At The Bus Stop

Today is Ben's second day of Kindergarten, and the first "real" day, since he will have all 22 kids in his class today (last week only a few kids went each day) and he rode the bus for the first time this morning.

The weather was not cooperating this morning -- it was cool and raining, two things which are very unusual around here... it hardly ever rains in the morning, here. It is also cool today, with the high temp only supposed to be 69 today. This totally threw me for a loop since Ben has not worn long pants a single day in about four months now, and I was expecting another few weeks of shorts weather so I had to revise his second day outfit in a hurry. And since it was raining this morning he wore a rain coat over his cute polo shirt so you can't even see it... sigh...

Anyway bear in mind as you view the pictures below that the rain was severely impeding my picture-taking, since I did not want to get the camera wet.

Ben did fine getting on the bus -- the rain seemed to help his mood because he enjoyed holding the umbrella -- and he lined up with his friends Carson (who is in first grade) and fellow Kindergartener Matthew, so that they could sit three to a seat together.

Becca waited for the bus very happily, saying "I go bus! I go bus!" to anyone who would listen. Then when Ben got on the bus and she did not, she had a little meltdown: "Why Ben go bus? Why Ben go bus? I want go bus! I want go bus!" She kept it up the whole drive to preschool.

It seemed to me as though the bus drove away very fast with my little boy on it, and I thought I had not given him enough advice like "Don't leave your backpack on the bus," but hopefully he'll be okay! My little boy is all grown up!

Sound Sleeper

In preparation for Ben having to catch the bus every morning at precisely 7:54 a.m, I bought him an alarm clock for his room. I set it for 7am, so that by the time I finish getting dressed myself and head upstairs he'll already be up and (hopefully) be getting his clothes on.

This morning was the first time we put the alarm clock into use. It has several settings, and I thought I had put it on "chime" which would be a less obnoxious noise to wake up to than the regular alarm clock noise. Unfortunately, I must have set it wrong because when it went off it sounded like one of those horribly obnoxious old fashioned alarm clocks: 'BBRRRRRRIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGGG...."

I hurried upstairs, figuring that Ben hadn't remembered how to shut it off like I showed him, since it was still going off. But when I got to his room I was amazed (and dismayed) to see that Ben was still asleep! I turned off the alarm and went back downstairs to finish getting dressed.

A few minutes later I went back upstairs to wake Ben up. He sat up groggily and said, "Why didn't my alarm go off?"

Eilat Sweepers Vs. Jaffa Jazz

If you've never had the opportunity to watch 4- and 5-year-olds play soccer, I highly recommend it. Not only is there the high drama of whether or not someone will actually score a goal, there are also plenty of tantrums on the field, kids kicking the ball the wrong way, tripping their teammates in an effort to get the ball for themselves, etc. Despite the near 90 degree heat, it was a very entertaining experience.

Ben's team is the Eilat Sweepers in case you can't read his jersey. He played pretty well for his first time; he is pretty fast so he had a couple of drives down the field but lost the ball at the end. He seems to like the running part, not so much the kicking-in-between-other-people's-feet part. On the way home I reminded him that since he was wearing shin gaurds, he doesn't have to be afraid to get in there with the other kids and try to get the ball. He said, "I'm not afraid, mom! There was just no room for me in there!"

Becca Gets Her Groove On

While Joel was doing his fantasy football draft this afternoon, I took the kids to see Secret Agent 23 Skidoo at The Evening Muse in the section of downtown (uptown?) known as NoDa. (Wow I got a lot of links in there!) Since I am not cool enough to hang out in NoDa except when I am taking my kids to a kids' concert (which I am sure does not count as being cool), it was my first trip to that part of town.

Despite the fact that we all seem to be having a bit of an "off" weekend -- a lot of crankiness and whininess all around, myself included -- the kids seemed to enjoy themselves and had a good time. Afterwards we shared a dessert crepe down the street at a place called The Crepe Cellar, which was remarkable only for its exceedingly slow service (had to wait for said crepe for about 35 minutes, with two antsy kids, during which time Ben spilled a Shirly Temple all over the table and Becca threw about six tantrums).

The Evening Muse was very small and very crowded, so my video footage of Becca getting her groove on (while wearing her pink scratch-n-sniff watermelon Phillies hat) is limited because I was behind her. But, you'll get the idea anyway. The song she's dancing to is a hip-hop version of the Aesop's fable about the ant and the grasshopper. In case you were wondering.

First Day of School

Ben's first day of kindergarten has come and gone... Oh how it seems like just yesterday I was "elementary school shopping" online prior to our move to Charlotte and oh how far off kindergarten seemed then, practically three years ago now...

For all the nostalgia, Ben's first day was pretty anti-climactic. Maybe it's because I didn't put him on the bus this morning, deciding to drive him instead since I hadn't met his teacher and needed to drop off some paperwork. He seemed a little shy but otherwise fine when I dropped him off, and his teacher seems very nice. He helped her unpack his ton of school supplies, and she showed him his cubby and his desk (or, rather, his seat at one of the little tables) and then it was time for me to go.

I thought about him all day of course, and when I picked him up at the JCC after school he was very happy to see me and gave me lots of hugs. After giving him the third degree about his day, here is what I got out of him:

1. There were 6 kids in his class today, but on Monday (the first day all the kids go at once) there will be 22. He could not remember a single one of their names (must take after Joel that way).

2. He played on the monkey bars at recess

3. He bought "pizza sticks" in the cafeteria for lunch (and he called them "the goodest things I ever had")

4. He made a school bus out of a graham cracker, yellow frosting, oreos and cereal, and then ate it.

5. He rode on the JCC bus after school and the bus driver was his camp counselor, Marcus.

6. He played an Indiana Jones computer game after school

Upon questioning him about the artwork I found in his backpack, about if he had story time, circle time, or any other kind of time that didn't involve food or recess, I got noncomittal responses.

No homework yet -- at least not for Ben. I have already received a huge packet of materials requesting me to join the PTA (I did), volunteer at a bazillion different events (I signed up for the book fair and the spring carnival), order a year book (no), order a school directory (yes), order school spirit wear (I ordered Ben a t shirt that says "Watch Me Like A Hawk" --after the school's mascot), sell Citipass books (Citipass books, anyone? Maybe Joel can sell some for me, we know how much he loves them), re-link my grocery card so that 2% of store-brand purchases go to support the school (did that)... hmm I am sure there was some other stuff in there somewhere. I feel as though the checkbook came out at least three times while I was filling out those forms... oh well.

Anyway, I did not get a picture of Ben on his first day, but on Monday I will try to snap a picture of him boarding the school bus for the first time! Wish me luck with that.

There Are No Index Cards Left in Charlotte

Maybe a slight exaggeration. But, today is the first day of school here in Charlotte, and certain supplies have become rather scarce. You may have thought, from reading this blog, that I already bought Ben all his school supplies. I may have thought so too. And then last week while we were away a letter came from his teacher, with an additional list of supplies. These included colored pencils, index cards and a box to hold them in, water colors, dry erase markers, glue, hand sanitizer, a plain white t shirt, a box of ziploc baggies, a zippered pencil pouch...

So tonight I went out in search of all these additional things, and after visiting 2 stores found everything except the index cards and the dry erase markers. Ben's new backpack is crammed completely full. Fortunately most of these supplies will be remaining at school and not coming home with him on a daily basis! I'll hopefully have one more shot tomorrow at locating the elusive dry erase markers and index cards, before his first day Thursday.

Boy and his Cat

Today Ben told me he loves Ulysses "the bestest" out of everyone in our family. Thanks, Ben ;) Am I at least second?

More Vacation Pictures

I've gathered together some miscellaneous pictures from vacation -- from various get-togethers with friends and family, mostly. And to those of you who supplied some of these pictures, thank you!! Enjoy!

Soccer Mom

I am officially a soccer mom. Things I need to remember:

1. sunscreen
2. a chair to sit in so i don't get bit on the ass by fire ants again
3. what time practice starts -- we showed up today at 1:45 instead of 1:15. Oops.

Maybe I'll get these things right next week, when jerseys are issued and game play begins... More updates and pictures from soccer to follow, I am sure.

Becca's Favorite

Mommy was replaced this week as Becca's favorite relative... her new favorite is uncle Mike, who she stuck to like glue at every opportunity... even shunning Mommy and running to uncle Mike when she got hurt! Mommy was a wee bit offended.. (where's her loyalty??) But happy for the happy couple. Mostly.

I Tried Really Hard!

To get a good photo of all the cousins together for Mom's birthday! It was the first time they'd all been together since well before Rebecca was born. so we had to try... but we did not succeed very well... the culprits were the usual suspects -- Charlie, who was oblivious, and Ben, who was sulking because he usually hates to have his picture taken. Annie, Becca, and Jay were pretty good sports.

The Voyage Home

We left Philadelphia after lunch yesterday and drove straight through to Charlotte, stopping for dinner and a couple of other times for bathroom breaks. Despite the stops, we made it in just over ten hours... quite a trip, but worth it to be able to sleep in our own beds last night! The kids were a little more restless than on the trip up, but still fantastic over all. Ben whined a little and asked to stop for a couple of bathroom breaks which were probably unneccessary, but that's about it. Becca fell asleep around 8pm, and Ben around 9pm, so the last few hours of the drive (which are always the hardest) were very peaceful. We got home a little past 11:30 last night, and had the kids into bed in about five minutes flat, and ourselves shortly thereafter. It has been great having the whole day today to unpack, do laundry, grocery shopping, etc. Very glad that we made the drive all in one shot! Once again we owe a deep debt to the inventor of the car DVD player, and Backyardigans.

We had a great time visiting friends and family this past week... more pictures and vacation-related blogging to come... Editor's Note: If you looked at the Mud Shack slide show when I first posted it, check it out again because I just added a bunch more pics courtesy of Paul's wife Elissa, and there's even a group photo where EVEN BEN IS SMILING. Definitely worth another look. Thanks Elissa!!

Too Cute For My Own Good!

From the Archives - November 2007

Found this video on Kathleen's computer, from our first Thanksgiving in Charlotte -- Ben looks so little!

The Mud Shack

This morning we paid a visit to The Mud Shack, owned and operated by Joel's cousin Paul. The kids painted pottery and made Mommy a lovely plate. Their finished products won't be ready to pick up for a while, so Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Mike will have to ship them down to us. We can't wait! Thanks Paul for allowing us to add a little extra chaos to your day! The kids had a great time.

Not His Daddy's Lawnmower!

Obsessive-compulsive Girl

While the boys were at the Iron Pigs game tonight, Rebecca spent about half an hour doing this:

Baseball x2

Joel, Mike and Paul went to the Phillies game last night. Tonight, Joel and Mike took Ben to an Iron Pigs (minor league) game but no one had the foresight to send a camera with them. Ben reportedly had a good time, and he came home with the remnants of a blue cotton candy all over his face. Here are the guys at the game last night, with their bobble head dolls. Thanks for the picture, Paul!

A Visit With Cousins

Ben and Becca got to visit with their cousins for the first time in two and a half years, today. For Becca, it was her first time meeting her cousins Anne and Jay and her uncle Alex and aunt Miki. The kids had a great time playing at their cousins' house, going to the park, and eating their first Philly cheesesteaks!

CamelBeach

About a half mile down the road from where we're staying is a water park called CamelBeach. We spent the day there today, and I am happy to report that Ben is finally old enough to enjoy the water park experience, and he had a great time going on water slides, water rides, going in the wave pool, etc. Becca preferred to spend her time in the kiddie pool and was not in one of her more adventurous moods. But, she had fun anyway and was a good sport about missing her nap (until dinner time, anyway, when she threw a huge fit in the restaurant).

The Oddyssey

We left Charlotte at 3pm yesterday afternoon and drove until 11pm, with one stop for dinner for about an hour. The kids remained awake for the entire time, and (defying all explanation) they were perfectly well behaved and spent the entire time watching DVDs.

All four of us spending the night in a hotel room together was not the greatest experience... I shared a bed with Ben and that kid moves around more in his sleep than any human being on the planet, I am sure. Several times I woke up and discovered him lying on top of me. Combine this with the fact that the only room left in the hotel was right off the lobby, and you can imagine what a restful night's sleep I got.

This morning we continued our journey, and once again the kids were completely occupied with their DVDs (thank you Backyardigans inventor!) We stopped at Chocolate World to give the kids a break from the car and to be able to say things to Ben like "Hey Ben you were born right THERE and you spent the first week of your life right THERE and Dad and I used to eat chinese food right THERE all the time while I was pregnant with you."

Thus it was that we arrived at the Poconos (24 hours after leaving Charlotte) without incident, and I can honestly tell you that the whiniest person I had to deal with on our oddyssey was Joel.

Some highlights: The mechanical singing cows at Chocolate World, of which Becca was deathly afraid; Ben with Mr PayDay, of which Becca was also deathly afraid, and Becca looking innocent after upending a bag of frosted flakes on her lap during the last half hour of our drive.

What's Up

Since I haven't blogged in a couple of days and we're getting ready to leave on vacation tomorrow, I thought I should post a quick update.

1. We're starting our ten hour drive to PA tomorrow afternoon. I am not sure how far we'll get, but we're expecting to stop someplace along the way. We're staying at a resort in the Poconos for a couple days with some friends, before visiting family and friends in Philly, and we can't check in at the Poconos place till 3pm Saturday so we'll have to stop somewhere along the way, anyway.

2. I have not started packing yet. 'Nuff said on that subject.

3. Becca is doing great at her new school. I have been told numerous times by different staff about how cute she is, how sweet she is, how "advanced" she is, how well she's adjusted, etc. The assistant director also told me that all the staff is telling her the same things, and how they all think she's the cutest thing ever. Yeah Becca! Way to charm!

4. We're going to have some stuff to blog about re: Ben when we get back from vacation, with kindergarten starting, his first league sport starting (soccer-- note to self: must buy him cleats and shin gaurds sometime in the next two weeks), and numerous other "firsts" (like riding the school bus, buying school lunches, the Afterschool program at the JCC...)

I'm going to bring the laptop on vacation and hopefully get in at least a few blog posts while we're away. Can't wait to see everyone!

Swimming Like A Fish

Here's Ben yesterday at the pool demonstrating his swimming skills. We weren't at the pool for too long yesterday since Becca needed a nap and we were meeting friends for an early dinner, but he spent the whole time that we were there with his face in the water. So much so that his eyes were really red and bothering him from the chlorine when he got out of the pool. There must have been too much chlorine in the water yesterday... today he reported that the pool was much better. Swim lessons are over for the summer now, and this last week of camp they just have free play in the pool. Great job swimming, Ben!

Errands, Swimming, and Burgers

That about sums up our Saturday. Joel had to work this morning, and I took the kids out to do some shopping. We got most of Ben's school supplies -- he has this Kindergarten school supply list, which specifies in great detail everything he needs down to brand name, quantity, even color (such as "1 100 sheet count wide ruled marble composition book - red." If I had gotten him a green one, what would have happened? Would he start kindergarten with an automatic strike against his name? The kid who brought the wrong color marble composition book to class? Not wanting to take any chances, I passed over green, orange, and black and got him the red one. The list specified four folders with holes, but since no color was specified I let him pick Transformer ones. I hope that is okay.

After the school supplies, we purchased a necessity for our upcoming 10 hour drive to Philadelphia next weekend -- a dual screen car DVD system.... it comes with two nine inch DVD players that strap to the back of the driver & passenger headrests. They plug into the cigarette lighter, and can be connected together to play the same DVD on both players, or they can be used separately to play a DVD in each one. After explaining to Ben that this was only going to be used on long car rides, and not every day, I hooked it up to familiarize myself with it and make sure I knew how everything worked.

So for the rest of the day (to and from the pool and to and from dinner) the kids got treated to one of Ben's DVDs (Krypto the Superdog, which they both like) while we rode in the car. It was totally creepy because neither child uttered a peep -- at least not directed at me -- during any of these four car rides. Becca did squeal with delight a bit, and when we got into the car after dinner and the DVD player started she clapped and said "I got my doggie back!" I am not sure if she was referring to the Krypto the Superdog DVD or the fact that when you turn on the DVD player a pair of dogs shows on the screen while the DVD is loading. Anyway, they were both enthralled by it, and it's coming out of my car first thing tomorrow and not coming out again except for long car trips.

This afternoon, after errands and naps were finished, we met friends at the pool and then all went to dinner together. We went to Big Daddy's which we'd never been to before and is supposed to have really good hamburgers. Well, let me tell you -- THEY HAVE REALLY GOOD HAMBURGERS! I don't even really like hamburgers all that much, to be honest with you, but I had this hamburger that had fresh mozzerella, and pesto, and tomatoes, and onions, and pickles... let me tell you, it was the best hamburger I have ever had! I ate every last crumb. The kids (all four) were all very well behaved which gave the adults a nice chance to talk and enjoy our meals.

So to sum up -- Good day. Good Burger. Mmmmm....

Becca Update

Becca is doing much better -- thank goodness corneal abrasions heal quickly! She was totally back to her old self by yesterday afternoon and her eye looks completely healed now. She's also adjusting to her new school, although she still fusses when I drop her off. Her drop-off fits are getting less strenuous though, and as soon as I leave she gives up and gets on about the business of having fun. She attended her first preschool Shabbat this morning, which I hear she enjoyed very much (lots of singing involved, and challah... Rebecca's two favorite things: music and carbohydrates - what's not to love?)

The summer is flying by - Hard to believe Ben only has one week of camp left! And a week from right now, we'll be on our way North to visit family and friends in Philly...

Becca on Drugs

Becca has had a bit of a rough day... She woke up screaming in pain around 11pm last night, and it seemed apparent that she'd scratched her eye somehow while sleeping. She would settle down after a few minutes and sleep for a half hour, then wake up screaming just as loudly. This pattern continued till about 2:30 am, when she fell asleep until 7am and then woke up vigorously screaming again. I decided that listening to her scream for 2 hours until her pediatrician's office opened was not an option, so we loaded both kids up and headed for the ER.

Once there Becca was examined by a "student doctor" who looked at everything except her eye and suggested that maybe she was teething or had an ear infection. We politely disagreed, and pointed out the fact that she was holding her hand to her eye and screaming "My eye! My eye!" He didn't seem quite convinced and went to round up his attending for a second opinion.

The attending was fortunately a bit brighter. She gave Becca some Versed to calm her down (Becca became very happy and uncoordinated) and it still took 3 people to hold her down for the eye exam. The exam showed a big corneal abrasion right in the middle of her left eye. Once confirmed, she received a prescription pain medication which knocked her out for about three and a half hours, and I managed to get Ben to camp (who I should mention spent the two hours at the ER watching TV in the exam room and being very good).

I am happy to report that Becca, now awake, is no longer screaming and clutching her eye, though she does whimper every now and then and say "My eye again!" very pitifully. Hopefully we will all sleep better tonight and she'll be able to go back to school tomorrow. I am supposed to follow up with an opthamologist, and she's got antibiotic cream and more prescription pain meds (though we're hoping she'll be okay with just Motrin).

First Day

Today was Rebecca's first day at her new school. She was quite happy as we made our way into the building, but then grew increasingly apprehensive as she slowly realized we were there to drop her off this time, instead of Ben. She didn't want to let go of me, so finally I had to (unfortunately) hand her over kicking and screaming to one of her teachers. It was rough, but I was confident that she'd be fine. When I picked her up at the end of the day her teachers reported that she'd had a good first day overall -- a little clingy and some crying here and there, but she ate well, slept well, and seemed to be enjoying herself for the most part. I am sure she will have a great time once she adjusts to her new surroundings. I'll update again at the end of the week!

Birthday Surprise

For those of you wanting to know (Kathleen), Joel took me to Blue for dinner last night, where I had the most delicious meal ever, so delicious (and filling) in fact that I have only had to eat once today... hmm maybe that's not good... Anyway, I had the crabcake appetizer, the poached pear and baby arugula salad, the filet with risotto, and two desserts -- an orange flavored creme brulee and the molton chocolate cake which was definitely the best chocolate cake I've ever had! After dinner we saw Mamma Mia! at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, tickets courtesy of Joel's parents (thanks guys!!) We stayed downtown overnight, and slept until 10am this morning, a feat not accomplished (simultaneously anyway) since the days before kids...

Almost Famous

Click here (It is the online version of the JCC's fall program guide) and scroll down to the big black and white picture on the second page... yes, the boy with the deer-in-headlights look is mine!

Kid Free

In a couple of hours Joel and I will be KID FREE for a whole 24 hours courtesy of Nanny and Papa (Joel's parents) who are hosting a sleepover tonight. I am not sure what we're doing exactly, as it's a surprise for my birthday but I am looking forward to it! Despite this adorable face, she's being quite a little pain in the butt this morning and her brother's not being much better... But I am sure I will miss them anyway! (A little).