Summer is upon us

Sad but true, Maggie & Eion's last day of school was yesterday. Summer is here. Actually, for the first time in a few years, I don't feel a sense of dread at the upcoming months. We took the kids to the pool a few times over the weekend & they were downright manageable. Eion, as always, was the most challenging but overall was still fairly well behaved even when thunder on Monday meant we had to stay out of the pool for a 1/2 hour.

In all the excitement of preschool acceptance and lost teeth, I completely forgot to report on my first entry into a tennis tournament. My friend Kris Bowman & I competed in the Club's member-guest (or member-member in our case) last Friday. We won some games but lost all three of our sets. The last in a stunning 0-9 blowout! Our opponents for that one remarked that we had really great attitudes. Which is the equivalent of setting someone up on a date and telling them that the person has a super personality. But losses be damned, we had a great time!

Big Week!

At the 11th hour the other day, I found a sitter so I didn't have to take Eion with me to the luncheon. I think everyone was grateful.

We found out yesterday that Maggie got a spot in the pre-k class that Morrigan was in last year. Go Maggie! She is excited, having heard about the class from her sister. Unfortunately, her spirits were dampened a bit since she wanted to start today.

Morrigan lost her first tooth Friday. We were hosting couples poker that night (Tim came in 2nd, I was 3rd) and she came running down after brushing her teeth with a new gap in them. The darn thing had been loose for weeks. I personally don't understand how she didn't yank it out long ago. So we had the honor of our first gig as the Tooth Fairy. Tim smartly suggested we put it in a little bag so we could find it under her pillow. So there we are after poker. It is 12:30. We get the bag out from under her pillow and it is empty. We didn't want to wake her so we inserted the dollar and hoped the tooth fell under the bed. She was happy with the dollar and didn't mention finding the tooth so we figured, mission accomplished! We have been looking for the evidence for two days but have yet to find it. I guess if it ever turns up, we'll just tell her the Tooth Fairy had been drinking beer & playing poker that night so she must have dropped it.

Luncheon

Today is going to be great! I forgot to RSVP for babysitting for the RAMA Installation Luncheon so I get to take Eion with me. And nothing says awesome idea like taking a 2 year old boy to the nicest hotel in town for a formal luncheon!

Lake Party Weekend

I am still tired today in spite of having gone to bed at something ridiculous like 8:30 last night. We hosted the big lake party this past Saturday. It was great! The weather was perfect, we had about 110 guests, the food was good and the margaritas were plentiful. Possibly too plentiful but nothing a few motrin couldn't fix! The weather was shocking since generally when we have a party, it rains, snows or worse. Our friends John & Claudia even remarked that this was the first party of ours they had attended that it didn't rain! Since Mom & Dad came to take care of the kids, Tim & I got to spend the night there which allowed for late night hot tubbing & swimming. Years of getting up with the kids in the morning has me hard-wired to get up early so I only got about 4 hours of sleep but it was worth it.

While we were gone, my parents got to spoil the kids rotten (in a good way, of course.) Saturday, they took them to the Science Museum and out to lunch. After naptime they went to the mall and got to ride all the little rides - with quarters which Mommy & Daddy generally don't do. Then they each got a donut. That night the girls "camped" ie slept on the deck with Opa. They have wanted to go camping for quite some time so this was big! Sunday, they hooked up with Hans' Mom, who was watching their kids for the party, and went to the zoo & had a picnic. Later, Dad planted flowers with the girls. Needless to say, all involved were worn out by Sunday night.

Today the kids were excited to go to school and tell their friends about the big weekend. So Maggie gets to her class and tells Miss Meridith, "My Oma & Opa were here and we went to the mall!" Knowing how much else was packed into the weekend, I prompted, "What else did you do?" She replied, "We went to Chik-Fil-A!" Poor Eion was in tears when they left. He arrived home after school and started calling around the house "Po-pa! Mo-ma!"

Mother's Day Part Two

So after a couple of interesting Mother's Day lunches, the real Mother's Day rolled around. Now mind you, I already received my gift (Tim took me to see 28 Weeks Later. Excellent zombie flick!) So we loaded up the kids and went to the zoo. Roanoke has a great zoo for little kids as it is small and manageable. There were more animals than I have ever seen out & active - probably due to the warm but not too hot weather. We packed a picnic lunch & ate there. The kids were amazingly good. I will go so far as to say a perfect day!

Happy Mother's Day?

On Friday, Maggie & Eion's classes both had their Mother's Day celebrations. Which basically meant that instead of having the morning free to play tennis, I got to go to school with them at 11, cutting my morning short. All of you who just can't spend enough time with the little ones, well I just have to beg to differ. If they really wanted to give me a Mother's Day gift, they would have kept them an extra hour. But Tim (rightly so) said I would regret it if I didn't go.

So off I went. Eion seemed happy to see me but mainly spent the "lunch" (read: mini-muffins and grapes) running around & misbehaving. I stated he was probably acting up because I was there. No, his teachers said, he's like this all the time. Ouch.

Then it was off to Maggie's class. They had made the hat I am wearing in the picture. It was really cute. Maggie had been mentioning a surprise hat all week and then telling me, "Nevermind, there is no hat." Then "lunch" number 2. Miss Meredith told us the kids had made the lunch for us. This alone was cause for alarm. Then we found out that they had made fruit kabobs and frosted mini cupcakes. Sooooo I have to tell you how disturbing the thought of not only my own, but many 3 year olds coming into contact with my lunch is. For those who haven't spent much time with a preschooler lately, they are not big on hygiene and are fascinated with their nostrils.

Luckily, it is only "my day" once a year.

Perception

Isn't it funny to hear different perspectives....

As I was carrying Maggie & Eion down the stairs (st the same time mind you, about 60 pounds of kids), I was singing them a made up song about their strong Mommy. Maggie's reply was "You're not as strong as Trent's Mommy." So true, but how the hell does she know?

I told Morrigan she would have to ride the bus the other day. She asked why & I told her I had to work. Her response, "Can I go to day care?"

Eion, he just likes to scream at the top of his lungs & then tell me, "I'm really really loud."

Derby Party

Ok, all I have to say is that there should just be more hat-centric events. And that is in spite of my inability to see anyone's face all night if they were taller than me. I am quite sad I have no upcoming events to which I can wear it again. Maybe I will just wear it to the market, the mall....

Fun Day

Today was Fun Day at Crystal Spring Elementary. Which is really a misnomer. It should be Hell Day or perhaps Big Headache Day. I guess 2 out of 3 kids had fun but as we are all well aware, it is all about me.

It started with the fun run. The girls were in the pre-k and kindergarten "heats." Both finished dead last. I was videoing Morrigan's group and she was so far behind the next to last person that I actually thought she had dropped out of the race. So much for the athletic scholarships.

At this point we were a half hour in and it was clear to all present that Eion was going to be nothing but unpleasant so he and Tim went home. I stayed with the girls who had a blast in the obstacle course, moonwalk, jumping on bubble wrap and going to the cake walk. At which, by the way, Morrigan won some very yummy cupcakes! By the time the day was over, a mere 5 hours later, they were riled up and pumped full of sugar. Mercifully, we are going to a Kentucky Derby party and get to leave them with a sitter in a few hours!

Class Pictures

Have you ever seen such an angry looking bunch?

Thursday Already?

Oh but where has the week gone!? I started my new job on Monday and also worked Tuesday. After nearly a decade out of the workforce, it is fun to be back! The job is not hard, just some new computer programs to learn. But it is well suited to my compulsive, organization loving nature and seems like it will be a good fit.

Wednesday I went with Maggie & her class on a field trip to the Virginia Safari Park. http://www.virginiasafaripark.com/ We rode in carts and were able to feed the many animals there. There were giraffes, zebras, elk and all sorts of other creatures. They are all pretty tame and walk right up to get their snack. Some are a bit pushy and like to make off with your feed bucket. Maggie had a ball!

We've got a big weekend coming up with Crystal Spring Fun Day on Saturday morning and a Kentucky Derby party in the afternoon. I have a magnificent big peach hat covered with feathers. I can't wait to wear it!