Reading Nook Re-Do

While Andrew is away, Julie will PLAY... or redecorate, that is! Normally when Andrew goes out of town, I plan a project to keep myself busy so I don't miss him too much. I usually paint. (remember the RED family room, or the GREEN kids room??) Well, Andrew left on a business trip last night and I'm just too tired to paint. So what to do???

Our "reading nook" usually looks like this:

Or better yet, like THIS:

After a trip to the home improvement store with Emma, 20 minutes with a drill, level, and screwdriver, it now looks like THIS:

Ta Dah!!!

You'll never guess what material I used...RAIN GUTTERS!!!

I LOVE IT!!! Hopefully it will keep our books off the floor. And really, it only took me 20 minutes!!! So I guess I'll need to find another project for the remaining days he's gone... any ideas?

I got my inspiration and instructions here.

61...Make That... 54 More Days

The kids found Andrew's stapler today and wanted to staple something...anything.

For the past few days I thought it would be fun to make a baby countdown chain. Thanks to my Dear Doctor for setting an induction date, I know I only have 54 days left!!! That's right folks! I will be induced on Monday, Dec. 7th...if all goes according to plan.

For those of you disgusted by me and my LOVE of modern medicine right now, rest assured knowing that both Nate and Emma came more than 1 week early (which is my induction date) (Nate, 14 days early, Emma, 10)... so chances are this baby will come NATURALLY anyhow. But at least I can pretend I'm cutting it short especially since I'm already looking full term...hence, no pics of me. I think this chain MIGHT wrap around my belly once,
but maybe not... just kidding... I'm not THAT big, although when someone asked me my due date 2 weeks ago, they then followed up with, ARE YOU HAVING TWINS???

Laundry Thoughts

So normally I HATE folding laundry. I will shamefully admit I have been known to leave loads of clean clothes in the dryer til we've practically worn them all... or left a clean load in a basket until its nearly empty because we've picked through it for several days to find what we need. (Pathetic, I know.) But a few days ago as I was folding a "white" load, the most dreaded of all loads, I couldn't help but smile as I began folding some new pairs of Nate's socks. You see, I recently bought Nate some new socks for back to school. All summer long he's stuck to his flip flops except on Sundays so I've rarely folded socks for him over the past several months. Also, I've recently been getting excited about our new baby boy and have been buying 0-3 month socks for teeny tiny feet. Seeing these 2 sizes side by side made me realize that every mother before me has been right. Time flies too quickly when the kids are small. It is so bittersweet. It's been fun to see Nate off to school and realize what a "boy" he has become. But there's still a part of me that misses the baby in him. It is slowly disappearing day by day as evidenced by his new BIG SOCKS!

Sneaky Emma

A few days ago I walked into Emma's room and this is what I found.






She was sneaking a 16 oz sprite, sipping away on her bed while watching cartoons.

When I got out of the shower this morning I walked into the family room to find this...








She had moved on to BIGGER and better things...a 2 liter of orange soda, chugging away while watching cartoons.







Should I be worried??

Last First Day of School post...I promise

In my never ending (and impossible) attempt at being the "perfect mom" I had the great idea to have Nate return home from his first day of school to freshly baked homemade cookies. Unfortunately, I also jam packed my day full of things I was looking forward to getting done, "with only one child." Emma and I were out and about all day and never had time to step foot in the door, much less bond over our idealistic cookie making. Add to that the fact that I realized I have no kitchen aid (my go to machine for cookies) much less a hand mixer in this furnished apartment, so there was no chance of real home baking because I will be the first to admit I'm too modern (or stubborn, or spoiled) for hand mixing! So instead, we bought these delicious pink sprinkled sugar cookies and devoured them with milk and a side order of conversation of how the big first day went. All in all we were all pleased.
So I may never win an award as mother of the year, but don't you just love those so-not-good-for-you pink pretties?? I do.

All Apologies

When I wrote my last post, in my mind, it was pretty funny.

Unfortunately I think I made some of you cry along with me.

So sorry for this.

I really just thought my reaction was completely ridiculous and could only be explained by a surge of pregnancy hormones. Really, who does that?

Anyhow, Nate had a good first day at school with some ups and downs: He loved playing outside, but he didn't get a turn on the swings. He liked going to lunch, but spilled yogurt on his shirt and was told he had to learn to open all of his own lunch treats (which he CAN do, but doesn't THINK he can). He learned a new song, but did NOT want to say the pledge. He is so funny. He really liked the story and accompanying art project they worked on, but he hated putting his head on his desk for quiet time. All in all I think he gave me a pretty good report on the first day, but has made funny comments like, "I liked school, but I'm never going back." Or last night in bed, "I'm not going back to Kindergarten. I'm going to go to 2nd grade with the 6 year olds." Again, so funny. I love that little guy.


Lastly, I'm happy to report we walked him to his class this morning and we were all smiles. No breakdowns in the car afterwords, much to Emma's satisfaction.

Pregnant Moms Should Be Banned From School

So today was Nate's first day of kindergarten. (If you haven't seen below, take a look at the last post for some cute pics) All was going well. I got up early. Got ready. Made a fabulous breakfast. Helped Nate get ready. Made sure I didn't leave anything behind for my day's unusually busy schedule. And we were off.

We made it to school with plenty of time to walk Nate in and get him settled. We were in his classroom for about 5 minutes. I was proud of how I was handling this whole situation. In my mind I was thinking, "This isn't so hard." Nate quietly took his seat and I turned to confirm with his teacher the time I was to return to pick him up. As she was answering my question I felt it start.

Tiny tears were filling my eyes.

Still, I was strong.

I WILL NOT CRY in front of my child. I WILL NOT!

I crouched down and whispered to Nate that I love him and I knew he would have a good day and I would see him later.

The tiny tears were invisible to him. My voice was steady.

I WILL NOT CRY.

I grabbed Emma's hand and we walked out of Nate's class. Emma was upset because she didn't say goodbye. From the hallway she yelled, "Bye Nate!" He turned around in his chair, gave us a big smile,and waved happily to his sister. And it got worse.

The tiny tears became HUGE TEARS.

I now had to navigate out of the school without letting those HUGE TEARS come out of my eyes.

I WILL NOT CRY.

Luckily no small children walked in front of me, because my vision was so blurred by the HUGE TEARS that I would have run them down.

I WILL NOT CRY.

Thank goodness for the carpool crossing guard who guided us safely across the school drive way or I would not have seen a car coming thanks to those HUGE TEARS.

We made it to the car and I quickly strapped Emma in, returned to my seat and closed the door.

I DID NOT CRY...

I BAWLED!




Uncontrollably, like a huge catastrophe had just befallen us, like a loved one had just passed on unexpectedly, like every bone had shattered in my body. I was full on sobbing in the car.

Poor Emma in the backseat was trying to console me and was questioning my emotions. And to be honest, I really don't know what overcame me. All I can say is, pregnant moms shouldn't be allowed to take their firstborn child to his first day of kindergarten!