Well, this was an incredibly busy week for us!
The week prior to classes beginning for TAMU is always hectic for me, and my Monday began with an all day New Graduate Student Orientation. Yes, the same day as Kellen's first day of school and Tatum's first day in her new daycare. The rest of the week seemed just as crazy, but it was pretty usual, so we'll just ignore it.
As for Kellen, he's LOVING first grade, enjoying his teacher, and having a good time of things so far. Kids Klub has been great, and he's even asked me why I have picked him up before it was over. Um, I thought getting me getting off of work on time to get you was a good thing?
And Tatum, she seems to be adjusting well except for a slight reverting with her potty issues. She started out the week with quite a few more accidents than normal, did progressively better until Thursday when she had ZERO accidents, then had lots of accidents on Friday. She'll get there! Socially, she's doing great...the teachers and other students with whom I see her interacting really seem to enjoy her, and she enjoys them, so I feel comfortable with the transition. I just have to get used to packing her lunch and preparing extra snacks in case they're serving something she can't eat. But from her end, she feels so independent carrying her backpack and lunchbag into that school! I can tell that it brings her such joy and that she feels like such a big girl with just that little bit of responsibility!
Training is still training, and the end of my borrow month is coming to a close. I have had the pleasure of borrowing a wonderful bike to train on for the month of August and I believe I am now spoiled to this bike. I am so grateful for the opportunity and generosity of the loan! We're really pushing ourselves, and it's nice to be working out with other ladies that will push....this has been a really good experience. We all have our "off" days, but luckily they're never on the same day so we all end up encouraging each other!
I pray that the kids have another wonderful week! We have a lot in store this week for various members of the fam...Texans game, Astros game, first Aggies game (anyone catching a theme here?), and Mommy also gets a Ladies night out this week!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
1st Day of School
Well, I'm glad that the kids are excited about school.
Kellen, at 4:30 AM this morning, excitedly declared, "This is the BEST DAY EVER! The first day of first grade!"
(I told him it was NOT wake up time and to go back to bed. I know, I know. I'm a kill-joy. I figured Daddy would have not been happy if the two kids would have been awake as I was leaving for my workout.)
Not to be outdone in the quest for independence, Tatum simply blew me a kiss and nonchalantly said, "Bye, bye, Mommy!" when I dropped her off in her room at her new daycare. Amazingly enough, she remembered a girl, by name, from visiting the school last week (she was there for 2 hours on Thursday) and Tatum seemed quite a bit more at ease this morning than the girl she tried to befriend!
I guess it's a good thing that they can adjust easily to new surroundings, right? It just kinda takes me aback when I realize that Mommy and Daddy are doing a good job of teaching them to be independent. The other side to that coin is that they are independent - as in - they didn't really need us all that much today.
And THAT, my friends, means that my kiddos are actually growing up. When did THAT happen?
Here are some pictures of Kellen before leaving for school. Pay special attention to the apple. It was a must-have for the first day of school. Why, you ask? Because as everyone knows, you give apples to teachers. "That's what first graders do."
Kellen, at 4:30 AM this morning, excitedly declared, "This is the BEST DAY EVER! The first day of first grade!"
(I told him it was NOT wake up time and to go back to bed. I know, I know. I'm a kill-joy. I figured Daddy would have not been happy if the two kids would have been awake as I was leaving for my workout.)
Not to be outdone in the quest for independence, Tatum simply blew me a kiss and nonchalantly said, "Bye, bye, Mommy!" when I dropped her off in her room at her new daycare. Amazingly enough, she remembered a girl, by name, from visiting the school last week (she was there for 2 hours on Thursday) and Tatum seemed quite a bit more at ease this morning than the girl she tried to befriend!
I guess it's a good thing that they can adjust easily to new surroundings, right? It just kinda takes me aback when I realize that Mommy and Daddy are doing a good job of teaching them to be independent. The other side to that coin is that they are independent - as in - they didn't really need us all that much today.
And THAT, my friends, means that my kiddos are actually growing up. When did THAT happen?
Here are some pictures of Kellen before leaving for school. Pay special attention to the apple. It was a must-have for the first day of school. Why, you ask? Because as everyone knows, you give apples to teachers. "That's what first graders do."
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Officially on vacation....
Yes, you read that correctly. I have taken the week off. The WHOLE week.
Officially, my last day of work before the vacation was a long one...beginning at 6:45 AM and lasting until 6:30 PM...and I only ended the day because my co-worker stayed and helped me, despite me trying to make him leave. It would have been a much longer day without him. We began with graduation breakfast, then lining students up for graduation, then ran to get something to eat ('cause I had more attend the breakfast than had RSVP'ed, and the food was perfect for the students and their guests, it just didn't cover faculty/staff very well), then it was a mad scramble to finish everything on my list that needed to be done before I left and prepared for me for when I get back...back to a full-day new graduate orientation.
I'm so kind to myself, aren't I?
Anywhoo....I finished working, made it home, packed up, and headed back out....to a Ladies Slumber Party!!! The ladies from our Sunday School class have decided to really try and work on some fellowship opportunities lately, and this was just an "extra" thing that was scheduled. It was a lot of fun, and I am so glad to be getting to know so many more ladies around here!
Saturday was pretty relaxing...headed back home, hung out with the kids, tried to keep the laundry going and clean up the house, you know....normal Saturday activities. I think there might have even been a nap in there, too.
Sunday I had a nice combo bike/run workout (~6 miles bike/15 min run) with my ladies at 6AM, then after church and naps, we loaded up all of the swim accessories, headed to a friends house for a cook-out, set up the pool and slip n slide, and let the kids have at it while the adults chatted. After the kids were through playing, we then exposed them (and me!!) to their Wii...and played bowling. I just WISH I could bowl that well in real life! Kellen was doing great, Tatum liked it, but wasn't grasping the letting-go-of-the-button aspect, and Matt, well....watching Kellen and Daddy play was quite entertaining.
Monday morning, my first "official" day of vacation, began quite nicely...4:30 AM to get up and meet some ladies for a long bike ride (~9 miles). It was a good ride, despite having some equipment issues and falling off of the bike when I stopped (not even a cool story!). Honestly, it was good for me to fall off, considering I'm terrified of doing so. I did it and it wasn't that big of a deal. Not to say I want to do it again, but hey... We also learned that we'll have to evaluate our bike routes for our 5 AM rides...it was fairly dark for a ride that early, and many of the street lights weren't actually on.
Anyway, we got ready and headed out to Waco - destination: Cameron Park Zoo. Our plan was to meet up with Jules & her kiddos. We left about 45 minutes later than I had intended, but considering that there was no real schedule anyway, I guess it wasn't that big of a deal (Jules may disagree). The kids were SO well behaved in the car on the way there...there were no random outbursts from Tatum, Kellen played his Leapster with his headphones in, and everyone just chilled out. When we FINALLY got there. The directions on their site are slightly misleading...it's difficult to get there from University Parks Dr unless you know where to turn. I didn't know where to turn. I knew I was close, and was driving around looking for 4th street or an entrance from University Parks, had the kids singing, "Zoo, zoo, where are you?" I finally found an entrance, from neither of the streets the website had indicated...5th Street!! They had a GREAT time at the zoo, and we finished up in there shortly after 1:30 PM, and headed to Cameron Park for our picnic lunch and playing. We were on the road headed back to the motherland by about 2:45, and the kids were O-U-T by the time I got onto Hwy 6, and slept the entire trip back.
Last night we watched Underdog, then ate dinner, and everyone was in bed fairly early, including Mommy!
Today, my second day of vacation, began slightly different than yesterday. Other than the normal Kellen-in-bed and Tatum-crying-at-5:30-and-needs-to-go-back-to-sleep, I was truly awoken this morning by Tatum handing me her pullup (we tried it yesterday and last night...worked great! Stay tuned for how her skin reacts.) with a "present" in it - "present" side up and pullup completely off of her body....It was like she was handing me something on a silver platter, and it's quite a bit different than breakfast in bed. Needless to say, I was up in a flash!
My plans for today are a little more laid back than yesterday...perhaps some playing in the backyard, the pool, a walk to the park to feed the ducks, and throw in the laundry now and then to keep it going. The dishwasher is running, and I might get energized and sweep, mop, vacuum, but who knows? I told Daddy that I was on vacation, meaning that I wasn't going to houseclean, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to make good on that one (not that Daddy will mind). They both wanted to play with cars this morning, and then asked to watch Cars, so that's what they're doing right now.
When the software decides to cooperate, I'll upload some pictures from yesterday...
Officially, my last day of work before the vacation was a long one...beginning at 6:45 AM and lasting until 6:30 PM...and I only ended the day because my co-worker stayed and helped me, despite me trying to make him leave. It would have been a much longer day without him. We began with graduation breakfast, then lining students up for graduation, then ran to get something to eat ('cause I had more attend the breakfast than had RSVP'ed, and the food was perfect for the students and their guests, it just didn't cover faculty/staff very well), then it was a mad scramble to finish everything on my list that needed to be done before I left and prepared for me for when I get back...back to a full-day new graduate orientation.
I'm so kind to myself, aren't I?
Anywhoo....I finished working, made it home, packed up, and headed back out....to a Ladies Slumber Party!!! The ladies from our Sunday School class have decided to really try and work on some fellowship opportunities lately, and this was just an "extra" thing that was scheduled. It was a lot of fun, and I am so glad to be getting to know so many more ladies around here!
Saturday was pretty relaxing...headed back home, hung out with the kids, tried to keep the laundry going and clean up the house, you know....normal Saturday activities. I think there might have even been a nap in there, too.
Sunday I had a nice combo bike/run workout (~6 miles bike/15 min run) with my ladies at 6AM, then after church and naps, we loaded up all of the swim accessories, headed to a friends house for a cook-out, set up the pool and slip n slide, and let the kids have at it while the adults chatted. After the kids were through playing, we then exposed them (and me!!) to their Wii...and played bowling. I just WISH I could bowl that well in real life! Kellen was doing great, Tatum liked it, but wasn't grasping the letting-go-of-the-button aspect, and Matt, well....watching Kellen and Daddy play was quite entertaining.
Monday morning, my first "official" day of vacation, began quite nicely...4:30 AM to get up and meet some ladies for a long bike ride (~9 miles). It was a good ride, despite having some equipment issues and falling off of the bike when I stopped (not even a cool story!). Honestly, it was good for me to fall off, considering I'm terrified of doing so. I did it and it wasn't that big of a deal. Not to say I want to do it again, but hey... We also learned that we'll have to evaluate our bike routes for our 5 AM rides...it was fairly dark for a ride that early, and many of the street lights weren't actually on.
Anyway, we got ready and headed out to Waco - destination: Cameron Park Zoo. Our plan was to meet up with Jules & her kiddos. We left about 45 minutes later than I had intended, but considering that there was no real schedule anyway, I guess it wasn't that big of a deal (Jules may disagree). The kids were SO well behaved in the car on the way there...there were no random outbursts from Tatum, Kellen played his Leapster with his headphones in, and everyone just chilled out. When we FINALLY got there. The directions on their site are slightly misleading...it's difficult to get there from University Parks Dr unless you know where to turn. I didn't know where to turn. I knew I was close, and was driving around looking for 4th street or an entrance from University Parks, had the kids singing, "Zoo, zoo, where are you?" I finally found an entrance, from neither of the streets the website had indicated...5th Street!! They had a GREAT time at the zoo, and we finished up in there shortly after 1:30 PM, and headed to Cameron Park for our picnic lunch and playing. We were on the road headed back to the motherland by about 2:45, and the kids were O-U-T by the time I got onto Hwy 6, and slept the entire trip back.
Last night we watched Underdog, then ate dinner, and everyone was in bed fairly early, including Mommy!
Today, my second day of vacation, began slightly different than yesterday. Other than the normal Kellen-in-bed and Tatum-crying-at-5:30-and-needs-to-go-back-to-sleep, I was truly awoken this morning by Tatum handing me her pullup (we tried it yesterday and last night...worked great! Stay tuned for how her skin reacts.) with a "present" in it - "present" side up and pullup completely off of her body....It was like she was handing me something on a silver platter, and it's quite a bit different than breakfast in bed. Needless to say, I was up in a flash!
My plans for today are a little more laid back than yesterday...perhaps some playing in the backyard, the pool, a walk to the park to feed the ducks, and throw in the laundry now and then to keep it going. The dishwasher is running, and I might get energized and sweep, mop, vacuum, but who knows? I told Daddy that I was on vacation, meaning that I wasn't going to houseclean, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to make good on that one (not that Daddy will mind). They both wanted to play with cars this morning, and then asked to watch Cars, so that's what they're doing right now.
When the software decides to cooperate, I'll upload some pictures from yesterday...
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Mental Health Day
Today I took almost a full mental health day for myself.
I slept in, and luckily so did Tatum, then got ready and I took her to school. I decided that I would do a combo training workout this morning, so when I got back to the house, I drove a path for the bike route - a 1 1/2 mile path. I headed out on the bike, did the path twice in 17 minutes (I have NO idea if that's a good time or not, but considering it's the first time I've been on a bike since Crazy Mike's Bike Tour in Munich, Germany in 1996, I'll take it). I then put the bike in the garage and headed out for a jog. My initial goal was 2 miles, but I quickly changed that to a 1 mile jog when a I realized that the two pieces of lead attached to my hips weren't working very well. I think the third day of three consecutive days of working out has finally caught up with me. I'm BEAT!
I made it back home just as Matt and Kellen were pulling into the driveway. Kellen and I changed clothes into our swim gear, and we headed out to our pre-planned, pool play date. We were scheduled to meet his kindergarten teacher and her son at their neighborhood pool today at 10 and just hang out all day, or at least until I had to leave to get ready for the REU poster presentations late in the afternoon. So we made a quick errand stop and got over there around 10:15 and started our lounging and playing.
It was quite the day. Just what I needed. Lounging, basking, playing, and a whole lot of nothing.
We left there mid-afternoon and headed back to the house. On the way, Kellen said, "My eyelids are heavy," and seconds later I look back and he had fallen asleep. When I got to the house, I woke him up, asked him to change his clothes and just lay down until I was ready to go. He did, and then konked out on his bed - under the covers and all. When it was time to leave for the poster presentations, I attempted to wake him up, then had to spend a few minutes calming him down. When he gets REALLY tired, he gets worked up and it takes a while to get him calmed down once he's upset. It's a learned trick that requires patience, and is incredibly frustrating, even if you KNOW he's tired and that his being tired is the root cause of his behavior. This didn't last very long, but long enough for me to be reminded that he's still my little boy that needs his Mommy every once in a while.
Anyway, we got to the poster presentations and he sat down and played his Leapster, ate the snacks I had packed for him, and was on his best behavior. He was GREAT! So great, in fact, that after it was over and we had picked up Tatum, he got a treat of McDonald's for his behavior. Lucky Tatum, she got to benefit from it as well, since they both received Happy Meal's and were able to eat it picnic style while watching Veggie Tales because of the deal! That is such a treat for them....any food, in the living room, picnic style.
He and I snuggled some more before he went to bed, after I rubbed lotion on his sunburned face (it's not too bad, but I do believe it's his first ever sunburn). His face is red and his shoulders are a little pink. As for me, I just underestimated the sunscreen for myself altogether. I'm totally sunburned and you can see the outline of the bathing suit I was wearing. Kellen looked at me tonight before getting ready for bed and asked what the outline was (around my neck).
My response, "That was the color that Mommy started out today. The other color is how sunburned Mommy is now."
Kellen: "Wow, Mommy. It's really RED! I'm not laughing at you because you're sunburned, but it's just really RED!"
Bless his heart! He remembers my REALLY BAD sunburn from last summer (our river float adventure) and brought that back to my attention tonight. As in, 'It will be ok, Mommy. You had a sunburn last year when we were at the rock house and you got better. You will get better this time, too.' And this is nothing like that one. I anticipate that by Thursday or Friday this will have tanned itself out.
At least that's what I'm telling myself. :) I've already peeled once this summer and once is my limit.
I slept in, and luckily so did Tatum, then got ready and I took her to school. I decided that I would do a combo training workout this morning, so when I got back to the house, I drove a path for the bike route - a 1 1/2 mile path. I headed out on the bike, did the path twice in 17 minutes (I have NO idea if that's a good time or not, but considering it's the first time I've been on a bike since Crazy Mike's Bike Tour in Munich, Germany in 1996, I'll take it). I then put the bike in the garage and headed out for a jog. My initial goal was 2 miles, but I quickly changed that to a 1 mile jog when a I realized that the two pieces of lead attached to my hips weren't working very well. I think the third day of three consecutive days of working out has finally caught up with me. I'm BEAT!
I made it back home just as Matt and Kellen were pulling into the driveway. Kellen and I changed clothes into our swim gear, and we headed out to our pre-planned, pool play date. We were scheduled to meet his kindergarten teacher and her son at their neighborhood pool today at 10 and just hang out all day, or at least until I had to leave to get ready for the REU poster presentations late in the afternoon. So we made a quick errand stop and got over there around 10:15 and started our lounging and playing.
It was quite the day. Just what I needed. Lounging, basking, playing, and a whole lot of nothing.
We left there mid-afternoon and headed back to the house. On the way, Kellen said, "My eyelids are heavy," and seconds later I look back and he had fallen asleep. When I got to the house, I woke him up, asked him to change his clothes and just lay down until I was ready to go. He did, and then konked out on his bed - under the covers and all. When it was time to leave for the poster presentations, I attempted to wake him up, then had to spend a few minutes calming him down. When he gets REALLY tired, he gets worked up and it takes a while to get him calmed down once he's upset. It's a learned trick that requires patience, and is incredibly frustrating, even if you KNOW he's tired and that his being tired is the root cause of his behavior. This didn't last very long, but long enough for me to be reminded that he's still my little boy that needs his Mommy every once in a while.
Anyway, we got to the poster presentations and he sat down and played his Leapster, ate the snacks I had packed for him, and was on his best behavior. He was GREAT! So great, in fact, that after it was over and we had picked up Tatum, he got a treat of McDonald's for his behavior. Lucky Tatum, she got to benefit from it as well, since they both received Happy Meal's and were able to eat it picnic style while watching Veggie Tales because of the deal! That is such a treat for them....any food, in the living room, picnic style.
He and I snuggled some more before he went to bed, after I rubbed lotion on his sunburned face (it's not too bad, but I do believe it's his first ever sunburn). His face is red and his shoulders are a little pink. As for me, I just underestimated the sunscreen for myself altogether. I'm totally sunburned and you can see the outline of the bathing suit I was wearing. Kellen looked at me tonight before getting ready for bed and asked what the outline was (around my neck).
My response, "That was the color that Mommy started out today. The other color is how sunburned Mommy is now."
Kellen: "Wow, Mommy. It's really RED! I'm not laughing at you because you're sunburned, but it's just really RED!"
Bless his heart! He remembers my REALLY BAD sunburn from last summer (our river float adventure) and brought that back to my attention tonight. As in, 'It will be ok, Mommy. You had a sunburn last year when we were at the rock house and you got better. You will get better this time, too.' And this is nothing like that one. I anticipate that by Thursday or Friday this will have tanned itself out.
At least that's what I'm telling myself. :) I've already peeled once this summer and once is my limit.
Monday, August 03, 2009
Kellen's Birthday - My little boy isn't so little!
In preparation for Kellen's birthday party, I asked him where he wanted to have it and who he wanted to invite. He thought about it, and told me he wanted to have the party at McDonald's, then proceeded to dictate the guest list.
Since it's a summer birthday, and I didn't have the foresight to get the class list and contact information while he was still IN school, I contacted his teacher for the contact information for the kids he wanted to invite.
We went with a superhero theme (surprise, surprise) and I worked up the evites and went with it...I commissioned a Spiderman cake as the "surprise" cake for the party, and we were pretty well set (I love not having to stress about party's when the location does all of the work for you!).
After church and naps, Kellen was SUPER-excited, put on his special 'birthday boy' shirt and was counting down the minutes until it was time to GO! He just had such a good time with his friends!
I look at him and honestly wonder where the time has gone...how has it been six years since he was born? He is growing into an amazing young man...so caring and compassionate, attune to other people's feelings and hilariously funny. Don't get me wrong...he's ALL BOY as well, as his many scars and my many phone calls from counselors can attest to, but he's certainly my sweetie and I love him so much!
Since it's a summer birthday, and I didn't have the foresight to get the class list and contact information while he was still IN school, I contacted his teacher for the contact information for the kids he wanted to invite.
We went with a superhero theme (surprise, surprise) and I worked up the evites and went with it...I commissioned a Spiderman cake as the "surprise" cake for the party, and we were pretty well set (I love not having to stress about party's when the location does all of the work for you!).
After church and naps, Kellen was SUPER-excited, put on his special 'birthday boy' shirt and was counting down the minutes until it was time to GO! He just had such a good time with his friends!
I look at him and honestly wonder where the time has gone...how has it been six years since he was born? He is growing into an amazing young man...so caring and compassionate, attune to other people's feelings and hilariously funny. Don't get me wrong...he's ALL BOY as well, as his many scars and my many phone calls from counselors can attest to, but he's certainly my sweetie and I love him so much!
Hmph...and it continues
2 Miles this morning (speed drills, what a thrill), and my body doesn't like me today. I picked up the bike I'll be borrowing from a friend for the month of August to practice on, so we'll see how that goes.
I'm taking almost a full day off from work tomorrow and Kellen and I will be lounging by the pool, having a pool party play date. I'm going to try and be a good girl and work out before hand (we're supposed to be there at 10, so theoretically that gives me plenty of time to get an initial bike ride in while Matt is here to watch the kids in the morning, right?) We'll see how that goes.
Whoo hoo!!
I'm taking almost a full day off from work tomorrow and Kellen and I will be lounging by the pool, having a pool party play date. I'm going to try and be a good girl and work out before hand (we're supposed to be there at 10, so theoretically that gives me plenty of time to get an initial bike ride in while Matt is here to watch the kids in the morning, right?) We'll see how that goes.
Whoo hoo!!
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Here we go...
I am now participating with a group of gals from my Sunday School class who are training...originally for a 10K, now for a tri. Not a full tri, but a tri sprint. And tonight was my first night to train with them and they kicked my tail! It doesn't help that my longest run lately has been 2 miles and they were planning to run 4-5 (or for about an hour) tonight, or that it was a night run (I typically run in the morning), and it was after dinner (I typically run on an empty stomach). So, I was destined to have a rough time of it.
But it was a great workout! We did a 1.2 mile run, drills, another 1.2 mile run, another set of drills, then ended with another 1.2 mile run. It felt great, even though it was horrid! If you work out at all, you completely understand what I mean.
I have my alarm set for 5 am and am planning on a short run for the morning.
Now, can I learn to swim and bike in less than 3 months?
But it was a great workout! We did a 1.2 mile run, drills, another 1.2 mile run, another set of drills, then ended with another 1.2 mile run. It felt great, even though it was horrid! If you work out at all, you completely understand what I mean.
I have my alarm set for 5 am and am planning on a short run for the morning.
Now, can I learn to swim and bike in less than 3 months?
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