Here we go again!

So, the older two kids are home from their summer with their dad. They seemed to have a good time there. Nothing too exciting happened I guess. They got home Aug. 6th and started school Aug. 19th. One in 9th, one in 5th one in 2nd and lastly, one in kindergarten. Sigh. Friday 19th, was just a 15min day for Geoffery with kindergarten. Go meet the teacher, look at the room, hand over supplies and junk and go home. He was pissed. I was pleased to see how into it he seemed. I worried about how Monday would go though, when I would actually leave him there.

Weekend came and went, did some last minute school clothes shopping for the kids, was peeved over how it's 108 degrees here, and they're stocking Fall stuff already. Get a clue huh??? You'd think they'd kinda leave shorts out when our weather is like this??? Most of it was picked over too. We found several cute things for the girls though. I also noticed how there was a lot of husky items to choose from for boys..... but was amazed at the new husky for girls!!! America's kids are getting fatter, that's for sure. Our school this year has even taken away the "candy cart". Monday, Weds, and Fri they would have a cart that would come around at last recess, and for under 1.00 a kid can pick some fun candies..... was always a special thing to give the kids 50c for this every once in awhile. Well,... due to nutrition and health no more candy cart.

Anyhow, so came Monday, and Geoffery did great :o) I wasn't even sure he realized I'd actually left him there. He was excited, he'd seen some friends from Headstart in the hallway, all the kids in his room were new, he was just sitting there taking it all in. When I returned later that day to pick the kids up, I was anxious to see how he was. I worried about him being able to poke the straw into his drink at lunch, I worried that he wouldn't know what to do at lunch time,... just silly stuff like that. He's the baby, and we had already worried about whether we should send him or not,..... is he REALLY ready for this????? Well.... he came down the hall, all the kids in a line (they go to the cafeteria to meet moms/dads after school) pulling his backpack behind him, kinda looking down..... he looked up and saw me and his face just LIT up.... *sigh* "MOMMY!!!" and he ran to me. I wanted to cry :o) Ohh... didn't cry when I left him that morning though LOL I scooped him up and squeezed him and kissed him and asked how his day was, it was good he said. "Can I do kindergarten again????" He asked. *sniff* "Yes, you sure can!" So, I would say day one was a success!!! Later he had asked me "Did you go home???" "Yup" "Did you look for me???" *giggle* "I sure did,... I missed you soooo much!! but I'm glad that you had so much fun in kindergarten today" He's so sweet.

However, we got home, and I find that he'd not eaten his lunch!!??!!?? Did he not know what to do????? Did he just sit there with his lunch bag in front of him and not understand??? What happened???? "Geoffery.... how come you didn't eat your lunch??" in his little words I figured out that he ate PIZZA!!! HUH???? "YOU ate pizza???" "yeah" "was it good??" "yeah" "did you eat it all gone??" "no" LOL This child, all he eats: cereal, pb&j, pb&honey, spaghetti, bacon, sometimes eggs.... waffles and pancakes. That's seriously about IT. He ate pizza??? hahahaha!! Yeah right LOL

Tuesday morning I asked his teacher, and she said yes, he did eat some of it. Wow!!! She asked if that was alright,.... the kids had sat down to eat, and he and a few others saw kids who bought their lunches and they wanted that too.... "Hey, if he eat it, I don't have a problem with it at all!!" LOL He did great Tuesday morning too. Dropped him off, got my hugs and kisses and walked out. Wow!! Maybe this was going to go well????? I sure hoped so. Again, he was happy to see me later that day, and told me he ate a hamburger for lunch LOL Uh huh suuuuurreee.... and again "Did you go home??" "yup" "Did you look for me??" "I did, but you were at school weren't you??" "yup" :o)

I am amazed at times at how different each child is. I mean, when you have just one, you have nothing to compare to,... when you have 2 you can say stuff like ohhh he's laid back, she's very active.... just seems "normal" but when you keep adding on, you expect some things to be alike I guess. From day one, Brian the oldest was always a mellow kid,.... he was self sufficient, kept himself occupied for hours, he was bright, learned things very fast. I thought I had it made once he could walk and talk. I was so proud, and thought "Damn, I'm a great mom!!" I mean, obviously it was my doing that made him who he was right???? Granted he's really sensitive, although, I think he's gotten a bit better about that now. He's still a laid back kid at 14yrs old.

Jessica, 2nd born. I was thrilled to have a daughter. She was always fairly quiet, curious, felt she needed to be played with all the time, really took more attention with her. I guess when I think about it now, she loves to be center of attention, I figure she'll want to run off to NY and try out for broadway shows when she gets older :o) LOL She's smart, sensitive, outgoing, beautiful, so friendly.... she really a good girl.

Sydney, 3rd born. OMG. For the first I don't know how many months, she was screaming,... it wasn't colic I don't think,.... maybe it was..... I can't remember,... or I've blocked it out. I know we tried those drops for gas and other things. She was just spoiled I guess. Pick her up and the screaming would stop. Being stay at home mom, she clung to me. I couldn't go to the bathroom without her in tow. I couldn't go or do anything without either taking her or hearing her scream as I left her. Phew. But smart!! Wow, she was reading letters off of blocks really early on, she was singing nursery rhymes really early on too. I loved when she would do that while we were shopping,.... sweetest voice singing those songs, would always draw attention from other shoppers who would stop and talk to her and tell me how sweet and pretty she was. Today, she's NOT outgoing like her sister, but she's never been that way. She tends to be a lot more shy. Even with family she would shy away when they would talk to her,.... if she is forced to reply, she would do so with a mutter and scamper off. She is also equally as smart as her older brother and sister, and it shows in her work. She's more sensitive than her older siblings too. Look at her with a "look" and she will cry. She is beautiful, and very loving.

Then we have Geoffery.... I really can't think of a bad time with him as a baby. He is mommy's boy still I think. He never liked being left anywhere. Followed me to the bathroom, that sort of thing. But after Sydney, I was quite used to it. We were concerned about him as he got older as he wasn't talking much, but the Dr reassured us that some boys are like this. Takes time for the brain to collect all the info and process it etc etc..... Slowly he did start to talk, but mostly we couldn't understand him. We worried about his hearing and had it checked. It all came back fine. So, we waited. He was so smart, counting to 20 well before starting preschool, knew his colors and abc's, he knew songs too. Very smart!!
He went through Headstart (preschool) all last year, and he gradually improved with his talking, and we were amazed at how well he was doing. To me, at times it seemed like over night success. Headstart was a time though..... I think in the full school year he attended, maybe 2wks of that time he didn't cry when I left him. So, now we start Kindergarten. We questioned his maturity for this,.... but we're trying it out. After Monday and Tuesday being so wonderful, dropping him off and him being happy to be there,..... here we go again...... flashbacks from Headstart. He didn't want to go inside his room, didn't want to pick his milk for snack, and DID NOT want me to leave him. He clung to my legs while his teacher pryed him off and I raced out the door. *SIGH* All I can say now is, better luck tomorrow??? But I'm not going to hold my breath. For the record,... he didn't eat the hamburger, but he did eat a few fries,.... that's progress!!!! :)

Seamstress

ONE DAY, WHEN A SEAMSTRESS WAS SEWING WHILE SITTING CLOSE TO A RIVER,
HER THIMBLE FELL INTO THE RIVER. WHEN SHE CRIED OUT, THE LORD APPEARED
AND ASKED, "MY DEAR CHILD, WHY ARE YOU CRYING?"

THE SEAMSTRESS REPLIED THAT HER THIMBLE HAD FALLEN INTO THE WATER AND
THAT SHE NEEDED IT TO HELP HER HUSBAND IN MAKING A LIVING FOR THEIR
FAMILY.

THE LORD DIPPED HIS HAND INTO THE WATER AND PULLED UP A GOLDEN THIMBLE
SET WITH PEARLS. "IS THIS YOUR THIMBLE?" THE LORD ASKED.

THE SEAMSTRESS REPLIED, "NO."

THE LORD AGAIN DIPPED INTO THE RIVER. HE HELD OUT A SILVER THIMBLE
RINGED WITH SAPPHIRES. "IS THIS YOUR THIMBLE?" THE LORD ASKED.

AGAIN, THE SEAMSTRESS REPLIED, "NO."

THE LORD REACHED DOWN AGAIN AND CAME UP WITH A LEATHER THIMBLE. "IS
THIS YOUR THIMBLE?" THE LORD ASKED.

THE SEAMSTRESS REPLIED, "YES."

THE LORD WAS PLEASED WITH THE WOMAN'S HONESTY AND GAVE HER ALL THREE
THIMBLES T O KEEP, AND THE SEAMSTRESS WENT HOME HAPPY.

SOME YEARS LATER, THE SEAMSTRESS WAS WALKING WITH HER HUSBAND ALONG THE
RIVERBANK, AND HER HUSBAND FELL INTO THE RIVER AND DISAPPEARED UNDER THE
WATER. WHEN SHE CRIED OUT, THE LORD AGAIN APPEARED AND ASKED HER, "WHY
ARE YOU CRYING?"

"OH LORD, MY HUSBAND HAS FALLEN INTO THE RIVER!"

THE LORD WENT DOWN INTO THE WATER AND CAME UP WITH MEL GIBSON. "IS THIS
YOUR HUSBAND?" THE LORD ASKED.

"YES," CRIED THE SEAMSTRESS

THE LORD WAS FURIOUS. "YOU LIED! THAT IS AN UNTRUTH!"

THE SEAMSTRESS REPLIED, "OH, FORGIVE ME, MY LORD. IT IS A
MISUNDERSTANDING. YOU SEE, IF I HAD SAID 'NO' TO MEL GIBSON, YOU WOULD
HAVE COME UP WITH TOM CRUISE. THEN IF I SAID 'NO' TO HIM, YOU WOULD
HAVE COME UP WITH MY HUSBAND. HAD I THEN SAID 'YES,' YOU WOULD HAVE
GIVEN ME ALL THREE. LORD, I'M NOT IN THE BEST OF HEALTH AND WOULD NOT
BE ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF ALL THREE HUSBANDS, SO THAT'S WHY I SAID 'YES'
TO MEL GIBSON."

THE MORAL OF THIS STORY IS: - WHENEVER A WOMAN LIES, IT'S FOR A GOOD
AND HONORABLE REASON, AND IN THE BEST INTEREST OF OTHERS.

THAT'S OUR STORY, AND WE'RE STICKING TO IT.

(My Mom sent me this, thought it was really cute and had to share)

My time in the service.....

Nah, not really.... I wasn't IN the service, but I was like >this< close to joining. I was kinda thinkin about this last night, thought it might be something good to blog about.

I wasn't yet out of High School,.... we had a career day where they filled the gym up with various booths of people who would love to see you join their career. Of course we had the "Be All You Can Be" booth. We took cards and pamphlets.... talked to the people,... it was all very interesting. Some reason that was the only booth I can recall, maybe nothing else just stuck out??? I dunno.

Anyhow, eventually I gave the number a call. My Dad was in the Army.... I could do that. I could learn something worthwhile without the college time right??? Might be a great idea.

I spoke with a recruiter, who picked me up and took me to Burger King where we could talk. He told me I needed to take a test, get a physical all this great fun stuff. Okay,... lets do it I said. So, I believe it was a couple Saturday's later, my poor mom in tears "My baby's going into the Army...." I headed out with him and a couple others to go test and junk.

Pretty sure the testing was first,.... I don't think they wanted to scare you away with the physical part first! From what I recall, I did really well on the test. It tested you in various areas, and in the end told you where you did the best, be it mechanics, or whatever. It's been too long, I can't tell you what I did best in, but I do remember the recruiter later telling me I could have any job I wanted. Cool!!

Then the physical,.... first was the hearing test,... that was so strange. You're in this sound proof room with probably 8 other people wearing headphones. You hear a beep,.. but it sounds so far away..... so you're looking at the people around you thinking it's their headset you're hearing... not your own... so for probably the first few beeps,... I didn't hit the button LOL I wonder if they thought I was oddly deaf?? LOL To a waiting room,.... had to give blood next. I found I was in a big room, and nothing but guys. Talk about feeling VERY uncomfortable. Gave my blood and got out of there,.... for the wonderful physical. I guess I was 18,... and yes,... still a virgin. When the Dr asked me all this,.... he said "Okay we'll not do the vaginal exam, we'll do rectal instead" GAH!!! What??? I've never had anyone probe any part of me like that!!! Talk about embarrassing. I wanted to run away about then.

Finally it was all over with. I had to wait for all the physical results to come back or something,... but was given a book to look through for all the various jobs available to me. My mind was made up,... I wanted to be an MP. (Military Police) I wanted to have my own dog and patrol with it. How cool would that be I thought!!! Yup yup, that's what I wanted to do,... then when I got out of the Army, I could use those skills and be a cop later on!!! Perfect sounding job to me.

So, results came back fine, and the recruiter was more than happy to have me sign the line!!! Sign my life away pretty much..... he asked what job I'd found. Told him MP,... "why?" "I want a dog" LOL I explained myself,.... and he said he was very sorry, but I wasn't tall enough. HUH???? Yeah, I'm a whole 5ft 2inches tall, so??? What the Hell does that have to do with being an MP and having a dog????? "You wouldn't be able to control the dog" Ooooooo. You just don't tell me how I wouldn't be able to DO something. I told him that was the lamest thing I'd ever heard of. If I raise the dog, and train the dog, I can control the dog, size means NOTHING. I got up and walked out and never signed any line.

Later on,.... after I'd graduated, I still had that book, had my test scores, was looking through it,.... and wonder if maybe I should've changed my mind and maybe done something like Occupational Therapy??? What a career that could've been for me later on huh??? Oh well..... FAR too late to do something like that now.

But I do wonder from time to time,...... could I have protested claiming SIZE discrimination???? Hmm........