i can't wait for...

 

It seems like they keep pushing back the release date.  When I first discovered it I swear it was in August.  Then I remember seeing October.  Now, November?!!!  That is much too far away!

I hope that it is everything that I hope it is. 

all day

Summer's over ... it was fun
Now it's time to get things done
Catch the bus and be on time
Standing straight in all those lines

Getting homework every day
Do it quick and then go play
Early nights and days so full
Following those school time rules

Do your best and you will see
Life will go by so quickly
For one day when you are grown
Your lessons written all in stone

You will know that in the end
These the best days you will spend
Sharing knowledge doing well
Your future has a lot to tell.

~Francine Pucillo~ 

Next week, Bayli is headed back to school.  Not just school, First Grade.  A VERY big deal.  

I am going to miss her terribly.  Honestly, I have no clue what I will do without her, and for over 7 hours!!! 

I know that she is going to have so much fun learning, making friends, eating lunch, playing, reading, writing, crafting, etc.

But, that doesn't mean that I have to love her being gone.  I will miss:

her contagious smile

her "organized" mess

her endless questioning

her busy as a bee-ness

her beauty

her helping hands

her silliness

her imagination

her inquisitively gorgeous eyes

But most of all, I will miss HER.

I love you little peach!  You are growing much too fast for your sensitive mamma.  

You are so intelligent and creative. 

I can't wait for you to tell me all about your day and how much fun that you had learning.  

You are going to be a super First Grader!

sweet

You know that outfit that your kid wears that you love and hate all in the same moment?  

It is cute but non-functional.  

The straps always seem to slide off their shoulders.  

They kneel in just the right spot, pulling down the front, all while trying to stand up.  

A series of events that indefinitely leads to anger, frustration, and a near miss face plant. 

  

And always in this love/hate attire

a tag seems to peak out

drawing you closer to HATE.  

Through the day you battle with the outfit, constantly telling yourself, 

"why did I put this on?"

Then when you are nearly ready to give up,

strip it off, 

and make life easier, 

you read the tag.

You feel your frustration melt away.

And you go about the remainder of the evening

trying to catch a glimpse of that little

sweet in all its happiness. 

A little reminder 

that its the sweet things in life 

that make all of this worth it.

$800 egg

Our hens, rather a hen, has started laying eggs.

Bayli got the privilege of enjoying the first egg (well, really not the first-that one came from above while the hens were roosting and ended in a big mess on the floor of the coop.  *Can you imagine how a hen feels when they lay their first egg, I mean no one has told them what will happen.  It just happens.  I am sure they become filled with a bit of panic that first time.  Then their instincts kick in (hopefully) and they become a natural egg layer in no time.

Anyways, back to that first egg that Bayli enjoyed.  She was super stoked and said that it was the best egg ever.  Of course, being Bayli, she packed it around in a basket full of dolly blankets and it was as though we were killing her when Jed finally pried the egg out of her clutches and cooked it up.  As much as I love that girl, I do not want the risks that can come from a raw egg being packed around for days.

Not to mention, that was the most expensive egg that we have ever purchased.  Having chickens isn't very economical.  Sure you get benefits from them,  but it is not cost effective at all.  We could purchase a lot of eggs for the price that it took to build the coop, not to mention purchase the chicken feed.  But as Jed says, it is enjoyable to have them around.

They are seriously our entertainment committee every evening when Jed gets home.  This being because Jed and Bayli are on a quest to capture the rooster.  Jed has succeeded many times in this quest, but sadly, Bayli has not.
Our rooster is pretty friendly and fearless.  He doesn't budge much when you walk up to him.  But Bayli is a bit timid and he can sense it.  Also, the rooster has come after her a few times.  Leaving her with a few scratches.  She probably deserves it though, since she harasses that poor bird so much.

Always so beautiful, even when rooster chasing.

Chase even gets in a bit on the rooster chasing fun.  He, unlike Bayli, has no fear of the rooster.  Probably because he hasn't been attacked by him yet.  And overall he doesn't have as much interest in chasing chickens as Bayli does.  He prefers to lasso them.

But in the end, they ask dad to help them.  Because he is a master rooster catcher.  I wouldn't categorize him as a master chicken catcher yet, the hens are a bit more flighty than the rooster.  Jed is still training like Rocky Balboa to become faster.

This is how many attempts often play out.

Despite the look that he just might take a bite out of him, Jed LOVES his bird. 

Once they have a hold of him, the rooster pretty much plays dead.

Bayli attempting to hold him by the feet.  She prefers to cradle him in her arms.

Proud of the catch, still even prettier.

BTW  this is our birds favorite place to hang these days.  Which is a pain in the butt when it is time to round them up into the coop.  Nothing like corn pollen covering you entirely. 

***Thanks Jed for the wonderful anniversary gift.  Without it, our memories of these events would be just a blur. (He got me a Canon EOS Rebel T2i-LOVE IT!!!)

pure genius

Finally something that us moms can relate to!

My sister in law is an amazing person with words.  She is quite like my husband (I know Kate I am digging for a comparison-but it is the truth) in that, she has that special spark in her brain that enables her to come up with a response instantaneously.  Unlike those, who can relate with me, who come out of a situation empty handed and feel as though you were the lesser half of a conversation.  And then, your brain makes you feel worse because your pilot light doesn't go off until hours/days later when you finally realize what you should have said and then you run the conversation back through and you are amazed with yourself and wish that you had thought of it earlier.  Anyways, she is that kind of person, a gifted pilot light.  Not to mention, she is quite funny.  So all around, a complete catch, my brother is lucky to have a BETTER half.

Back to the message behind this post.  My sister in law has a gift for words.  She should seriously think of writing a parenting book, because people would buy it.  She brings a reality to parenting  and makes you realize all of the difficulties and loveliness that it entails. 

Check out her last post on her blog, HILARIOUS!!!  You will become addicted, as I have, to Kate  (I hope that I didn't just creep anyone out). 

http://misadventuresofwhiningandpooh.blogspot.com/2011/08/misadventures-of-hearing-voices.html

chase's school prep

Chase has been getting ready for preschool.
He is excited, mom on the other hand, is terrified.  He is a bit more challenging at this point in his life than his sister was.  I hate to compare, but it is the truth.

I took him to pick out his backpack, of course he picked Cars and Mater.  Only because they didn't have one with trucks and tractors.
When I brought him home, he was upset because he wanted to take it straight to school.  He screamed and cried from the car into the house, all the while wearing his beloved backpack. 

Also at the store, he had picked out a folder.  Transformers or to Chase "trans!"  I am sure that it just looked cool to him, because he knows nothing about Transformers.

A few weeks ago we went looking for new shoes.  Chase is HARD on shoes.  We usually just get him some at Target or Old Navy and he wears them out in no time.  So I thought that I would look for some a little more durable.  But not too pricey.
Well Chase had some in mind.  He kept telling me, "I want Tanner shoes."  (He loves his cousin Tanner.  And therefore refers to everything that is cool as Tanner...  When we got him a new hat, it was called a Tanner hat not a baseball cap.)

So in our efforts of searching for "Tanner shoes"  I had no idea what Chase was referring.  We scoured the mall, looked at a billion pairs of shoes, had a lot of "No!!!" responses, and began to think that it was hopeless.  I decided to try the Vans store.

We walked in, Chase marched up to the shoe rack.  Stopped and looked for a few seconds.  Reached out his cute little paws, grabbed a shoe, and said, "this one, Tanner shoes!!!"

They were $30  that is more than I would normally choose to spend on a 3 yr old boy who is hard on shoes.  But, I let him try them on.  And well, I shouldn't have.  He took 3 running laps around the store and said "mom, wow these fast shoes!!!"
So, we took those shoes home, who can deny that kind of excitement?

On Tuesday Chase went to meet his teacher, Miss Karen.  He was super excited to finally visit his school and show off his new backpack and shoes.   He was so excited that he spoke to her the entire time in his very deep silly voice. (I am sure that those of you who know this voice, can just imagine how fun that morning was.  It was hard for his teacher and I to hold in our giggles.)

All decked out to go meet his teacher.

"Mom, look at my backpack!"

Cutest preschooler ever!!!

Yesterday, Chase went to school again to meet his classmates.  He was even more excited than his first visit.  And I am sure that he was tickled to actually be able to play with a few items that he had seen on his tour.  When his teacher was ready to start, he was such a good helper.  He went around picking up blocks the instant she began singing the cleanup song.  I must admit, I was a bit surprised.  When that little guy gets focused on something, it is hard to divert his attention.

Then he decided to play shy when we went around the room introducing the kids.  That is so not him.  I think that he just had a delay of anger come out from having to clean up the toys. That or he wanted to go see what else there was to do, not sit in a circle. 

As soon as his teacher stood up to have the kids play some games, he was back to himself.  Full of energy and grins.

The parents went in another room to let the kids have some separation time.  I was near the doorway and could catch glimpses of the goings on.  After some games, the teacher taught them how to get in a straight line to go into another room in the school.  I glanced over when I heard her talking to Chase.  He had lined up behind his friend Maycie (a girl in our neighborhood).  I saw him reach his arms around her and give her a big hug from behind.  After a few seconds and still in his arms, Maycie turned her head back and gave Chase a kiss on the cheek.  My little boy got his first kiss from a girl at school on the first day of school?!!!  We are in for it.