Like Karen With An "M": August 2014

Thursday, August 28, 2014

First Day of Preschool and Pre-K

Today was Tess's first day of preschool and Cole's first day of pre-K.

Tess had been a little hesitant about it the last few days, with a few muttered "No preschool"'s that worried me. But when it was time for her to go in, she left without ever looking back! (She takes after Spencer in that regard - both Josh and Cole fell apart.) After I picked her up and asked how her day went she said "Good. It was a good preschool. But it was a scary preschool. But you came back!" So I guess she was a bit more nervous than she let on this morning. Hopefully we won't have any issues next week!

Cole, on the other hand, was more than ready!! He's been wanting to go to pre-k for so long, especially since Spencer and Josh are back in school. This boy, who couldn't handle it the first year I took him to preschool, is a pre-k champ. He was so excited to be there! I'm still glad we kept him out of Kindergarten this year - he still has some behavioral and impulse control issues. I think this year will be great for him and will help make his elementary school career a total success.

They were so stinkin' cute this morning!

And how did I do? I surprised myself by getting really choked up when I saw Tess run into that classroom. Really and truly it surprised me. I sat in the car for a little bit and then pulled it together so I could go run all the errands I had planned for that morning. I've had a child attached to the hip for 10+ years - I'm going to take full advantage of the 5 hours a week I will now have to myself!!

After preschool we went to McDonald's (kids' choice) for a celebratory lunch.

They were so well behaved and each ate all of their lunch - it's like they matured and grew up in just a few hours this morning! (Don't worry - they reverted to their natural state with a good battle once we got home.) I have a feeling we are all going to love preschool this year.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Expected vs. Actual

The Big Things On My To-Do List for Today That I Wrote Down Last Night (Abbreviated):

Work out
Wash bedding, vacuum and dust bedroom
Take Tess and Cole to their preschool visits
Grocery shopping
Edit a 14 page paper
Make some lasagnas using my homemade sauce

The Big Things I Actually Did Today (Not Abbreviated):

Nearly died after working out because apparently my lungs are still very angry about my cold. (Oddly, they didn't seem too angry during the work out.)
Yelled at Josh all morning to "Get away from that mirror and do your jobs!!" because I kept finding him there preening over his hair, which, to his dismay, is still curly. (It was picture day at school.)
Started washing bedding.
Soaked Spencer's foot in warm water and Epsom salts because of an infected toe.**
Answered a text about taking someone dinner tonight. "Sure, I'd love to take them dinner! I was making an extra lasagna anyway, so it won't even be any extra effort!"
Realized that Spencer's toe was more infected and hurt than I had previously thought.
Watched the school bus leave - with Josh but not Spencer on it.
Made a doctor's appointment for Spencer's toe - the only one available was 15 minutes after Cole's preschool visit. Of course.
Called Spencer's school to explain why he wouldn't be at school. Again.
Emailed Spencer's teacher to explain why he wouldn't be at school. Again. And could you please send his homework home with our neighbor?
Felt kinda stupid for keeping him home for Toe Problems.
Felt less stupid after seeing him try to walk on the foot with the bad toe. Ouch.
Took Tess and Cole to their preschool appointments.
Only flinched a little when it became obvious that Cole's reputation preceded him when one of his teachers said "Oh, you must be Cole!" after I calmed him away from the brink of a meltdown in the hall.
Rushed home to pick Spencer up and take him to the doctor. (Yes, he stayed home by himself for an hour. I was fairly confident he wouldn't get into to much trouble seeing as how he could barely walk.)
Rushed to the doctor's office.
Waited for the doctor for a good 30+ minutes. So glad we rushed.
Winced as Spencer squirmed and moaned as she cleaned out his gross toe.
Took the kids to Subway at Wal-Mart since it was lunch time, they were hungry, I HAD to go grocery shopping (remember the dinner), and that was where Spencer's prescriptions were being filled.
Dreamed of next week when I will go from having 4, 3, or 2 kids to having ZERO kids while grocery shopping. Happy, happy day.
Waited in the check out line for 15 minutes.
Watched Tess have her first-ever major melt down in a store. Impressed by the fact that she made it this long without one.
Got out of the store only to realize we had to go back in to get Spencer's prescriptions.
Waited 15 minutes in line to get his prescriptions.
Finally got home, unloaded the groceries, and got to work on making lasagnas.
Remembered that lasagnas take a long time to make. Sheesh.
Listened to Josh howl and scream about Spencer getting to play on computer; let him play on computer. (I was planning to do this anyway, but forgot to mention it to him before he saw Spencer.)
Loaded up four angry children in to the car to take dinner to friend. Lectured most of the way about service and friendship and that's why we were taking dinner to them!
Fed my family dinner; Spencer had an impressive three servings. The other children would have none of it. They are punks.
Took Spencer and Josh to piano lessons. FINALLY got to start editing that big ol' paper.
Prepped breakfast and made lunches for tomorrow. Threatened Josh with certain death if he did not find his missing lunchbox from school.
Had family prayer and scripture "study". Read Harry Potter to Josh between fits of awful coughing.
Raised eyebrows menacingly when Josh complained about how little I read to him.
Yelled at Tess to "for the love of all that is holy and good, just stay in your room!!!!!!!!"
Collapsed onto the couch to blog.

I am now currently ignoring the fact that my bed needs to be made because I washed the sheets this morning, even though I desperately need to go to bed.

**The Story Behind Spencer's Infected Toe: Spencer stayed home from school yesterday because his cold was so bad. Sporadically throughout the day he complained about his foot hurting. I glanced at his foot but didn't see anything wrong and figured he had just sat on it funny or something. (This has been an issue in the past. Plus, Spencer likes to complain about random ailments. He is not what you would call a trooper.) But last night before bed Spencer complained specifically about his toe and got Lance to look at it. Turns out the pinky toe on his left foot had an infection. Gross. He had no idea how it happened or if he got a cut or something. (My guess is the culprit is either the neighbor's trampoline or our neighborhood pool.) So we cleaned it up, slathered on some Neosporin, bandaged it and sent the boy to bed.

This morning Spencer was complaining about the toe again, but I thought he was just complaining to complain and perhaps trying to get out of going to school. About 30 minutes before the bus came we soaked the toe in warm water with epsom salts. After a good 20 minutes I pulled his foot out and was a little grossed out. I mean, the toe was clearly infected and I'm sure it hurt.

The thing is, Spencer is a wimp. I love the boy, but it's true. Any little ailment or injury is treated like the end of the world, so it really is hard to tell when he is really and truly feeling pain. This is why at this point I decided to bandage him up again and send him off to school; I thought he'd be fine.

Only, when I helped him put his shoes and socks on and tried to get him out the door he about fell over. He would NOT put any weight on it. So I decided to kind of see if he was bluffing and took his shoe off and put on his sandals, which are a lot looser. Once again with the weeping and wailing.

At this point the school bus had come and gone, with Josh on it.

It was also at this point that I finally believed Spencer and decided to take him to the doctor. (Perhaps we need to review "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" with the child.)

Monday, August 25, 2014

Facebook Statuses

I didn't realize how long it's been since I did a roundup of my favorite Facebook statuses. Time to remedy that.

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Monday, August 25, 2014

My amazing husband just launched a Kickstarter campaign for a PC Gaming Analog Keyboard that he helped design. If you can, we'd love your support! (Either financially or just passing it along on FB! Or - even better - both!) Thank you!