I think I'm moving - my site;)

I'm trying out a new blog at wordpress.com. So click here to go to the new and improved "adventures in motherhood".

Ready for Kindergarten

Ever since Ethan started needing his hair cut (at about 2-yrs-old) I've been the one doing the cutting. This started as a necessity because he literally freaked out anytime I took him anywhere to get his hair cut. So I started giving him "buzz cuts" like his Dad and it's worked out pretty well. A few weeks ago it was "haircut time" and Ethan told me he wanted to grow his hair out a little bit. I'm OK with this, so I trimmed it up best I could and let him go on his way. The past few weeks Abby's hair has been driving me crazy and I finally got around to making an appointment at Sheer Madness yesterday to get it cut. We were on our way and Ethan said "Mom, can I get my hair cut there also?" I looked at his terribly bushy hair which is growing out from a buzz cut and decided indeed a haircut might be a good idea since he is starting kindergarten this week. He sat in the yellow hummer at Sheer Madness and informed the stylist "I want it spikey". Above is the result. It looks pretty cute (I know I should probably say handsome, but he's just so darn cute I can't help myself;) and it should since he conned me into styling gel that was $13.50 to achieve his "spikey look". I was feeling brave and since Ed was with us we ventured out to get school shoes after the haircut. Shopping for shoes with Ethan is one of the outings I dread most because he HATES to try anything on, but he was feeling cooperative and we found a pair pretty quickly. Abby also scored a pair of shoes since Shoe Carnival was having a buy one get one half off sale. Now we're all ready for school to start.

We've spent the rest of the weekend just trying to stay cool. It's 10pm here and still 90 degrees! There's not much relief in sight as it's supposed to be 100 degrees tomorrow. Have I mentioned I hate hot weather? We have been hibernating in the AC as much as possible and going to the pool in the evening. I'm soooooo ready for fall! Speaking of - I've started to see signs of Halloween at the stores, and that makes me a very happy person:)

Unofficially Employed

For the first time in 2 years I think I actually have a paying job! Tonight I went to an informational session about working for weight watchers and the territory manager unofficially offered me a position as a leader! She said she'd contact me next week with more information, so I guess Hi Ho, Hi Ho it's off to work I go:) Actually I'm pretty excited about this because I can work part time doing something I really enjoy but have a schedule flexible enough to still spend time with the kids.

I've been gone for one reason or another almost every night this week, so Abby was really happy to see me when I got home from my meeting tonight. She climbed right up in my lap, snuggled in and said "Mommy, you are my best snuggler". Too cute. The response I got from Ethan was not nearly as endearing. He said "Mom, you smell funny". I'm not sure what's up with his nose lately, but everyday this week he's told me I smell funny. I'm starting to get a complex about the whole thing. Ed assures me I don't have a funky smell, but still it's not a very nice thing to hear everyday from my 5-yr-old. I'm choosing to ignore his comment and focus on being the best snuggler - because that makes me smile:)

Biding my time

School starts one week from tomorrow. Only 7 more days. The first thing on my list when Ethan is at school and Abby is napping is to "hoe" out Ethan's room. Abby's is next on the list once she starts school (August 28th). Their rooms have been driving me insane all summer, but I can't actually clean out their rooms with them helping. Ethan inherited the pack rat gene from his father and the minute he sees me throw something away he digs it out of the trash. He's learned to look in the trash can when we're cleaning to make sure I haven't sneaked something out of his room. Imagine his dismay when today I walked into his room (and by walked I mean tripped over all the toys laying on his floor) and we both heard a big "CRUNCH". Underneath his rug which was buried in toys was the Etch-A-Sketch. Lets just say you can't step on the screen of an Etch-A-Sketch and expect it to be functional. On a positive note we got to see all of the metallic powder and drawing apparatus inside the Etch-A-Sketch so now we know exactly how it used to work ("used to work" is the operative phrase here). After all the tears and fit-throwing, Ethan and I cleaned his room so we can now walk through it without inflicting fatal damage on any other unsuspecting toys. I am soooo looking forward to next week and the cleaning I'll be able to do all by myself. I have a feeling our fall garage sell will be a good one!!

Chocolate!!

It's amazing how fast our weekends go by even when we don't have any real plans. We startedthis weekend on Friday by taking a tour of the chocolate factory at Crown Center with the MOMS Club. The kids loved learning about how they made the fudge and the candy maker put on quite a show for us (above pics). We all got to taste some yummy treats and came home with goody bags of fudge and chocolate treats. It was a very fun and tasty way to start the weekend!

We spent the rest of the weekend trying to stay cool. We spent a good majority of Saturday getting things done around the house and then we headed to our neighborhood pool. Tonight we went to Abby's friend Emerie's 3rd b-day party and it was full of fun! Both kids were tuckered out and are in bed sound asleep. I'm headed that direction myself soon so good night for now!!

Harper Valley PTA

I went to my first PTA meeting tonight, and ever since I've had the song "Harper Valley PTA" running through my head. It's not an all together unpleasant song, but it's getting a little annoying. Anyhow, I'm now an official suburban PTA mom. I already signed up to help with "back to school night" and to possibly be a room mother (although they aren't called "room mothers" anymore - they're now called "class coordinators"). My friend Lucy is VP of the PTA, so I have a feeling by default I'm going to be very involved in PTA. I suppose that's OK, I just hope it doesn't interfere with my blogging;)

In other news, we had some excitement at swimming lessons today. Ethan and his friend Brooke are in this class along with 4 other kids from the same family. To make a long story short, today was the first time this session they ventured to the "big pool". I really like Ethan's teacher. He is the perfect fit for Ethan - he's great with the kids but pushes them just enough. He doesn't put up with crying and whining, and will basically push them in if they won't jump. Now, this may seem cruel, but he says he won't put them in the big pool until he's sure they can swim back to the side. This worked well in the first session - all of the parents were very supportive of his teaching style and we were all there cheering the kids on once they made it into the big pool. Well, apparently the mom of the siblings in Ethan's class isn't into pushing her kids. As soon as she saw Marshall (the teacher) putting her son into the pool against his will she waddled her pregnant self (yes - child #5) over and started cussing and yelling at him right in front of the kids. It went something like this "Why in the h*## are you forcing them to do s*%t they don't want to do? I tell them not to go into the deep water at the lake and you are forcing them. I want a refund. We're not coming back." Being the diplomatic sort, I tried to explain that Ethan didn't like it at first, but now he's jumping off the diving board and loving it. She informed me "she didn't need my opinion on her kids". I beg to differ, but I was kind of afraid she might tackle me, so I didn't offer any other opinions. I do however have a feeling Brooke and Ethan will be having their own private swimming lessons the rest of the session!

Ball Pit!!

Today we took our first trip to Tunnel Town in Lee's Summit. It's a really cool place to hang out when the weather isn't cooperating (80% of the time in Missouri). There are LOTS of things to play on and in, but the ball pits were by far the favorite of both Ethan and Abby. I love this top picture where Abby's hair is flying out as she jumps in the pit. They played hard for about an hour and a half, then we had lunch at the Pirate Cafe. Lunch was OK - it took a while because they lost our order, but they did give me an extra Diet Coke so all is forgiven. Then we played for another hour and came home to relax for a while. Abby took a good nap and Ethan actually cooperated this afternoon. It's amazing what almost 3 hours of playing hard will do to those two!!