His Voice

So, after talking this over with my husband, we decided we thought signing Quinn up for Choir wouldn't hurt. It might even be good for him. Singing is a good stress relief and being a part of a musical group has always been something I've enjoyed.

But, Mike and I decided we'd pose the question to Quinn to see how we felt about it.

The other morning I simply said to him, "So, you've got swimming right after school on Mondays and basketball on Saturday mornings. That's it for now. Would you like to sign up for choir on Wednesdays or just stay home on Wednesdays?"

His decision was quick and without hesitation.

"Stay home!"

I'm glad I left this decision up to him - it's nice to be able to give my child a voice in what's going on in his life.

Over-scheduled, Again?

Ahhh - decisions. Decisions.


It wasn't too long ago when I was talking about how happy I was with our new schedule.


And here I go again - switching it all up.


During parent/teacher conferences in November we spoke with Quinn's P.E. teacher about his running skills (and other skills, too), but we were concerned with his running/speed after the surgery. She agreed that he was slower than most and didn't seem to "get it" yet. She thought it might not have only been from his surgery, but also a sort of developmental delay, since his feet/legs were never really how they were supposed to be. The important thing we took away from our conference was that she recommended we sign him up for group sports! She believes that the more practice he gets with other kids and encouragement from other adults - the better he'll get. It makes perfect sense. I've always been hesitant, if not "against", team sports for young kids - but after talking with some moms who have had their children in such activities I'm coming to learn that it's a very supportive environment. Plus - in the winter - where else is he going to get to run? So, we signed him up for basketball - on Saturday mornings.


Which means I had to switch his swim lessons to Mondays after school. And Liam joined swimming too - so he's taking lessons at the same time (which is good, because Mike doesn't have to rush home).


So now - Quinn has basketball on Saturday mornings and swimming on Mondays.


I've already learned that his new swim teacher is more challenging than his old one - I'm thrilled about this. He is not. He gets frustrated, "because she's always telling me how to do things."


I have a feeling that basketball may be frustrating for him as well.


And I'm excited and terrified about taking him somewhere that challenges him. On one hand - he needs a challenge - every academic area comes very easily to him. He just gets things. Easily. He rarely has to sound out a word to read it (but when he does he gets frustrated). His math skills are crazy. He needs to be involved in something that will teach him how to keep on trying! On the other hand - why should I challenge him? Shouldn't I just let him enjoy the things that are easy and fun for him?


And something I haven't talked about yet here, is that his classroom, at most times, is a frustrating/stressful place for him. (That, my friends, is an entire blog post - if not worthy of an entire blog.) Anyway, he's doing great academically (he was when he started), it's just there's about three kids in that class that are not getting the support they need and that causes an environment that can be a bit stressful. (Like I said, an entire blog post may be coming up soon about this when I can figure out how to put my words together about it all.)


So.... basketball Saturdays and swimming Mondays - perfect, right? Just two activities.


BUT, there's choir starting up - and he LOVED choir in the fall. It was easy for him. It was fun. He'd sing the songs all week long. And I know how much I enjoyed being involved in music and how much I think it helps with stress.


I just can't decide if it's worth signing him up for - one more night of either an early/rushed dinner or a late/rushed dinner.

Looking Ahead

Looking forward to:

• March 10 - Our 10 Year Anniversary. We'll be leaving the kids behind at Grandma's house and heading to Disney World by ourselves! I cannot wait. I have all sorts of "Grown Up" dinners planned and a tour that we couldn't do with the kids. We might even try parasailing.
• June 4 - We're leaving Mike behind and I'm taking the kids, my mom, and my sister to Disney World!
• Summer vacation - since the kids are getting older we can do more and more fun stuff! Maybe another camping trip?
• Our annual Dell's vacation with Mike's family - Quinn is truly swimming now and I have a feeling Liam might be close by that time!

I resolve to:

• Stop using Drive Thrus. Think about - nothing good ever came out of a drive thru window. This shouldn't be too difficult, the only drive thru I've been relying on has been Starbucks. So, now if I want a Vanilla Soy latte, I'm going to have to get out of my car and go in there and get it. Or, send Mike. =)
• Use my reusable bags more often.
• Continue checking food labels and only buy/eat food that has simple ingredients.
• Try rock climbing at the gym.
• Plan a vacation for 2012 that is not to Disney World. I know there's more to see than Mickey and Minnie - it's just there's a magnet there that pulls me towards it all the time!

Looking Back

Favorite memories:

• February trip to Disney World with our good friends! Not sure when we'll be going back with them, but that was our second trip together and everything went so smoothly. It's amazing that our entire family and their entire family get along so well!
• Christmas with my family - this year was definitely one of the best and I have so many happy memories from that day!

Best finds:

• I started drinking tea at home instead of coffee. I used to have to add a ton of sugar and milk to my coffee. I can drink my tea "black". I really love Stash's Spicy Chai tea in the morning. And then Stash's green tea during the day. Right now, I'm enjoying an herbal bedtime story mix by Lipton. I can drink my tea iced or hot.
• Yoga. My goodness. It took me years to figure this out. First, "yoga isn't about being good at it," is what a good friend of mine told me once while I was complaining about not being "good at it or flexible enough." But that's not all, I found a teacher that holds that same philosophy. As she says, "Let go of your ego and honor your body for where it's at in the pose." She has so many great phrases, one of my favorites being, "smile!" Since I've let go of my ego I've come to really enjoy my yoga time and I've been able to go deeper into most of the poses. Now I feel as if I'm a yoga pusher - anyone that shows any slight interest in yoga I can't help but encourage them and encourage them and then ask if they've tried it out yet! I've learned what yoga classes to avoid at the gym (fitness yoga or warrier sculpt) and which ones I enjoy (vinyasa or hatha).

Things I wouldn't mind not doing again:

• Quinn's surgery and recovery.
• Dealing with the budget cuts at work. (This, I'm afraid will be rearing it's ugly head early in 2011.)

I said I would (and what I actually did):

• read more news magazines and books - I've read quite a few books this past year. I tried a few news magazines, but didn't really enjoy reading them at all!
• read less blogs - I feel sort of guilty, I rarely check my google reader. If a friend posts a link to a blog post via facebook, I'll check it out.
• eat less McDonald's - Did it! Not only that, we very rarely get any fast food now. I can cound on one hand the number of times I either ate McDonald's or got it for my kids. I'm planning on zero trips for 2011.
• try cooking more often - Ugh. Still can't get into the cooking thing. I think I tried one meal in January. If I do cook, it's the old stand by of spaghetti.
• buy less stuff - Hmmm... after the shopping spree I was on today I'm not too sure. I will say, our Christmas was scaled way down. The kids don't need so much and when I'm shopping I find myself putting back a lot of the things I pick up. I've still go to work on this, but I have gotten better.
• donate more - yup! I'm constantly going thru our toys and clothes and packing bags up to donate.

One Winter Day

Talking About Santa With a Thinker

Ahhh - the questions about Santa have begun this year. After Quinn's birthday party at the end of November we decided Quinn would choose half of his presents to donate to the various toy drives so that some children who don't have as much as we do could have a happier Christmas. He was good with this. But then he thought about it... "Well, we shouldn't worry too much about them, because Santa will bring them presents." Turns out other people only have one or two gifts come from Santa, the rest from Mom and Dad. We never did that. I may try to make that switch this year - I wonder if he'll remember.

We went and saw Santa at one mall - the same mall we go to every year. Then, I had some shopping to do at a different mall - and Santa was there! Quinn's first question was, "How many Santas are there?" And I just asked what he meant by that. And then he switched his thinking to, "Santa must have some really special magic to be able to go to our mall in the morning, this mall at night, AND be in that parade that was on TV the other day!"

And then there's the talk of "naughty or nice". Quinn truly believes that there are two boys in his class that are getting nothing for Christmas because they are so "naughty". And so I try to explain that somehow, Santa knows just how good each boy or girl can be and expects them to be their own best and that it's very hard for those two boys to control themselves and Santa might be a bit understanding with them. Quinn didn't like that answer.

And then tonight I had to do it. After weeks of fighting with his brother, arguing with his parents, and even lying - I've had enough - so I put the fear of Santa into Quinn. "You do know, that Santa's watching to make sure you're nice, right?" We had a nice long discussion that involved just a few tears, until I assured Quinn that he still has many days until Christmas, and that for the most part, he is a very very very good boy - just that I was a little worried that Santa wouldn't like all the fighting that's been going on. (I mean really, people, the boys have been fighting over moving ornaments, setting up the nativity scene, pushing the buttons on those things from hallmark that sing Christmas Songs, everything and anything they've been fighting over it and it's driving me BATTY.) So we discussed how many more days he has to add more to the nice side of his list and then he said, "Well, actually, since I'm at school more than I'm at home, I think I'm okay. I'm always nice at school."

Turkeys!

Flowers on my Grave

The other day in the car Quinn says, "Mom, when you and Dad die I'll come and put flowers by your grave."

He's been a bit curious about death lately/for quite awhile now. Wondering how many more years until his Great-Grandmas pass away. Making "smart guesses" as to which one will die first. Wondering if it will hurt when he dies. Trying to understand how souls can go to Heaven, but the broken bodies stay in the ground.

Although I've given tips and tricks for talking to your kids about death - this topic is never easy. It has turned into many different discussions - my favorite being the one where we tried to explain that when your body is badly hurt (like in a car accident) it produces endorphines that stop the pain messages from getting to your brain - so no, it probably wouldn't hurt to die like that.

We don't like to not answer his questions - and we don't try to get out of the conversation, but I never knew that having a child who liked to think could be so difficult!

What?

Wait? It's already November? Mid-November? Seriously? What happened.

Quinn's going to be six in just 10 days. Crazy.

Anyway - Happy Halloween. One of my favorite holidays just came and went super quick.

I'm an All or Nothing Sort of Girl...

When I decide to do something I sort of go all out. For me - it's all or nothing.





So, when I challenged myself to not eat any Halloween candy starting Nov. 1st I knew it had to be all or nothing. No letting myself have a bite of one of the boy's pieces, no choosing just certain ones I can eat. I will eat none of it.

But then today I realized someting. Even after having Mike take an entire bag of chocolate candies to work - If I don't eat any of this candy it will take FOREVER to get it out of the house.

So...

I decided: Each time I "crave" a piece of candy or each time I think about eating one - I will go choose a piece and put it in another bag - to either donate or send to Mike's work. (Any ideas of where I could donate this candy would be awesome. As of tonight there are 6 pieces in there. I'm sure the bag will be ready by the end of the month.)

Over-scheduled no more!

There was one thing I knew I wanted to avoid before having kids.

And I did so well the first five years of being a parent. I avoided team-sports, because I truly believe before the age of 7 it's best to learn those sport-skills at home in your backyard with your family and friends. I would only sign the boys up for one activity at a time, if any. We would always have dinner together at a reasonable hour.

Then kindergarten started. Not only did kindergarten start, but full-day kindergarten started.

I had to keep Quinn in his swim lessons - he's made such great progress and if there's any competitive sport this child has a chance at it will be swimming. (All the other sports I'm afraid will put too much pressure on his feet.)

The local children's choir, which is a world class youth choral organization and is internationally renowned, begins with students at the kindergarten level. Quinn loves to sing. He loves to make up songs. And most importantly, he can carry a tune. So of course, we signed up for this.

This was in addition to the two nights or days a week of Quinn seeing his physical therapist to build his leg strength back up after his surgery.

The start of Quinn's school year wasn't quite the start I was hoping for. He'd have school Monday-Friday, of course. Tuesdays - choir, Wednesday - swim lessons, Thursday - therapy, and Saturday - therapy. That meant, dinner on Tuesdays was early, Wednesday and Thursday a late dinner, and no sleeping in or relaxing on Saturday mornings. It also meant Mike was rushing home from work on Wednesdays and Thursdays so we could get to where we needed to go without Liam! Quinn was tired. I was tired. We all were tired.

Oh! And we got a piano and so I've been teaching Quinn how to play. Over the summer we had no trouble finding time for our piano lessons (usually once a week while Liam was napping). Lately, we struggle to find the time and Quinn is always asking for a lesson.

Thankfully, we just got the okay from the doctor to end our physical therapy sessions.

And, I'm switching Quinn's swim lesson time from Wednesday evening to Saturday morning - less traffic to deal with and less rushing around after school.

That just leaves us with Tuesday evening choir - which I'm not giving up. Quinn loves it too much.

And Saturday morning swim lessons.

This will be much better. Much much better.

The other night we were eating dinner at our normal time, everyone finished up, and then Mike was performing his infamous magic trick of making something dissappear and then reappear in one of the kids' ear or something. Anyway, it was exactly how our family dinners should be. Relaxed. Not rushed to get the kids to bed. Not rushed to get the kids out the door.

I realize that our old schedule is nothing compared to what some families manage to accomplish in a week - and that's okay with me. I just know that for us, it wasn't working. I've also learned that I need to be careful with our scheduling.

Mornings Before School

After a month of getting everyone ready to go in the mornings I'm finding myself enjoy this time. I pack the lunches the night before, Mike feeds the kids their breakfast while I shower and then says goodbye, Quinn gets himself dressed and "brushed" (his way to say he brushed his hair and teeth), but most importantly - this is the time of day when my two boys play the best together. Most mornings they have a good hour to play together before we need to leave - they can either be found playing chess (Quinn's trying to teach Liam), Wipe-Out (jumping on the couch cushions), or just dancing around on Liam's bed. This playtime gives me plenty of time to empty the dishwasher and straighten up the kitchen before we go. It's been working wonderfully and I'm sure now that I've typed this up tomorrow will tell a different story all together.

Tall Ships

Skinny is Not My Goal

A few days ago Jillian Michaels was asking her facebook followers for ideas for work-out t-shirt slogans. I, of course, couldn't think of one on the spot. But now, a few days later - I've got it.

I'd love to work out in a shirt that said:

My goal is not skinny.

My goal is strength.

I didn't always weigh what I weigh now. Maybe that's why I keep hearing people tell me, "You're so skinny." When really - I'm not. Yes - I weigh less. Yes - I'm wearing a smaller size than when most of these people met me. Yes - I'm working out. yes - I eat healthy foods. But skinny hasn't been my goal since high school (at which point I could never achieve the elusive "skinny"). My goal now, if you can call it that, is to put food into my body that will give me fuel to be stronger. To do more. I eat when I'm hungry - which some days feels like all the time. I rejoice in being able to do a few push-ups on my toes instead of my knees or to hold a plank for over a minute. More importantly, I rejoice in being able to run next to Quinn or Liam as the ride their bikes down the sidewalk. Or to be able to play an all-out game of soccer with them without huffing and puffing too much. My goal is not to be skinny. My goal is to be strong.

First Kindergarten Homework Assignment

We met Quinn's teacher this morning and picked up his first homework assignment of the year. The assignment was to draw a picture of himself on a bag and put two items in the bag that help describe him.

He choose his goggles and a truck that he hasn't played with in forever.


He choose the goggles because he learned how to swim underwater this summer and can jump in the deep-end and swim to the side by himself.


He choose the truck because, "Really it's like two things in one, so I'll get to bring three things, but it's really just two things, but if you count them there's three things. But really. Just two things. The goggles and the truck. Mom, do you think it's okay if I bring the truck that's two things in one?"

I do think it's okay and I'm wondering what his teacher will learn about his choices tomorrow as he describes them to the class...


*I feel the need to add that he almost put his goggles and a bottle of bug spray in his bag. Because he has a lot of mosquito bites. I kind of sort of wish he put the bug spray in there. THAT would have been funny.

Summer's Ending...

So I've traded in my pool bag for my work bag.

Of course - working only 9 hours a week - my pool bag is still going to see some action for the next few weeks...

How's your end-of-the-summer going?

Ready.

Tonight I asked Quinn if he was ready to do his therapy exercises. His response?

"Yup. I'm ready for just about anything."


***sorry if this is a repeat for my facebook friends - I tend to look back at my blog archive as a sort of scrapbook - then I can remember to add some of this stuff to our actual scrapbooks as I complete them. Anyway, this post is really just for me - but it's a good thing to share too.***

The Library

I took the boys to the library today. Which is really nothing out of the ordinary.

They each finished their summer reading logs - logging in over 15 hours of reading. I'm pretty sure we've read way more than that, but I always forget to give them the stickers to add to the charts and they usually forget to remind me.

Anyway, I took the boys to the library today. Which is really nothing out of the ordinary.

Except. I was looking for a few books for myself - not just browsing - I had a list (Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and something by Philipa McGregory).

Anyway, I was looking for a few books for myself and the boys were actually being pretty well behaved. In each aisle I spent time looking the boys would each find one of the little step stools provided and stand up on the top step and just sort of hang out. Perfect. They weren't bothering anybody, they weren't yelling at or pushing each other - they were just sort of hanging out.

Except my younger one - he doesn't just hang out. Quinn says to me, "hey, mom - watch this," so I look over at him to see him start to climb. "No way, put your foot down." I look past Quinn over at Liam. And Liam's step stool is empty - because he's up on the shelf.

I am not even kidding. He climbed up two shelves. From the step stool.

Thank goodness nobody else saw that - I wouldn't want to be banned from the library.

Oh right, and thank goodness the kid didn't get hurt.

We Went Camping. I Took Pictures.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Part One of Two of our vacation. A weekend camping... Pictures of part two to come at a later date. Enjoy!

Back

We're back from vacation. A vacation that should have included two nights of camping in a tent and four nights in a condo with family, but instead included one night in a hotel, one night in a tent, and four nights in a condo. Upon arriving at our campsite, the skies looked clear and beautiful, but the weather forecast posted at the office stated severe thunderstorms with heavy rainfall. Right, no thank you... so I called multiple hotels/motels and booked us for one night.

Anyway... we're back now. Our first night home included severe thunderstorms - lost power, loud thunder, and bright lightening. It also included a Liam who couldn't fall asleep or stay asleep. So today, I've been walking around in a daze doing laundry and basically sleep walking.

Vacation was awesome and I can't wait to share some pictures.

But not right now. I'm tired.