Part Cat

So...I have a small secret: I have become a carpool cat-napper. Since Issa has to be at the studio so close to the time school gets out, two days a week I pick her up. If I'm not there 45 minutes before the bell rings, I'm out on the street worrying I'm going to get crunched by passing traffic. So, I go early. I always have grand plans of grading or responding to emails, but the sun comes in and the van is so cozy. I've discovered I can pop my sunglasses on, lock the doors, and get a super high quality power nap. It's a good thing.

And so it begins...

Issa has another spirit week, and today is hat day:

The hat is not the noteworthy bit, however. She is wearing my sweater. That is all.

Little Man

Brad is in Denver for work right now, and I saw a completely different side of Evan last night--one my mom has been telling me about.

With Brad gone, Evan has decided he needs to be the man of the house in the most adorable and impressive way.

We had a tornado watch last night, and Evan took it upon himself to check the alerts every fifteen minutes, keep us updated, and remind us we were just fine and it wasn't time to worry yet. He stood with his little hands on his hips watching the wind and evaluating the sky until the watch lifted.

When he was getting ready for bed, he went room to room and put down the windows and locked them tight. He was quite aggravated I asked him to leave the back door open--even though I promised to close and lock it when I went to sleep. He checked the garage door twice, and reminded me three times to lock the back door before I went to bed.

It was so sweet to watch him shift into this caretaker role. It was one of those parenting moments where it felt like we might be doing something right.

Such a Fun Weekend

This was another weekend for the books!

Brad was in the mountains doing a hiking meditation with some of his dojo friends having a fabulous time! Meanwhile, the kids and I packed our weekend with all kinds of fun.

Issa had dance Saturday morning, and Evan headed to the dojo to coach Mighty Dragons. I was so proud I thought I would burst:

 While many of the coaches watched the littles warm up, Evan jumped in there with them. Sometimes the kid drives me crazy, but then he has these moments that are beyond redeeming.

We picked Issa up from dance and Nana up at her house and then we headed to a Cailidh here in Hillsborough! It was a Scotish music festival at a historic home built by someone from Scotland. I'm sad to say that I've lived here for 12 years and never ventured to Ayr Mount until this weekend. It is gorgeous:

 See...punk moment. Evan was not into pictures. The Poet's Walk on the property is absolutely gorgeous down by the river:

 And it was such fun to walk while we listened to the fiddles and pipes.

Before our walk, we had fish and chips on the lawn and listened to a fabulous duo on guitar and flute. The floutist also sang, and she would tell the story before each song.

I think the highlight for the kids, though, was Nessie:

 She was made of a tube and floated on the pond as we listened to bagpipes.

Saturday night, Issa, Nana, and I went to see Little Mermaid:

 It truly was magical! The way they did the costumes so the mermaids and fish swam was amazing. I was not prepared to be impressed, but I truly was.

Sunday, the kids and I decided we needed a pajama day to recover from all the fun. We were very productive: cleaning, grading, doing homework. We just did it all in our pjs.

Sometime mid-afternoon, I heard whispers that can only mean trouble. I came out of the kitchen to see this:

It seems Evan shot his little rubber chicken and got it stuck on the ledge. Nothing a little PVC pipe and a bungee cord couldn't handle. Why they had PVC pipe and bungee cord upstairs is a quandry, but that was just not a question I was willing to ask.

An Escalation

The rat has escalated.

Last night, I tucked it in Brad's gi sleeve. I was sure he would feel it when he packed his bag. He did not. It was discovered when he went to get dressed in the dojo changing room. I'm pretty sure that we now are "that weird family" at the dojo.

So...I kind of had it coming. I went to put on my shower cap this morning, and I screamed. Not a little shocked gasp. I screamed. The rat was inside.

Issa took it and put it somewhere. I'm a bit afraid of where it will end up next. Halloween must arrive before my nerves are completely shot.

Dental Drama

Just once I would love to take the children to the dentist without being summoned into the little room on the right. Alas, yesterday was not that day.

A year ago, Evan received the official diagnosis of a dental delay. His baby teeth are just super happy in his gums. He has lost four on the bottom, but that is it. Yesterday, the dentist told me it isn't time to worry, but it is time to be proactive.

We now have an appointment with an oral surgeon at the end of the month. It sounds so scary when they start the conversation with that referral, but we are looking at one of three option which can only be determined by an oral surgeon and his mac-daddy dental equipment.

We are hoping for option one: his teeth are just comfy. If that this the case, we may pop the baby teeth out just to encourage the big one to drop, but we could also just wait it out.

Option 2: he has two sets of adult teeth in the front. This is a bit more complicated. The two sets could be blocking each other. If that is the case, they would pull the baby and one set of the big teeth. Problem solved.

Option 3: his big teeth are slighted shifted up there. If that is the case, they aren't pushing the baby teeth out. We would pull the baby teeth and then look forward to orthodontia.

All in all, none of these are terrible, and we will know at the end of the month. That said, I would still really love a boring day at the dentist.

Little Rats

Fair Warning: If you come visit us you might find a tragically pathetic fake rat hiding somewhere odd.

Two years ago, Buddy the Elf arrived on Halloween riding said rat. Buddy left; the rat stayed as decor.

Last year, the kids and Brad spent the Halloween season moving him around to unexpected places.

This year, Brad and Evan have upped the rat hiding game. Yesterday morning, I awoke with a crick in my neck only to discover I had unwittingly slept with a rat under my pillow--that's how tired I was the night before. Of course, the rat then moved to Evan's bed for when he woke up.

Last night, we climbed into bed to find the rat hiding right where Brad's feet go. He took the rat and put it in the pants Evan planned to wear this morning, which was a rude awakening for the boy, who then put the rat in the underwear Brad had laid out. Brad moved it to Evan's room, where it was quickly spotted and the hiding place declared lame.

The rat is now somewhere. I have no idea where. However, I have been assured it will not impact me at all. I am not holding my breath.

Lovely Weekend

This was a crazy busy weekend, but it was all really fun!

Friday night, we started the weekend at the Latino Festival at school. Brad and I were only there for a half an hour before we left the kids with Nana and went to a friend's house for dinner. I got to man the maracca booth, and I think I have successfully gotten all of the rice out of my shoes by now.

Saturday morning, I wrote the final Read-a-Thon report while Issa worked on homework. When the boys took off for the dojo, Issa and I took off for a lunch date at Pizza Hut:

 She had earned a BookIt free pizza (yes! BookIt still exists!), and she was very proud to plop that certificate down. We talked for the entire hour we were there. I'm so grateful that she still talks and wants to share everything.

When the boys got home, we ventured out to the pumpkin patch! We went to local family farm, and we had a blast. This was the best I could manage at a sibling pic:

 They had a fun slide, a mediocre hay ride, and a more challenging than imagined ball toss:

 They also had amazing pumpkins! Issa is going for a non-traditional sculpture made of tiny white ones this year:

 Brad hauled his and Evan's because Evan helped Dad choose two tiny ones to make into eyes for Daddy's big orange one:

 I can't wait to see how these turn out!

Sunday, Issa, Nana, and I headed to the ballet with my students:

I think it was the best afternoon of ballet I have ever seen! It was a Halloween theme of three ballets: the woman in the white veil (my fav), The Raven (Nana's fav), and Sleep y Hollow (Issa's fav). There were moments that made the entire audience gasp, and it was some of the most thoughtful choreography I have ever seen.

This week promises to be a little calmer; here's hoping!

Our Little Reluctant Writer

This boy. See that ornery face:

 He may be the end of me. He is stupid smart. His mind works a million miles a minute. His pencil, however, is a bit reluctant. If left to his own devices, his handwriting looks like something an elephant did with its trunk. Enter the new writing homework...

Each week, his teacher will send home a prompt for his to write about. Last night, he was to imagine what would happen if he had a dinosaur. After his initial insistence that he had all week and shouldn't have to do it last night because I am the meanest mom ever, he finally realized I wasn't budging on this (in case he didn't do his best work and had to redo it today), and he sat down to write:

He wrote a great paragraph about his pet pterodactyl that would fly he and his friends all over the world to eat good food. He smiled while he came up with his idea, and he wrote neatly with proper spelling and puctuation--just like we all knew he could.

Issa is quite convinced he might be a novelist when he grows up. I'll be content with getting out of third grade without me pulling all my hair out.

Caught Up

Much of my weekend looked like this:

I spent the weekend digging out from September. My house has been deep cleaned, and I'm caught up at work--including all the grading. It is good.

That being said, by the end of the weekend I was over it. You know it's bad when I'm jealous because Brad "gets" to stain the mailbox post. There was something more alluring about big projects versus the mundane. But...it is nice to be back to rights and out of the hole.

We already have big plans for next weekend, and I can't wait! Now to just stay this caught up so I can enjoy it guilt free!

Bit of a Week

I've been wanting to blog all week, but life has just been a bit much. Nothing bad--just busy. 

Last weekend, Issa got to take a Master Class with a hip hop instructor from NYCDA:

 Hip Hop is definitely still not her favorite, but she is liking it more and loved the class!

Thankfully, one of the other dance moms volunteered to take her home from the class and keep her for the night! We pawned Evan off on one of his friend's families, and Brad, Mom, and I went to see Circus 1903! We had a fabulous Cuban meal before hand, and the show was a lot of fun!

The kids came home Sunday morning to discover we had been Booed! You know it's a good bag when Evan asks to take a picture with his new cup:

 We also decorated for Halloween Sunday. I've very amused by our haunted ship:

 And Mother Nature helped us out with this authentic decor on our back door:

We loved watching him work until the wind blew the web down.

The rest of the week was kind of a blur, though! Read-a-Thon is basically over, and it ate up a lot of my time this week. I'll pick up the teacher surveys early next week and then write the final report.

Wednesday night, Brad and I went to the Optomist Club executive committee dinner. Our chair won a four course tasting dinner at the Angus Barn at a charity auction, and he used it for this event. It truly was amazing. We were down in the wine cellar, which we got to tour. They have been on Wine Spectator's list continuously since 1986, which is a huge deal. The meal was amazing, as were the wine pairings, and it was a lovely evening celebrating the fact that the event raised $38,000 for charity--$10,000 more than last year! Somehow, Brad and I left as the new webmaster and secretary.

I've been on fall break the past two days, but I've spent it Read-a-Thoning and deep cleaning the house.

Thankfully, we have a pretty quiet weekend. Issa has three days of dance, but they are not long days, and I have a mound of grading. Brad and I Evan are creating a training space in the garage. It will be busy, but it will also be lovely to just enjoy some fall weather and rest a bit before what I truly hope is a much quieter week!