Oh, my big girl!

I just delivered Anora to her future elementary school! I was a little freaked out last night preparing paperwork, but not nearly as hysterical as a couple of weeks ago. I was a little worried about the dropping off and worried about Anora chickening out. I called a mom that's daughter went to round up on Friday. I felt so much better after that.

But this morning she got up a little early, ate (very little) breakfast, and got dressed, and even had a little time to watch a cartoon. I told her the one and only thing she had to worry about, it to have fun. She rode to school very quietly. We parked, lots of spots to choose from. And she told the school helper, her name. And then told the teacher her name. She hugged and kissed me and looked, concerned, but brave! I hope she's having a great time, and I hate to say it, but I hope she's holding her writing tool right. I leave soon to pick her up. I'll update you then on how it went.

update:
Well, we're home. Nervous excitement has turned into cautious apprehension. The teacher said she is a candidate for prekindergarten. I knew it was a possibility, but had gotten my hopes up a little. They sent home an evaluation and it was disappointing. I don't know if she's nervous or if they were pickier than we were ready for. I guess we now wait and find out what happens next. My irrational fear is that they'll have too many kids in the pre k and tell her to come back next year. But I guess if they do, I've got her home another year and I home school. Problem with that is, she's already smarter than me.
A friend of mine called right away, and she has the same worries I do. I take solace that I'm not alone. I'll just keep telling Anora how good she did.

Please pray for all nervous moms.

Hockey

Another hockey season is ending on a low note for this household. Our favorite hockey team has been bumped out of the playoffs for a 3rd straight year. They have more games to play, but are mathematically out of playoffs. But the good news of it all is my ankle is safe another year. I vowed 3 years ago, that if the Leafs made it to playoffs, I would get a tattoo on my ankle. They haven't made it yet. I'm taking that back, who can afford it these days anyway.

We got out and took a walk in the timber today and got camper parts. I need a nap.
Please pray for the flood victims to the south.

He is Risen,

He has risen indeed!
We started the weekend off a little slow. Jeremy didn't feel well, sneezy, grumpy and sleepy any thing but Snow White. But he rebounded a little for Sunday. We hid candy and her basket the night before. In the morning she was jazzed! He said "the Easter Bunny poops toys." He left a paddle ball, more on that later, jacks, candy, and chirpy chicks, and her favorite rocket balloons. I think she likes those best because mommy can hardly blow them up with out passing out. I'm more agreeable without oxygen. At breakfast I tried the paddle ball and smashed it right into my eye ball! No lasting effects, but it hurt! I'm not sure I want her to have it anymore.
We only did the last service at church so we didn't have to stress and hurry. I couldn't believe how full it was. We've gone on Easter morning for at least 3 years and this was the fullest by far. I love seeing strangers at church! I bet there were maybe 3 seats open spread out through the whole church.
Then we went and saw the family in Onlsow Community Center. It was small, but my cousin Dave and his family was there. I hadn't seen them since their baby shower, well 4 years ago. Their daughter Allie is Anora's age. Anora and her played so well! It was great! I hope they come back a lot more. I felt rushed the whole day though. And before long Jeremy looked ready to crawl back into bed. So we went home.
Overall it was a great weekend! I just Jeremy had felt up to enjoying it.
Today was Moms 4Moms. I felt like I did a lot, but my spirit was stirring and anxious to get out and share. I opened us in prayer and I led the bible study. It was so terrific to hear a roomful of intelligent, caring women talk about goodness. I love this group, in so many ways. They're thought provoking, role models, partners in the trenches, show me how to trust and care. I leave ready for another week or two.
Pray today that everyone finds friends like these.

Pictures of our weekend

sloth

Things are very quiet and slow here. Jeremy is on his 3rd day of feeling sick with sinus goop. So we're doing very little.
Tomorrow we're suppose to go to church and see my family to celebrate Easter. With Jeremy under the weather we'll have to see how that goes.
Yesterday though, we cut into our budget, we took a hack saw to it. We got new prepaid cell phones and canceled our satellite. Saving us $100/month or so.We also changed our anniversary plans a little. Instead of a whirlpool room all 3 nights we reduced it down to 1 night, and moving into a cheaper room after that, saving a $100 for the hotel. We're about out of things to cut out and change though.
We're starting to plan our 10 year anniversary too. We're going to a nice hotel in Michigan City, IN. Do a little sight seeing, swimming, window shopping, tour a music factory, and just relax. It's a 2nd honeymoon! I just can't wait.
He has Risen!

Ahh, kids

My head has been spinning all week. I've got the marbles to quit rolling long enough to catch y'all up.
Monday was just a weird day. The morning went well, Jeremy even checked in during the day and got a great report. But after nap time, it was like a hurricane hit, or Jekyll came to visit. I can't even remember all the details, it's all a blur of time outs and spankings. Then I really thought I cracked, no really. Anora had a drink she was trying to set on the new keyboard, so I corrected her and started to explain why we can't put drinks on electronics. She whipped around and started to argue (again) and the lights went out and I heard a pop. I really wondered if I broke. A blink later I realized she had spilled her drink (chocolate milk) and it had splashed onto the plug in. All the outlets in the living room were dead. Ahh ! TV, DVD, and piano. I had to send her out of room quickly. I called Jeremy, on his way home, in a panic. He made me switch off the breaker because it didn't seem to switch. Picking up the pace, we went to the hardware store and $30 later, we found out one of the living room plugs was ground fault and had tripped. All we had to do was hit a reset button. It was an awful night.
Yesterday was still a blur of timeouts. I don't know what has gotten into her, but I take solace in the fact that's most kids right now.
But the day ended on a pretty good, no, great note. We had her preschool teacher/parent conference. The teacher said she is doing fine, even good academically. A few things need some work, mostly stuff I never thought of really. But, the downside wasn't as bad as I had braced myself for. She plays along side kids more than with them. She doesn't like talking to kids. That wasn't news to us. But the teacher gave us a lot of help on what to do about it, and how to work on everything. The biggest thing I was shocked by, and a little convicted by, was that she couldn't really tell the teacher what shy meant. So the teacher just told her, if she didn't know what it meant, she shouldn't try to be shy. Okay, that seemed to mean something to Anora.
Today we got out to the park for the first time in '08. A little chilly but so worth it. Anora has been behaving so much better! And hold on to your hat, she played and talked with another girl! I couldn't believe it. The girl was probably around 8 years old or so, but Anora started bossing her around. She didn't have to be shy anymore. Will it last? Maybe, but I'm not going to tell another person she is "shy".
I even got a plan for the summer to work with her on what all the teachers want her to work on. And hopefully I won't get lazy and let her watch TV all day.

Please pray for all the kids heading out to the playgrounds in the next few weeks, and their broken bones. I'm guessing this is the year of our fist cast.

Busy week

It's been a couple days since I last reported in. But we've been real busy. Thursday our neighbors came over for a couple house. We had a good time, and Anora and the little girl played way better than I expected from Anora. She took some of Anora's hand-me-downs too. I love recycling.
Then that night Jeremy brought home a new (to us) keyboard. It's really nice. And he even bought lesson books. We're totally jazzed and got a terrific deal on it! And, here's the best part, it fits on the living room.
Today we started the day today by coloring eggs. She did it last year, but this year she had a million questions. And she was so excited she had a hard time waiting for the directions.
Then after lunch I cut Jeremy's hair. Today was the first time we left it a little long and used scissors. One of usually just uses the buzzers on his head. I think it turned out ok. He seemed happy with it. And while I was cutting his hair Anora decided she wanted hers cut. She said she wanted it short, and boy did it get short. I made a pony tail and cut it off. It was like 4 inches. Jeremy says he likes it, but I feel a little bad its just so short. And I think there are a few long spots that could be shorter.
Then we uncovered the camper. I didn't get any pictures of it, but it looks great. Like spring. Unfortunately it was only about 38 degrees when we did it.
Look below to see our slide show of the week.
Please praise Jesus all week for his sacrifice for us. Happy Palm Sunday.

1 step down, numerous added

So tonight was the big parent meeting regarding Kindergarten and Round up. Ahhh. It starts with a gym/cafeteria full, totally full of parents. A line reaching across the school and finding out that they wanted a bunch of paperwork we didn't have and didn't know they wanted. Social Security card, birth certificate, immunization records. I didn't have any of that tonight! I checked what I had and nothing I could find said they wanted it either. The principal, nurse, and guidance councilor seemed real nice. The secretaries were a little edgy. And I found a common trait of Kindergarten teachers, they were all real quiet. I could barely hear, and when I'm not prepared I get real nervous and uptight. And after going through a packet of information they gave us it was over, it lasted about 1/2 hour. Ahhh relief.
But in that packet they added about a million things to my list. An eye exam, proof she's been tested for lead, along with the things I didn't turn in. It took me another 1/2 hour to make a list and schedule all the stuff I need to make schedules for. The biggest surprise, but very important to add to my list, she needs to practice using an auto potty. They have automatic flushers and she, like most kindergartners don't like them.
Anora made us second guess the whole thing all night though. First she wouldn't go play in the media room with the rest of the kids. Grr. Ok fine. Then I checked the 2nd time, "last chance to go potty, Nope! " You'll have to be very quiet and very still so mommy and daddy can pay attention" Right away she was fidgety, so I broke out the snacks and drink, I really thought we should be past that by now. Then she nagged and insisted she had to poop. Finally when the excused us, she and I went looking for a potty, you know the automatic flushing ones. She walked in, it flushed, she peed and jumped off. I said, go poop. Nope, so an argument ensued! Back to a very angry daddy standing in a very long line. Guess we'll be practicing with automatic toilets.
The best part of the night though, we asked one of the teachers, just where are the kindergarten rooms? She personally took us for a quick tour to find them, and let us see her room. They're huge! 3x's bigger than my kindergarten room. And it's in a wing kinda secluded from the rest of the school. I like it a lot. And I liked that teacher.
Jeremy being there was helpfull, I knew he had my back. And sitting with my friends Sarah, Amy, and Heather was a comfort too. And I recognized a lot of the parents, well the moms anyway. It's going to be a pretty big class. A lot of parents to get to know. Well I guess I have 12 or 13 years to get to know them.
Please pray for all nervous moms

Life's too fast

Life is moving far too fast. Today Anora woke up wearing pajamas we've had a couple of years now. But in my mind they should come close to dragging on the floor. But no! They just barely cover her knees. That makes me sad.
Add that with Kindergarten round up this month, I'm near hysterics. We have a parent meeting with the elementary school tomorrow, a meeting with her preschool teacher the next week, and in a couple of weeks there is Kindergarten roundup.
Weighing on my mind, and lists, is that I have so much to teach her yet. Zipping her own coat, to tie shoes, even washing her own hair. All needs to be done this summer. I can't believe it was 2 years ago I was worried about potty training before preschool. I have started running out on her at preschool. I usually take off her hat and coat for her and hang them up for her. She'll have to do that for herself real soon, so I kissed her on the hat today and ran out on her. I peeked, and she did just fine.
I have a lot of conflicting feelings with Kindergarten. And am getting a lot of conflicting opinions too. While I'm excited to see her grow up, I'm worried about the possible rejection of putting her out there in the world. Jeremy asked what's the worse that can happen, they could look at us, laugh and say "you're kidding right, come back next year." She will probably be the youngest in her class if she starts Kindergarten this year. The cut off is 5 years old by Sept 15th I think. She'll be 5 just a couple weeks before that. In fact she'll be 4 when school starts in Aug. I get the opinion, that she'll be fine, she's smart.Then there is the opinion that Kindergarten should be for 6 year olds.
Something relieving a little bit of pressure is that our school district just started a Jump start program like a pre K. I think if they suggest she goes there I'll take them up on it. But what if she gets labeled as dumb or a baby, or a trouble maker. That idea just breaks my heart.
There is the idea that I could keep her home next year and home school her, which I'm getting more confident in. But all of her friends are starting school this year. She is still a little smaller than her classmates, but has made a ton of catching up. She is still quiet, but much better with people she knows now. I wish I could see the future to make choices.
I keep trying to leave all my anxiety with God, but before I know it, I've snatched it back and am rolling it over in my mind again. I'm know I'm over reacting to it all, but It's my little girl, probably the only one I'll have and they're all decisions I don't want to make.

God bless you if you actually made it through all my ramblings.

How to make a house grow?

So, a long time ago we were offered a piano. It's been tempting, but we've just had too many toys and the furniture has been too big. We've down sized our furniture and Anora plays upstairs more now. So I re-visited the idea. We looked at the piano and measured it. No matter where in the living room we try to put it, it's still too big. It's not a large piano, but our living room is just so small.
I need to know how to make my living room about 6 inches longer and wider. I've tried watering it, and I've given it plenty of soil. It has light and love, so it must take more to grow a room than a plant takes. It gets plenty of food, but I can't figure out how to hug or exersize it, so it must be more complicated than a kid or cat.
We'll just have to find a new house before we get a piano.
Please pray for people who have no house to put a piano in.

Weekend

What a fantastic weekend. Friday Jeremy and I got a lot done. Jeremy had time to finish a saxophone for himself. Anora even got to play it a little. The sax is bigger than her.
Saturday we had to split up. Jeremy worked at a band contest in Savannah Ill. And Anora and I went to a birthday party for her little friend Taryn. The party was a gymnastics party. I can promise Anora has a lot more musical talent than gymnastics talent. That is one gift God did not giver her. I took my camera, but they were far away, and none of the other moms had cameras. I'm a big dork.
Then we treated ourselves to dinner. We had an Olive Garden gift certificate. We thought if we went late we wouldn't have trouble getting a seat. Boy, were we wrong. They told us 1 1/2 hour wait. Needless to say we didn't stay. Then we gorged ourselves on Chinese.
Lastly Sunday we got out and enjoyed the beautiful weather. We took a super long walk. Anora wore her galoshes an splashed in every single puddle. The temperatures were in the 60's I think. It got us excited about getting the bikes ready. But we'll have to wait a while on that one.
My prayer request for today, umm, tougher one. Instead please say something positive to a young mind.