We just can't stay away Part 3-birthday party

One of the boys had a birthday on Saturday and so we had a party for him after the rain gutter regatta. I think it must have been one of the most successful parties ever. The theme of the party was pirates and so Ben got to wear his Davy Jones costume from last Hallowe'en. The kids got to hunt for gold coins at the school, do an obstacle course, take their frustrations out on the pinata and have a water ballon competition

We just can't say away Part 2-raingutter regatta

The boy scouts did a rain gutter regatta as part 2 of our day at the school. One of the den leaders found some old gutters, we filled them up with water and the boys blew their Styrofoam boats to victory. They had a lot of fun with this event, they really are a good group of boys that have had the opportunity to form strong bonds through their involvement in scouting.

We just can't stay away Part 1-the vehicle fair

We spent the whole day at the school yesterday, even though it was Saturday. We had three separate events there, one after the other. First, we went to the Parents as Teachers vehicle fair. We have been going every year and the kids love it. Even though Maggie is technically not in the program any more, we still get all the notifications about it. They always have a great petting zoo that the kids spend a lot of time at. This year they even had a baby zebra. Ben loves to brush them whenever he can and it's a full time job to pull Maggie away from the animals, she absolutely loves them. When you see the interactions that all the kids have with these animals, you can see how animal therapy works so well for troubled children.Since Rock Hill is such a small city, it was funny that at one point the fire engine had to leave to attend to a medical emergency. They soon came back and everyone was fine, so all worked out well. The advantage of a small city and events such as this is that you know all of the people that work for the police & fire service. sadly, our one policeman that is certificed to ride a motorcycle is retiring in a few weeks. he had stopped someone outside our house yesterday and the kids got a kick out of the fact that he knew them and waved to them. I love Rock Hill!!!!

Isn't this a little too early for this?

What am I doing right now? I'm waiting up for my 8 year old son to come home from a football game & dinner!!!! I know that every mother goes through a phase of waiting up for their children to come home, I just didn't think it would happen to me so soon!!!!

back in the routine

We finished the first full week of school and it already feels like we were never off for the Summer at all. I picked up, or was in charge of, one or more of Ben's friends every night that I picked Ben & Maggie up from school. Ben's 2nd grade teacher who calls out the names of kids that are picked up just asks me "how many are you taking tonight?" when he sees me now. On Monday night, we had a PTO meeting and I was voted in as the co-vice president. On Thursday night we had the school open house. On Friday night I had a meeting to organize the scout calendar for the next year. I had forgotten how busy the school year can be!!!

Some things make you realize that everything is all right....

Maggie was sitting on the ground trying to put her shoes on. I looked over and she had one shoe on the wrong foot and she was crying. Two of Ben's friends went rushing over to her and then Ben went over in between them, but was crowded out by them. Maggie pushed them out of the way with each hand and then just held her arms up to Ben. Ben got down on the ground and hugged her and patted her back.
We spend almost every day acting as referees, it's so nice to see that they really do have a special bond when it counts....

My TFD marathon

Carrying on my Time For Dinner fan club, I went last night. Ben did not go with me, it's been the first time I have been on my own in forever. He hit his face on the bench at school and was done for the day-he said he did not want the TFD ladies to see it. They were all so disappointed that he wasn't there and all his favourites were there last night, so he missed them all. I made 16 dishes (32 half dishes actually). The most I have done before has been 8, but I thought I could easily do 16. The past few months, there have been a lot of easy recipes to follow where you essentially just put all the ingredients in a bag and seal it up. Not last night though. All the dishes I picked were complicated to make and involved several steps. I also made calzones which take quite a while to put together. It took me 2 and 3/4 hours to do everything and by the end of it, I felt like I'd been there for ever!!!!!
Still, there were a lot of things on the menu this month that are our favourites and I can't wait to start eating them!!!! After the CNN segment, they have been much busier and I was actually glad that Ben wasn't there to help as there was a lot less room than usual. If you live in the St Louis area, I strongly suggest you try them out, their meals are yummy and the convenience can't be beaten. Of course, you have to go with me or tell them that I referred you because then I get a free chocolate butter cake.....

First day of school

There was much excitement in the house as Maggie's first day at school arrived. Sam took them to school as usual and took pictures for me. Of course everyone that knew Ben was very excited to see Maggie arrive at school and she got a little overwhelmed with the attention. Sam took her into her new classroom and she settled down pretty well and told him he could leave. Luckily (I think!!) third grade and kindergarten have lunch and recess together and so Ben was able to help Maggie with her lunch. He made a good first impression with the new principal because he was helping Maggie open her carrots and she commented on what a good older brother he was (if she only knew). Ben and Xavier were teaching Maggie playground etiquette at recess and I am sure that she felt much better with Ben around. The kindergartners will be getting third grade buddies this year and all of Ben's friends are hoping that they get Maggie, I can't believe the boys are fighting over her already!!!! I was making Maggie's lunch last night and I asked her if she needed me to put something in a bag for her and Ben said "it's OK Mum, I'll be there to help her", I wonder how long this will last for.

Maggie said she had a good day and she was very proud that she ate all of her lunch. I could tell she'd about reached the end of her tether by the end of the day when she started to cry when I told her that Sam was still at work and then really started sobbing when Ben went home with one of his friends. I tried to get her to play on the playground with the kids that were there, but she was having none of it. She told me she didn't have any friends. On the way to pick Ben up, she said she was going to sing a song about Ben, it went like this:

"Ben is so great"

"Ben is playing with Xavier, Ben has lots of friends"

"I don't have any friends"

(Mum, do you have friends?)

"Ben has friends and Mummy has friends and Daddy has friends, but I don't have any friends"

After I picked Ben up, we went through McD's to get them something to eat. The lady at the drive through said "oh, you haven't been around for a while". Eeek.....did we really fall back into the old routine so quickly and were we really McD's regulars? I guess we were and people take more notice of us than I thought!!!!! Honestly, I talked to many parents that I haven't seen all Summer & it's just like we'd never been away, we're already arranging playground assignations and play dates and we've just picked up where we left off. Now, we just need to get Maggie some friends.....

Time for Dinner

If you wonder what Time for Dinner is all about, and why I am always raving about it, check out this CNN video
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/business/2009/07/25/romans.time.for.dinner.cnn?iref=videosearch

Day with the Rays

Yesterday was the kids' last day of freedom. To celebrate, Ben went to the zoo and did the Day with the Rays program where the kids get to spend the morning helping out with the stingrays at Caribbean Cove. I dropped him off at 8 and then we all picked him up at 12.30. He had a great time, he got to learn all about the stingrays, feed them and clean out their tank. He must have listened to everything they said because he regurgitated it all to us afterwards. He showed Maggie how to pet them properly and we were lucky enough that they fed them again when we were there, so Maggie got to feed them too. I wanted to get him a T shirt to celebrate the day, but they didn't have any his size. He decided he wanted to get yet another stuffed animal as a memento of his day. Maggie decided she wanted to get this enormous dolphin & I got it for her because she hardly ever gets anything. As soon as Ben saw it, he wanted one too, but I managed to persuade him to just let Maggie have it and he stick to his stingray. Maggie loves being at the zoo, she really likes to look at all the animals and loves to pet the ones in the Children's Zoo. Unfortunately, it was really hot & humid yesterday and we didn't last long enough for her. Ben was done by the time we even picked him up, so we cut the visit short. I was reminded of why I try to avoid the zoo when it's Summer. Our Summer is now officially done and it's time to look forward to a new school year.....

Vacation

We went to Table Rock Lake for a few days to get away from it all before school starts again. we decided to go back to the same place as we were at last year as the kids had enjoyed it so much. It was completely different this year, the weather was perfect and we got plenty of opportunity to be outside and enjoy the lake. There are 3 pools at the resort and the kids love them for 2 main reasons-they can alternate between the pool & the hot tub and they can go down the slide. We spent the first day alternating between the pools, but then Ben found the lake and he didn't want to go anywhere else. They used the lake as much as they could. They went fishing off the dock-Maggie even caught a decent sized fish. They soon got bored with that, but they had fun feeding the fish at the dock, they would put a worm on the hook and then watch the fish come out and eat the worms & then swim off!!!! Ben loved to go on the paddle boats and take Maggie out on thew kayak. He learned how to maneuver them on his own very quickly and just took off on his own all the time. We rented a boat and spent the last day on the lake. It was pretty windy that day and it was busy on the lake, so it wasn't ideal, but we had a great time anyway. Ben & Maggie both took turns driving the boat. They both liked to float on the inner tube. Ben even let Sam pull him behind the boat for a while....before he fell in (the look on his face is priceless!!) Ben even managed to capture a rare photo of Mum & Dad relaxing on the couch

Summer finally arrived

We had a very hot & humid weekend in St Louis and of course we aren't used to it because we've had such a mild Summer so far. Ben is battling a cold and had a low grade fever all weekend. However he did find time & energy to play with his new best friend all weekend. I took everyone to the pool on Sunday, including Ben's friend and his friend's cousin, they all had fun playing together and we were there for 6 hours. Unfortunately, Ben's friend is on antibiotics and took them on an empty stomach before we left. About an hour into the pool visit, he came over and told me he did not feel well. He then proceeded to throw up on me 4 times before I could get him out of the pool. I have never been thrown up on by my own children. Isn't this above & beyond the call of duty???!!!!!

The latest performance

We were "privileged" to attend a fine performance of straw playing by Maggie yesterday. Of course, it was orchestrated by Ben. We had to pay 1c for admittance, but it was an extra 5c for a seat. Ben's announcement at the beginning was "no cameras, no cell phones and ABSOLUTELY no drooling" I'm not sure where he heard that one!!!!

We got our Hogwart's letters....

We got the school letters yesterday. Maggie is not going to be with Ben's old teacher for kindergarten, Sam thinks she must have decided one Sylar was enough for her!!!! I didn't really have any preference for a third grade class for Ben, so I don't know whether his teacher will be good or bad for him. I think all the teachers at their school are great, so I don't think it matters much at all. I am sure that Ben will care more about which kids he's with rather than the teacher. It will be interesting to see how the split falls this year. It's the MO tax-free weekend for school supplies, so I am sure that it will be bedlam getting everything, but this is the only time we have until school starts again. Obviously third grade is more serious and different to the previous years, Ben needs dry erase markers rather than crayons and three ring binders rather than note books. I'm pretty excited that the school year is almost here.....

Garden nights

We went to Garden Nights at the botanical gardens on Thursday. It's kind-of a kid's night event, but they have sampling of beer & wine there too. We haven't been to the gardens at night for a while & it gave me a little opportunity to see some of the things in bloom that I usually don't see as it's so hot in the Summer. We spent a lot of time in the Children's Garden playing with the usual things in there. The attractions for the kids were the sidewalk chalk artist .....and the balloons. They both got aliens in spaceships, but (as usual) Maggie managed to pop most of Ben's balloons by the time we left (why does that always happen?)

The things they say....

Now that Maggie is getting a little older, her & Ben have some interesting conversations and they really do communicate with each other. Now, both of them can come out with funny things they say.
Ben & I went to get Maggie from day care & I asked her if she had anything in her cubbie that we needed to take home. She told me there wasn't anything.
Ben: No Maggie art? Maggie, why don't you have any Maggie art?
Maggie: I don't know Ben, I keep trying but my brain keeps going to sleep....
I picked Ben up the next day and he wanted to have a play date but I told him we were going to the Botanical Gardens. He started to whine about it
Ben: Why are we going there? The botanical gardens are so boring
Me: Honestly Ben, sometimes you can just suck the happiness out of a situation
Ben: Oh Mum, I would never do that, I love you too much. I do want to go to the botanical gardens.....
Of course, we went and they had a great time

My baby has a backpack for school

I took Maggie to Target to get her school supplies yesterday. She was so excited. Of all the backpacks and lunchboxes she could choose, she picked SuperMario. Obviously she wouldn't go anywhere near the pink Disney Princesses or Hello Kitty. She insisted on taking her backpack to day care with her today and then of course she forgot to bring it home. Wonder if she'll ever remember to bring it home from school.

A major haircut

I decided I was going to get my hair cut yesterday morning. Ben & Maggie wanted to go with me. Maggie's hair needed to be tidied up a bit and taken out of her eyes, so I got hers cut too. Ben insisted he wasn't getting his hair cut even though he wanted to go with me. Then, when he got there, he decided he wanted it all cut off. He would not be persuaded to have it cut any longer than buzzing it all over. He's definitely a child of extremes. I think he's so cute with it cut like this, it really makes his eyes shine out. It is definitely much easier to take care of.

Grocery store

Ben decided to make his own grocery store yesterday, so he fished everything out of the recycle bin and a bunch of stuff out of the pantry and set it all up. He organized things into categories, just like he does when he makes a library out of his books. After he had everything set up, he got Maggie to buy things from the store. It takes him ages to set everything up and put everything away afterwards and he can never get anyone to buy things/check books out for very long, but obviously to him it's worth the effort.

Peach picking at Eckert's

We went peach picking for the first time this year. The peaches were great as usual. Maggie has decided to add peaches to the list of things she does not like to eat!!! It turned out to be a cool & cloudy day and we just got back before it started to rain (pour). We got a little wet, but the people in the wagon behind us got absolutely drenched. As usual, the kids loved to climb all over the old trucks and tractors that they have out there.

History repeats itself

I have said for a long time that Ben & Maggie fight just like my sister & I did. The final similarity appeared today. Ben wouldn't let Maggie go in his room to pet his toad, so she grabbed his arm and scratched it with her nails. My sister did the same thing to me. Ben & I have the same handicap, bitten nails.....

Pet lover's camp

Every year Ben does pet lover's camp at the YMCA. They have a great time each week. They get to visit PetsMart, PetCo, the APA and Purina Farms. They have a pet parade on Friday morning and Ben insisted on taking his toad for the parade. He said all the kids loved it.

Each year, they decorate a goldfish bowl & bring home a goldfish. Each year, ours lasts a matter of hours rather than days. This year, the "bowl" that they decorated was the size of a small water drinking glass and I knew it was way too small for a fish to live in. You have to wonder why they think it's a good idea to give kids a goldfish that's unlikely to make it through the weekend-I wonder how many tears get shed?

Sam had exactly the same thought as I did. We decided we might as well get a decent tank for the fish and give him a fighting chance. We went to PetsMart and ended up with a goldfish starter tank, complete with filter and light. We put it in Ben's room as it's the only room in the house that has a door shut to keep out the cats. Now, Ben has a goldfish on one side of his bed & the toad on the other. So, now we have a 13c fish in a $50 tank!!!! I am planning on having to replace the fish with something else very soon (probably a beta), but the fish made it through the night.

The funniest thing is that we saw another YMCA family in PetsMart looking at fish supplies and another one walking in the door as we were walking out. We're not the only ones that have given in.....

The beginning of the "this is the last day"

Yesterday was the last day that we picked Ben & Maggie up from 2 different places. Even though Ben is still in Summer camp & Maggie is at day care, Ben will be at the YMCA from next week and Maggie's day care is in the same building. So, for the foreseeable future (about 3 years) we will be dropping off & picking up at the same place every day. You can bet we'll be making the most of that....