Survived the First Month

So the school year is under way! My first grader is adjusting to a new teacher and so far not feeling too challenged. Mom is going to have to step things up to keep him on target. I'm loving his fascination with books and hoping we'll take things up a few notches so he can do more reading on his own.  The true challenge is finding topics that are interesting to him.  He is enjoying soccer and doing really good as goalie.  We might have to take his personal practice time up a few levels to help him stay focused and keep his head in the game.

Now my high schooler...well let's just say she's discovering that things are very different than middle school.  Physics and geometry are going to be our most challenging classes.  She is not looking forward to doing math problems every day but that is going to be her new "job" from now on.  Of course she has been put on notice that if she doesn't get it together, the phone is going to be mine.  The transition from student to high school is the new job is coming along...I'm trying to be patient with the loud exhaling of air and the rolling of the eyes when I have to dictate motivation to get moving but like I said we're coming along.  I guess I'm just the eternal tutor.  Here's to the next thirty days!

Survived the First Week

Well my eldest survived her first week of high school and my youngest, his first week of 1st grade.  It will take some weeks but we're starting to get a schedule together...when to get up, leave, where to be picked up and where to wait. 
The homework hasn't started yet, so I'm enjoying the calm before mega storm.
I am amazed each day and they get a little more independent and learn new information. I pray I'll be an appropriate example before them to help them on their way to maturity.

My kids hate me....sorta

Well its the first official week of summer vacation and I'm not letting the kids spend all day watching television or sleeping until noon.  We get up every morning and walk/jog/run a mile and then have breakfast.  After a little television, they work on different workbooks.  I don't want them to forget everything before September.

My soon to be high schooler is working on Spanish, Geometry, Typing Skills and reading The Hobbit. I'm requiring her to give me a book report when she's done reading.  Her itinerary includes summer camp, days at the beach, traveling to her grandparents and birthday events.

My soon to be first grader has a workbook to work on and I'll be getting him another little book to do so he can keep sharp and work on his reading.  He is a ball of energy and having him run every day is really and its getting him in shape for soccer this fall.

So my kids don't hate me they just hate that I've made a schedule and I'm sticking to it.  I know in the long run my kids will be appreciative.

They just keep growing...

What a full year this has been so far and its just June!  I've been enjoying my time "off" with my kids and learning their routines.  I am sometimes surprised at how much I missed while I was in school.

My oldest is doing great.  She learned the real meaning of hustle as a few of her grades dropped during the spring semester, which is usually a hard time for students as we march toward summer.  She got it together and finished with a GPA higher than 3.5 and perfect attendance. 

She is glad to be done with school and is trying not to think too far ahead to high school.  Hard to believe how quickly the time has flown.

My youngest successfully completed kindergarten will start soccer this fall.  He is such a bundle of energy.  We will need to work on his competitiveness.  He hates to lose and is quick to call someone a "cheater" if he is on the losing end.  Good sportsmanship is important and he must learn it now before he gets stuck in his ways.

So now we're planning out our summer and what we want to do before their back to school.  I most definitely will not let them waste away in front of the television.  There will be reading and assignments to make sure they don't forget everything they learned and keep them engaged for the new school year!

The Reset Button

You spend hours, invest strategy and research tricks and tips to see it vanish in the blink of an eye.

I hadn't played the game in a while, school stuff.  So it was nice to sit down and put it in and relive a few fun and sometimes challenging moments.  This particular game, Lego Indiana Jones 2, had been particularly hard.  I don't think I mastered the darn thing until I was half way through it. 

Anyway I put the disk in and wait.  Still no reason to believe anything is wrong as John Williams' famous song plays and draws the attention of my children.  We click start and load game and to all our shock 0% shows up.

Thinking I might have accidentally selected New Game, I log out and restart.  This time I make sure I select Load Game and again I as greeted with goose eggs all the way across.  Hmmm, how did this happen?

Did someone mistakenly hit the reset button instead of the eject button?  Was there some type of malfunction on the Wii?  Had I had one of my elaborate dreams where I "think" I'm experiencing everything.

My son, with a gleam in his eye, offered his services to help me get my levels back.  That was on Friday.  Yesterday, I was notified that all my work on Lego Batman Nintendo DSi was gone.  Again I was given the offer of assistance to help me get my levels back.

Seems my son has found a creative way to get me to play games with me.  I'll be having a conversation with him telling him all he has to do is ask and not push the reset button.  I will always have time for him.

Daddy Needs A Girlfriend. What??!

So the conversation with my son started with us talking about how far things are, like downtown San Diego from the house. Then we moved on to how far the grandparents lives, first mine then my husband's. From there my son talked about traveling in space and how being an astronaut is cool and maybe he wants to do that, since he needs to go fast and have a powerful ship. (Didn't have the heart to tell him about NASA yet). So as he is working on his homework and we talk about books, shapes and other things he tells me daddy needs a girlfriend.

My son needs no prompting to make a unique statement.  One of the reasons why I started working out while he is gone.  A mom can only take so much "Mom I love the way your muscles shake."  Anyway I know my kid is saying things to see my reaction.  He's not stupid, he is afterall my kid, but he's a little to slick for (or trying to be) for his own good.

I remain call and tell him, daddy already has a girlfriend, me. My son says no, I'm the mom. I correct him again, that I am daddy's girlfriend and daddy is my boyfriend. Anything else and daddy is in trouble. We then started a game of Lego Star Wars III and after beating up the bad guys my son gives me the official word, "Yea mom you are a good girlfriend for daddy."

Good thing I'm good at playing video games....I think my job might be in jeopardy otherwise.  

Still on the island...

Well I'm still here.  I've tried to remain calm when helping the kids with their homework.  Not always easy when you're more motivated than they are!!

My daughter is finding poetry writing more challenging in the 8th grade than the 6th.  I tell her it's something you have to continuously work at and I'm not just saying that because I am a published writer.  I've made some mistakes, some very embarrassing ones but you can't let that keep you from your passion and doing what you want to do.  I resisted the temptation to do it for her and she wound up coming up with her own very creative ideas!

My son continues to be a very social butterfly.  I have got to get him involved in a sport soon!  His energy level is just amazing.  I will post soon how he plays video games.  I think he's on his way to one way to avoid childhood obesity.  We had a victory this week, finished the Lego Batman 2 game (yes I found all 250 gold bricks needed to get the Supergirl character).  I let him build the portal to get her and purchase her.  Made his day, well at least I was a great mom for a few hours.

Now to enjoy some Cat in the Hat! Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!                                                                                                  

I think they are going to vote me off the island....

So its been two weeks since I passed NCLEX, officially making me more marketable, legally anyway.  And it seems the vacation is coming to an end.  Though I am not worried about obtaining a position, my presence at home is "kinda" driving the family crazy.  Actually I don't  think they like that I'm learning the truth about some of the things that have been going on since I've be occupied with school, studies and stress.

Keeping the kids on track with their homework and helping around the house have been common themes.  They have gotten a little to used to Dad doing everything.  No wonder my husband is always tired!  So they kids are going through growing pains as I get them on track to handle things they should be handling.

They do like that I am around, able to play video games, have fun and of course cook dinner.  I have been enjoying getting reacquainted with my kitchen and house in general! 

Last week my daughter and I went to a information session for high school and we've been trying to wrap our mind around this next step.  It is interesting how our conversations will be changing as I give her advice on making choices that will impact her future.  I know art will be a major force.  It will be up to her to make school a priority, especially dedicating herself to studying and aiming for success.

My son is enjoying kindergarten and I look forward to getting him a sport real soon.  He recently received a ribbon for having run 50 miles at school.  It will be fun to see what he finally decided on and takes up as his passion.

So as my kids continue to develop and grow, I enjoy being a helping hand in guiding them on their journey and as they help me on mine.  I'll try to ease up a bit as I get them on a more school/study friendly schedule and maybe I might last on the island a little longer.

Crisis Averted

My daughter's face in on the mend after using a "too strong" cleanser.  Her face looked like she was having an allergic reaction to something she ate instead of something she put on it.  Then after we figured out is was the cleanser (Clearasil) I gave her something gentler to use and for a few days she looked like she had a sunburn.  I'm just glad she is all better, a teenager with a facial flaw....well let's just say I'm glad we didn't have to go down that route.

31 Days and Counting...

Well we got through January well and we're hoping for a repeat in February.  The most interesting development has been my son wanting to offer the blessing at each meal instead of each of us taking turns.  Never thought there'd be a day when one of my kids wanted to monopolize saying grace!

Watch My Eye-Tacts!

Well the house was getting back to normal after the kids long weekend.  I enjoyed having the house to myself and resisted the urge to do some major cleaning (my exam is in two weeks).

My daughter's science project continues to dominate my dining room table so we improvised today and had a picnic-style dinner on the floor in the family room.  Everything went surprising well, not that anything could damage our very old and tired rug.

Later after dinner a small pillow fight ensued and my son thought he had gotten the drop on me got a big surprise when I got him in the face with a pillow.  "Mom, watch it!  You almost took out my eye-tacts!" 
We were on the floor with that one, especially he doesn't wear glasses let alone contacts.  I swear the kid really needs his own show!

Uh Oh!

Well we successfully completed two weeks of eating together as a family until today.  In our defense we did eat lunch together after church but as the day progressed and my son finished his homework and my daughter put the finishing touches on her science project we all kinda lost track of the time.

My daughter ate left-overs and my husband pulled something out of the freezer.  My son was so wrapped up in his video game he didn't pay attention to anything that was going on.  When he finally decided he was hungry we prepared a plate for him and set everything up.  "Is anyone going to eat with me?"  I told him everyone had already eaten, but that I would sit with him.  "You ate without me?"  he then took off to his room and cried, quite loudly for fifteen minutes.

I sent hubby in after him and after some talking and reassurance that we did not eat, collectively, without him, he settled down and ate his dinner.

Moral of the story: No family dinners without all of the family!

Dinner A La Pout

Well let that be a lesson to me!  Always buy two of a kind or they will fight over them.  We have a complete set of Avenger cups that the kids enjoy and use when setting the table.  Well we didn't run the dishwasher last night so Hawk, Widow, Iron Man were out of circulation leaving Captain, Hulk, and Thor. 

I had used Captain all day while studying and doing my exercises.  I gave my son the choice, Thor or Hulk.  He wanted Captain America.  "No, I have that cup, pick Thor or the Hulk."  Well my daughter picked Thor and I have Hulk to my husband.  I went picked an Olive Garden cup out for my son.

Well attitude city erupted!  So I thought I'd just switch cups between the kids.  Wrong Move Mom!  So I switched them back....I was not giving up my cup!  So the three of us ate while my son just pouted at the table.  I let him know that sometimes we can't have our way and that the answer is going to be "no."

He finally finished his dinner and moved on.  He never drank from the Olive Garden cup!

Oh yea, he slept till 6:30 this morning.  Hope we have a repeat!

My son should have his own reality show!

So we're starting our second week of dinner together as a family, and for the most part its going quite well.  My husband has missed twice this week with work and meetings but he should be back on track with us tomorrow.

My son indeed is enjoying the family dinners the most.  Not that we all aren't enjoying them, but he turns into this little social host trying to out talk everyone and having a comment about everything, even stuff he knows nothing about.  The comic relief if amazing.

I might start a discussion with him tomorrow about why he won't sleep until 6.  He sometimes gets up at 3 or 4.  He'll come in our room and lie inbetween us until we almost have to declare war to get him back to bed.  We've been trying to "not" lock our bedroom door (they get MORE curious when you do that than not) but he just barrels into the room, so you better have your clothes on!!  Anyway I'm going to see if he has some ideas on how he can stay asleep longer.  Or if he needs to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, he'll just go and then go back to bed and not open our door for approval.

So after his shower tonight I decided to give him a good lotion rub down (its been so cold I know his skin is wanting the extra hydration).  I told him to lie down on his stomach and I started applying lotion to his back, etc.  I prop a book up on his pillow so he can look at it while I'm massaging his back.  He then asks me to do the "chop-chop" the up down, Karate-like hand motions that can be done during a back rub.  So I do and then he starts talking to his "audience" about how the mom applies the lotion then does the chop chop on the back.  "Oh yes this feels great."  I'm trying not to laugh my head off as he continues to talk to his imaginary audience.

I tell him to turn over and he asks me why.  I say so I can do your stomach and knees, etc.  He starts to complain about how is he going to look at his book.  I tell him to hold it in his hands, which he does..crisis averted.

He's all clean, smelling good and pajama-ed up.  I read him a story, we said our prayers and I kissed him good-night.  We'll see if he'll sleep till 6!!

Happy New Year!

Its been too long! Thankfully my children have survived me making it through nursing school and just have a little more to go as I work on my license and getting employed.

My son started kindergarten in September and he has readily taken to it.  He loves it and I am glad he is doing well.  Math and sports are going to be his strong points.  I hope to get him into an organized sport soon.  He is my main motivator, telling me to keep up the good work yet he's quick to tell me about something that giggles or bounces a little more than I'd like it to.

My daughter is becoming a typical teenager, trying to feel out her independence and kick her brother out at every chance.  I'm finding it hard to believe she'll be in high school in eight months.

We started eating together for dinner and it has been a fun experience.  The first night, my son was so hyped up I didn't think he'd ever come down.  Everyone is adjusting to me being around and it was great to reconnect with everyone.  We are going to make it a regular habit of sitting down and eating together so we can stay connected.

We'll see how they handle no television or computers except for on the weekends.