with President Clinton's entourage ... or walking backwards in the snow at 6 in the morning. I love you. Happy Anniversary.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Growing Pains
T-minus 1 week ... and so starts the new school stress
#1: "Where will I go to school next week?"
me: "You'll go to St. Patrick's, you know that. We've been visiting a lot over the summer."
#1: "But I can't go to school, I'm not 5 yet."
me: "Sure you can, you're in a great class where everyone is 4."
#1: "But I'm 4 3/4. Where do we go?"
T-minus 5 days ...
#1: "Grandma, do you know that I can't go to school next week because I'm not 5."
Grandma came up with all kinds of good reasons why St. Patrick's would be the most fun any 4 1/2 year old would ever wish for ...
T-minus 2 days ... Mrs. K and Mrs. J visit us at home
Oh, these are the loveliest ladies ever. They rang the door bell and I saw 2 women that both reminded me of my Mom. As much as I have loved #1's school for the last 4 years ... there was an unbelievable sense of calm to see "my mom" outside the window and know that "she" would take care of my little man for the next year. Mr. Right is convinced that he'll have his knuckles hit with a ruler by Mrs. K before the year is over ... another sign that she is perfect.
Mrs. K and Mrs. J spent 1/2 an hour with #1 - introducing him to Minky and Mr. Bubbles ... or something like that. They are the classroom mascots - puppets that help them learn the class rules and all kinds of other good things. Mrs. K then pulls out a photo album of pictures of things that happen in PK2 and the second photo in was a picture of last year's class and castle with a dragon. Mrs. K and #1 spend a few minutes talking about the magnificence of the castle and the size of the dragon when #1 breaks out ... "do you know what dragons are afraid of?" Mrs. K said, "No. What?" #1 leaves the room and comes back dressed in his Dark Knight Batman costume. I'm hopeful this means, "Watch out PK2, I'm on board."
T-minus 1 day ... Mommy, Daddy & #1 head to school for New Student Orientation
We came, we saw, we conquered...
We found his classroom, his "locker", the art station, the kitchen, the loft ... PK2 is A-OK!
#1s First Day of PK ...
A bit of a disaster until he got out of the car. But he got out of the car! I picked him up 3 hours later and he asked, "When do I get to stay for a full day?" I count that as success.
... And the transition continues ...
We're now in week 2+ and there are still signs of stress. There are tears at least once a day ... and some resistance in getting out of the car at least every other day. It is heartbreaking ... and I'm exhausted. Then there is the other side of the transition - when I pick him up after worrying about him all day long, and rush, rush, rush to get to school by 5:30 so he isn't the absolute last kid to get picked up from extended-day ... and he hits me for coming too early. "I'm not ready to go home yet!!!" WTF? Kid ... you are taking years off my life!
#1: "Where will I go to school next week?"
me: "You'll go to St. Patrick's, you know that. We've been visiting a lot over the summer."
#1: "But I can't go to school, I'm not 5 yet."
me: "Sure you can, you're in a great class where everyone is 4."
#1: "But I'm 4 3/4. Where do we go?"
T-minus 5 days ...
#1: "Grandma, do you know that I can't go to school next week because I'm not 5."
Grandma came up with all kinds of good reasons why St. Patrick's would be the most fun any 4 1/2 year old would ever wish for ...
T-minus 2 days ... Mrs. K and Mrs. J visit us at home
Oh, these are the loveliest ladies ever. They rang the door bell and I saw 2 women that both reminded me of my Mom. As much as I have loved #1's school for the last 4 years ... there was an unbelievable sense of calm to see "my mom" outside the window and know that "she" would take care of my little man for the next year. Mr. Right is convinced that he'll have his knuckles hit with a ruler by Mrs. K before the year is over ... another sign that she is perfect.
Mrs. K and Mrs. J spent 1/2 an hour with #1 - introducing him to Minky and Mr. Bubbles ... or something like that. They are the classroom mascots - puppets that help them learn the class rules and all kinds of other good things. Mrs. K then pulls out a photo album of pictures of things that happen in PK2 and the second photo in was a picture of last year's class and castle with a dragon. Mrs. K and #1 spend a few minutes talking about the magnificence of the castle and the size of the dragon when #1 breaks out ... "do you know what dragons are afraid of?" Mrs. K said, "No. What?" #1 leaves the room and comes back dressed in his Dark Knight Batman costume. I'm hopeful this means, "Watch out PK2, I'm on board."
T-minus 1 day ... Mommy, Daddy & #1 head to school for New Student Orientation
We came, we saw, we conquered...
We found his classroom, his "locker", the art station, the kitchen, the loft ... PK2 is A-OK!
#1s First Day of PK ...
A bit of a disaster until he got out of the car. But he got out of the car! I picked him up 3 hours later and he asked, "When do I get to stay for a full day?" I count that as success.
... And the transition continues ...
We're now in week 2+ and there are still signs of stress. There are tears at least once a day ... and some resistance in getting out of the car at least every other day. It is heartbreaking ... and I'm exhausted. Then there is the other side of the transition - when I pick him up after worrying about him all day long, and rush, rush, rush to get to school by 5:30 so he isn't the absolute last kid to get picked up from extended-day ... and he hits me for coming too early. "I'm not ready to go home yet!!!" WTF? Kid ... you are taking years off my life!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Family Bonding
Daycare closed for a week at the end of August for annual staff training and CPR certification -- a week of excellent refreshers for #2's teachers and a week of forced vacation for us. It was also a clean break for #1 as he came back from vacation and started PK at a new school. With sweltering heat at home, we headed to the NC mountains for some family time with Grandma & Pops and started September in the upper 50s.
Highlands was crisp and heavenly. Mr. Right and I actually made it to the gym most days and had uninterrupted time there. I downloaded some of my brother's recommendations to my playlist and had a little sibling bonding while working off many weeks of work-home-overall life stress. The boys were spoiled ... we all were spoiled. There were extra hands all over the place and it gave all of us some room to breathe. Heaven.
One of the best parts of our trip was watching the boys play together. During the day they were in different classrooms at school and until recently, were interested in totally different things. However, the more #2 talks, the more we all understand that he would rather be a big guy - doing big guy things. And for the first time, #1 was finding that waking up at 8:00AM means that his brother has been playing with the toys he designated "mine" for over an hour. Inside toys weren't such a big deal ... Outside toys such as the Golf Cart and the Gator ... BIG DEAL. Overall, they both shared and enjoyed one another more than not.
A second milestone - #2 slept in a twin bed while we were there! He is more than ready to be out of the crib, but we've held off on a big boy bed until we got the house sold. He loved sleeping on the bottom bunk (#1s previous post) and he LOVED sharing a room with his big brother. #1 was also very sweet. I heard lots of sweet advice coming from the top bunk - don't be scared, I'm right here if you need me, you're a big boy in a big bed ... it was all really sweet. I was a little worried about what this might mean when we got home to 2 separate bedrooms and back to a crib, but he's been unfazed. Hopefully the house stuff will be over sooner rather than later and we won't need to be so camera ready ... then we'll get his bed.
All in all, a wonderful family getaway and for the most part we were unplugged. It was nice to have the noise at a distance for a few days and enjoy the calm of the mountains (where mobile phones don't work very well). Lots of golf for the big and small boys, lots of driving trucks in the driveway, a day trip to explore the Nantahala River (which is about as warm as the Snake River - burrrr!), QT with the Grands and the first 2 kids on the brand new Cullasaja playground. Thank you Mom & Pops for treating all of us like Royalty.
Highlands was crisp and heavenly. Mr. Right and I actually made it to the gym most days and had uninterrupted time there. I downloaded some of my brother's recommendations to my playlist and had a little sibling bonding while working off many weeks of work-home-overall life stress. The boys were spoiled ... we all were spoiled. There were extra hands all over the place and it gave all of us some room to breathe. Heaven.
One of the best parts of our trip was watching the boys play together. During the day they were in different classrooms at school and until recently, were interested in totally different things. However, the more #2 talks, the more we all understand that he would rather be a big guy - doing big guy things. And for the first time, #1 was finding that waking up at 8:00AM means that his brother has been playing with the toys he designated "mine" for over an hour. Inside toys weren't such a big deal ... Outside toys such as the Golf Cart and the Gator ... BIG DEAL. Overall, they both shared and enjoyed one another more than not.
A second milestone - #2 slept in a twin bed while we were there! He is more than ready to be out of the crib, but we've held off on a big boy bed until we got the house sold. He loved sleeping on the bottom bunk (#1s previous post) and he LOVED sharing a room with his big brother. #1 was also very sweet. I heard lots of sweet advice coming from the top bunk - don't be scared, I'm right here if you need me, you're a big boy in a big bed ... it was all really sweet. I was a little worried about what this might mean when we got home to 2 separate bedrooms and back to a crib, but he's been unfazed. Hopefully the house stuff will be over sooner rather than later and we won't need to be so camera ready ... then we'll get his bed.
All in all, a wonderful family getaway and for the most part we were unplugged. It was nice to have the noise at a distance for a few days and enjoy the calm of the mountains (where mobile phones don't work very well). Lots of golf for the big and small boys, lots of driving trucks in the driveway, a day trip to explore the Nantahala River (which is about as warm as the Snake River - burrrr!), QT with the Grands and the first 2 kids on the brand new Cullasaja playground. Thank you Mom & Pops for treating all of us like Royalty.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
On the Market
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In search of a backyard that will allow for sports equipment and room to use it - without breaking glass - we've set out on the near impossible. We're hoping to find our exact same house - that we've loved and made our own over the last 8 years - on a slightly bigger lot and still with all of the city amenities we love. At least once a week we say we're not actually going to go anywhere. And now that the house is at its very best, it will be very hard to leave. But then there is that reminder of trouble on the horizon ... usually on a Saturday morning before the grown ups are fully awake ... it is clear there is a need for running room. So, we begin our quest ...
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