Homework Meltdown…

I have been mentally preparing myself for this day.  This morning Seth and I were talking about how last week at school was so that all the kids could get used to the teacher and routine and that today he would be coming home with homework.  We talked about the spelling words, vocabulary words, and grammar.  He was fine with it this morning. 

Well, this afternoon was another story.  He came home and unloaded his book bag.  He knew there was homework because he told me there was a book in the bag that he had to read.  I pulled out the folder and looked over the worksheets and homework assignments.  He read his two stories without any problems, but as soon as I said to get a piece of paper to write down his spelling words, the meltdown began…WOW!!!

Like I said before, I have been preparing for this day for a while, so I sat back in my chair and let him go.  I told him that, I was here to help him and I wasn’t mad.  He kept up with the “I don’t like school” bit.  As soon as he finished his meltdown we did his spelling words and we were done for the night. 

Huge drama for little things…

A Beautiful Sunday Afternoon…

Richie worked a dayshift today, but got off work early. The kids wanted to go do something and their suggestion was Monkey Joes. I told them that is was beautiful outside so we needed to do something outside. Seth asked if we could go on a picnic. I asked him if he wanted to go to the zoo and eat a picnic there. He went to see if Grace was ok with it and came back and said yes. I packed up some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and pretzels and we headed out. Finding parking was kind of tricky, I think everyone had the same idea…

Once we got there, the kids said they wanted to walk around for a while before eating. Fine with me…I am in no hurry today. Seth had the camera and took almost all of the pictures today. (I will put his name in the ones he took)…He did a great job!!! I even had one parent say to me, “starting him early, I see.” Well, that is what the delete button is for. LOL

Our first stop was the penguins.

After the penguins we went over by the sea lions and ate lunch. We watched the sea lion feeding and then headed up to the reptile house. As were walking through the house, I saw something on my shoulder and thought it was a small spider, so I swatted at it and it fell to the floor. No, not a spider, it was a honey bee. Then I realized it hurt, the darn thing stung me. I look at my shoulder and see the stinger still there. I don’t think I had ever been stung by a bee before, and I tell you it HURT…

Now off to see the apes…

Now on to see the baby giraffe…

Then the bird cage…

Now, my favorite part, The River’s Edge…I love watching the hippos. And they were full of energy today…

We had a great time today and hope everyone else enjoyed their unusually cool August day as well…

Happy Birthday Preston…

Preston’s birthday was on the 23rd, but they were in Florida celebrating in style!!! So, on Saturday they had the party at Techi-Tots, Inc, located in Edwardsville. The kids played on small laptop computers. They had a mission to complete for the game. They all had a good time!!

Grace got her haircut…

yesterday.  She has been really bugging me with not keeping her hair up.  She is always taking the hair tie out or the barrettes out…ugh.  I was getting tired of her hair getting in her food at the table and her trying to get it out of her eyes when she was doing something.  It would have been one thing to keep it up or behind her ears, but that doesn’t happen.  Richie and I both like long hair on her, and I think I was more nervous about getting it cut than he was. 

So, yesterday I took her to Great Clips and talked to the lady about her hair.  I wanted to keep the length, but trim in a few whispy bangs and layer it around her face.  This is what it came to…

She is very excited about it, and I figure the bangs will grow out if she ever decides to keep her hair up…LOL

The first day with no kids…

Both kids are at school.  I took Seth and came home and got ready while Richie took Grace to school.  Richie kept asking questions  about what we were going to do, because I had something up my sleeve for the day for us.  When he got back to the house from taking Grace to school, he noticed I had on my jeans and my boots were sitting next to the door.  His first thought is “the bike”. 

Yep, of all people, I planned a day for us to take the bike out for a couple hours before he had to go to work.  I packed a sack lunch for the both of us and we headed out.  We went to Eckerts and took our lunches to the apple orchard, found a shady spot and ate lunch.  Then we picked an apple to eat and a few to bring home. 

We had a great time, a relaxing ride!! 

And he is working next Tuesday afternoon and he is off next Thursday!!!  Both days that both kids will be in school…LOL

Trying something new…

Last week we bought a new computer, but it had to be ordered.  So yesterday it finally came in and Richie set it up and today I have been trying to figure out what is on it.  I found Windows Live Writer, where I should be able to blog without actually going to the blog site to do it.  We will see if this works. 

A little about what has been going on around here.  Today was Seth’s first full day of school.  Grace should have been at school for her second day, but has been under the weather the past couple of days.  She woke up Sunday night with a fever of 102.  Tylenol/Motrin for her all day on Monday.  The fever finally broke late Monday night, but I didn’t want to push my luck with the school calling me.  So, she has been at home all day with me, of course, asking every hour when Seth is coming home…LOL  It was like the day would never end with her asking all the time.  Of course as soon as Seth walks in the door, they are fighting and arguing until bedtime. 

Right before dinner tonight, they were outside playing baseball.  Seth was pitching the ball to Grace and he was “coaching” her on how to stand at the plate and swing.  He told her to “rotate her hips” to the plate and she does a little gig…LOL  Gotta love it!!!

Now the kids are in bed, Richie is at a softball game and I am playing on the new computer!!!

Here’s to hoping Thursday will be my first day with both kids in school!!!  Hopefully it doesn’t rain, because I have a surprise for Richie (he is working a swing shift and doesn’t have to be to work until 3).  Otherwise we will have to shoot for next Tuesday…

FIRST GRADER...

Monday morning, bright and early, an exciting day for Seth. 1ST GRADE!!!!! He has Mrs. Barnouski for his teacher. When Mom was working in Pre-K she was Mrs. Barnouski's aide. I think we have known her since she started working with the Lebanon school district. She is a great teacher and I really think Seth is going to enjoy first grade.

New territory for him, walking into the "big" kid wing of the school. He looked a little nervous, but made it without any hitches.

The kids had a half day of school on Monday, they got to pick where they wanted to sit and from what I understand from Mom talking to Mrs. Barnouski later in the afternoon, the kids were fascinated with the desk tops...LOL

I love the smiles after school and the good stories the kids tell!! He told me that he is ready for school and lots of reading (LOL, we will see later in the school year, how many times I have tell him to read his books)

Grace's first day of Pre School...

Thursday was a big day at the house for the whole family...even Seth. Grace went to school!!!! She goes to First Baptist of O'Fallon on Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30am to 2:30pm. Yep, 5 hours!!!! Seth didn't know what to do with himself without Grace at the house to bother and pester. She was so ready for school.

When we got to the school we ran into the Freddy (I watch him and his brother on Thursdays).

Talk about knowing where you are supposed to go...this girl was on a mission!!! LOL

She is heading into the class. Can you believe I didn't even get a kiss good-bye? What kind of crap is that...LOL

Already making herself at home...

When I went to pick her up, the teacher said she did well, but she is "very strong willed". LOL So, I explained to the teacher that I will need her help in letting me know if Grace has to visit the time out corner, because we have incentives at home for listening and being good in school. She is on board with me, so I am hoping for a good year this year. Seth starts school on Monday, almost a week late because they are not done putting in the bathrooms at the school.

Freeburg Homecoming...

In the past we have always gone to the Mascoutah Homecoming, but this year we missed it because we were on vacation, so we went to the Freeburg Homecoming. Richie was working a swing shift so the kids and I met up with Aimee and the boys. We started out with riding the rides. This is the first year Grace has been able to ride any of them, so she has been very excited about it.

Hayden and Seth on the Heart Flip...

Grace on the ferris wheel for kids...

Saturday, Richie was working a mid shift so he wanted to join us for the homecoming. We left the house around 530pm, thinking we were going to miss the parade. Well, we didn't. We ended up getting there in the middle of it, so we parked the cars and walked over to the parade.

After the parade, we headed to the park for some truck pull fun.

Then it was time for some more rides...Carson and Grace on the mini scrambler.

Thank you Ott family for enjoying the weekend with us!!!

Ben's first peach picking adventure...

Last Thursday Mom was watching Erin, Pearl, and Ben so I asked her if she wanted to take them peach picking. I had coupons for "kids pick free". We met at Eckert's and Ben took his first tractor ride out to the orchard and enjoyed the sunshine. Who knew, 3 months old, and already on his first field trip!!!

Lake of the Ozarks...

with Aimee and the boys...Aimee has been working full time this summer and we haven't been able to get together and let the kids play. So, we decided to take an extended weekend right before school starts and go to the lake for one last "vacation". We left Thursday night after she got off work. We were planning on spending the days at the pool and maybe hit the mall once before leaving. Well while we were at the pool Friday, Aimee got a call from her husband's cousin (who was also at the lake) wanting to know if we wanted to go to the waterpark that afternoon. We respectfully declined, but she also mentioned that she just bought a boat and wanted to know if we wanted to go out Saturday boating. We jumped at the chance...

We went over to their place and loaded up and headed to Captain Ron's for some playtime and lunch. The kids swam in the lake for about an hour and then we headed up the beach to eat some yummy lunch.

Grace met Emma (their daughter, she is 4) and they became fast friends.

Funny story, on the way to Captain Ron's, Aimee, Grace and I rode with Pat on their new boat, while the boys and Emma rode with Angie on Angie's parents boat. Grace sat in the front seat for the first part of the trip, but when Pat hit a wave, Grace threw up her hands and started yelling, "Get me off this ride..." Here are Emma, Grace and Aimee reenacting the scene...

Seth was so excited about this boat ride. This is the first time either of them had been on a boat. All of the kids were so good and listened to everything we said about boat safety.

After lunch we headed over to a cove where some friends of Angie and Pat's were and let the kids go tubing. They were a little hesitant at first but once they were in the water, we almost couldn't get them out. It started getting a little busy with other tubes so we got the kids out and took them over to the dock and let them jump off...

Once back at the condo, we ate dinner and the boys, Aimee and I played a game of Phase 10 twist. I put Grace to bed before the game, she was sooooooooo tired, she could barely keep her eyes open. I put Seth to bed before the game was over and he came out and said Grace had my pj pants on...YEP!!! She sure did!!! We all laughed so hard, I am surprised she didn't wake up. She WAS tired!!! LOL

Sunday we woke up and headed back to the mall to walk around and hit the stores we missed on Friday night. Then ate lunch at the condo and headed up to the pool for one last swim before Aimee and the boys had to head back home.

After the pool, I took some pics of the kids on the deck while Aimee got their stuff together. What a bunch of hams...LOL

After they left, Seth, Grace and I got comfortable in our pj's and goofed around with the camera. Grace and I bought new socks while at the mall...

Are these not the cutest things ever!!!

Thank you Aimee, Hayden and Carson for spending the weekend with us!! It meant a lot to us all and hope you guys had as much fun as we did...And if the Daddy's "behave" maybe they can come next time...LOL