• if I have to get up in the night, I have to switch to my other side when I return to bed.
• I start on my right side with no blankets, or just covers on my hip (unless it's winter).
• When I lay on my left side, I have to pull my blanket up & under my left cheek. My back uncovered.
• School starts tomorrow: I am happy for the routine, but I think a shorter day would be better.
• Suvi usually came home from kindergarten hungry and tired. I hope it's not too much for her.
• Theo and I played balloon ball while Dad was outside with S & J. He said, "This is just what I wanted! Alone time with me & Mom. And Russell, I guess. Russell's job this morning is to be cute, Mom. His job is already done. He's just.so.cute."
• I really enjoyed my few minutes (30?) with him. His only real complaint about school? So little time with Mom.
• I'm not getting out of bed, but as soon as I post this, I'm turning onto my right side.
Theo met his teacher today. So far, I love her. He was happy to meet her, thrilled to discover some of his friends from kindergarten will be in his class. He said, "I am so excited I could explode right now."
Seriously cute. I am absolutely thrilled that my kids are excited to start school. It was not the case when I was in school. Major anxiety and shyness. It just dawned on me that I probably should have waited a year to start kindergarten, because my birthday is in July (and i am still very immature. haha) I'll keep that in mind when it's Judah's turn. For now, we have an excited first grader and an excited kindergartener. Yeehaw!
Hey y'all. It's me, Mommy, crying on Theo's second to last day of kindergarten.
He's in the chair in his undies playing Angry Birds. I just went through his backpack. Dude, there was a lot of stuff. Packets of homework to keep the skills up over the summer. A thick book of math worksheets, end of the year summation notes, and a scrapbook of the big events for Theo's class.
I could not stop my tears, so I just set the papers aside, put my hands over my face and let them drop. I asked Theo, "How did you get to be 6 1/2 and finished with kindergarten!?"
"Wait. I'm 6 1/2? Cool."
His sister, in an effort to console me suggested I use my next birthday wish to wish they were babies again. So sweet. But. Really. I don't want them to be babies again, because I want them to grow and experience their own life adventures. I love that they are 5 and 6 (and 3), this is wonderful, too.
Sigh. My Loves.
And so, we're hanging up the backpack and pulling out the flip flops. (If it ever warms up, that is.)
Theo had a concert today. It was all three kindergarten classes + the first graders. So, so cute. The Music Specialist is going to be gone for two years, so Suvi won't get to start her school career with him. Lucky for Theo!
It was a story about how the Wolf was framed to look like the Big Bad Wolf.
He was just going to ask his neighbors--the three little pigs--for a cup of sugar to bake a cake for Grandma. Grandma, who was Hungry Like a Wolf!
But the house of Hay and the House of Styx fell down when the Wolf sneezed, so he went to the third little Piggie's house. You know, It's a Brick....House!
maybe it's because i had cheese cake for supper. maybe it's because i have had too many nights in a row with 5 or 6 hours of shut-eye per night.
whatever the reason, i am drinking coffee supporting my head alternately on my hand leaning forward on the desk and on the chair back leaning, well, back.
the t.v. is blaring pbs.
judah is watching you tube scooby doo on the ipad.
each of my kids has had tears this morning.
i am ready for a nap.
But. there's no time for that. the sun is shining and i am about ready to get a move on!
We have a field trip today with Theo's kindergarten class...nature center, make way for Tamirus!
i asked the kids what to write about today. suvi said i could write about my loving children, and to include 'creative', theo thought i should help him find the weapons for his lego and kre-o sets, and figure out what to write later. i just started typing and this is what the three of us brewed up.
once upon a time, in a far away land, there was a beautiful princess. she was very creative. AND, there was a queen named Jenny. the queen was searching high and low throughout the kingdom for the tiniest weapons ever created. the handsome prince had misplaced them, you see, and could not rest comfortably until he had his weapons back in hand. his creative sister offered the suggestion he simply make new weapons out of clay, but the prince did not like the idea. "really? weapons out of clay?" the princess went off to find her own fun without her weapon-less brother. the prince, after considering the clay further, decided to give it a go. he went out of the castle with his faithful pup, woofster, to collect clay from behind the garden.
today, during homework time, i was especially tickled with the way Theo drew his fish. i would have most certainly made the simple fish symbol.
and since i could, i colored mine in. :)
this is theo's math homework: story problems. in kindergarten. i know.
and then i remembered this painting he brought home recently. the kids' fishies were hanging in the hall by the kindergarten rooms. so colorful and fun. and why his fish didn't end up looking like an infinity/Jesus fish.
he wanted to show his aunty Squishy the lizard, so i'll put it on facebook, too.
I LOVE you Theo! But you WILL have to get a haircut. It is starting to get bigger, not longer ;)
When you are older, you can decide if you want to go the direction of TroyPolamalu
under my skin
under the muscle
a burning hot fabric wraps around my lungs
pulling tighter, stinging heat
winding up my throat
breathe, two, three, four
pull that air down past the lungs to my belly
cool the grip
loosen the hold
close my eyes
the heat moves off my lungs
to my shoulders, my tears
breathing two, three, four
and it's gone.
.........
i've been having some disruptive thoughts this morning.
the night was full of dreams. not bad dreams, just disruptive.
i have been longing for times gone by, aching for earlier couches
and simpler pains.
my thoughts started to weigh heavy on my chest, and i was searching,
searching my brain to find the source of this angst.
then it hit me.
someone i love moved across the country last week. i didn't have much time to prepare, or even to say more than 'good luck & good-bye!' i've needed to grieve or absorb this change, needed to talk about it, but haven't been able to find a conversation.
the connection to those disruptive thoughts, perhaps, is that the loss is similar. my loved one who moved will always be part of my life, but i will surely miss being in the same room with her. the obsessive thoughts that tried to spur an anxiety attack this morning, are tied to a person from my past from whom i moved away. we never had an official 'good-bye'.
things change, people change, responsibilities change, expectations change.
addresses change.
(last names change, too, thankfully!)
You know what, you guys? I was thinking on putting a little video piece up for my post today. You know, just me and my own cool self extemporizing on all that is good and lovely and craptastic.
BUT THEN I CHICKENED OUT.
Instead, enjoy my silly son's video. And don't forget to shake whatchermama gave ya!
i've been having very strange yet realistic dreams the last few nights. they are not visions, i double checked. thankfully deanna did not shave her head. and my mom is not driving a ford f 150.
i did get my kitchen sink gleaming last week. but. i had a two hour chunk of time yesterday with nothing pressing to do, and instead of consulting my new schedule, i pittered it away on the couch. aaaah. couuuuch.
(i love this pic because you can see suvi's reflection in the tv-our photog)
i am this self-centered.
and today, this very morning,
i. am. thankful.
thankful for excedrine migraine and peppermint oil.
a hot shower with eucalyptus,
and earl grey lavender tea.
and back-combing and hairspray and kids who don't tell me to settle down my crazy hairdo. i'm thankful for all of that!
peace. school resumed yesterday.
sunday school resumed this week as well, but we missed it. i overslept my alarm because i was up in the night with judah-washing sheets and blankies and pillows. eew. he's fine tho'.
this little icy spot is in my front garden. the weather was mild yesterday, so we had a bit of a melt and drip situation.
on Christmas Eve, I asked, "what is it like in Bethlehem? what do they eat there?"
"maybe it's the Mediterranean diet," my hubs suggested. sounds good to me!
we were eating lasagna, which had cheese in it, and bread, but we did not have wine. i actually thought about perhaps opening one of the bottles of Ethiopian wine we received from a guest last year when our Ayat was here. but we're sort of diet Coke snobs. i make no excuses. instead we drank tea and water. i'd still like to know what people ate, you know, the ones who actually got a room, on that first Christmas Eve. sweet Baby Jesus about to arrive, and we were eating...
well. i am my mother's daughter. if you meet her, she might discuss a meal plan with you. she likes that kind of wild talk.
earlier in the day suvi and theo made cookies for Santa.
she loves a good cookie. and a good photo op.
gram gave the kids some gifts. judah is in love with his 'little people' house.
theo woke us up this morning around 7:24 (ha, ha). as i was putting on my shoes to head downstairs with him, i thought about sending a message to my friend in finland. we were instant messaging around 1 a.m. when i couldn't sleep and she was starting her Christmas morning with her family. i was wanting to ask what they were up to after my five hour nap. ;)
he was pleased with his batman thingy, and the other crap santa brought him. what? it's so fun to pick stuff out for them, watch them light up as they discover a new treasure, but i am not good and moving old toys out. which means we got a lot o crapola under this roof! ha!
we were able to make it to dassel to share the day and a meal with my mom, my sisters and much of their families. the drive went so fast for me today! i was thankful for the dry roads, for our safety and comfort. also because that meant i basically had an hour to load my new purse, play with my camera, kick butt in Angry Birds...i like a good sunshiney Christmas morning drive!
my sister is married to a farmer, dontcha know. they live 11 miles from downtown cokato. if you go north at the light, turn left when you see these huge power lines.
number 6 and number 2
number 4 and my mama
number 1, suvi's god-mother, and my handsome nephew #2
my number one, tooth-dangler of a first born.
did you know that i am the only one of my siblings to have 2 boys? all 4 of my sisters and my brother john each have one son. katie, shirley, and mari have girls, too, but i am the queen with 2 boys. just a nice little bit of trivia for you to enjoy with your coffee this morning.
i hope your Christmas was peaceful and happy. i hope you have the comfort of knowing and believing in the grace gift of the promised Son of God. my heart is often so weary, but Christmastime fills me with joy and reassurance.
Joy to the world, The Lord is Come!
and because i love THIS version of this song, a little bare naked ladies.
and today post cake, during homework, prior to his 1:03 bus.
he asked if anyone was coming over today. because it is his birthday. and really, he would like more gifts. because, ahem, the four lego sets and one spiderman web attack car he already received was not, so it seems, enough. ;)
and his ham of a sister who gets to be four for three more months.
if you've been visiting my blog for at least 3 years, you might remember that suvi liked to stand behind me in the computer chair when i went online. she still tries to squeeze in behind me, but she's too tall to stand comfortably, so she sits. on my butt ledge. and it hurts my back and my butt and i have to be quite forceful to get that girl out of my chair. i do like being snuggly with her, but as i told her today, "You are too big to share this chair with Mama now, Suvi. There isn't enough room! Get down." She did NOT get out and asked, "What is a 'froom', tho', Mom?! I don't know what a 'froom' is!"
Suvi. You make me laugh. Thank you for that! E-nough ROOM. not a froom. enough room.
everybody has his own way. or her own way. why is 'their' own way not correct, again? it is in other languages...i digress.
as i was loading my photos from today, i had to laugh at the difference between my first child and second child.
this guy has been begging to wear halloween make-up again for days. he.likes.zombies. as my sister pointed out, zombies weren't even part of our awareness until at least 12 years of age. this kid is nearly 6.
Meanwhile, the moment her brother gets home from kindergarten, princess cupcake takes his back pack and goes through all the papers and examines everything. i am pretty sure if she went to school with him tomorrow, she'd be caught up by friday.
Theo lined up the Tonka trucks at the end of our sidewalk so he could ride the trike down to experience a glorious crash.
stripes.
i had to bribe my kids to let me take pictures for our Christmas cards. This is how they really act, so I am seriously contemplating using THIS photo: fighting with the toddler over the pop he stole from ME.
pretty sure Judah is ready for the snow to come back.
I was having fun with the booksyesterday; can you tell?
