The Williams' Visit

In third week of August, Babo's brother, sister-in-law and their two boys came to visit from California. It was their first visit to Georgia, and the first time we'd all seen them in almost ten years. On August 18, Grammie had us over for dinner so we could visit. It was so nice to see them all, and crazy too -- my clearest memories of the boys were when they were Eli and Keira's age. Time flies! Now, I was pleasantly surprised that they had matured into considerate, polite and helpful teenage boys. I assumed that teenage boys would be aloof and want nothing to do with my kids. On the contrary, they both entertained my kids for most of the evening. It was a great family reunion. When we got in the car to go home, we asked Eli how he liked the Williams family. He said that he liked them, especially the girl. Huh? We figured out that he thought Doug was a girl. And, he was adament about it! I guess the concept of fashionably long boy hair is lost on a four year old!

Fraction Puzzle

Eli LOVES his fraction puzzle! While Scott was setting up his classroom for the new school year, we started visiting Daddy's classroom. Eli found Scott's fraction kits. Eli called them fraction puzzles and has spent many happy hours playing with them in Daddy's classroom. After bringing both Grandmas to Daddy's classroom to indulge his fraction puzzle fixation, Dendi and Eli visited the Education Station to try to find one of his own. They couldn't find the exact kind they were looking for, but the replacement has been just as popular. In fact, it's such a hit that Eli brought it for Show and Tell today, (Sept.1).

These fraction puzzles have also factored into a magical time we call Eli Play Time. Since he was a tiny baby Eli likes to be entertained as much as possible. And, if entertainment is not possible, he likes to at least have someone sitting next to him. While I know that this time is finite, and I will mourn it when it's over, I needed some time to clean the house and play with Keira. He's slowly starting to self entertain more and more anyway, but Eli Play Time was a way to encourage independence when I had something to do. For every ten minutes he plays by himself, he gets a sticker. The sticker charts are such a hit that he will often ask how many minutes of Eli Play Time he needs to finish his present sticker chart, and then he will try to play by himself for that many minutes. The other day, he tried 80 minutes. Of course, that was way too long in one sitting, but I think he did do 20 or 30, which was great, too. His favorite prizes for a completed sticker chart continue to be temporary tattoos and 30 minutes of extra video time, but we've also added playing a token game at Jump To It.

Elijah's First Day of School

All in all, I think we had a very successful first day of school. Scottie got a sub for Eli's special day, and he confided in me later that he stayed home to support me. It did throw me for a loop, and I felt upside down for most of the day. But, I survived and I feel worlds better today. We started yesterday morning at Mike and C's, a yummy local restaurant right around the corner from Eli's new school. We tried to make yesterday as festive and positive as possible. Scott was talking about how people should celebrate the beginning of school, not the end. So, I think we may have started a tradition. Eli was feeling pretty nervous at breakfast and was cuddling up to Daddy, which Scott loved. I think his Mickey Mouse pancake and bacon helped him get through the morning, too.



Before I found out that Scott was taking the day off to spend with us, I had asked Diane to come and help me drop off Eli for the first time. I was specifically worried about trying to control and supervise Keira and be able to give Eli the attention that he needed, too. Keira absolutely loves Eli's new classroom filled with kids, high school girls, toys, stairs and a giant slide. We decided to invite Diane to come with us that morning even though Scottie was there to help with crowd control. It was nice to share the special morning with her, and we got the added benefit of a photographer. She took a picture of the four of us in front of the high school before we headed inside. If you look closely in this picture, you can see Keira's fat top lip. She is our adventurous one. We went to Chick-Fil-A the night before for some ice cream. She decided that she could climb up the giant stairs and go down the slide on our laps. She was in hog heaven. Unfortunately, on the fourth or fifth trip up the stairs she lost her footing and took a header into the stair in front of her. I caught her before she fell down the stairs backwards, but I wasn't able to save her lip.


Once we got inside the classroom, Eli wasted no time putting away his backpack and getting down to the business of playing. When we left, he had moved on to the play dough table. When I bent over to say goodbye, he begged me not to leave and said he was sad. It crushed me. My eyes started tearing up and I had to turn away from him quickly so that he wouldn't see me cry. But, I survived, and he did, too.




When we came to pick him up at 11:30, he greeted me with a huge grin and hug. When I asked him how he liked school, he said, "not very fun." I think he got a little confused about the centers. He stayed away from the math center because he thought they were going to do Ken Kens (adult math puzzles that Scottie and I work on.) And, he thought at the reading center they'd make him read by himself, and he can't read. Scottie and I explained about what would really be at the centers, so I'm hoping for a better report when I pick him up today.

In the afternoon, Scott emailed Eli's teacher, Ms. Via to ask about the rules regarding snack and show and tell. When she emailed back she said that Eli had a great first day. She said he was very smart and was full of lots of great observations. She said they really enjoyed him. That was nice to hear, and I hope Eli shares her enthusiasm soon!

SMHSCDC Orientation

Eli will be starting preschool tomorrow at Starr's Mill High School Child Development Center. It's an awesome program ran out of the local high school where Eli and Keira will be returning to attend high school. I know, it makes for a lengthy acronym and title. :) We went for the orientation last Thursday night, and everything went as well as could be expected. Scott had his own Meet the Teacher that night, so he got to attend for about five minutes. It was fortunately enough time to watch the kids play for a few minutes and have a family photo snapped. I'm thinking that the high schooler who took our family shot had a better angle, since our copy cuts off Eli, and he was the star of the night.




Eli decided that this school was his favorite because of the giant indoor play structure in the middle of the room. Within a few minutes Eli had moved on to play with other things, but Keira was absolutely enamored. I think she'd be tempted to start preschool with him tomorrow if given the chance. Thankfully, both Grammie and Dendi attended the orientation. They were wonderful help with the kids after Scottie left so that I could remain as calm, sane and focused as possible. By the end of the night Eli had warmed up considerably to the idea of school and didn't want to leave. There were too many cool things to play with. He was also really excited to see his name on his cubby and an apple on the wall. He was excited to see that they printed his name on the yellow apple -- his favorite color!




Every day since the orientation he's asked me in an excited voice how many more days until school. But, tonight in the car, I think the nerves finally hit. He said that he was nervous about starting school on our way home from our celebratory "Before the First Day of School Ice Cream". I asked him why he was nervous. He said about being sad when Mommy has to leave. Scott and I both tried to make him feel better and excited about school. But, I don't blame him, I know that I'll probably cry after leaving too. After all, I even got choked up at the orientation. Fortunately, I have the best husband in the world, who got a sub for tomorrow. Diane agreed to come with me tomorrow and now we'll have enough eyes and hands to watch Keira (who will be trying valiantly to join in on the fun) and help ease Eli into his first day.

My Big Boy's Starting School (gulp)

I'm enjoying my time as a stay at home mom of two so much that I'm sad that Eli will be starting school next Tuesday. It's the end of an era. While I know that it would be a disservice not to send him, I'm sad. I'm also not ready for the end of his innocence. I know he'll come home with choice habits, words and ideas. He doesn't even know what a gun is yet, ugh. Gulp. But, I am looking forward to seeing him with new eyes and hearing about his new experiences. Orientation is tonight. While Eli is nervous, scared and apprehensive about starting school, he is in love with his new rocket backpack. Dendi found it for him online. Hopefully that will help to pull him through his first morning jitters. In fact, he loves his new backpack so much that it was hard to photograph him. He kept making his excited, clenched teeth face while wiggling and jumping up and down.




Speaking of wiggling and jumping up and down, the one time I was looking forward to him starting school, was this morning at Babytime. Eli turns into a rambunctious, crazy boy at Babytime. It's a side of him I've only ever seen before with his uncles. While it was kind of fun to watch him act like a "normal crazy boy." I was worried he would hurt a little one or at least be a bad example. From now on I'll be able to enjoy taking Keira. And, that is another good thing about his school. I'll have a little more time to concentrate on her.

An Ode to Sticker Charts and Temporary Tattoos

I'm always a little leery at the end of the summer, when Scottie heads back to school. We all love our summers, and Eli gets used to getting a lot of attention. The first few days this school year were rough as I expected, but then I made an important rediscovery -- sticker charts! We've used sticker charts off and on for at least a year. We were giving Eli stickers for falling asleep by himself and taking naps, with a few thrown in for good behavior. I decided to shower him with stickers and see how it worked. It's magical! I'm now giving him stickers for following directions the first time, not complaining, being helpful, cleaning up, sharing with his sister, playing by himself, not coming out of his room during quiet time, not making noise or interrupting me when I'm putting Keira down, and generally good behavior. It's working like a charm. We've had generally wonderful days and it helps to keep me focused on the positive. I find that I'm fussing at him a lot less and we are both in much better moods. For complete sticker charts he can choose what to earn. In the past he's earned water tower drives now we've expanded his repertoire to temporary tattoos, balloons and some extra video time. Here are a few pictures of him with his temporary tattoos. He was never interested in them before, he told me he thought they hurt. Now that he's discovered they don't they are another favorite incentive.



After I took these pictures and looked at them to make sure they came out, I couldn't believe how big he looks! I almost didn't recognize him, crazy...

The Clearing of Lot #2

I'm slowly, but surely catching up...

They began clearing our lot a few weeks ago and finished up late last week. They cleared it first with only 20 feet of flat soddable yard behind our back foundation. That seemed a little shallow to me. So, upon my insistence, they cleared about 13 more feet into the trees and even made the little hill going up to our trees more shallow. Of course, being a hippy at heart, I hate to see more trees cleared... But, the big, less buggy yards were part of the appeal, so I went with a few less trees and more area to run around on the grass. I'm really excited about the way that it turned out, and they are supposedly starting laying the foundation today. Very exciting!