school, death, (deaf) and doggies

We have been so busy lately. Not with anything all that new or exciting just taking kids to and from school etc. I somehow thought that when the kids started school that there would be more time but that is not the case. I do feel like when I have less time I actually tend to use my time more wisely. Anna loves school and wishes that she could go everyday. She also wishes she could ride the bus, but then says that she is "too shy to ride the bus". When school first started Ethan was not too keen on doing his work. Even when held back from recess to finish he chose not to. I was pretty worried that if we couldn't motivate him now what would we do later. After much discussion of what his responsibilities were he still did not seem overly concerned and felt that his work was boring and "takes too long". One night after having yet another discussion I told Ethan that he was going to have to go hungry that night because I just didn't feel like making dinner. I told him that "it takes too long". With that and the promise of a sticker chart he has done his work everyday, even before recess. He's such a funny boy.

In the car the other day Ethan asked me "Mom do know what death means?"
me: What does it mean
Ethan: it means you can't hear.
Me: Oh...you mean deaf?

After he understood the difference he went on to tell me that people who can't hear with their ears, listen with their eyes. Which is funny since Ethan often will say to me "so...it sounds like you're folding some laundry" He always says sounds like instead of looks like and for some reason it just cracks me up.

On another note...Kate is saying some real words and it is so much fun. Her first word was tickle, She says tickle tickle tickle. Her second word was doggy. She is in love with anything that moves and calls dogs, cats, rabbits anything doggy. you can ask her what a doggy says and she says woof woof. She blows kisses and waves and says bye only she says it like she a southern gal. Just yesterday she said uh,oh after she dropped something from the table. We wanted her to say it again but since then she will only say it if it is actually in context, like something has dropped. She is such a cute patoot and we love her. Needless to say with her love of all things doggy, she is going to be a pink poodle dog for Halloween. Good times at the Wilson house.

I'm grateful...

-It's Friday
-My kids are playing nicely
-I have pumpkin chocolate chip muffins in the oven
-It's almost fall
-I've already been to the gym today
-Tomorrow's Saturday
-I had a new nephew born this week
-I have already decorated for fall/Halloween
-I live so close to Target, Costco, and Roberts for that matter
-I have a great, handsome, hardworking husband
-That my kids were playing nicely
-That "The Office" is just one week away from a new season
-My laundry is done(but not yet folded and put away)

I love fall(sigh), all the cinnamon and spice makes me feel so nice.

First Day of School/Trauma!

Anna was so excited to finally get her turn to go to school. She started August 26th a day ahead of Ethan so she thought that was pretty great. She doesn't really need a backpack, but isn't that part of the fun of going to school-all the new gear? Not surprisingly she picked out a pink, princess backpack and loves it. I really like the preschool she is attending and it is just one street East of Ethan's school so also very convenient. Anna of course is very shy and hesitant to jump right in which always is so baffling to me since she is such a little spit fire at home. I thought it might be hard to leave her, but she entered with confidence and I left without tears. We are happy that she gets to have her school time and I am happy that I get a little time with just 2 kids at home with one usually napping.


Ethan started Kindergarten August 27th just 2 days before he turned 6. Yes I am one of those mothers who holds their child back so they can be the biggest and the best at everything :) Ethan was more than excited to get to school and when I offered to take him the first day(for my sake more than his) he enthusiastically denied my offer. I was quite surprised with how emotional I felt watching him ride away. Placing my trust in a stranger driving a bus kind of tipped the scale and made me realize all the more that he is getting older and more independent.

So when it was time for him to come home I arrived at the bus stop 20 minutes early just to make sure that should they arrive early I would be ready and waiting. The bus finally came and the children excitedly piled off. More and more children came and I kept waiting and watching, with camera ready mind you, so when the bus emptied and closed it's doors and drove away and Ethan hadn't ever come off... I began to PANIC!!! Where's Ethan??? At school? Another bus? With a friend who's parent may have picked him up? I wanted to cry and yell for help but knew I needed to stay calm until he was found. I rushed home to use the phone(no I don't have a cell phone, can you imagine...gasp here) I called the school and there was no answer. My fear only was 100x magnified at this point. I called the bus depot and practically yelled/cried into the phone "my son is in kindergarten and he didn't get off the bus" I was met with, "please hold". It was then that I saw a friend of mine coming down the street, so I frantically waved her over for nothing more than mere support at that point. Thankfully she said she was driving down her street(where we used to live) and the bus driver just happened to open her doors and asked my friend if she knew the last boy on her bus, and by sheer miracle she knew Ethan and told the driver where to take him. The bus soon came down my street with Ethan. I ran to the bus ready now to completely start bawling. I jumped on the bus prepared to cradle my poor scared son when Ethan slowly and very calmly walks down the aisle and says to me "Mom everything is fine, just fine. I didn't get "stolden" or anything and proceeded to jump off the bus. I was speechless. I of course then played 20 questions with the bus driver trying to find out what had happened. My visions of the best 1st day ever were quickly replaced with me just trying to calm myself down. I could hardly ask Ethan how his first day had gone. I was so grateful that in our family prayers that morning we specifically prayed that the children would be particularly watched over and kept safe. Wow, were my prayers answered. And, in the end everything was fine, just fine.

A picture of Ethan getting on the bus...not off!