Annnd....they're off!

You'd think after 8 years of doing this gig (and even more, if you count preschool), it would have dawned on me before now.  I'm a little slow that way.

Here it is, the big revelation:  School makes me crazy.

All year long last year I fought with my kids almost every (week)day about running late, messing around in the mornings, not getting their stuff done, not doing their chores, homework, messy rooms (ok, this one is ongoing), and on and on and ON.  I thought it was them.  Lazy.  Undisciplined.  Careless.  Couldn't-care-less.  Bad attitudes.

And then I thought it was me.  Overbearing.  Impatient.  Too-high expectations.  Drill sergeant.  All-around bad parent.

After a couple of weeks of being out of school this summer, things started to mellow out a little.  We all started getting along better.  Tempers flared less and less often.  Less arguing (between them and me, not between themselves), less grouching, less frustration.  More harmony.  More laughter.  More relaxed.

Yesterday - on day ONE of school - I woke up and prayed, "God, I don't want to go back to the way things were last year.  Please give me the patience of Your Spirit.  Please fill me with Your love, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness....  I want our home to be full of Your PEACE...."

And on day ONE of school, both kids were STARTING their lunches 5 minutes before time to go (yes, they make their own.  Bad mom.).  Kloe was asking me - as she should have been walking out the door - "Do I take these supplies that were in my backpack from last year?  Or only the ones in the sack?"  Didn't we already go through all this?

Jacob picked up his sack of supplies and the handle tore off, nearly dumping notebook paper and spirals and dry erase markers everywhere.  His hair looked like he just crawled out of bed - after he brushed it.  He wore a shirt with bleach stains on it.  Oh yes he did.  On the first day of school.

After school I got a text from Kloe saying she wouldn't be at her usual pickup spot, but instead was by the front doors of the school.  Of course traffic was RIDICULOUS, because every parent in the known world picks up their kid on the first day of school (WHY?).  So I waited and waited and waited in the pickup line (normally I can just drive right through the middle because of where she usually waits), only to get to the front and....no Kloe.

I found a parking place where I could see the front of the school and I started the search.  After a while I found her, standing over to the side, talking to a group of friends, totally not watching for me at all.  Grrr.  So I waited awhile, hoping she would glance up and I could catch her attention, but no.  Finally, I climbed out of the car and began The March to the front of the school.  The poor Assistant Principal happened to be working traffic.  She smiled her big, beautiful smile at me and said, "HI!!  How's the first day of school?"  I practically growled at her.

I'm sure you can guess how the rest of that scenario went.

Happy first day of school.

Today started out even worse.  Even though we got up earlier, everyone was running later.  More procrastinating.  More tempers flaring.  More arguing.  When Kloe and I were ready to walk out the door, I asked Jacob, "Where's your lunch?"  He said, "I didn't make it yet."  What??  He said, "What am I going to do?"  And I barked said, "I don't know.  You're going to have to figure out a plan."

Fortunately for him, The Mister was still at home and had time to wait.  I took Kloe to school while he made his lunch, then came back home and got him.

And somewhere in the middle of all that it dawned on me.

It isn't them.  It isn't me.

It's SCHOOL.

It makes us all crazy.

We don't roll this way.  We're not organized, orderly, stay-in-the-lines kind of people.  We're more the march-to-our-own drummer, take our own sweet time to do it our own way kind of people, and it seems we just don't fit in the standardized school mold.

And yet we have no choice but to keep doing it, year after year after year.

What is it they say about the definition of insanity?  Yeah.  This.

And so in the midst of all the craziness, in the midst of the chaos and frustration and not knowing how to make it be any different, this mama rushed everyone out the door on the first day of school to do what we always do - take pictures before her little loves rush headlong back into another year of crazy.  Pictures that hopefully we'll look back on and remember all of the good - and not so much of the insanity.

And tomorrow morning we'll get up and do it all again (minus the pictures).

Kloe - 8th grade

Jacob - 5th grade

A moment of peace. :)

Springfield by the numbers

1,571 - total miles traveled

1:32 a.m. - arrival time in Tulsa Thursday night/Friday morning

35 - my Sleep Number on the bed at the hotel

1 - pillow (MY pillow) left at the hotel in Tulsa.  Boo.

4 - hotel nights

2 - days of school missed by my kids

180 - miles driven back and forth (and back and forth) between Springfield and Branson during the weekend

14 - flying hot rolls caught by my family at Lambert's Cafe, Home of the Throwed Rolls

 17 - of our original 23 team members who were at the movie premiere!  Woohoo! {Yep, I can count. This was the pre-party, and some people had already left for the theater. ;)}



I hate that the flash on this picture made us all look like evil-eyed zombies! 
We were all so happy to see each other all dressed up, with our hair and
make-up done! ;)

 47 - cool-guy handshakes between Jacob and his new idol best friend, Cory Cotton from Dude Perfect

Kloe was hor.ri.fied. at my "inappropriate" choice of....um....undergarments on this day.  Ha!  Sorry babe, you probably should get used to your mom embarrassing you!

0 - movies watched in the car during the drive (can you believe this?)

10,000 - tears shed by movie watchers during the premiere of Man Up and Go

We had such an awesome weekend in Springfield.  Because of time, we didn't do a lot of vacation-y type things while we were there.  We did spend a few hours at the Bass Pro Shop Man-Mall and had a delicious lunch there.  (Where are those pictures??  Ahh, on The Mister's phone.)

We also got to Ride the Ducks in Branson.  That was a lot of fun, and the kids both got a turn driving the boat, which they loved.

It was so good to see so many of my teammates again.  The last time we were all together, we were exhausted, had no makeup on, and were covered in the red dirt of Uganda.  We clean up pretty well, I must say!

And the movie was beyond incredible.  It was amazing to sit in a theater in Springfield, Missouri, while looking at the beautiful faces - and hearing the beautiful voices - of so many people I love from the other side of the world.  And what a precious surprise it was to see my sweet Christopher in the film! 

It made my heart ache for Uganda even more.

First day of school. Ish.

The first day of school this year was….interesting.

That’s not the word I would have used on Monday, but thanks to the passing of time and a little water under the bridge, I’m able to discuss it a little more calmly.  *ahem*

I won’t rehash all the gory details here on the blog, but suffice it to say that due to some…. miscommunication….NON-communication….we didn't get to take a picture of Jacob with his teacher on the first day of school.  Weren't even allowed in his classroom.  Boo.  Is all I have to say about that (now).

I’m happy to report that Kloe’s first day went much better, and she LOVES being a 7th grader! And she LOVES all her teachers (thank You Jesus)!  And she LOVES playing tennis!  Can't wait to watch her out on the court. :)

4th and 7th grade.  I know all you moms can relate when I say Whatintheworld?

Somewhere along the line, it became a tradition for us to get frozen yogurt on the first and last day of school.  Not sure when that happened, but we're all happy that it did.  We might need to add some more days to this tradition.  Like the last day of the first week of school (which would be tomorrow).

And we finally did get that picture with Jacob's teacher after all.  Not the first day of school....but at least it was the 4th day of 4th grade, which can be fun, too. :)

Here's trusting that the rest of the year will be a thousand times greater than day one!

Random Photo Friday

You know all those random pictures you take thinking you'll post them on your blog, but then there's not really enough of a story for a whole blog post, but they never really go with anything else?

Whelp, here's my solution to that dilemma....Random Photo Friday.  No real story, just fun pictures that I don't want to fall through the cracks. :)


That would be a comforter in a plastic bag he's laying on. :)  Isn't this how YOU workout?



Ugh.

Brought this fun apron home from Uganda.  Love!

Nooooo.....not ours. :)  Sweet puppy we babysat for a week.  My kids were IN LOVE!

This is Lillie laying under a wash rag. :)

These pictures totally crack me up.  Doesn't he look just like Inspector Gadget?

How 'bout you?  Any random photos you'd like to share?  I'd love to see 'em!  Leave me a comment and I'll hop over and take a peek!

Happy Friday, y'all!!

Zerts

When we got home from school on Thursday, Kloe went immediately to the kitchen and started creating.

"Don't look!!" she ordered.

A few minutes later we were given the all-clear. "Ok, you can come in now!"

She had been working in her bedroom a few days ago and came across her old tea set - the perfect inspiration for creating these adorable little desserts for the whole family - "mini-zerts" as she called them.  With Powerade tea.

Just like the old days.  :)  Aren't they adorable?  Three mini marshmallows with chocolate sauce and a toothpick...."for your fork".

So of course, not to be outdone, next it was Jacob's turn. Here's his creation:

A banana chip (hiding under the chocolate), Candy Cane Kiss, Cheerios, peanuts, and TWO toothpicks. :)

They insisted I make one too (no pics), and then Jacob made another one.  Turns out we were creating our own episode of Sweet Genius, Mini-Zert Edition.  Kloe declared Jacob the winner.  :)

Lego love.

My dad got Jacob the Lego Super Bucket (or something like that) for his birthday.  I found this cute little neighborhood when I woke up this morning. I love that you can apparently get to the pizza shop by plane. :)

Valentines

Yesterday was Jacob's school Valentine's party, which you know I love getting ready for. :) Kloe was so bummed that they don't have parties in middle school. "The teachers say we're too oh-old," she moaned to me. Poor kid. I'd be sad, too, without a Valentine's party!  I loved Valentine's day even as a kid.  I love, love, loved decorating my shoebox every year for my friends to drop their little notes of love into.  Such fun memories.  I'm a little sad that the kids don't do that anymore.  (Actually, Jacob's class did it last year, but I don't think Kloe has ever gotten to.)

I loved this game.  Jacob's class had a substitute (brave man, subbing on party day!).  Jacob informed me that, "He's NOT Chinese.  He's from in between China and Japan."  *grin*  Mr. C. was fabulous with the kids, and they loved him.  Anyway, he had them play this great game where they passed candy conversation hearts down the row using chop sticks.  It was so much fun to watch HIM do it (pro), and then watch the kids try. :)



While we do often oversleep (a lot of night owls in our house), it actually WAS pajama day. :)

We made these fun Valentines again this year.  I found these a couple of years ago over at Holly's blog, and we just love them!  I would make them every year from now on if my kids would let me. :)  Jacob thought it was fun to compare this year's to last year's.  "I looked so young!" he said. haha

And we're making these cute i-pod Valentines to give to Kloe's friends next Tuesday....

....except we're using Hershey Kisses instead of Reese's cups for the earphones.  You can find the pattern at Family Fun online.  Good for tweens and still pretty cute.

The big day's almost here....I can't wait! :)

Remembering.

Six for Saturday

1. I know, Halloween was SO last month, but since when did that ever stop me? :)

Who's the rootin-est, tootin-est cowgirl in the wild, wild west? Could it be....























Why, no! It's Miss Kloe, wearing Jacob's too-small chaps and vest and Daddy's hat, but she was happy and so I was too. :) And Jacob was beyond-thrilled to be Obi-Wan Kenobi. I told someone that he was a storm trooper....boy, do I stand corrected! Can you see his padawan braid? (it was a braided leather bracelet I brought him from Uganda) So cute. :)



































We get to dress up twice most years since we go to the fall festivals at Jacob's school and at church. And most years, the kids go as something different for each one! For the school festival, Kloe decided not to dress up this year (too big now that's she's in middle school, I suppose), but Jacob finally got to wear his fighter-pilot costume. We actually bought it at a resale shop 2 years ago even though it was way too big, just because he loves to play dress up so much. He's had a blast with it all this time, and I'm sad that it actually fits now, because that means he won't be able to wear it much longer. This is his fighter-pilot face. Doesn't he look so serious (and handsome)? :)

2. Why, oh why, is this the scene on Kloe's bedroom floor every. single. morning? sigh. And why exactly does it matter so much? I don't know, but for some reason it does.























3. I was excited to see Dum-Dums in the half price basket at Wal*Mart the day after Halloween because the kids in Uganda LOVE them! They were marked $2.40-something per bag, so I picked up 2 for my trip next summer. When I got to the register, they rang up at 99 cents each! I was so bummed I hadn't picked up more.

4. Pumpkin Spice lattes are back! Woohoo! I'm usually not a fan of pumpkin flavor (other than pie), but I had a coupon for a free one of these last year so I tried one and loved it. After that I picked up some pumpkin-flavored coffee creamer at the store, but it was nasty. In fact, I only used it once and ended up throwing the bottle away. But YAY for pumpkin spice at Starbucks! Get 'em while they last!

5.Just received this book in the mail from PaperBackSwap, and I am LOVING it. I'm only on chapter one, but I've already got it all highlighted-up.

I love this quote from the book. It's referring to Deuteronomy 24:19, which says, "When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

Tom Davis says, "The Hebrew word for blessing is baruch. It implies being hunted down and pursued by the favor of the Lord.....God promises that if we take care of the needs of the fatherless, WHATEVER we put our hand to will be blessed."(emphasis added)

Incredible.

6. After this incident a little over a year and a half ago, we had a monitored alarm system installed at our house. A couple of weeks ago, the kids and I had JUST left the house when my phone rang. It was a number I didn't recognize, so I didn't answer it. Not 10 seconds later The Mister called me in a bit of a panic. Turns out that call I had ignored was the alarm company. Seems our alarm had been activated through a breach in the back door, and the police were en route to our house. Oh my déjà vu.

Immediately I knew what had happened. Jacob had been outside in the backyard playing, and we were leaving the house in a hurry to get somewhere. I called him in and we headed straight out the door through the garage. It was a pretty windy day (what? in West Texas?), and he didn't get the back door shut good. The wind blew it open, and wah-la - the alarm system works!

We were only a couple of blocks from the house when The Mister called me, and by the time we got back home there were already TWO police cars at our house! Wow! The officer who talked to me seemed to be none-too-happy about being called out on a false alarm, but HELLO, would you rather it had been the real thing?

Not exactly the way I'd like to have our system tested, but I'm happy to know it works the way it's supposed to!