First Grade

Xander just completed his first full week of first grade. He started last Wednesday and I'm glad they ease into with just a few days because he was worn out.

A few days before school starts they have an open house where you can drop off your supplies, meet your teacher, check out your classroom and go to the cafeteria to have a treat and mingle with other people.

I loved Xander's teacher from the moment I walked into the room. She was welcoming, friendly and had a very clean and organized learning environment. She already had nametags on the kids' desks and mailboxes, her books were organized into categories, and she had fun lamps, rugs and pillows in the reading center. It looked like a fun place to come to every day and, compared to last year's teacher, I was very impressed. On top of that, he gets two teachers. The intervention teacher is also in his room most of the day as well, so I'm hoping that will be very helpful for him.

On the big day, Xander was super excited! He was up and dressed earlier than he's been in months. I bought the kids a special treat of chocolate donuts to celebrate and Xander ate his on the plate he made at the paint-your-own-pottery store.

We made chocolate chip cookies for his teachers.

He got to use his Transformers lunch box and fun food containers inside.

And best of all, we finally let him wear his new light-up Skechers. These aren't just any light-up shoes. You could wake the dead with these things. I could see him coming up the stairs from my bedroom with the door barely cracked open. God bless a good sale and Jason's mom's store discount, or this kid would not be wearing shoes that cost more than his parents' shoes.

Jason took Xander to buy his annual first-day-of-school outfit and he had to have a Toy Story t-shirt. He also picked out some new jeans.

We awaited the bus with great anticipation. I love that the bus stop is at the end of my driveway. I hope it continues to stay there as long as we live here.

Xander had no trouble getting on the bus this year, and I had no trouble saying goodbye.

(And in case you were wondering, I made sure he didn't get on the bus with a firearm.)

Random Goings-On

Ever been busy but not really doing anything? Yeah, that's us lately.

This child CRACKS me up. I haven't decided yet if she's going to be a fashion designer or a feature on What Not to Wear. The day she picked out this ensemble it was 85 degrees.

All she needs now is some dreadlocks to go with that hat and sunglasses.

The Saturday of Memorial Day weekend the kids and I spent the morning with my mom. We started very early at the Worthington Farmers Market.

We also did some shopping, ate gyros and went for Italian Ice. That night after Jason and my step-dad got off work we went to their house for a cookout. I was a bad mom and didn't take pictures, but the parental units took pictures of the kids in the sprinkler.

Some man at the farmers market must have really wanted me to buy some of his things because he tried to tell me that Jordis "looks just like her mother." Really? I think not. Let's check it out......

Um, let's see. Jordis has big brown eyes. They are so big she doesn't have much in the way of eyelids. I have small green eyes and a lot of eyelids. The bridge of my nose is really narrow and hers is pretty wide. And I don't have to mention the skin. I have on makeup here and she is still darker than me. 'Nuff said. And no, I didn't buy any of his wares.

Let's see, what else. Oh, Xander had a new spelling word. Like it? Jason said it's perfect.....if they want to teach kindergartners about rum we have a great excuse to take them out of school to go to Mardi Gras.

Jason's summer softball season started. The kids are actually cooperating a little this year while we're there, and sometimes they even watch the game for a minute or two.

Last week Jason worked some overtime for the Memorial Tournament. He spent 10 hours over two days monitoring the traffic light in case cars got too backed up. I wish someone would pay me to sit by myself under a shady tree. I'm sure it's not that simple, but I'm thinking I'd enjoy the solitude. On one of the days I took the kids to the afternoon farmers market nearby and for some italian ice so we could visit Daddy. They were really excited when he let them each push the button to change the traffic light.

We also had a gorgeous double rainbow. I never would have known if my neighbor Dena hadn't called me. It was right after we'd put the kids to bed and sat down to watch some TV, so I ran upstairs to show the kids before it faded away.

Such a neat way to end the evening.

Big Bargains

If you know me well, you know I love a bargain. Not sure why, but guessing it might have something to do with my dad being a math teacher and always trying to find the most economical way to do things. Just yesterday, I noticed my favorite brand of lipstick had a few colors on clearance.

These are the summer and winter clothes for the kids that I bought on clearance and have stockpiled in the office closet. We've got shorts, shirts, dresses, bathing suits, sweatshirts, winter coats...just about everything.

But this, my friends, is my deal of the week: Easter clothes. I love for the kids to have fancy Easter clothes, but for as little as they get worn I can't fathom buying them brand new. Last year I found them a great ensemble at Once Upon a Child.

This week I had the same success again.

The beauty of getting your fancy kids clothes used is that, more than likely, whoever had them before didn't wear them much either. I got all of this for $19, which is probably more than the dress would cost by itself brand new. Now if I could just find Xander a green and pink tie.

This girl

Miss Jordis is developing quite her own sense of self. Not only does she like to wear a variety of different clothing styles all at once but she's becoming quite vocally inquisitive of things out in public. She's tomboy with a touch of diva and a splash of attitude. Everyone seems to ignore the attitude part though because her little voice is so cute. Here she is conversing with the Halloween decor at the grocery store.

She found Xander's old shoes that I was going to donate in her closet, but has decided that they are hers now. They fit her perfectly and she wears them everywhere. This particular day she was also wearing his old jeans. They're fairly unisex so I passed them on to her. Bulky sweatshirt and don't forget the princess hat.

She's also started wearing mis-matched pajamas. Never mind if the whole set is clean, she likes to mix and match the tops and bottoms. Here she is doing Wii yoga with a cupcake top and Minnie Mouse pants.

And on Tuesday, even though she has a closet full of cute girly clothes, she wore her brother's old dinosaur shirt, his socks and his shoes. I think the jacket used to be his as well. The brown pants are hand-me-downs from her neighbor friend, Megan. And don't forget....a princess hat, but backwards because she can't see with the bill facing forward.

Yesterday Jordis looked very cute and girly and an old woman at Kohl's was charmed when, as I was looking at something Jordis asked, "is that on sale?" "Oh, isn't she cute" the woman said. "I see you're teaching her early." I'm sure she would have changed her mind if she was the woman in the restroom stall later when Jordis peered under the door and asked, "Mommy is that lady makin' poops?"

Happy Easter!

Easter snuck itself right in between the kids' birthdays this year, so we've been really busy with all three. When Xander was on Spring Break the kids decorated a bunch of crosses to take to the nursing home, so we delivered those one day last week when Xander got off the bus.

On Friday we decorated a few eggs.


Saturday afternoon Jason picked up some overtime, so the kids and I went to my mom and step-dad's. In one evening we celebrated Easter, both kids' birthdays and my mom's birthday. The kids had an Easter egg hunt when we got there.


Presents after dinner...


...then Easter baskets...

Xander had to wear his Helmet Heroes while he opened his Easter basket at home Sunday morning.

Jordis was mostly concerned with eating.


I was amazed that there was no fighting about the boutinierre and hair clip that I made for the kids, and they actually stood together and both faced the camera. It really doesn't get much better than that, it's much more cooperation than I expected and we were even early to church.

After church Grandpa, Grammy, MawMaw, PawPaw and Aunt Mo came for brunch to celebrate Easter and both kids' birthdays.

It was like Christmas morning and we are now very thankful that we don't need to buy our kids a single outfit to wear this summer.



What a wonderful Easter it was.

....life is worth the living, just because He lives.

In other news

Xander got a haircut. We were trying to grow it out so he could get the layered rock star look that's popular with boys today, but it wasn't working so well. When we took him for his last haircut she said it would need to grow some more in parts in order for us to get it long enough to layer. But it was too the point where he couldn't see and we could barely find his ears. So, I had my mom cut it up a little. We cut his bangs and the hair by his ears and shaped up the back. It looks better, so now we just need to decide if we're going to cut it shorter or see how it grows.

Here's a cute picture of Jordis that Jason took on Monday. I was in a store with Xander so he let her get of her carseat and sit up front. She thought it would be cool to stand on the console and stick her head out of the moonroof.

She also helped me a little with some laundry, although her interest in such chores is waning. She's definitely acting like a 3-year-old already. Screaming, pointing, crossing her arms and blatantly refusing to do things are now standard fare throughout the day. Luckily for her we think she's pretty cute.

I also found the BEST license plate when I was out with Xander one day. It would be perfect for me and pretty much sums up my existence. I don't know why I didn't think of it myself. I was probably too busy worrying about something else.

To top it off I got some great bargains on kids clothes this week. The kids are set for Easter, Jordis has a yellow dress for her Miss Spider birthday party, we have some more new fall/winter clothes and Jordis has her next winter coat. It's even pink if you can believe it. A great bargain always makes my day!

Our weekend visitor

Xander came home from school Thursday with a big purple bag, and inside I found this...
There was also a notebook that stated our new houseguest was named Lily, and we were to document how she spent the weekend with us. Bubba was very interested in Lily.

Lily went to Xander's sports adventure class with him, and they came home and fell asleep in our bed waiting for Jordis and I to come home from somewhere else.


Jordis was kind enough to share her doll highchair so Lily could join us at the table for meals.

It was REALLY cold (as in below 0 degrees) over the weekend, so I thought Lily would be much warmer in this lovely Ohio State cheerleading outfit. It didn't prohibit her at all from participating in fun activities.

I was even nice and let her change clothes. Afterall, she is pretty furry, and once the temperatures climbed into the sweltering teens I thought maybe something sleeveless might be more comfortable.

We took Lily to have a late Christmas celebration with some friends, and she also played Geo Trax in Xander's room.


Today Lily had to go back to school. We had a fun weekend!