Kindergarten!

Yep. It's time. I'm not going to get into the sappy, teary mess that I've been over the last few weeks. Instead, I'm going to excite you with the details of HOW EXCITED Emily Grace (and the rest of us really) is about Kindergarten!!!!
We met her teacher last week and she's a doll! Actually- she goes to church with us and is a dear friend. SO that's a HUGE plus. But, Emily Grace still put her hands on her hips and said "what's your name again?" at open house. 

We'll work on the graceful part of "GRACE" as she gets older.

So Sunday we went grocery shopping for all of the foods for her lunches. I made sure that she could open every container, bag, bottle, etc on her own so that she can spend more time nibbling.
I also didn't want a bag of chips to explode across the cafeteria as she opened it aggressively.
We packed a pretend lunch in her lunch box on Sunday because her half of the class doesn't go until Tuesday. And duh- we had to make sure everything fit perfectly.

I made an additional call to Pottery Barn for a Bento Box , in case we needed it. It will be here Aug 31. Sigh. At least it had free shipping.

We picked out her first day outfit.OH and we had first day pics taken with my sweet friend, Emily Elrod.
Then we got excited and picked out the outfits for the rest of the week.
(I still have to monogram 2 of them!)

We got out the closed-toe shoes that still fit and dusted them off. We arranged those with the new shoes so that there's never any closet digging in the mornings.  We moved EG's car seat in Chris' car so that she's getting in and out of the car (on the days that he drops of and picks up) on the sidewalk side.

And I've already spoken to the office about her dentist appointment this week. Bad, timining on my part. I know. But I know exactly how to get it excused. I'm going to be a pro at this Kindergarten thing.

Oh and I annoyed the daycare one last time by triple checking that they would pick her up ON THEIR BUS after school.

My nails on the other hand, are suffering from the nerves that are hiding behind the excitement. I hope she has an amazing first day!!!!!!

We are so proud of our sweet Emily Grace!

Effort

It takes effort to get through life right now. Just this weekend, I ditched housework (like that was hard to do) to go to the park with the kids, along with Emily and baby Jack (who isn't such a baby any more!). It was a fun morning! And after that we went to Chic-fil-a for a very brief lunch and back to the house where the house work sat.. waiting for my arrival. And you know what? I'm NOT SORRY. Yes, Luke got an ear infection. But that's not from being outside. That's just him. I don't care- it was a fun day and I had to MAKE time to make it happen.

So I promised myself last week for the 9,458th time that I WAS going MAKE THE EFFORT to start jogging again. (My metabolism and the seams on my jeans are having a war right now with each other. One is trying to bust through the barriers while the other is trying to hold it all in!)

Plus, it's VERY important to me that both of our kids see their parents as active people. Chris has that nailed. He's an amazing role model. But for me, we are busy that I do not make exercise a priority. Side note- on the way to school this morning I saw some kids waiting for the bus on their very first day. ***And I was embarassed at my thoughts.*** How are this many kids so overweight? I don't mean that to be hurtful in any way. I know they're all extrodinary, WONDERFUL, amazing and beautiful children, but our society is not going to keep heart disease from creeping up on us at the age of 50 with the way we're going!

So, I'm pledging to start my 20 minute jogs again. I'm not going to commit to a number per week. I'm just going to try when I can. I'm going to make the effort. Life is not going to take over. I am.

Funny though; my friend Ashley and I were just talking because my last attempt went something like this:
Wake up an hour early because a 20 minute jog takes me that long!
Hit the snooze for 15 minutes.

Fix my mangled hair so that the neighbors don't think someone escaped from the asylum.

Brush my teeth because-well- I don't want to increase my carbon footprint by breathing through my mouth.

Find my shoes. 

Manage to get all the running gear on. (right, all three things)

Go back in the house for my wedding ring because it's part of me. And I'm that weird that way. I run in my ring and pearl earrings. What? Don't judge.

Go back again to drink some water because I don't want to get parched when I'm a mile from the house. And because I'm stalling.

Go back one more time because I need my iphone/headphones.

Then curse quietly to myself over the threshhold because opening the door that many times woke up the kids.

Argue with myself and say 'screw it' because I need to do this. Chris can deal with the kids for "20 minutes."

Feel guilty because they're in there crying and he's going to have a rotten morning by having to deal with that first thing.  (love and guilt are interchangable, apparently)

Then I give up and go back inside and hope for the best tomorrow.

 

Sigh. I'm tired.

Thankful

Today, as I've "struggled" over piddly things: what to buy, what not to buy so that I don't spend spend spend, where to eat lunch, what Emily Grace is going to wear for her first day of school, little things that bother me at daycare, big things that bother me at work, I've realized that my world is so so so perfect. None of that matters. None. Today, I stopped by my friend Ashley's desk, in the midst of the Friday afternoon do-nothings. I have lots to do at work AND at home, but I'm procrastinating and eagerly looking forward to one of the last do-nothing weekends we'll have in a while.

Ashley was reading her friend's blog. I don't know this family. And there are lots of them out there- families struggling to hold on to a loved one, families dealing with financial problems, families dealing with illness and death. I've sort of become numb to those families. Once upon a time, I got so caught up in their pain and suffering that I let it affect me too. So I went cold turkey. The result: I started worrying over the piddly things again. Why can't I just be thankful for what I have? And I am- I just let the harsh reminder of how amazingly blessed I am, slip sometimes.
This blog, this poor, innocent, sweet, STRONG, faithful family brings it all back to reality. I truly pray for, and hope for this family. And I'm so incredibly thankful for the people and things that I have AND the things that I do not have to struggle with. Thank you, Dear Father, for bringing me back to Earth.
The Matthews Monologues

Kindergarten Jitters

Here is my conversation with Emily Grace from this morning:

EG: mommy. I can’t go to school. (I'm thinking she means preschool, TODAY.) The man doesn’t know where I live. He needs to know where I live.

Me: WHAT MAN!?!?

EG: The man. He needs my address.

Me: DID YOU GIVE IT TO HIM? WHO IS HE? EG (we don't call her EG, I just type EG to make it shorter), this is very important. What man asked where you live? Why can’t you go to school? Has someone talked to you?

EG: um. (looking confused) he doesn’t know where to take me.

 

ME: EG. Please focus. Nobody except mommy and daddy should be taking you anywhere. Start at the beginning and tell me why you can’t go to school and then tell me about the man.

EG: The man on the bus. He doesn’t know where I live. So I can’t go to school because he can’t bring me home.

She was talking about riding a school bus (which won't be an issue anyway). I can’t explain the relieved sigh that came out of my lungs… Add another gray hair to my head.

Disney World, Here we Come!

Well- that's a bit misleading. We're not traveling until Fall. But you can (really, you have to!) book your dining 180 days prior to the day you travel. So... to avoid letting any potential creeps onto our actual travel dates, Ill just say we're booking in the general vicinity of now but the booking process has me so excited!!!!!!!

Plus:
5 days of outfits
+2 cute kids
-------------------
1 mommy who has to get started NOW.
It'll take me that long to decide and conquer! I've found some really cute ideas to get me started:

Wouldn't this be cute with little khaki shorts and a red polo under the tee? (mental note, check weather.com)

And the little extras:
I HAVE to make these mouse ear clips! Click on the ears for the how-to. I thought I'd have to buy these! As crafty as I am, bow-savvy, I am not... But I think I can muster up the courage to attempt two little Minnie Mouse pig-tail clips!

And well duh, mommy needs a bag!

I'm sure I'll have more random posts over the summer about our Disney preparations and revelation...

PS- This is going to be my first project!
Disney Signature Books

He speaks!

Luke has been working on his verbal skills for quite a while. For the last few months we've had:
Ca (say it like you live in New Jersey)- Car
Tuk- TRUCK
DooDoo- Choo choo
Tray- Train
Dawwwwg- Dog
Momeeee- Mommy
Dadeeeee- Daddy
Poppy- Both Papa and Grandpa
Meeeee- Both Mimi and Grandma

I'm know there are others but these are the most common.
This morning, as I was putting him in his car seat and battling the giggling and flailing arms (he thinks it's funny to struggle with me when we're buckling up), he looked square at me and said "where's daddy?" My reply: "oh hunny- he went to work." (the time change has us in a bit of a scramble this week with our morning routine)
Luke: "oh. bye."

I stood for a minute, letting it seep into my caffeine-defficient brain cells that I just had a conversation with him. Granted, it wasn't a Shakesperian Sonnet, but still- we just communicated in a much deeper level than we had before today! I knew it was going to be a good week. I just knew it.

The Important Things

Ok- It has been almost a year since I blogged. LOTS has happened. But, the biggest is that I'm giving up some of my major committments, (I won't name them and make them feel bad) so that I can spend more time on the important things.

The biggest thing that needs my attention is my family. And documenting important family

moments. I've been a bad mom. Well, I've given up documenting in lieu of actually doing things with the kids. So not really a bad mom, just a bad record-keeper.

So, I'm going to promise myself to post once a week, whether it's something tiny, something funny, or something huge. I rely on this as my documentation. (Mommy brain=bad memory)

Don't worry- I'm still working full time for Ralph and monogramming at night. Those weren't the things I'm giving up!

Today's post: Big hiney.

Yep, Emily Grace (in her desire to be big (big girl)) thought she was giving me a compliment by telling me that I had a big hiney.

Her exact words were (as I was bent over tying Luke's shoes while he was rocking in the glider and trying to hit me with a plastic golf club)

"Wow mommy, your hiney is really really big and bigger!" (Bigger? Rub it in, kid.)

And I said "that's not a nice thing to say to an adult"

and she said "That's ok, I like you. I'll be big when I'm 5."

I'm having flash backs to the Kellogg's post-Christmas commercial where the little girl comes down stairs and says "SANTA!" to her mom's rear end while she's bent over digging through the fridge... I'm even wearing the red shirt today.