Phew!

Okay, I'm better. A night out to watch Brian play music with the STH (which was a great show--musicians playing to benefit local charities) and a whole morning with just Emily. I went to school to finish up prepping my room, to the grocery store to get ingredients to make-ahead meals for next week, and them home to bake bread and cook soup. I am back on track and not so stressed. Although, it was encouraging me to be excited about going back to work next week.

Tonight is one of those nights...the kind when you want to scream or cry or maybe both. Brian isn't home, so dinner and bedtime were my exclusive job. The latter of which is still trying to happen. It has been 3 hours now of bedtime!!! Mary has been up 3 times with various complaints and I anticipate more since I just heard a big clap of thunder. Emily is having trouble falling asleep. I know she is tired because she's rubbing her eyes and making tired noises. Every time I put her down she starts wailing within about 2 minutes. She is fed, changed, and snuggled. I AM CLOCKING OUT FOR THE DAY!!!!

Reality check

I have a lot of things swirling around in my head right now, but not many coherent thoughts. I feel like the last two weeks have flown by at warp speed. I am gearing up for going back to work in only 5 days. Today I went grocery shopping, realizing it would be the last time I go with just Emily, during the day. It is one of my favorite times during the week; slowly walking the aisles, picking fresh produce, talking to her about the things we are buying. I also bought food for my lunches for next week. I went into my classroom today to do some cleaning, organizing, and prepping for next week. I don't want to have to stay late after school as I know I will be tired and ready to see my family. Eek, this is really happening. I am torn, because I love staying home (with a paycheck!!), but I also love teaching. I never do transitions well.

We got notice today that Elijah was admitted to New Community School for next year, which has all day kindergarten, only 12 students in a class, and individualized instruction. Yay! We think this school is going to be a good fit for him. We live within the city limits and there is no all day kindergarten available, so this was our only option other than pay for private school. Now I just have to figure out how to get him there at 8:15 in the mornings.

My grandparents were here yesterday for a short visit. The kids were thrilled to spend the day with "great gram and papa". We ate lunch at Cracker Barrel (the kids' choice!!) and played outside. Elijah watched The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe while papa snoozed on the couch. It was a fun day. Unfortunately no pictures since I am out of batteries.

What we've been up to this week

Brian stained and hung a shelf for this beautiful art that Laura painted for us. It looks amazing!!



Mary got a new big girl bed--did you notice that the blankets are still from her toddler bed, that will be next week's project. Emily moved out of her bassinet crib. We finally made a choice to keep Emily in our room until she can consistently sleep all night and then we'll put the girls together. So today I brought the big crib down from the attic and set it up. She doesn't keep us up, it's mostly putting her to bed that is loud. She often cries then. We were having trouble deciding who was moving where, so Emily has been a little squished in her small crib. Now we have a plan that we feel comfortable with.

So, I guess it looks like we did a lot of sliding at the Children's Museum yesterday...We've been staying busy during Brian's spring break, although it doesn't feel much like spring. Thankfully we didn't have too many outdoor projects planned for this week or we would've been disappointed. We met up with one of Brian's co-workers and his family at the Indianapolis Children's Museum yesterday and it was fun! Probably one of the most successful trips we've had. There were a lot of field trips there so it was busy, but not too bad. It was our last time to go on last year's membership (it expires at the end of March) and we again said how much more enjoyable it makes the trip. You don't worry about trying to do everything because you can always do it next time and you ride the carousel for free. It just makes the whole time feel more relaxed.

I grew up as a reader. I loved books, magazines, the back of cereal boxes...

Elijah has loved books since he was an infant. I have numerous pictures of him pulling every board book from his shelf and then turning through the pages. He will stop what he is doing and sit and listen to any picture book--even The Princess Collection that I am reading to his sister. He has recently been enjoying listening to chapter books, including Charlotte's Web and The Boxcar Children (read twice in a row!!). He has many stories memorized and can "read" them to himself or others. So, I don't know why I am surprised that as I groggily stumbled into the shower this morning my lovely husband comes busting in saying, "Michelle, Elijah can read. I mean really read." Indeed there are several basic books that he can decode the text using the picture clues and sounding out the words.

Last week we were at Barnes and Noble picking out books for the kids and I just blanked out on what to get. I sometimes refer to this phenomenon as "mall eyes." When there is so much to look at, I just glaze over and basically look at nothing. Part of the "problem" is that my aunt is a librarian who buys my kids stacks of books every Christmas and birthday, so when I look at the displayed books, we have lots of them (boo-hoo, right?). Elijah ended up with 2 new Star Wars books (ugh) and convinced him to choose a Kevin Henkes book, Sheila Rae the Brave (yay) . But as I was lamenting I remembered something about my own childhood: my parents always let me buy books, and not always literature. Whenever we went to the mall, I got to pick out a book from the bookstore. Whenever a book order came home from school I got to choose several books to buy. I had lots of Nancy Drew and Babysitter's Club paperbacks that I would read and re-read. He loves Star Wars. He loves looking at the pictures and learning about the characters. It will probably not stunt his development.

But, this does bring me to my next thought: as a kindergarten teacher, mom, and avid reader I thought I would share a list of children's authors and picture books that I particularly like (in no particular order).

Robert McCloskey--Make Way for Ducklings, Blueberries for Sal
Kevin Henkes--Lily's Purple Plastic Purse, Owen, Chester's Way, Julius the baby of the world
William Steig--Doctor DeSoto, Pete's a Pizza
Martin Waddell--Owl Babies
Vera B. Williams--A Chair for my Mother
Munro Leaf--The Story of Ferdinand

I know there are others, but my brain is about done for now. Maybe you have others that you really like that you'd like to leave in the comments...

I had to sneak up on her to get this on video because she always stops doing whatever cute thing she is doing as soon as the camera comes out. And she did. As soon as I put the camera down she resumed her highly self-entertaining squealing session. She started this earlier this week and seems to enjoy it most when she is alone in her crib. It cracks me up to be out in the living room and hear her.

For once in my life

I don't have a lot to say about anything. I am loving my days at home, where I can take a shower at 2:30 in the afternoon and realize that in a few weeks my day (at my paid job) will be just about over at this time. I am thoroughly enjoying cooking, cleaning, and playing with my kids. If only the snow would melt, I think my life would be about perfect.

We just look innocent

the true king

Daddy: Elijah, who is the king of rock and roll?
Elijah: Chuck Berry.
Innocent bystander: What, not Elvis?
Elijah: Elvis isn't the king of anything.

a few more pictures

It's almost midnight...

...but I can't sleep! The last of our guests just left and I am still reeling from the excitement of this weekend. First, Saturday was a day to celebrate the lives of two of my favorite people--my husband and his sister, Megan. An evening of cooking, laughing, and enjoying our family. Then today, to witness the beauty of the sacrament of baptism...Emily was so perfect during the service. She didn't even cry once! It was so meaningful to have our good friends, Dallas and Bethany be her godparents. We know that they will love her, pray for her, and be a special part of her life.