"So Lucky" part two...

Yesterday a woman at the store said something really sweet and kind of profound.  I of course cried, and am crying now just writing...  I was at the store with Bill's Grandma Elsie and Benjamin while the big kids were at school.  Of course no less than a dozen strangers stopped to oogle Benjamin "He's so cute" and he was EATING IT UP!!!!  He was smiling at them flashing his dimples like nobody's business!!!  It was hilarious.  One woman said, "You sure are lucky".  I almost burst into tears immediately.  She has no idea!  We are "lucky" three times!!!  It really made me take a moment and thank the Lord for how "lucky" we are.  We have 3 beautiful children (I can say that with confidence as they are all adopted and none look like me:)).  They are a hand full to say the least.  They are exhausting, they don't always get along.  They demand limitless time and energy.  They are messy, even when trying to help clean up.  They often have attitudes and sometimes even talk back (gasp).  They are strong willed and sometimes bossy (where do they get it).  They throw fits in Target or at home when asked to do something they don't want to do.  They always need something else when we have nothing to give.  But they are ours.  God has given them to us and we cannot imagine our lives without them.  We are so "lucky"!

First Day of Kindergarten

Well here it is!!  The first day of kindergarten (sniff sniff)!  Well, to those of you who know me it goes more like:  The first day of kindergarten (sob sob)!  The kids had a lot of fun, after a rocky start, the pictures can tell the story! We are so proud of our "babies" and cannot believe the time has flown by so quickly!  Enjoy!

This is how you make lunches!

Ready to go!

Last year we had the same pic of the "double school supplies".  This is for all my teacher friends out there so they can rest assured I am not a slacker mom (as far as school supplies are concerned).  BTW- Target has killer deals on Crayola!

Nice mug shots right?

Here they are ready for the first day!  They both had PE on the first day, so they have on what I refer to as "Sporty Spice" clothes.  Annabelle was a little upset she couldn't wear anything fancy...  Rest assured she did on day 2!

 Again with the mug shots...

They were laughing at the black blur at the bottom of the pic, our dog Tank

Daddy praying with them before school

Grandpa was part of our posse on the way to school

Benjamin is soooooo over this!!!

More or our fan club...  Mimi
Not pictured Bill, Molly and Aunt Frankie

The three amigos at school

Now is when the morning starts to go arye...  They both got really nervous which means Annabelle got really quiet and looked super snotty and Andrew got really loud and obnoxious.

Both kids had these color sheets on their desks

This was the first thing on Andrew's desk, and cue tears....  That's right, I didn't even open it and I started crying!  The inside (I read 3 hours later and still cried) was about how the teacher knows we love our kiddos and she will love them too, and take good care of them while they are in school.  And cue more tears...

This is right before we attempted to leave and Andrew screamed- "I am not staying here by myself!"  Cue UGLY CRYING!

This is Bill swooping in to the rescue.  After Andrew screamed and started crying,  I had to vacate the classroom because of the ugly crying and then I had to take Annabelle to her classroom.  So Bill stayed with Andrew until he felt comfortable (so her said, he may have been lying to make me feel better.  Either way, thanks Babe)

This Annabelle refusing to smile and or color because she was so nervous.  This is my outgoing social butterfly who had been introducing herself to people since she was 11 months old, NEVER unsure in ANY social situation.  And cue the ugly crying again!!!  BTW- she told me I was never allowed to do her hair like this again because it was too "baby" WHAT THE HECK???!!




A big shout out to my "Tissues and Tea" Support Group:
Mom
Aunt Frankie
Nana (Gigi)
Aunt Shari
Aunt Brenda
Lydia
Erin
I wouldn't have made it through this day without you!
Only 179 more to go.....

Who's keeping score?

Dear Target Shoppers,
Please excuse the screaming.  Yes, I manhandled my 5 year old (looks like 8 year old) into the cart.  Sorry.  I did this because he was yelling at me.  Sorry.  Yeah, you probably heard that part but didn't see it as I was trying to hide in a "time out" corner. Then, when you thought the ruckus was over, he slapped me and I put him back in time out which of course inspired more screaming.  Sorry.  When the screaming calmed down and I asked him to leave with us, more screaming.  Sorry.  I took it upon myself to go ahead and check out with only the items in my cart, to rid you of the screaming faster.  As we tried to exit Target, the screaming only intensified.  Sorry. Said 5 year old (no really, he's only 5) saw we were passing the snack spot and was not going to be getting any popcorn because of his behavior.  Sorry.  No- I'm not sorry.  I have 3 kids under 5 and sometimes regardless of your dirty looks and head shakes, I have to discipline my child(ren) in a public place.  This time (and lots of other times I guess) it was Target.  AND I WAS NOT GOING TO HAND OVER A REWARD TO A MANIAC JUST SO YOU WOULD STOP STARING AT ME!!!  And by the way Target Shoppers, there is a good chance this will happen again. Taking into consideration that I have 3 kids (and we frequent that particular Target).  Sorry. 
In case you were wondering:
Andrew-0
Mom- 1

How many hours do you put in?

I have been teaching on-line education classes for Grand Canyon Univerity for over a year now and I love it.  I often hear interesting things from my students and the one I heard today was worth a blog post.  Here is the quote:
"...educated women spend on average 21.5 hours per week attending to the needs of their children..."
I feel like I spend 21 hours a day tending to the needs of my children (and husbands count too right?).  Even if my kids were in school 5 days a week (sniff sniff), I would still have them at home for about 5 or 6 waking hours each day and then the whole weekend which would be more than 21 hours a week right?
Anyone else have an opinon on this?  I would love to see your comments!

Goodbye Preschool

So this post is a little premature as we still have school until the Tuesday after Memorial Day, but I have to share this video!  I would like to point out that last year at this time, Andrew turned his back on the audience and then threw a screaming fit when it was ice cream time.  So this year was an AMAZING improvement!  Needless to say, I bawled my eyes out at the back the whole time.  My babies are heading to kindergarten!

If you are looking for an AMAZING preschool, Chandler has a great program and I have had the opportunity to work with several preschool teachers in my role as a kindergarten teacher and I can say they are truly the cream of the crop!  Now excuse me while I brag on the specific teachers who have touched my kids lives this year.

A GIANT thank you to Miss Elissa- you have been the best teacher to both of my kids!  You have no idea the amount of tears I shed leaving Andrew with you that first day two years ago.  He had never been anywhere without his sister, and he was barely able to communicate.  You have helped him become an independent guy, ready to conquer the world.  Annabelle waited for a whole year with GREAT anticipation to enter your class and you did not disappoint!   Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication.

Miss Karen- thank you for loving my Andrew even when it was hard.  You two have a special bond and you have always seen him for the amazing kid he can be even when he isn't acting like it.  Thank you for helping him learn so much.

Miss Carolina- We miss you dearly!  You spent so much time pampering Annabelle, the "beauty shop center" will never be the same without you.  Thank you for helping her adjust to a new group of students and making her year so fun!

Miss Tami- What do I say? You have only been with us for a short while, but you have no idea how relaxed my whole body became when I say you standing in the room as Miss Carolina replacement.  You were dear to me when you were just "Austin's Mom and even more now that we have switched roles:).  Thank you for humoring both of my sweet kiddos-they adore you!

Miss Lisa- I jumped for joy when I found out you would be Andrew's speech teacher this year.  I loved having you as a parent, you were so supportive and that is one of the things that makes you such a good therapist.  Andrew has come so far this year, and we owe much of it to you!

We have had the best year!  Thank you for preparing us for kindergarten!

First Baby Sitter

Last night we went out to eat with my college roommate and her husband.  They live in Colorado, so we don't get to see them very often.  The last time we saw them, we dropped the kids at Bill's parents house for a sleepover and stayed out WAAAAAAY to late.  I seem to remember driving home with another couple, the husbands sound asleep in the back seat.  Well, in case we were wondering, we aren't 18 any more!  So this time we opted for a more civilized meeting at one restaurant (instead of bar hopping, which is what got us into trouble last time).  Since it was a week night, we knew we would be calling it early, and all the family we usually have baby sit were busy.

 So we hired a sitter.  The most amazing 8th grade boy in America- he just happens to live across the street (lucky us).  Seriously, he gives me hope for all mankind.  He always waves and says hi, even when he is with his buddies.  He is so polite and responsible.  No, I will not be giving his name out as we would like to hoard him for ourselves.

Ten minutes into our big date night, our sitter (or really, his mom Laura) calls and tells us everything is fine....  I immediately flash to hundreds of different scenarios all of which end in the police at our house and caution tape on our front door.  Good thing Bill answered as he may be a TAD more calm in the "babysitters calling to say everything is fine" department.  Andrew was zealously pressing play on the DVD player (Netflix and Hulu were both out, told you this baby sitter was amazing-entertaining the kids without technology as you will see as the story progresses), he tripped and smashed his front teeth on the Mama Roo (the Mama Roo is fine by the way- Thank the Lord!!!).  His lip and mouth were bloody and he was wailing up a storm.  This is why the baby sitter opted to call his mom, can you blame him?  Andrew calmed down after a Popsicle (no, we did not rush home, Mother of the Year acceptance speech in another post).  And the baby sitter played board games with them until they went to bed.

So that was our first baby sitter...  Thank you Clayton Hinners (and Laura too)- you are the best!  Please don't let this craziness keep you from accepting jobs from us again...

And stay tuned for pictures of Andrew's newly loose tooth...  EWWWWW!

Pre-School Wisdom

Keep in mind they are both in the same class...

Me-What did you guys learn today at school?
Andrew- Miss Elissa says we should never smart everyone.
Me- Um, what is smart?
Andrew- You know, when you take your hand and smart someone who is bothering you.
Me- No, honey, I don't know, show me (what was I thinking?)
Andrew proceeds to take Annabelle's arm and give it a nice loud open hand slap.
So are we clear?  Smart=Slap

Me- What about you Annabelley?
Annabelle- I learned about different kinds of animals.  Mammals are animals that have live babies, you know, we are mammals.  Then there are animals who have babies who hatch out of eggs and they are called security systems.
To re-cap: mammals have live babies, security systems have babies who hatch out of eggs.