Do your Visiting Teaching!!

Today was Eli's first day of kindergarten. What does that have to do with Visiting Teaching? Read this story and you will see.

So, today was Eli's first day of PM kindergarten. I was counting down the hours all morning and growing more nervous with each passing minute. Eli tends to have a hard time adjusting to new environments and people, so I was worried that I would have a really hard time getting him on the bus and that he would have a terrible time at school.

So, the time finally came and we all went over to the bus stop. Fortunately, Mike took his lunch at that time so he could come with us. We waited and waited and waited and finally the bus arrived. It took a long time because of all the new passengers trying to figure out what to do. Eli was not excited at all. I had to chase him down and hold his hand while walking over to the bus. He started to cry and get really upset while we waited for his turn to board the bus. Naturally, I started to get upset because I had gotten myself all worked up all day worrying about it. So, I turned to Mike, with some tears in my eyes, and asked him to help Eli onto the bus. He had to scoop Eli up and carry him onto the bus. It was the only way he would go on.

Meanwhile, Leah was crying because she wanted to go on the bus and she was worried that Daddy was going to leave. After a minute, Mike poked his head out of the bus door and said he was going to ride with Eli and that I should go pick him up at the school in a few minutes. I thought that was a good idea so I agreed. Then, the bus doors shut and it pulled away.

Here's where the craziness begins. As Leah (still crying), Noah, and I start walking back to get the keys to the car, I realize that Mike probably locked the door and that I have no way of getting in the apartment to get the keys. I check the door and find that it is indeed locked. I think, "That's no big deal. I'll just go get a spare key from the office and get in that way."

I take the kids to the office, (Leah still sad) and discover that it too is locked because the managers are in a meeting for the next 45 minutes. CRAP!! What am I supposed to do? As I'm walking back to my apartment, I try to think of all the people I know and where they live. I know a bunch of people in my ward, but I only know where 3 of them live. So, I try the first two who live in my building. They were not home, which I expected. BIGGER CRAP!! The only other person I know lives a good 5 minute, up-hill-walk away.

5 minutes, that's not a long walk, you think. Well, it is when you're holding a 25 lbs boy in one arm and holding the hand of a slow-walking 2 year-old in 90 degree, cloud free weather. So, in actuality, that walk is more like a half hour long.

I decide to start heading to that person's house because on the way, I will pass lots of ward members' houses and hopefully, I'll see someone who can help me out. Well, there was NO ONE outside at all. Fortunately, I spied a familiar minivan and decide to try knocking on the door of the person who owns that van. She's my Relief Society President. If she can't drive me to the school, maybe she can at least let me use her phone to call the school.

Fortunately, I knock on the right door and it was the Relief Society President's home. I asked her if she could drive me to the school and without even thinking about it, she says, "Yeah sure, come on in!" She grabs up her kids and I take mine and we put them in her van, which just happens to contain the right number of car seats for each child and we head off.

When we arrive, I run into the school and see Mike leaving a message on our answering machine saying that the principal of the school was going to drive him home because he realized that he locked us out. And we all live happily ever after. The End!

Wow, that was crazy. But what's the Visiting Teaching connection? Well, the ONLY reason why I recognized the minivan of the R.S. Pres is because I saw her loading her kids up into it while I was walking to a Visiting Teaching appointment. Otherwise, I would have no idea whose van that was.

So, do your Visiting Teaching and you never know how your life will be blessed!

Eli before school

How Eli really felt about going to kindergarten

How Leah felt about pretty much anyone going near the bus. She really wanted to ride the bus to school herself.

Mike carrying Eli onto the bus

How Eli felt after school was all over

Eli ended up being just fine. The day went well. I just hope he's willing to do it all over again next time.

Conversation with Eli

M: Do you like watermelon?

E: No, I don't like it when it's all juicy and fresh.

M: So, do you like it when it's all rotten and dry?

How do you like your watermelon?

FINALLY!!

Yet another dream has been realized. After waiting 6 months, I can finally put all my hair up in one ponytail. It's been too long!! I kind of regret cutting my hair this short, but at least it's grown back now and I know never to cut my hair that short again.

A dream come true!!

I AM A SOCCER MOM!!!!! Yesterday, I enjoyed one of the best parental moments of my life. Eli had his first soccer game!!! I've been waiting for this for 5 1/2 years! And it was totally worth the wait. His team is the Green Gators. Eli, along with 5 other 5 year-olds played their hearts out yesterday. It was the funniest thing I've watched in a long time. This game was action packed. Let me give you the play-by-play:

Here's the star player ready for action.

Eli made some great kicks.

Some of Eli's kicks were not so great. Here he is kicking his shoe off. He did it twice.

Of course after kicking his shoe off, Eli had to put it back on. Unfortunately, it ended up in the goal instead of the ball.

After tightening his shoe straps, Eli did score two goals!!

There was even action after the game as the Gators shook hands with the opposing team that just happened to be made up mostly of girls.

This was the best! He was so excited and had such a great time!! Now I just have to make one quick comment about the hair accessories of the opposing team. Most of those little girls were wearing HUGE hair bows that coordinated with their uniforms. I just can't take any athlete seriously that has hair bows that big. When Leah has her turn to play soccer, I promise you she will NOT have hair bows as big as her head in her hair. She won't be wearing any hair bows. They just don't belong on the soccer field! The whole thing just made me roll my eyes!

I need some advice

Leah has acquired a nasty habit. She pulls her hair out and plays with it. She does it when she's tired or just laying around and bored. She only does it on the one side of her head too. So, the ponytail on that side of her head is noticeably shorter and thinner than the other ponytail (when I do pigtails). What can I do to help her kick the habit? I know she does it a lot when she laying in bed, about to fall asleep. That's not exactly a time when I can watch and distract her. Got any suggestions?

Startling realization

My daughter Leah is Darth Vader. How did I miss that?

A new personal record!!!

Last night, I was in my pj's by 5:45 pm. That's right! Can you believe it? And yes, I did get dressed yesterday. I just wanted to put my pj's on early last night. Mike was out with the older kids. He took them to the movies, so it was just the chubs and I at home. We sat around in our pj's, watching Toddlers and Tiaras (a really bad show, don't ever watch it! It's like a train wreck!!). It was wonderful. Now, see if you can beat my record!!

Two bits of advice

1. Don't wash the kitchen floor in the morning and then give your little kids Mac and Cheese for lunch that same day. You will totally undo all the good you just did.

2. Make sure, when you feed your little ones Mac and Cheese, that they wear protective helmets while eating. If they don't, the results could be disastrous.

I'm surprised Noah's hair didn't turn orange. It did stick up everywhere though.

Pics of the Faves

Silly Leah

One day while in PA, I witness Leah at her silliest. I was in the shower and heard the door open. My kids always come in the bathroom while I'm in there, so this was nothing new. I waited to hear some sort of potty noises, but instead I heard nothing. So I poked my head out of the far end of the shower and saw Leah dancing around with a paint brush. I had helped my mom paint the bathroom the night before and we left the supplies in there. Since she didn't see me, Leah continued in her play. After dancing, she picked up a container of spackle and shook it to hear what's inside. Since it didn't make a noise, she put it back down and then decided she was all done in the bathroom. But, there was one last thing she wanted to do. As she was backing out of the doorway and pulling the door shut, Leah pulled the doorknob close to her face. It almost touched her face when her tongue extended out of her mouth and licked the doorknob. That's when I decided to make my presence know by exclaiming, "LEAH, DON'T LICK THE DOORKNOB!!" Startled, she quickly scooted out the door, giggling all the way. Some day I hope to know what was going on in her head during those few moments. I bet it was fantastic!

Fireflies

Yet another wonderful thing about PA is the fireflies. My kids have never seen a firefly before. I had forgotten how cool they are. So, we planned that on Sundays, (if we all took naps after church) we could stay up late and catch fireflies in jars. It was so fun. Fortunately, it's not hard to catch them. Leah was the first one to catch one. Unfortunately for the firefly, it didn't survive the encounter. She got better at it though.

On our last Sunday, I told the kids they could catch as many as they could and then keep them overnight in their room. It was Eli's idea to use their small jars to collect them initially, then transfer them to a very big plastic jar. We had such a fun time and were very successful. I think we caught about 20. I think the fireflies were happy about it too.

In case you didn't know, fireflies light up at night to attract a mate. Apparently, we helped them out a bit with that task. At one point their was a tight cluster of 6 fireflies in our big jar. Eli asked what they were doing. I told them they were making friends with each other, but we all know what they were really doing.

Aside from that little scene, it was a magical experience for the kids. I'm so glad they go to do something that I enjoyed doing when I was little (catching fireflies that is! not watching them "make friends").

This is a picture of some of the fireflies crawling on the top of the jar. We put plastic wrap over the top and punched little wholes in it so they could breathe.

Silly pictures from PA

Tractor Rides

While we were in PA, my kids and I got all the tractor rides we wanted at my dad's house. Now, don't tell him I told you this, but he doesn't really have a tractor. He just has a riding lawn mower and a wagon that attaches to the back. In his mind, it's a tractor. To humor him, we all call it a tractor. Honestly, I laugh a little every time I say it. I love him though, so I play along like the good daughter that I am. Here are some pictures of our "tractor" rides. Oh, and yeah, that's a John Deere tractor! And, if you ever hope to get the chance to ride the tractor, you have to be wearing a John Deere hat.