New school year.

One full week down! School started last week, but this was the first official full week. Everybody is happy with their teachers, new friends and even middle school has been a breeze so far.

Oh it feels good to be back on a schedule. That makes for a happy mommy, even though right now I'm just trying to catch up with all the stuff that has been put off during summer vacation. I'm hoping it will all level out within this month!

This week we also got a call that Megan's school already had a confirmed case of the H1N1 virus. I can bet there is no cleaner place to be than these schools right now. I swear the air smells like bleach and purell even outside!

I also just dropped off Megan at her FIRST middle school dance tonight. Wow, that was reeeeally weird. Those are not the things I was into at that age... but things like this remind me that she is not me and she walked in with a ton of confidence. I was painfully shy. - She was all dressed up in a skirt, top and denim jacket. She looked so pretty. She has a group of friends that she was going to meet there too. I'm looking forward to hearing about it.

It has been interesting getting used to getting up much earlier to get Megan off to school. Her school starts an hour before the boys. So we are up at the crack of dawn to get her ready and I drive her to school. As soon as I get back, it's time to do it all over again with the boys. it's strange sitting out on the front steps waiting for the bus to come with just the two of them.

Lego store

..... and then the ominous dark gray clouds began to part, as the sun's warm golden rays began to shine through and warm their shoulders, awakening the senses.... then the sound of angels beginning to sing.... (or more like the heavy breathing of Darth Vader and a Star Wars theme.) And there it was, right before them ...

the allusive....only to have been seen by their wishing eyes online, but never in real life...

AT-AT Walker! *gasp!* (Lego exclusive, motorized and will only be bought if I ever win the lottery! Holy cow!!)

Matthew lost a tooth the other day so the tooth fairy paid him a visit and a few dollars. He had a few dollars saved up in his room too. With a day to kill we decided we'd go up to the Kenwood Towne Center in Cincinnati to the Lego store. I had planned on taking the boys (and Megan of course but it's easier to get her to willingly go to the mall with me than it is them.) to the Lego store this weekend anyway, since I figured Trevor would want to spend his birthday money there. But those gift cards and cash burned a hole in his wallet earlier in the week and he already had picked out two other big Lego sets at Target and Toys R Us. Now Matthew had the same problem with his small savings. Why not? They get free Lego magazines and catalogs if we went up there anyway. I can't even begin to tell you how many hours are spent flipping through the catalog. It's worth the trip just for that. Matthew has been known to fall asleep with it in his hands.

Matthew ended up buying a little thing they have with a huge table full of bins and people pieces. You can put together 3 mini figures for $10. You got to pick from several leg colors, body colors, heads with various faces, all sorts of different hair pieces, hats and each mini fig came with one accessory... like a mug, or a shovel or something like that. It was fun. I had fun reorganizing pieces that weren't in their official bin. Because I'm all OCD like that. If a head was misplaced into a bin of legs, of course I had to pull it out and toss it back into the bin of heads! I think I may have found my dream job!

Lots of updates and lots of photos!

This week kicked my butt. I was SO tired today that I wasn't feeling well and fell back asleep until noon. I could have easily slept all day. So today was kind of a wash. Today is Friday, and I am so happy that tomorrow is Saturday so we can all sleep in a little bit again. School started on Wednesdsay. Megan started middle school this year, and believe it or not I took photos of her and then realized that the card was not in the camera until it was too late. I got some photos after school... but haven't loaded them yet. So I will do that one in a bit. Next week is the official first full week of school. I plan on getting a lot done next week.

I'm trying to figure out the best way to handle the mornings. Megan's school starts an hour before the elementary school. So she and I were up at 6:00 (after both not sleeping well that night) to get ready for school. Then after driving her to school I come back and get the boys ready for their school. It's like the movie Groundhog Day, going through the morning routine twice every day.

They were all very excited this year, and were all happy with their teachers! Matthew:

Trevor:

The bus route is a bit different this year. Last year it went down the street first before it picked up my kids, so when I sat on the computer and read the news I could watch for it to come up the street first. Then I knew it was time to go wait on the corner. So the boys and I were outside putting on shoes. The bus came, and Trevor was ready to go, so he ran to the bus stop to ride the bus. Matthew missed it unfortunately but now we know what time to be out there. I ended up driving Matthew to school. I wasn't the only one. There were a few other moms who pulled out of garages after that. Same awesome bus driver this year, but brand spanking new bus.

Trevor's birthday....

My dad came out for a short visit, which got him here on Trevor's birthday. After lunch, we went to Graeter's for ice cream. It's a Cincinnati company so it's a must go to place when somebody visits. My dad has even ordered it to have his favorite flavors shipped back to Phoenix.

Everybody was glad to see him, but Matthew was his buddy on this trip. He always asked to sit next to him when we'd go out.

The same day, we went to Petsmart. I had been telling my dad the night before when we were outside watching Jet roam the front yard about the last little russian tortoise left at Petsmart. I felt bad for it since there were three at the store for over 8 months according to the people who worked there. In fact, when we went to buy Flower (the new one) the man seemed shocked! When we said we needed to buy the tortoise he said, "Really?" There were three that lived together for months, but one was sold before we bought Trevor's. Then we went and bought our first baby, and we'd feel bad for this last little one everytime we went back to the pet store.

So we were there and my dad bought Flower. Flower has a new home now. I couldn't bear to have him sitting in that little aquarium at the pet store all by himself. He loves to roam and eat weeds in the front yard now. I love these little guys. They have the neatest personalities, and are so zen like when they are outside. Jet is a little more used to us so far and responds to our voices. He also eats out of our hands and lets us pet his soft little neck. Some torts always hide their heads. These two are very social with people! So here is Flower:

Tank mates reunited. Jet is darker and Flower is lighter.

"Jet I think you have a little something stuck in your teeth there." He loves dandelions. Fortunately my yard has plenty of them.

Trevor's birthday...

I swear this boy was skipping out into the parking lot after going to Target. This is one of the coveted Lego sets he was wanting for a long time. It took 4 1/2 hours for him to put together. Legos are the best! The theme this year seemed to be Star Wars/Lego/Turtle. He had also picked out a light saber with some of his birthday money. Why are boys attracted to long sticks? This one makes light saber noises too. Yay. So far no severe accidents of anybody getting whacked by it. ;) Thanks to all the family who made this possible! There was also another trip BACK to Target... for another Star Wars kit that I will get a photo of in a bit.

Organizing them is my favorite part. Lego moms know that muffin pans make the best organizers. We had one mini muffin pan for the tiny parts, and two big muffin pans for the bigger pieces. 568 pieces all together.

Matthew really wanting to help and becoming more and more impatient that his birthday is still a couple of months away. It is kind of nice when both boys are into the same thing.

More clone troopers to find around the house. They actually make me smile quite a lot. I love finding places the boys have hidden these guys in.

ALMOST done. Happy birthday T!

While you were at the grocery store....

Some people may freak at the thought of one of their kids borrowing their camera, but because it sits on my kitchen counter all the time and they have been allowed to use it before, every now and then I find an image when I download all of my pictures that I know I didn't take.

Sometimes they are pretty funny. I find a lot of Lego people photos. But this one that I just found got me. Matthew spent YEARS carrying a cheapy $1 spot stuffed Curious George in his hand. It went everywhere. One even got lost once, and when I bought another one to replace it I tried the mom switcheroo. He looked up at me with the most serious, confused and furrowed brow look and said, "What is THIS?" Like he was disgusted. I learned that honesty was the best approach from that point on should we lose another prized possesion.

Matthew got older (it was probably a little into first grade that George stopped going everywhere with us, but he'd still sit on his bed.) Obviously nobody could pass up a stuffed monkey and not think of Matthew. I bought spare $1 spot Georges when I could, one of those is wearing jammies that I bought him for when he had his surgery, the big one came from Santa (because at that time - that big ugly George was the ONLY thing he specifically asked Santa for! You can't break the santa wish.) Megan went to a carnival here last year and won a George and was so proud to give it to him, a Webkinz monkey, etc.

Tomorrow is Trevor's birthday, and already the kitchen table is covered in lego pieces. We stopped at Target because he knew exactly what he wanted to get! Photos later! It's a work in progress... and it may take even longer since mommy is not the best at following directions for those big Star Wars ships. Aaa!

Well I get the award for the worst mother of the year. I totally forgot that today was the day I was supposed to go to the school to get teacher assignments for the boys. I even had a reminder on my noteboard in the kitchen about it. It wasn't until I went to pick up Trevor from a friend's house that I remembered when the mom asked me who he had for a teacher next year. UGH.

I can get it on Monday, but still.... I feel bad. I have been so off about what day of the week it is for awhile now. I need a schedule again. With school starting, I know I'll be back on my game!

New hair and new supplies - one more week.

One more week until the first day of school! This week all three kids have gotten their hair cut. The boys wanted the normal.... the least amount of time involved both with the actual cut appointment and time to devote to it in the mornings. Megan wanted to do something a little different this year. It's hard to tell from this photo but it's the best that I could get at the time. She is becoming less patient with me getting photos. It's probably a combination of getting a little older and it's not too pleasant outside right now. It's kind of sticky. So this was my one shot.

It's really cute though, and seems so strange to see a couple of inches in length missing. I can still pull it back in cool little pigtails though.

The turtle is awesome. We take him out front everyday to walk around the front yard. He's getting used to us and has been letting us watch him eat. We're going to work on him eating out of our hands soon. It's taken a few days to get used to each other. He's funny though because when he is inside his habitat indoors he recognizes voices and peeks out from his little burrow. He's incredibly spoiled. Not bad for a guy who lived for a year in a small aquarium at Petsmart. (The girl told us that they've had the same two turtles for a year now and didn't get a lot of one on one time at the pet store.) His personality is so neat.

So next week I get to reclaim my house and do a whole top to bottom regrouping and cleaning. Sadly, I look forward to that part. As much as I miss the kids and even some of the noise when they are gone. It will be time for the annual loud U2 music, bleachy smells and rubber gloves. And then a mom who sits on the couch until they come back and tell me about the first day. :)

Welcome Jet!

I think Trevor's first word had to have been turtle. He's loved them for as long as I can remember and has wanted one forever. I told him after we had moved that we would get him one for his birthday, and this year we were ready. For months now I have been buying pieces here and there to get the habitat ready for buying the tortoise. Today I asked Trevor if he wanted to wait until his actual birthday in 10 more days when school starts, or if he wanted to get him early and have some summer days to spend with Jet. I pretty much knew what his answer would be. ;) (By the way, his mouth is orange like that because he had carrots for lunch at PetsMart before we bought him. It's not normally that orange!)

We've been visiting Jet at PetsMart every week. It was nice to bring him home! We had him out in the front yard for exercise for about an hour today. They are not slow!! This little guy would start out at the bottom of our hill and with some sort of purpose he'd walk all the way to the top. I'm not sure what was up there he was going for, but we'd pick him up and take him back down to the bottom. Just to do this over and over about 100 times. I had pictured sitting out front with the tortoise a little differently.... like sitting in a chair, while he crawled around. Nope.... there is a lot of exercise for people in watching a tortoise.

I think he loves him.