Hip! Hip! Horray!

If anyone saw me on Monday, September 10th, they would've noticed how giddy I was.  Giddy with joy and happiness!  My idea for Ian to take the bus to school so Sam can get to her school on time has got to be one of the best ideas I ever had. 

The plan went so incredibly well that we were the first ones to arrive at Sam's school!  Can you believe it!?!?!  Personally, I was in shock when I pulled into the parking lot and didn't see any other parent cars had arrived yet to drop off their preschoolers.  Woweeeeee!!!!!!  We got there at 8:44am.  How amazing!!!!  I even have wiggle room of 15 minutes for traffic, weather, and the unexpected.

I was floating on a cloud all day long, with a big smile on my face.  I couldn't believe I came up with a solution that actually works.  Of course, Ian is riding around, taking a tour of Burke for 25 minutes each morning, but this is for the greater good.  I had to laugh when we were driving by one of the roads on the bus route and Ian pointed out all the stops and loops they make.  Thank G-d I have a son who is willing to help the family out and not complain. 

I am giving myself a major pat on the back for this one.  BEST. IDEA. EVER.  Fortunately, I thought this brilliance up before school started and not during the last week.  Knowing me, that would be more like it.  I want to do something nice for the guys at transportation who helped get me through the system as fast as they did, not once, but twice!  I am pretty sure they don't want to hear from me again.  Maybe I will write them a letter and put it on a happy looking note card so they know it is good mail and not another parent complaining...which I am sure they get plenty of.

It's going to be a good, good year!  Three cheers for making the mornings less stressful. 

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I feel like the Summer flew by!  I can't believe we are starting another school year.  I am now the mother to a kid in 2nd grade.  OH MY GOSH!  When did that happen?!?!  Not that it makes me sound so old, but it makes my son sound so grown-up. (Don't ya just love that spin I put on it!??!)   2nd grade!!!  And Sam is in her last year of preschool.  Crazy, right?   I am not sure who is counting down the months until Sam is in Kindergarten more -- me (no longer shuffling back and forth to two different places, every day for the kids to get to school), Jeff (no longer paying for preschool - seriously, this easily equals a car payment each month!!), or Sam (the true definition of being a big girl!). 

Here is Ian on his first day of school - 2nd grade!

Riding the bus for the first time!!
I had to tell Ian not to make a run to get on as soon as
the bus arrived, so I could take his picture first.

Our back to school tradition - getting ice cream on the first day.

 

 

 

Sam started her new preschool on Monday.  I did a smart thing and brought her to the school one day last week for her to check it out.  Sam got to meet the teacher and take a tour of where she will be from 9:00am to 1:00pm, each weekday.  Unless of course, there is a Jewish holiday, its the eve of a Jewish holiday, an American holiday, a teacher workday, or something else that keeps her from going for the full 4 hours.

 

 

Here is Sam on her first day of school -- Pre-K!

 

All smiles and ready for Pre-K!

 

 

 

Ok, Mom...stop taking pictures and let's get to school!

 

 

A close up of the Tiara Sam picked out to wear on her first day.

 

 

 

In Sam's classroom...a picture of her from
when she was a baby and a current shot.

Sam and her friend, Ruby

 

 

Two very excited moms!!

 

 

Our Fall schedule looks something like this.  Yes, I will be spending quite a bit of time in my car.  If you need me, just call my cell.  :)

 

Sam has school Monday thru Friday from 9:00am to 1:00pm.  On most Thursdays, she'll be staying until 3:00pm.

 

Ian has school on Mondays from 9:05am to 1:15pm.  On Tuesdays thru Fridays, he is there from 9:05am to 3:45pm.

 

Sunday - Ian has religious school from 9:00am to 12:00pm

 

Monday - Ian has gymnastics from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.

                Sam has gymnastics from 6:00pm to 7:00pm

 

Tuesday - Ian has religious school from 4:30pm to 6:15pm

 

Wednesday - Ian has gymnastics from 4:00pm to 6:00pm

                     Sam has dance class from 4:30pm to 5:00pm

 

Thursday - nothing after school

 

Friday - nothing after school

 

Saturday - Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!  No organized activities or sports!

 

 



Girls with their dolls - Take 2

It's back-to-school!   And with that our tradition continues celebrating at the American Girl Doll store.  Lunch with our friends and all the dolls happened this past Sunday.

I hit a small bump in the road with Sam, upon entering the store.  I had never dreamed that she would be expecting to purchase another Bitty Baby.  We got her one last year, right before we met for lunch, and she hadn't been back in the American Girl Doll store since.  So of course, she is under the impression that every time we go in there, she can pick out a new American Girl Doll.  Uh-oh!  This came as a surprise to me and I hadn't set her expectations before we walked in to meet our friends.  It should be noted, however, that when I explained the situation to Jeff as to why our outing wasn't 100% perfect, he said he thought the same thing.  Jeff also expected Sam would be getting another Bitty Baby.  Who are these people I am related too!?!?!   I thought quickly on my feet and explained to Sam that we would need to tell Daddy that she wants to get a new Bitty Baby.  I said that Daddy would want to be with her when she picks out the next one.  That sounded believable, right?   When that didn't seem to make her happy, I then told her she could get a Strawberry Milkshake with her lunch.  Once the milkshake arrived, talk of the new Bitty Baby quickly went by the wayside.

Oh what fun we had!   We will most definitely be back next September for a return visit.

Yes, she still managed to eat lunch, despite the gigantic milkshake.

All the girls with their dolls.

Sam giving her Bitty Baby a drink.

Riding the bus.

We live too close to the elementary school for Ian to ride the bus.  In fact, we are considered "walkers".  Although, in the past 2 years, I can count on one hand how many times we actually walked to the school; either to drop Ian off or meet him after the school day was over to get him home.  In my opinion, Kiss-n-Ride is the way to go!  It is not rocket science to know that it has always been easier to have Sam securely strapped in her car seat, sitting in an air-conditioned car, rather than risk whatever fanatical behavior she has up her sleeve trying to walk with her from point A to point B.  After a certain point it just became the way we did things and driving to Ian's school was like flying on automatic pilot.

This year, however, Sam is starting a new school for her last year of pre-school.  The school, not only is a 15 to 20 minute drive from our house, but also has a 9:00am start time.  I resigned myself to the idea that Sam was always going to be late for school.   Even if I somehow got lucky enough to get Ian to school, right when they opened their doors at 8:45am, there is no way possible Sam would arrive at her school any earlier than 9:10am.  And this was IF we were the first car sitting in line waiting for the doors to open.  I think those parents get there as early as 8:15am, waiting in their cars for that to occur.  Again, this would be an unlikely event for us and waiting for the cars to unload and move up ahead of us would add precious minutes, making Sam even later for her school.

There was little I could do and I figured that Sam's future college would never find out she was late every single day to pre-K.

Three days before school started, we finally received the teacher assignments in the mail.  With it came the bus schedule.  I never paid attention before to these forms and quickly put it aside.  Then it hit me!  Like a light bulb going off over my head.  Super bright wattage too!  Why don't I find a bus that leaves as early as I need it to and put Ian on it?  I can drive to the bus stop, make sure Ian gets on okay and then with Sam (still securely strapped in her car seat) continue to take her to school ON TIME!!!    O. M. G. !!!!   I think I am on to something.  I looked at the bus schedule and found there is a bus less than a mile away from our house that picks up the kids as early as 8:25am.  Sweet!! 

I couldn't wait to tell Ian.  He always felt like he missed out on the riding the bus to school thing.  This was going to be his chance to experience what the majority of the kids in his class get to do.  And now that he was a little older,  I wasn't worried about him getting lost or winding up somewhere other than his classroom. I couldn't stop smiling at my idea.  Brilliant if I do say so myself!  I  called Ian and he had explicit instructions for me that he only wanted to ride the F6 bus because his friend Eric rides this bus.  I looked up the F6 bus.  It arrived at 8:30am, and was about 2 miles from our house.  I could definitely do that one, make Ian happy and make me happy that Sam would be on time.

Thursday (the next day) was Ian's open house for school.  He was in FL, so I went on my own.  I stopped in at the office and explained that I wanted to put Ian on the bus in the mornings.  They explained to me the process that I have to go through filling out the "Exception to ride form", sending it in to Fairfax County Transportation department and to expect most likely the answer to be no.   Oh no!

I called Transportation and explained the situation.  I was told to send the form in as soon as possible.  Within an hour of emailing the scanned form,  I got a very nice reply back alerting me that my form has been received and it will be put in the queue.  The review process begins in October and I should wait until later in October to hear back on whether or not my request has gotten approved.  Seriously!?!?!   I quickly wrote a reply back and explained, I am already stressed thinking about this coming school year and is there any way I can start putting Ian on the bus the first day of school and then wait to hear if it later got approved?

The next day (Friday), I was driving around town and received a call on my cell phone.  It was them!  It was them!  The very nice gentleman on the phone was letting me know that my request got approved.  Ian could start riding the bus on the first day of school.  He later added that he had no idea how my form got through their process so quickly.  WOW!!   This was wonderful news and all my problems on getting Sam to school on time was solved.

Turns out the 8:30am bus I wanted Ian to get on, shows up at 8:47am.  And this was not a first week of school, working out the kinks kind of thing.  No sireee bob.  Our form says 8:30am, the bus driver's form on when to arrive says 8:47am.  And then she informs me that she is just sitting around the corner for 40 minutes until it is time to drive up.  What the?!!??!  I could've driven Ian to school and had him dropped off and been no better off.  This was sooo not cool.  Meanwhile, Ian is LOVING this bus and doesn't care that Sam will be late for school.  He keeps suggesting that I just leave him at this bus stop and take off.  Um, no way Ian.  I will always wait and make sure you get on the bus.   I had one week to figure this out.  Sam starts her preschool that following Monday (as in tomorrow!).

So, like a crazy mom, I started stalking yellow school buses everywhere. I keep my bus schedule form in the car and pull it out like Quick Draw McGraw referring to where a bus will be and what time it is supposed to arrive.  My best option was to get Ian on the F2 bus that comes at 8:25am.  Bonus, that this school bus stop is less than a mile from our house.  I got confirmation from my good friend who said yes, this bus does come at 8:25am.  I called back my guy at Transportation.  He sounds like he is has no clue he spoke to me just one week prior.   He tells me that I have to go through the school and request a change of buses.  When I keep probing further as to what will happen after that, I come to find out its back to submitting the "Exception to ride" form again.  Ha!  Since I already have this form, I told my guy I will white-out the parts that need revising and write in the new info.  I pleaded with him that I could send back the form to him directly and hope that it makes it through the system just as quickly as it did before.  I know I was pressing my luck. 

I didn't hear anything back for over 24 hours and followed up with another call on Friday.  I left a message for my contact and said I hoped that my little girl could be on time for her first day of school this coming Monday. The woman who took the message said the form will get reviewed in October and to wait until then for an answer.   Um, no. Work with me people!!!  It's not my fault your 8:30am bus doesn't come until 8:47am!!! 

Approx. 5:00pm on Friday afternoon, my phone rings.  It's not my guy at Transportation that I keep bugging, but the head honcho herself who is calling me directly to explain why it is they don't review these forms until October.  The bus schedules are constantly getting revised.  The routes may change.  Times will shift one way or another until they get it right.  And then there is a ray of light and she says, "We will approve Ian to take the F2 bus."  Yay!!!  Yippee!!  Just in the nick of time.  I promised her this is the last time she'll hear from me.  I told her I won't request a bus change again.  Let's hope that I can keep my word.  :)

I figure one week of being a basket case over this situation, trying to make it happen the way I need it to, will carry me Sam's entire year of Pre-K.  Countdown is on until next year when both kids are in the same school, for the same amount of time.  I may have a full head of gray hair by the time this happens, but it will be worth it.

Giggling

One afternoon while the kids were in Florida, Jeff and I found ourselves at Wegman's doing a little grocery shopping.  Jeff had parked the car downstairs in the garage.  We unloaded the groceries and I told Jeff I would take the shopping cart back to the store.  As we usually do, I take the cart back and he swings the car around to get me.

As I was making my way to the front of the store and was about halfway there, a man carrying his groceries was walking out of the store, towards me. 

The gentleman saw what I was doing and said, "Let me take that for you." 

I replied with, "That's very nice of you to offer, but you don't even need to use it. You are going in the opposite direction.  I can take it back." 

He answered back with, "No, really.  I can do it. I still need to do my good deed for the day."  And before I could protest again, he took the cart from me and started walking back towards the store.

At this point, I turned around and saw that Jeff had already pulled out of our parking spot and was briskly driving the long way around the garage to be able to pull up in front.

I had no choice but to turn back around, yet again, and keep walking towards the store.  This time without my cart.  And now I am following the guy who took my cart.  I am sure the guy is thinking this woman is nuts and is wondering why I am following him. 

I started laughing.  I wanted to explain why I was following him.  I wanted to tell him that my husband said he would pull up and meet me in the front of the store, after I had returned the cart.  I wanted to tell him that Jeff had already vacated our parking spot.  There was so much I wanted to explain and so little time.  I was running out of distance to fill in this complete stranger and to top it off I started giggling at how silly I must've looked to be following directly behind him and couldn't stop.   There was no where for me to go.  I had to keep moving behind him.

Finally, the guy returns my cart and turns to head in the direction of his car.  He looks at me and smiles.  In one big breath I said, "I had to keep going, my husband already started swinging around in the car to pick me up."

He replied with, "Hey, that's cool.  But my good deed still counts."   Yes, it does. And thank you for also giving me a good laugh too.

What I wish I could've told my younger self...

So what you are turning 30 and still single?  In just another year, you are going to meet the most amazing man and the wait will be worth it. This man will support you no matter what harebrained ideas you come up with.  He will encourage you, cheer you on and be quick to give foot rubs when you decide you want to run a marathon.  Yes, I know that last line came as quite a shock.  I mean, you could've majored in college sitting on the couch, watching tv.  But this man you meet, inspires you and makes you want to be the best you can be.  There is nothing you feel like you can't do or accomplish. The love you feel for each other is like nothing that can be described.  It is this depth of emotion that will carry you through the more challenging times.  When your husband (yes! you get married!!) loses his job in 2009, keep your positive attitude going for the both of you and know that the most perfect career opportunity is about to be offered a few short weeks later.  This time he has off should be treasured, not stressed about. 

Before you know it, and way before you turn 40, you will have 2 kids calling you mom and living in the suburbs. You realize that when child #2 comes along, your heart expands and there is plenty of love for another child. I know that you want 3 kids, but you will find out that 2 is plenty for you. You are going to take such delight in watching these two babies become little people. They will become your world and not a day goes by that you don't Thank G-d for them coming in to your life. You will have figured out this dinner thing and no one will be eating popcorn every night as their main meal. Actually, you get pretty darn good with the slow cooker.

You put your organizational and multi-tasking skills worthy of an Olympic gold medal to good use and keep the household running.  Everyone is living a full and very busy life.  Your sense of direction is still left functioning somewhere in Florence, Italy, but its okay, because your entire world is now a 10 mile radius.  You no longer want to climb the career track, travel for work or socialize at work happy hours.  Your happy being at home (some days more than others) taking care of the kids.  There is no place you will rather be.  When the opportunity comes along to do some part-time work for The Man, just know you'll get used to his quirky ways and actually become fond of the old guy.

Your best girlfriends will have tripled and everywhere you turn a fellow mom is coming to your rescue, because as you find out, it does take a village. These wonderful women will provide emotional support, give you many reasons to laugh and make you feel like you are never alone in dealing with a spirited, challenging child.  So when you think that you already have plenty of friends, know that there is room for more.  It will be more than worth it.

And grandparents, in-laws, aunts, uncles and cousins become a vital part of your life.  You want them involved in not only the big things, but the little day to day things too.  Being surrounded by family is something that you can't ever get enough of. 

And one last thing, at some point, you are going to total your car in an accident.  Don't worry, no one gets hurt. But, you are going to need to buy a new car.  Although the Honda CR-V looks like the perfect vehicle for you and Bailey, go for the Acura MDX instead.  Trust your older, wiser self on this one.

It's not always going to be fun and games.  There will be plenty of days when you don't think you can't take anymore, and need a break.  Some days when you want to run and never look behind you.  There will be days when it feels like its all work and no joy, but please remember that anything worth having is worth working for. It will make the good days sweeter and the bad ones quickly become a blur.

All because I said, "I DO!!" 8 years ago today. 

And now a special note to my hubby: I love you so much honey and can't wait to see what I can tell my 70 year old self.   Thank you for making the above and so much more possible.  You were worth the wait, but I am glad it didn't take any longer.  Happy Anniversary!!!



Go on, walk through the door.
It is about to be one heckuva an adventure.

.

Pinch me, I must be dreaming

I didn't want to run away.  I didn't hang my head in shame.  I was able to look at all my fellow passengers and the flight crew directly in the eye. I wasn't on the verge of tears or breaking down.  I was even relaxed, breathing normally.  And to my delight, Sam and I even worked on her letters while up in the air.  The journey to come back home was smooth sailing from the moment we left for the airport from my mom's house until we walked through our front door.

 

Never in my wildest dreams did I think this was actually possible.  I am still not convinced that it truly happened like it did.  Maybe I dreamt it?  Maybe I've gotten really good at blocking out the horrific stuff and managed to do it while it was happening?  Or maybe I finally came to my senses and became an alcoholic to deal with the kids?  

 

No to all of the above!  After 3 weeks away in Florida, the kids are home.  And I believe Sam has turned a corner on flying.  She was a dream to sit next to.  She was amazing.  Both kids made me so proud to be their mother.  No one on the flight had any idea on what so easily could've been.  It was my (and Ian's) little secret. 

 

Was it my friend Heather's brilliant idea to let the kids stock up on candy for the flight?  Was it because Sam got a good night of sleep the night before?  Maybe it was due to Sam being giddy with joy to get home and see Daddy?  Could it have been that she was excited to get the window seat?  Or, possibly because she is a year older since she flew last?  Who knows?  And frankly, who cares?  I am thrilled that something did the trick. 

 

Never before have I wanted to document us being on a plane before.  Evidence of it being amazing was most needed.  I want to look back at these 2 hours and remember fondly how wonderful it was.