Back to School: Miriam

No description of our week back at school would be complete without mentioning little Miriam. (Only don't ever let her hear you call her "little" if you want to be friends.)

I was worried that Miriam would be bored. I was concerned that Miriam would demand more attention and mental capacity than I sometimes have to give. She can be incredibly intense and always wants an audience. What in the world was I going to do as the only person for her to zone in on all day every day??

So far, life has been perfect. As it turns out, Miriam adores being an only child for a few hours each day. Here she is with three different cases of crayons and pencils, a coloring book all to herself, and the iPad. No sharing with anyone!

We have had a few moments of intense stubbornness that I wasn't expecting. Times when she would normally have done what I asked to go along with the other kids but is pushing back when it's just her here. She doesn't WANT to put away her toys, clean up her room, or clear her plate after meals. Other than that, it's been really fun to have just a single side kick during the day. 

She spent the first day wandering around Jonah's room touching everything. She didn't take anything or mess with his things, but she certainly appreciated being allowed in. The rest of the week, she's been happy to tell me what we are going to do for the day. So far, she's done my makeup twice, played with play dough once, fed Vex every single morning, and colored a whole host of pictures. Every rest time after lunch, she gets to pick where she wants to sleep and what story she wants to listen to. I haven't heard a single complaint (so far) about being lonely or missing the kids.

In fact, when it was time to pick Jonah and Caroline up from school on Monday, she was quite put out with me. "I thought it was going to be just you and me ALL DAY," she said. When I explained that the day was over and it was time for them to come home from school, she seemed very suspicious. She was not ready for them to come home yet at all. 

Back to School: Jonah

Oh this big fifth grader! He was so excited to go back to school. By the end of summer, he lamented that summer at made him forget all of his vocabulary words and that he really needed to get back to school before he lost everything.

Fifth grade is the last year at Union Elementary before the big switch to middle school, and the fifth grade teachers really focus on preparing their students for that responsibility. That means, in part, that the students have a lot more freedom but that the teachers are a lot more strict. I've already heard from Jonah how scary Ms. Rudisill is when she's mad at you. (His goal: never get in trouble!)

This week has been sort of boring for Jonah, as he says, because they aren't DOING anything. All they do is sit around and listen to the teachers talk about rules. I've assured him that it will certainly pick up soon.

Jonah is going into the year trying to make some new friends and with a goal to join at least one extra-curricular activity. His first inclination is to join the running club, but he might choose Battle of the Books or student council instead.

As soon as he comes home from school each day, he hangs out with Vex. They both miss each other quite a bit during the day, and I regularly find him lying on the ground just resting next to his dog.

The thing I've loved watching the most, however, is how well he's taking care of Caroline. Because of the way their birthdays fall, he's a full FOUR grades above her. One of the reasons we decided to go ahead and send Caroline this year was so that they'd have one year at Union together, and he's taking his job very seriously. Before school started, he drew her a map and told her all about what the days would be like. In the mornings, he walks Caroline to her classroom even though it's all the way on the opposite side of the school from his. As someone who lived for attention from her older brother, it just makes me so happy for them both.

Back to School: Caroline

Caroline started her first year at public school today. She was extremely excited to go and just a little bit nervous.

Her first concern was whether or not she would be able to read well enough to be in the first grade. When your older brother is four grades above you, it can be easy to doubt your own abilities. Fortunately, our dear friend Kaitlyn (who teaches first grade) spent some time with her this summer and assured Caroline she was more than ready for first grade.

Her second concern was what she was supposed to do if she had to go to the bathroom. Jonah explained to her what to expect and all the concerns were addressed. After that, she was nothing but excited!

She was so looking forward to school that she was dancing around the house yesterday, begging to pack her lunch and set out her clothes. She jumped out of bed this morning (something that happens extremely rarely) and patiently waited for me to try three different hairstyles. Basically, she was too excited to even remember to pretend her head is sensitive.

Josh took her to school this morning on his way to work. Boy, I missed her! Miriam didn't seem to mind too much, actually, but that's another post for another day.

When she came home from school, she reported that it was FANTASTIC! She told me all about everything wonderful that happened, everything Mrs. Matthews said to her today, and that she can't wait to go back tomorrow. The only thing she didn't love was recess (go figure) because, in her words, "I couldn't do the things I wanted. Apparently I can't swing on the swings on my stomach or anything fun. I just ended up throwing walnuts at a tree." Considering how much she loves throwing walnuts at the trees in our yard, I'm not too worried about it.

She came home from school and immediately did two things: practiced reading and picked out her outfit for the next day.

I didn't have the heart to tell her that I wasn't planning on taking a picture before school every single day, so I went ahead and took a ton. Look how happy she is!

Here's hoping she loves first grade even half as much by February.

Hello and Goodbye, Arizona

Thanks to an incredible deal on airline tickets, we decided to take the kids back to Arizona again this summer. As with last year, seeing their excitement and enjoyment made the early mornings, cost, and animal care negotiation worth the effort.

When I tell people I'm from Arizona or that we have family there, they almost always ask about swimming pools. Does everyone have a swimming pool? Does my family have a pool? How many pools are there in Phoenix? It's a little bit funny to me because neither Josh's family nor my family had a pool when we were growing up. When we lived there, I did NOT want a house with a pool. They are so much money and work to maintain, plus kids around a pool make me nervous if I'm not on kid-watching duty. That said, both Josh's dad and my mom have pools now and the kids went swimming almost every day. One of the days they weren't in either Grandpa or Grandma's pool, we went to Sunsplash. There was plenty of swimming to go around!

Last night, we sat around the table and talked about our trip. We asked each child to identify the favorite thing they did and the favorite thing they ate in Arizona. Here are there responses:

Jonah: playing games and his first carne asada burrito
Caroline: eating ice cream and playing at Kiera's house
Miriam: going to the children's museum and eating ice cream

Josh and I had to play the game, too! We both agree the sushi we ate in Gilbert was probably the best food of the trip, but our favorites were both Mexican food (a carne asada burrito for him and chicken tacos for me) because we miss it so much. His favorite part of the trip was swimming laps (I think he kids) and mine might have been spending the night at my friend Katie's house. We stayed up late talking like it was high school all over again, except we both had to wake up and take care of toddlers in the morning.

It was a fairly chaotic trip, but we were able to arrange a cousin overnight for Kiera (who am I to say no to that?), one-on-one time for each child and grandparent, and plenty of time just hanging out and playing games. It even rained one night while we were there, so we got the wonderful treat of walking through the desert after rain one morning.

We made plans to go back and hike the Grand Canyon in a few years, and Caroline left with big dreams of flying back to visit for her birthday. It may have taken all the goodwill we've gained over the past two years with Josh's coworker, but she even managed to keep all the animals alive while we were gone.

As much as I love watching them play with their cousins and grandparents, it’s hearing them talk about it later that makes me feel like we did the right thing going to AZ in lieu of replacing flooring, going to the beach, or painting the exterior of our house. Next summer, we may need to one of those instead, but this summer, we feasted on Mexican food and enjoyed the sun.

funny quotes, recently (but mostly Caroline)

Caroline: When I'm a grandma, I'm going to do whatever my grandchildren want to do. Mom, those are my children's children.

Jonah (at dinner time): I'm not even hungry. I think I'm dying of a weird disease!

Caroline (talking to Brandon): It's too bad you didn't have any sisters. Sisters are awesome. Except for Miriam. She's annoying.

Jonah (getting in the car): Do I need a book? I definitely need a book. I'll grab two.

Miriam (playing with some Star Wars toys): ...and this storm trooper is the mom. That way he can guard the kids if anyone tries to steal them.

Caroline: People in Chicago are very nice! Two people already told me that my toenails are so pretty.

Miriam: When I'm a mom, I will know how to drive. Then I'll be tall and I'll go to the store and buy candy every day.

Caroline: Vexorg loves being petted. He thinks, "Oh, I would never want to be a wolf. I'd much rather be a dog so Caroline will pet me."