Phone calls from school

This post is the first of mine with no picture. It's not a cute story either. I just want to record it so I'll remember to tell my kids about it when they are older.

The kids have been in school about 2 1/2 months. To date here is a pretty accurate list of calls I've gotten during a school day:

1 call from FIS nurse telling me Tanner is in the clinic with a headache
3 calls from FIS nurse telling me Sydney hit her head on the bars at recess
2 calls from FHS nurse telling me Allie is in the clinic injured with ice packs and 1 call from FHS nurse telling me Allie is in clinic complaining about coughing
At least 10 texts from Allie telling me she doesn't feel well in some way

1 call from Tanner saying he forgot his lunch
2 call from Sydney saying she forgot her lunch
4 texts from Allie saying she forgot her lunch
5-6 texts from Allie asking me if would take her out to lunch

1 call from Sydney making sure I knew the time of her fall party
5 texts from Allie telling me she forgot some misc. item, like clothes to change into after gym
There are also many random texts from Allie during the day telling me about something she has to bring to class the next day, asking me if she can go shopping for shoes that weekend, telling me she's cold, asking me what we have going on that night, etc. Oh and of course there was the phone call telling me she made the basketball team!

So pretty much when the phone rings during a school day I expect it to be from one of my kid's schools. Notice that I've not had any calls having to do with Connor or Trey. Trey has texted me before to let me know about a good test score before. Good thing I'm a stay at home mom!

First day of school

Sydney's first day of school: She knows exactly what she wants to wear. She asked me to use the flat iron on her hair. She's a little nervous she won't be able to find her classroom again, even though she was there on Friday to meet her teacher. She wanted to set her alarm for 5:00 a.m. I talked her into 6:10. She wanted to shower in the morning. However, her alarm didn't go off so she had to skip the shower.

Connor's first day of school: Back pack is stuffed full of all the supplies a week in advance. Is still just fine with me laying out some clothes for him to wear. A little nervous. Seems to have the most nurturing, sweet teacher, Mrs. Mashburn....just what he needs. So excited that Tanner is in his team class.

Tanner's first day of school: Wears his arrow head necklace he just bought while we were in Lake Powell. When I go to wake the boys up they are laying in bed, with their covers pulled up to their chins, eyes closed, smiling. When I turn on the light, they pop out of bed giggling and..... fully dressed. "We woke up at 6:23!", they say. Excited to see his friends and be at the Intermediate School.

Allie's first day of school: High School!! Still loves school supplies. She loves to get all her school supplies early, lay everything out on her bedroom floor and get organized. She always NEEDS a new backpack because of one reason or another. Loves the fact that she doesn't have to ride the bus anymore because Trey is driving! Reluctantly induldges me in a photo. Feeling pretty relieved that she had a freshman orientation day on Friday so she knows where all her classes are and likes all of her teachers.

Trey's first day of school: at 7:15 he announces he going running. (What?!) Runs a mile, showers, eats breakfast, picks up his old backpack that he's had since the 7th grade (I kid you not), dumps out the debris from last May, tells me he'll clean it up when he gets home. Then looks at his backpack again and says: "hmm, I might need a new back pack this year." Picks up a pencil and notepad and he's ready to go. Has no idea who might be in his classes. VERY happy to be driving to school. Going to Aubrey's with friends after school.

My first day of school: Pretty calm and now very quiet....ahhhhh.

climbing trees

Does this bring back fond memories for anyone?

I remember how much I LOVED climbing that tree. It was like we were in another country up there in our own make-believe world. We played outside so much but the 2 memories I have the most of our outside adventures were this tree and the big eucalyptus tree that was cut down in our back yard for a while. I can still remember the smooth branches of this tree as we would hang out in our bare feet. We all had our designated spots as I recall. (Troy you must have been out reading meters at the time :))

We finally have a tree in our yard that is climb-worthy. In the back corner of our back yard is a fast growing weeping willow. One day a few months ago the kids realized they could climb it! All of a sudden that tree was the meeting place for all the neighborhood kids. There are bushes on one side of it that make a great barrier for pretend wars. Someone up high in the tree as a lookout and someone down low to scare off attacks. This was literally the center of our kids outside playtime when they got home from school for 2 months. I love it. They love it. Spring is wonderful!

Cleaner bedrooms

We had a problem. Messy bedrooms. It was constant, it was overwhelming. We seemed to be constantly telling the kids to "clean up their rooms". I struggled with this a tiny bit b/c I could remember being a kid and hating to clean my room. I felt like, "hey, it's my room. If you don't like it, just close the door and don't look at it." I seem to be more relaxed with Trey and Allie b/c they are teenagers. As long as they clean it once a week, they are busier and have more stressful lives than the little kids, and I just felt like cutting them some slack. Maybe because I felt like I was cut some slack when I was a teenager and had a messy room. And I'm not in their rooms as often so it doesn't bother me as bad. ANYWAY.......We were tired of the nagging and listening to their usual response of "I don't want to right now" that we got from most of the kids. So we told them we were going to start grading the rooms each morning and night. You could get a 1-10. At the end of the week, if you had the most points you got a reward. This cut down our nagging during the week and put the ball in their court. We have done it for 3 weeks now and it has worked well with our kids. Sydney won the first week, Connor and Tanner the 2nd week and Sydney won the 3rd week. So far Trey has come in last every week. Hmm....maybe it has something to do with our reward, which is whoever wins gets to decide on the dinner menu for Sunday. If they want they can go to the store with me on Saturday and get a free cookie too.

Sydney's 1st menu: Angel hair pasta (no sauce), green beans and corn bread.

Tanner and Connor's menu: chicken stirfry with NO vegetables and rice

Sydney's menu for tomorrow: homemade pizza, pinnapple and peas with butter.

Their rooms are far from perfect, but at least they are a lot happier to clean and do it because they want to. We'll see how long it lasts......