We met the teachers on both Tuesday (Lou’s teacher) and Wednesday (Boo’s teacher); it was about an hour affair discussing class rules and all. All things considered it went well. We divided and conquered. Hubby went to Lou’s and I went to Boo’s. It just turned out that way because I was working late for the budget on Tuesday and Hubby at bike polo on Wednesday. Apparently my first impressions of Mrs. G (Lou’s teacher) couldn’t have been more wrong. Hubby thought she was fabulous, very warm, calm and understanding. She even apologized for the school supply lists admitting they were excessive and not her idea. They were in place before she was hired. Lou couldn’t be happier with her. Just loves her and wants so desperately to do well. She gets up early and gets herself dressed every morning (sometimes before even us!) She couldn’t be a more model student and we couldn’t be happier.

After hearing all this late Tuesday night, I thought everything was a slam dunk. Boo’s teacher (Miss B) was awesome and everyone seemed to love Mrs. G. I went to the Back to school night all ready to go. About 30 minutes into it, we got a full blown description of both the homework and other at home work that was required during the week. Boo will bring home homework on Monday and turn it in on Friday. In addition to the homework, she is required to read (to us or someone else) at least 20 minutes a day then write a few sentences in her Reading Journal summarizing what she read. In addition there is a Math Log where she has a daily problem to do at home. After the problem is done, she has to write a sentence on how she solved the problem from a big picture side. She also has a planner where she must document her homework or other things to be done daily and it is our responsibility to sign off on it every night. She has a Friday Folder that contains her schoolwork and the newsletter that must be returned Monday. It also stays in her folder enabling Ms B to send home notes to us directly. We have to check it every night because if something is it in it, it usually needs to be returned the next day. Now bear in mind I have about 45 minutes daily to spend with the kids. I guess it should be changed to HAD about 45 minutes to spend with the kids. Boo is a slow reader and writer, and very methodical about everything. For her to read 20 minutes, and then summarize the reading will take at least another 20 minutes. I have just sucked up all of the time (providing I give 5 minutes to Lou) and we haven’t touched the planners, the Math Log or her homework. If just the homework could be done on the weekend it would help dramatically, but I don’t see that happening either. I hope Boo is able to hold it together this fall. She had such a hard time adjusting to the significantly higher workload last year that she made herself physically ill about half the days. I hope this transition will be easier for her.

Would I trade my Working Mom title for a SAHM one? Nope. I love my job. Love love love it. I think I am a better mom when I am working, but do I feel like my kids might be getting the short end of the stick sometimes, yes. Yes I do. It isn’t their fault that their mom isn’t a good SAH one, that she isn’t good at helping with homework in a positive and constructive manner (we spent many a night in tears doing homework last year). Is it putting them further behind in school? I don’t know, but I certainly hope not. I think I just need to figure out how to make it work better. If anyone has any great suggestions, for goodness sake please let me know.

Talk of the Nation this afternoon was talking with the writer and executive producer of the new movie The Bucket List. Basically it is a story of 2 terminally ill cancer patients that break out of their hospital to complete their things to do before I kick the bucket list. They had some other people on there and it got me to thinking – what are the things I want to do before I kick the bucket and have I completed any? Here is my stab at my list…

Verno’s Bucket List

..Run a marathon (check!)
..Have “Excellent” credit and maintain it (verno pays bills like she does everything, always a little bit late)
..Drive a car that can comfortably seat my family and at least one extra person
..Travel to the Galapagos Islands
..Learn to enjoy yoga
..Return to my pre-hubby/pre-baby weight
..Finish an IronMan
..Be able to consistently run a sub-10 minute mile
..Score a goal in soccer (years and years of soccer and I have STILL never scored a goal)
..Ski the back bowls at vail, even for just one run
..Go to cooking school – even just a 2 week general one, but a good one nonetheless
..Attend a massage workshop or get somewhat trained, not certified, just more educated
..Master a Bolognese Sauce
..Have a 2nd home (ski condo, beach house, some personal vacation spot that is all mine)

That is about I could come up with. Somehow I think it is supposed to be longer, but it is a work in progress. Hubby and I talked last night and oddly enough there weren't many that were similar. He wants to drive across the Australian Desert (um no), drive to alaska (see previous), climb all the Colorado 14ers (eh.. maybe) and go to Hawaii (sure but no real driving force to get there.) Hopefully we will find some overlap at some point.

First Day of School

Today was Lou’s first day of school in Kindergarten. I went to pick her up at 11 and asked her how her day was. She said her day was spectacular. This is from the kid that only 9 months ago always said nothing when you asked what the best part of her day was. She was always so negative and cynical. She was a happy baby, but last year was hard. I think it was bad before, but things got substantially worse after her uncle died. She was in therapy for awhile and I think it made a huge difference. Certainly we weren’t able to help her through this struggle alone. She really seems to have come full circle now.

She had a spectacular day. She said she didn’t make friends, and that she was just quiet today. I told her maybe friends should be on tap for tomorrow. The she told me about some of the kids in class and what she did. The only real concern I had was when I asked what the best part of her day was, she said “making bombs out of legos”. Bombs? Then she clarified – pretend bombs, and it was her idea. Great, we are going to be that kid in class.

Boo didn’t get out until noon, and I haven’t heard how that day went. I am looking forward to hearing all of her news as well. I did manage to sneak a peak at her when I was dropping of my 2nd load of school supplies – don’t get me started – I have the final load in the trunk of my car. She looked real happy. I am so looking forward to getting back into a routine, and I bet they are too.

On this blog I read, the author - Heather - sets out weekly blog challenges. They have ranged from all sorts of things, but all in the “tell me about yourself” vein. Here is this week’s:

I want you to make a list (with explanations/elaborations, if so desired) of your favorite things. They could be household appliances, entertainment items (TiVo!!), hair/makeup/skin stuff. The only "rule" is that these should be products, things other people can buy... so don't say "My husband, my child" - that's not quite the point.

I have never participated, but I think it is about time to give it a shot. So here I go – in bullet form no less…

• Tivo – obvious, but who DOESN’T love tivo. It is the greatest invention ever. ever ever ever.
• My new Keen shoes. – They are the Keen Calistoga in black. I totally stole the idea from my good friend Alex, she bought then when she was in boulder. I waffled on them for weeks then finally found a pair on ebay and I bought them. I need fancier shoes for work and they go with both skirts and pants. They are super comfy and more girly looking than most of my shoes.

• Chick fil a – ‘nuff said
• Southwest Airlines – 220 RT tickets Denver – Orlando at Christmas. And no extra fees for unaccompanied minors – how cool is that?
• My cruiser. The Electra Straight 8. I got it for mother’s day a few years ago and just fell in love with it and biking all over again. Hubby and I ride around our little piss-ant town when we get time, and now that boo can ride, we go on more family rides together. I have mountain and road bikes, but they aren’t nearly as fun as the cruiser. If I could have ridden this in the danskin, I would have.

• My Garmin Forerunner 301, fondly known as Armand. If you gotta run and you are a total data junkie like I am, Armand is the best running partner. I download the stats to my computer and analyze how I have gotten better (or worse as the case may be). I analyze how elevation and weather affects my run. I record my food intake and the time of the day of the run to see how to minimize my time in race situations. I am not sure I can really run without it, I have become quite addicted.

I think that is about it for now. No clothes or purses, although I have too many. Oh one final one –
• Ebay. Ebay and Craigslist. You can get all of the above (and more!) for cheaper than anywhere else. Sometimes if you aren’t careful, you can get caught in a buying frenzy, but it is a great place to go when you know exactly what you want. I don’t really shop in stores too much anymore. Ok – well be honest – I can’t stop shopping in stores no matter what I do, but I leave that for the spur of the moment small purchases and go to ebay and craigslist for everything else.

I think that is about it. I will add more as they come to me. Now I just need to go get some work done now.

That question has come to annoy me. I know people are complimentary or worried or something, but there just isn’t a good answer to that question. I have no idea how I do it. I have no idea how I did it with just a husband much less 3 kids. You do it because you have to, because you want to, because it needs to be done. Sure help is fantastic, but we would all manage to get through the day without it. Even if we are struck down with the flu, if the kiddos really need us we somehow manage to summon that last little bit of energy to help them. We give them the food off our plate, even if we are starving, if they are hungry. Maybe not everyone is like that, but as mothers you just have to be. Their needs take precedent; that is just how it is.

With that also in mind, there has got to be some diminishing returns when you add children. There is just so much any one person can do, right? I always subscribed to that theory – and also another one a good friend shared with me when I was preggo with my 2nd (she has already had 2). Kids are like pizza hut pizza, the first one is full price, but the second is only $5. It is true without a doubt. Adding the extra kiddo is just a bit more work – not nearly as much as the first was. I might have a change in ideas after yesterday though… I sent the girls off to FL with my folks and took baby boy back to Colorado. WE had a 5 hour drive from rural Missouri, where the service was held, to Kansas City. It would have been considerably easier to fly in and out of St Louis, but not to get to St Louis from Denver, if that makes any sense. So baby boy and I hit the road with time to spare. I had rented a Toyota Highlander because with all the kids, I prefer to have the added room. So with just me and baby boy we had too much room. He was in the center of the back seat and I was driving. He was great for about the first 1.5 hours. He had a bottle then took a nap. I brought cds, so I was enjoying the time to myself as well. After his brief nap, he got a little annoyed with driving. He started screaming. If you met baby boy, you realize he isn’t a screamer. He is actually the easiest baby I have seen in a long long time (knock on wood – I do know how lucky I am). But he started screaming, and crying and just being miserable. Since I am not used to hearing him fuss, I immediately pulled over to see what I could do. He had toys, a bottle & a teether. As soon as I got back there and started talking to him, he settled down immediately and just cooed right on back. I continued to sit and talk with him for another 10 minutes or so, just to make sure. He was happy as could be. So I got out of the car and went to the front seat. In the time between shutting the back door and opening the front, he started wailing all over again. I immediately went back to him and he settled right down. Out of the car, and the screaming began. Hmm. Maybe he thought I was going to leave him there, maybe he just needed to feel the car moving, and maybe he would stop if I just started back on the trip. Yep – nope – none of those things matter. He was lonely. He just wanted company. I thought maybe if I turned off the radio and started talking, that would help. Nope. He wanted to see me. Well let me not get all arrogant – he don’t think he wanted me, I think he wanted someone. This boy didn’t make a peep on the 5 hour drive down there, but continued to scream for the next 2 hours.

The kid is social. He missed his sisters. He doesn’t really know life without them. He handles their lack of personal space with a smile. He gets dragged around the room and even tossed in the air by his sisters. He loves it, loves it all. So oddly enough, the trip was WAY harder with just him. I had started to miss the girls already. Oh – and don’t get me started about the plane trip, I missed them even more there. I sat there and wondered how I ever did it with just one kid. 