lol-lee-pop

it's taken our little clare bear a while, but she's finally got some words! lots of them actually, problem is most the time it's her own made up lingo. but some of them we get.  lately she's even been coming out with some phrases, "my to do it, baby book, and i want a lol-lee-pop."  the last one is why i grabbed the camera today.  i tried very hard as you'll see, but i only got lol-lee- pop once! (you'll want to pause the playlist for this!)

 

a little reading before bed

A downward spiral

Well, I guess that title's a bit of an exaggeration, but that's what it's been around here the last two weeks... total drama...total chaos.  For everyone! Mama working has rocked everyone's world a bit (some of us more than others).  Clara loves her sitter--HUGE bonus, but cries, "no bye bye mama" when I leave which makes me feel like crap!  Cade loves everything, except this one boy in his class who shall remain nameless. He's just got to learn that just because your mom works at the school, it doesn't mean that you OWN it! Cora likes kindergarten if you ask her in the morning, but hates it if you ask her in the afternoon.  She's totally worn out by the day's end.  She says she has " no friends and walks around the playground all by herself everyday.  It's too hard and all they do is work, work, work and the one friend she did make rejected her on the playground yesterday when she asked her to play".  I'm sure it's not as dramatic bad as she makes it sound, but nonetheless I feel like a total heel for having to move her away from her friends.  I do get to see both Cora and Cade like a trillion times a day so that makes it all worth it!    And me, well, I love my class.  They are super cute and I would love the challenge of a new grade level if I didn't have 3 young kiddos at home.  I'm working every minute my kids are sleeping and trying not to when they're awake.  I haven't yet figured out how to squeeze exercise into my 18 hour days and before bed I have to read "Ghost Cadet" a 5th grade chapter book to stay ahead of the class instead of indulging in "The Real Housewives of New Jersey."  But I'm not complaining... It just feels a bit like I've been thrown overboard an ocean liner into icy waters with no life jacket.  I'm just trying to stay afloat and praying that I can get back on board before the sharks smell the blood!

I'd post pictures, but I haven't taken any since the first day of school.  soon. i. will...

Back to School Whirlwind!

Whew! I'm exhausted!  We had the CRAZIEST WEEK EVER last week! The kids were scheduled to begin school at the closest campus of SCPS on Wednesday morning. Tuesday morning we visited the classrooms and met the teachers.  THEY. WERE. READY. At about 3:30 pm on Tuesday afternoon mommy received a call from the principal of SCPS offering me a 5th grade teaching position at the other campus (keep in mind school started the very next day!)  I had been searching for a full time teaching position since last January with no luck.  So...I accepted!  We have an awesome babysitter for Clara, so I called her to be sure she could still keep her full time. We very quickly swapped our children to the other campus so they could be where mommy would be.  Then all five of us spent too many a large quantity of hours last week preparing my classroom for 16 fifth graders on Monday!  whew! It's exciting, exhausting, nerve racking, stressful, and crazy all rolled into one!  But I'm going to do it!  I am so extremely thankful for being home for the majority of the past five years.  My kids really are my contribution to the world and I want to invest every second into them that I can.  I have loved just having time to be a mommy, but having two of them in school all day means that it's the best thing for our whole family for me to provide additional income.  I'm happy to be able to do that for them!  It's going to be a juggling act for sure, but I'm up for the challenge.  When Rob starts school next week, Clara will be staying with a very sweet grandmother in her home.  Her name is Ms. Janette and Clara LOVES her and so do I!  I know she'll love on my baby as if she were her own!  Cora started Kindergarten with a bang!  She didn't want to leave her friends and swap campuses, but she did not shed even one tear on the first day of school!  She has a fabulous teacher and already has a new friend named Karsyn (that's the same name as her "BFF" she left at the other campus!).  Cade made me so so so proud when I told him only hours before the first day of school that he too would be leaving many of his friends and traveling with me to the other campus.  He said, "Mommy, I'm just glad that you got a job and that we can be together!"  That attitude earned up a new Lego set as soon as I get my first paycheck!  He too has a fabulous teacher who I happened to teach next door to a few years back, and his "BFF", Colson, is in his class.  Hopefully, we can stay put for awhile and there will be no more school hopping for our big second grader. Look how big they are!!!

Look how cute they are in uniform!  Cora's favorite part is those Sperry Topsiders that Gran and Pop got her for her birthday.  (I'm not sure they're exactly uniform legal, but until we're reported, we're wearing them! They are what the teenagers wear, according to Cora!)

                                                       That's a "2" for second grade and  "K" for kindergarten!!!

         Clare Bear had to get in on the picture action!   She and Cade have the same fake smile! :)

                                              She had to do at least one Cora pose! 

                                                         When did I get old enough to have a second grader????

                            This is "no mom, don't embarrass me by taking a picture of me in my classroom!"

And this is, "I'm very nervous here and I'm supposed to be coloring this clown, but I'll try to squeak out one little smile."

Stay tuned....

Headband Mania!!!

Our project of the summer...felt flower headband making! Cora and I have done it twice now and she's hooked. We learned it from our cute crafty big girl neighbors! Here's how:
1. purchase plain colored fabric headbands from anywhere (target, wal-mart, dollar store)
2. Cut out 3 different sized circles of felt (small, medium, large) the circles do not have to be perfectly cut at all!! In fact, Cora cuts them herself and they work beautifully!
3. Light a candle and hold one of the felt circles with a pair of tweezers over the candle rotating it around so that the outer edge of the felt melts and gets a ruffly uneven flower look. Repeat this step with all three layers of felt.
4. Layer the three felt circles once edges are finished. Largest on the bottom, smallest on the top
5. Using a needle and thread come up through the bottom of the stack of circles. Sew either a couple of beads or a button into the center of the stack while sewing the layers together at the same time.
6. Ask your mom to help you hot glue the completed flower onto the headband.

Viola! You can wear it like this, add a second or third flower, and change up the colors! Cora has one to match every outfit now, and so do all of her friends!

What crafty fun! Check out how cute!

Clara's Antics!

This little girl is nuts! Let me prove it!!!

Now I wonder where she gets it from???

Cora's Rock Star Party Video

BE SURE TO PAUSE THE PLAYLIST MUSIC TO WATCH THIS!!!! This is the "music video" Cora and her friends made at her Rock Star Birthday Party! This awesome video was put together by our cute friend, Emma (pictured below).  She was able to do in like 10 minutes what it would have taken me 10 years to do!!! Thank you so much, Em! We LOVE it! Cora's watched it a million times and we burned copies for all her friends to put in with their thank you notes!  What would we do without good friends? :)

 
how pretty is she???