I'm adding this to my list of things to blackmail Andrew with later in life. Andrew turns 5 next September which makes him eligible for kindergarten in Loudoun County - just barely (by 12 days!). While I do believe that Andrew will go to public school when he enters 1st grade, I feel like he needs to go to a private kindergarten. Loudoun County only does half day kindergarten, which means that Andrew would go to school for 2.5 hours per day and then be bussed over to Creme for after school care where I would still pay the same price for after school care as i do for him to go full time to kindergarten at Creme. And Andrew is terrible with change, so I don't want to send him to a new school for one year and then move him again when he goes to public school.
So, today is Creme's registration for 2008 kindergarten (beginning September 2008) and it's based on FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE. Bear in mind that there are 54 kids in the 4 year old program now and at least 12 transitional kindergarten kids (kids who turned 5 after 9/30/2007), so the competition to get on of the 24 spots in the kindergarten class is tight. Last year parents showed up to stand in line at 4 am and the 2 classes were filled by noon. Olivia and Alexa are also eligible for and need to be at Creme kindergarten next year. As soon as the papers came out, TAG, Jen and I had e-mails flying around trying to plan for times to start camping out in order to ensure our kids get one of the coveted positions. We initially had planned that we would break the night into 2 shifts - the guys would handle midnight to 3 and then the girls would relieve them at 3 and remain until the kids were registered. Then, Jen realized that she was on travel - which meant that poor Brandon would have to pull both shifts.
Here's what ended up happening - Colin drove by Creme at 8 pm and 10 pm to see if anyone was waiting. Dan got in line at midnight and called Brandon and Colin each hour to give them the status on number of folks showing up. By the time the phone rang for the 2nd time at 2 am, I was awake and decided to head over to keep Dan company. By the time I got all the cold weather gear loaded into the car (it was 26 degrees here this morning!) and got to Creme building it was close to 3 am. I think Dan was very happy for some company. He was the first one to arrive and there was one other parent there before I arrived. Shortly after 3 am the parents started pouring into the parking lot with armloads of blankets, candy, donuts, coffee and chairs. Someone brought a radio and there were a couple of bathroom/coffee runs to 7-11 and Starbucks. TAG brought her camera and took pictures of all of us in our wintery weather gear. We were all very orderly - someone even created a list of everyone who was signing up in the order they arrived. By 5 am, there were 24 parents waiting patiently for Creme to open their doors at 6:30 and begin registration. I'm so thankful that is over...although the director of curriculum made a comment as i was registering about the letter that I would receive from the executive director that makes me nervous again. I guess I won't feel better until that stinking letter arrives next week!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
Happy Birthday to Colin
Happy Birthday to my husband, Colin - better known in our social circle as Boot Camp Colin.
I love you honey!
I love you honey!
Another busy weekend
So, November has started with bang....we had a weekend chocked full of activities.
Friday night, we headed out to the see the "Bee Movie" with a bunch of friends (both ours and Andrew's) and then headed over to a local pizza joint for a little dinner. Now, bear in mind, there were 15 of us total - and 6 of us were under the age of 7. So, there was alot of ruckus when we entered the restarant and tried to get seated and served. I think my friend, Stephanie, captured the incident at the pizza place perfectly in her blog, so I've added it here -
"Last night we took the kids to see the Bee Movie with several of our friends and their children-- 15 of us to be exact-- 9 adults and 6 children. The kids were very good at the movies, they sat there side by side, intently staring at the screen. Every now and then, Hannah and Ashley would cruise down to check on Lex, Olivia, and Andrew two rows down.After the movie was over, we were hungry, so we headed next door for pizza. As we entered the smallish dining area, the staff scrambled to put the few remaining tables together for us. I glanced around apologetically to the "childless" patrons. It was late for a group of mostly 4 year olds and they were all on the verge of a break down. The first hurdle was determining where everyone would sit. After a game of musical chairs, we arranged ourselves with the kids at the end of the table closest to the back of the restaurant, the women in the middle, and the men at the other end.The ordering process was uneventful, other than the quick shower of tears when Ashley thought she wasn't going to get a Sprite. Andrew and Olivia squared off next over a napkin. Samuel hit his head on the table and there were more tears. All the ladies ended up making several trips to the bathroom with the kids-- I think I probably had the prize for the most trips-- but then again I was the one with 2 kids-- everyone else was paired with only 1. Somehow we made it through dinner with few outbursts. I couldn't help glancing around every now and again to see if I could catch any stares or eye-rolling from the other tables. Our table was definitely the loudest, but I think the kids behavior was pretty darn good.So fast forward to the check. The server brought us our check and explained that the man sitting at the table next to us when we first came in had bought our first round of drinks and pizzas. We all sat there in complete shock and amazement. Why? Did he feel sorry for us? Was he writing a book on "when good parenting goes bad"? Surely he wasn't impressed by our well-behaved children and exceptional parenting skills :) The server explained that he simply said that he liked what we were doing. Try as I may, I couldn't remember what the gentleman looked like. Marc and Havalynn said they remembered him and that they had exchanged glances... but didn't think anything of it. We all sat pondering, in dumbfounded appreciation, trying to figure out why in the mad chaos of everyday life someone-- anyone would notice and make such a kind gesture. With no answers, we gave the server a big tip and took our tired little ones home.Hannah and Ashley fell asleep before we got out of the parking lot. Still Marc and I thought back to the restaurant and continued speculating as to why he would pay for our meal. This is definitely something that doesn't just happen everyday. I felt bad because I couldn't remember him-- I should have at least noticed. I wanted somehow to thank him-- but how? I decided that the only way I could was to tell the story here. I'm hoping that if you made it this far, you are smiling and thinking that there are still some good people in the world. And to the kind and generous gentleman who crossed our path last night, thank you."
Bright and early Saturday, Trace Ann and Dan were brave enough to host a playgroup were we decorated pottery for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas gifts (specifically - plates) by painting the kids hands and feet. While all that painting was going on, our amazingly talented friend, Stephanie, was doing photo sessions of the kids for holiday photos. Check out her fabulous pictures on her website http://www.thehipstudio.com/
Andrew is normally an extremely happy child and loves Ms Stephanie - at least until she whips out her camera. In the past, when that camera comes out, he becomes little shy guy and refuses to cooperate with any direction. If we're lucky, Stephanie is able to get 3-4 shots of Andrew that are great. Well, I'm happy to report that he was Stephanie's star pupil of the day - she was able to get a ton of good shots. The four she sent me this morning as a preview were definite keepers!
We left playgroup around noon, swumg by and picked up Colin and headed out to Nana and Oz's condo so we could hang out with them for a few hours...Nana had bread to feed the ducks and the fish at the pond near her condo, so we headed down to to feed them. After we had exhausted the bread supply, we headed back home and settled in for the evening with dinner and an exhausted little guy.
Sunday morning, I met my friend, Tammy, at 8 am for a run. The deal was that we were going to run until we felt like we need to stop. Well we ended up running 7 (yes, SEVEN) miles...now, I'm not a runner by nature. I really started seriously running after Andrew was born and just ran my first 5K last December with Jen. This was truly a testament to running with a partner - Talking with Tammy definitely helped the time and the distance go by really quickly. We had no idea that we had run so far or for so long. I guess I'm ready for my first 10K on Thanksgiving day. When I got home, Colin and I switched out the light fixtures over the kitchen table and the dining room table - the light fixtures that were replaced were probably the ones that had been there since the house had been built - so these new fixtures were a welcome change.
Sunday night Nana and Oz came over to the house to babysit for a few hours while Colin and I went to Tuscarora Mill in Leesburg for dinner (tomorrow is Colin's birthday). After a very nice grownup dinner (the rainbow trout was DELICIOUS), we headed back home for a little birthday cake with the family. So, it's back to the grind for me tomorrow. Colin is taking the day off tomorrow for his birthday and he and Andrew are going to hang out and play.
Friday night, we headed out to the see the "Bee Movie" with a bunch of friends (both ours and Andrew's) and then headed over to a local pizza joint for a little dinner. Now, bear in mind, there were 15 of us total - and 6 of us were under the age of 7. So, there was alot of ruckus when we entered the restarant and tried to get seated and served. I think my friend, Stephanie, captured the incident at the pizza place perfectly in her blog, so I've added it here -
"Last night we took the kids to see the Bee Movie with several of our friends and their children-- 15 of us to be exact-- 9 adults and 6 children. The kids were very good at the movies, they sat there side by side, intently staring at the screen. Every now and then, Hannah and Ashley would cruise down to check on Lex, Olivia, and Andrew two rows down.After the movie was over, we were hungry, so we headed next door for pizza. As we entered the smallish dining area, the staff scrambled to put the few remaining tables together for us. I glanced around apologetically to the "childless" patrons. It was late for a group of mostly 4 year olds and they were all on the verge of a break down. The first hurdle was determining where everyone would sit. After a game of musical chairs, we arranged ourselves with the kids at the end of the table closest to the back of the restaurant, the women in the middle, and the men at the other end.The ordering process was uneventful, other than the quick shower of tears when Ashley thought she wasn't going to get a Sprite. Andrew and Olivia squared off next over a napkin. Samuel hit his head on the table and there were more tears. All the ladies ended up making several trips to the bathroom with the kids-- I think I probably had the prize for the most trips-- but then again I was the one with 2 kids-- everyone else was paired with only 1. Somehow we made it through dinner with few outbursts. I couldn't help glancing around every now and again to see if I could catch any stares or eye-rolling from the other tables. Our table was definitely the loudest, but I think the kids behavior was pretty darn good.So fast forward to the check. The server brought us our check and explained that the man sitting at the table next to us when we first came in had bought our first round of drinks and pizzas. We all sat there in complete shock and amazement. Why? Did he feel sorry for us? Was he writing a book on "when good parenting goes bad"? Surely he wasn't impressed by our well-behaved children and exceptional parenting skills :) The server explained that he simply said that he liked what we were doing. Try as I may, I couldn't remember what the gentleman looked like. Marc and Havalynn said they remembered him and that they had exchanged glances... but didn't think anything of it. We all sat pondering, in dumbfounded appreciation, trying to figure out why in the mad chaos of everyday life someone-- anyone would notice and make such a kind gesture. With no answers, we gave the server a big tip and took our tired little ones home.Hannah and Ashley fell asleep before we got out of the parking lot. Still Marc and I thought back to the restaurant and continued speculating as to why he would pay for our meal. This is definitely something that doesn't just happen everyday. I felt bad because I couldn't remember him-- I should have at least noticed. I wanted somehow to thank him-- but how? I decided that the only way I could was to tell the story here. I'm hoping that if you made it this far, you are smiling and thinking that there are still some good people in the world. And to the kind and generous gentleman who crossed our path last night, thank you."
Bright and early Saturday, Trace Ann and Dan were brave enough to host a playgroup were we decorated pottery for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas gifts (specifically - plates) by painting the kids hands and feet. While all that painting was going on, our amazingly talented friend, Stephanie, was doing photo sessions of the kids for holiday photos. Check out her fabulous pictures on her website http://www.thehipstudio.com/
Andrew is normally an extremely happy child and loves Ms Stephanie - at least until she whips out her camera. In the past, when that camera comes out, he becomes little shy guy and refuses to cooperate with any direction. If we're lucky, Stephanie is able to get 3-4 shots of Andrew that are great. Well, I'm happy to report that he was Stephanie's star pupil of the day - she was able to get a ton of good shots. The four she sent me this morning as a preview were definite keepers!
We left playgroup around noon, swumg by and picked up Colin and headed out to Nana and Oz's condo so we could hang out with them for a few hours...Nana had bread to feed the ducks and the fish at the pond near her condo, so we headed down to to feed them. After we had exhausted the bread supply, we headed back home and settled in for the evening with dinner and an exhausted little guy.
Sunday morning, I met my friend, Tammy, at 8 am for a run. The deal was that we were going to run until we felt like we need to stop. Well we ended up running 7 (yes, SEVEN) miles...now, I'm not a runner by nature. I really started seriously running after Andrew was born and just ran my first 5K last December with Jen. This was truly a testament to running with a partner - Talking with Tammy definitely helped the time and the distance go by really quickly. We had no idea that we had run so far or for so long. I guess I'm ready for my first 10K on Thanksgiving day. When I got home, Colin and I switched out the light fixtures over the kitchen table and the dining room table - the light fixtures that were replaced were probably the ones that had been there since the house had been built - so these new fixtures were a welcome change.
Sunday night Nana and Oz came over to the house to babysit for a few hours while Colin and I went to Tuscarora Mill in Leesburg for dinner (tomorrow is Colin's birthday). After a very nice grownup dinner (the rainbow trout was DELICIOUS), we headed back home for a little birthday cake with the family. So, it's back to the grind for me tomorrow. Colin is taking the day off tomorrow for his birthday and he and Andrew are going to hang out and play.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Happy Birthday Jen!
October 31 is not only Halloween, but it's one of my closest girlfriends' birthday. Happy Birthday Jen!
Happy Halloween!
Today was quite a hectic day. We started the day with a Halloween parade at Andrew's school. I was not too sure about how he was going to act - in years past, as soon as he sees me, he starts crying and want to go home. When I dropped him off, all signs pointed to another year like the past - he was pouting and saying that he did not want to be a pirate (ARGH - after all that searching, right?). I'm happy to report, he stayed with his class and marched through the entire parade and then posed for pictures with his friends and teachers.
Once the parade was over, I changed Andrew out of his pirate outfit..I'm so glad I did, when I picked him up later, he had remnants of the Halloween party treats ALL over his shirt. Then, off to his class he went - he was the line leader so he could have cared less that I was not with them. My little guy is growing up! Later in the day, his class had their Halloween party - where they totally got hyped up on cupcakes, cookies and candy - it was a complete madhouse of kids on a sugar high when I arrived to pick up Andrew and Lex at 5 pm. We headed out to Jen's house for pizza and trick or treating with Lex (Belle) and Olivia (Alice in Wonderland). We have trick or treated with Andrew's buddy, Matthew, in the past and when those two boys are together, they are not afraid of anything scary...they'll walk through it all to get to CANDY. So, I was interested to see how Andrew would do as the one little guy with the two little ladies. Well, I had nothing to worry about...he hit every house that we went to - scary decorations or not. Could it be that he could not see anything?
Olivia was right there with him. It took Lex a little while to warm up to the idea, but by the end of the night, she was hitting all the houses without scary decorations with Andrew and Olivia. Of course, there were a few crying episodes and a couple of freakouts - but I think that comes with 3 4 year olds who had an extremely busy day with alot of sugar. By 8:45, the kids were done, so we headed back to Jen's house and the kids checked out their loot, "rested" with Colin and tormented Brandon.
Andrew was so worn out, he asked to be put to bed when we got home! That's a sign of a GREAT day! Happy Halloween!
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