Max's 1st Day of Preschool & 1st Ride on the School Bus!

It was SO hard to leave him at Preschool this morning!  He was too busy playing with the Playdough that he didn't even hear me tell him I was leaving, so I hope the meltdown was minimal when he realized I was gone!  Will find out from the teacher tonight.  He was so excited to go though and all smiles when the bus pulled up!!  They put this strap on him just so he doesn't roam while the bus is moving.  His bus driver home is such a nice older man and he said Max was a very good boy!  Max was slow to walk in the house, quick to eat lunch, and even faster to fall asleep!  He must have had a busy day at school!  Mommy is so happy for him even through the tears! 

PROJECT FINISHED! and Preschool starting soon.

Yeay!  I finally have the kids' room finished and they are sleeping in there again!  WooHoo!  Yes, it took me 3 weeks, but it was worth it.  The room looks so cute half Max's theme and half Kaitlynn's. 

Both are from their crib sets so that was no money put out.  The paint was left over from when they removed the popcorn ceiling and repainted it before we moved back in... no cost there.  We did buy the blocks that hold the crib quilts up on the wall for $20 at JoAnn's.  But everything else was from their previous room... just now fresh paint, rearranged furniture, and a little redecorating and it looks all new and cute!  Now on to the next room... I have already rearranged the playroom and had the carpets cleaned, but I still want it repainted as well and some Disney posters and academic posters for the walls.  That will have to wait to have the money for posters, and the landlord to agree to buy the paint.  The entry and dinning area are my next big projects.  Because it is cosmetic and not neccessity, our landlord won't take care of the 1970 wallpaper that is peeling and collecting moisture causing mold.  I have started pushing the issue that the mold is a health issue and we would be willing to do the labor to remove the wallpaper, retexture, and repaint, if he would buy the materials.  We'll see how that goes...

Max and KJ have Preschool Orientation on the 30th, home visits from their teachers the rest of that week sometime, and then actually start school on the 7th of September.  I cannot wait on one hand, but so sad on the other.  I don't want my babies to grow up, but I am excited for their new adventure of their childhood. 

         

I hate painting

I was so ready to paint the kids room - so many set backs and delays... but tonight it finally got started... I was so excited!  I suck at it.  It doesn't look very good and I don't like painting.  This was my first time painting and I thought, "How hard can it be?"  I pick things up pretty quickly and usually take to a new skill fast.  I suck... plain and simple.. I suck.  My friend from high school Rocky is coming over tomorrow to save the day.  Matt has to work and is geting the kids down now, so he can't do it.  I am determined to have the kids in their room this weekend, so my buddy Roc is coming over tomorrow after work to help out.  What a friend!! 

Cookies, BBQing, Painting, and Max's Birthday

Last night we tried to watch Clash of the Titans, but Max just wouldn't go to be so we were constantly interrupted.  Matt finally gave up watching the movie and turned to the kitchen to feed his chocolate chip cookie craving.  There were none made, so he decided to make a batch at 11pm last night.  They were YUMMY!  We finally had to put Max in bed between us and watch the movie from bed.  It was a really good movie with a few new paths different than the original.  But we didn't get to sleep until 2am!  I am dragging ass this morning that's for sure.  I'm really glad I only need to do some light housework before a few friends come over tonight to BBQ.  Cooking Triptip on the grill, and making asparagus appetizers... they are so good!  I'll make a big salad, and one guest is bringing the garlic bread, so I think we'll be set!

Matt is bringing home the painting equipment that is at his work.  He thought it was still here at the house, but when we finally went to paint... we couldn't!  UGH!  This is turning into a two week project!  The kids haven't been sleeping right since they are not in their normal beds, so we are all tired more than not these days.  Tomorrow night is supposed to be the painting time, so then Thursday we'll put the furniture back together and set up the room for them to sleep in there again.  3 weeks until school starts, so I think we will have enough time to get them used to their room again and get through the TV at night withdrawals.  Now that they will be going to school, I am taking the TV out of their room. Wish us luck with that one!

Max's actual birthday is on Friday, but we'll be having his party at Grandma Sharon's on Saturday.  Thinking we'll just stick with cake and ice cream.... might be too many people to make Shrimp Boil.... I CANT BELIEVE HE IS 3 ALREADY!  My baby is turning 3 and going to preschool... my heart hurts....

So much going on...

One of my friends commented that they were just so busy in the summertime.  I thought, yeah, so are we... wait, we're always busy, not just in the summer!  We have for Mike: Football practices, dental appts, and Physical Therapy; we have for Kaitlynn just medication checks every three months and dentist appointments to get into Preschool; For Max, well, there have just been so many doctor's appointments after the accident, weekly speech therapy, and dental appointments scheduled as a Preschool enrollment requirement; Matt has work each day that we have to schedule car usage with only one vehicle right now and his doctor appointments have just become less frequent; I have my own doctor's appointments to make up for all the years I didn't get things taken care of, dental appointments to get that caught up as well, and I'll be taking care of my Big Sister after her surgery later this month for 4 days; and then we all have all the functions to do each week with the grandparents, aunties, and friends.  We try really hard to get one night a week in to have adult time whether it be at home while the kids are at grandma's or if we can actually afford to go out and spend some time together.  Just so much going on...

Max's speech therapy is going really well.  The sessions themselves are rough as he knows when Heather walks in the door it's work time and he gets frustrated so he doesn't want anything to do with her.  We work with him and get him to do the activities or exercises, but it's hard to keep him interested.  Later though, after Heather is gone until the next week, he does use the things we taught him or worked with him on.  It's so rough the day of the therapy, but now I am seeing the results and how worth it that it is when he talks more and more!

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Kaitlynn  told me she didn't want me to take pictures for their scrapbooks, she wanted then in the magazines.  So I went with it and we brushed her hair long, put a cute outfit she picked out, and I threw a sheet over a couch on the playroom for her to sit on.  I gave her the green light to do her thing and I would just take the pictures... here are a few... I am so in trouble!

Last week Max was being a terror one day and had a dozen eggs cracked and smeared into the playroom floor.  This is not the first time he has done that with the eggs, usually it is on the kitchen floor though!  Two days later he got a hold of the peanut butter jar and finger painted his bedroom and himself. I couldn't get it all out of the carpet for anything! Either the same day or the very next day, he poured a whole gallon of apple juice on his bedroom floor.  Some of you might be thinking, "Where were you when he was doing these things?!?" Well, I was probably cleaning up the mess he had just previously made, went out to switch the laundry from washer to dryer, or once I was even in the bathroom when he struck.  Kaitlynn is a good distraction, too. Max has been known to get into trouble when I am dealing with Kaitlynn for one reason or another.  They even tag team me at times and alternate making a mess while I am cleaning up the last one... and people wonder why there are baby gates stacked one on top of the other to keep Max contained in his room... I need time to clean up a mess without him making another, and we also use it to keep him in his room at bedtime.  Without it, he wonders around the house and can keep himself up for hours!  Being gated in, he gets bored and falls asleep.  There are no toys in there, they are all in the playroom, so he has nothing to play with and keep himself awake with.  Anyways, my carpets needed cleaned and my steam cleaner just wasn't cutting it anymore.  Thank God I have a good friend, Rocky (who owns Code 3 Restoration & Carpet Care) who came last weekend to save the day!  He has the industrial size steam cleaner that is in a whole van!  I had all but the living room done!  Next time we'll have him do that room as well as the couches he said!!  WOO HOO!!!  Here is Max and the Peanut Butter...

Getting the carpets clean totally motivated me to get some other things going as far as projects around here go.  I reorganized the playroom and rearranged the furniture.  Now it has more room for the kids to run and play in there, and it takes the focus of the room off of the TV.  I also got Matt to agree to help me paint the kids room. The last tenant really did a number on most of the wall in the house whether it be paint or wallpaper.  My kids just help make worse!  So I went filling pin, nail, and accidental holes all over the room.  Matt did some of the more advanced texture and etc.  Now the room is ready for paint!  And the guys who took the acoustic off the ceiling right before we moved in left some paint in the garage.  It's enough to do at least that room if not another!  No money on paint and our own labor... I can afford that!  Next I want to attack the 1970 wallpaper that is falling down in the dining room, entry, and master bed & bath....