Is it too soon to start looking forward to summer vacation?

Sarah's teacher gives a lot of homework.  A lot.

And I know this to be true because last year, Peter had a lot of homework.  A lot.

And that's fine.  I can understand homework up to a point but there are days it seems to be a bit much.

And typically that's every Wednesday. On Wednesday, Sarah gets to do all of her written homework PLUS  she has 4 - 5 tests to study for because her teacher gives all of their weekly tests on Thursday.

But the worst part of all of this, other than the fact that Sarah spends a ton of time after school on her homework (especially on Wednesdays), is her backpack.

It is so extrememly heavy.

We had the same problem last year because most days Peter practically had to drag his backpack on the ground to get it out to the car in the mornings. And in the afternoons heading to the car rider line, he was usually able to hoist it onto his back but he always had the appearance of a tired, old camel as he approached the end of a long and hot and dusty journey.

I didn't want Sarah to have to suffer so I got her one of those roller back packs.  The problem?  The backpack is very large even when it's empty.  And I guess it has to be in order to accommodate the wheels and the retractable handle.  Once this large backpack is loaded down with practically every textbook and workbook and copybook she has, it is gigantic. 

She has a hard time even lifting it up into the car and when we get home every afternoon it is always wedged in between the front seat and the backseat and can only be extracted by me pulling on it with all my body weight, a lot of grunting and few not so pretty words.

I am seriously considering a bigger car just for the backpack.

Now that he's in 5th grade, Peter has second lunch.  It's only 30 minutes later than first lunch.  That doesn't seem like such a big deal but every day in the car on the way home from school, he complains that the days seems so long this year.  And every time I ask him why, his answer is always, "It takes so long to get to lunch."

So we're only 3 weeks into the new school year and I think we are all already looking forward to summer!

I really should have just gone to see a professional.

This morning I decided it was time to switch out my summery Revlon Wild Strawberry pedicure for a more fall-like Revlon Rich Raspberry.

I soaked my feet, scrubbed the dead skin away, removed the old polish, buffed the nails, put lotion on my feet and covered them in socks and was headed downstairs to enjoy a cup of Chai tea before I began the arduous task of painting my toe nails.

I grabbed a towel without realizing the nail polish was sitting near it and caused a bottle of clear polish to come crashing to the ground.

It didn't break!  But right as I was thinking to myself how lucky I was that it didn't break, the Rich Raspberry came crashing to the ground as well.

Nice, huh?

So after I said a few choice words and snapped a picture for blog posterity, I immediately grabbed my bottle of acetone (because why use nail polish remover when acetone works so much better?) and got to scrubbing.

The acetone worked quickly and efficiently.  The only problem?  In my haste to get all the polish up as quickly as possible, I got a lot of it in the grout.  So now my grout has a nice pinkish, purplish hue to it.

I vacuumed up all the glass shards and sprayed the grout with a bathroom scrubbing spray with bleach and I'm hoping that does the trick.

Because remember this spill from 6 years ago?  I was on my hands and knees just two weeks ago scrubbing what I think to be a tiny remnant of it off the floor. 

I can only imagine how many miniscule drops of this Rich Raspberry I'm going to be finding and for how long!

From the mouths of babes...

At Mass on Sunday, the priest started off his homily with a little story as he usually does and this one began with him saying, "Imagine if Jesus walked in today and asked if he could come to your house for dinner..."

Sarah looked up at me and whispered, "That would be so cool!"

And then she whispered, "But you would be freaking out!"

Guess I have a hard time hiding my inner Martha!

7 Quick Takes Friday

I haven't one a 7 Quick Takes in a while so I thought I would see if I could come up with seven whole things to write about.

1.  Yesterday after school I met with Sarah's teacher.  I signed up to be Grade Parent for the 4th grade class and one of my duties is to sit down with the teacher at the beginning of the year and plan out all the parties, field trips, etc. so that I can upload all the information into the new school computer system - School Speak.  This way, all the parents can see what items they need to bring and when and what field trips they need to drive for and when, and any other things they can help with.

Luckily, her teacher already had everything planned so it was more of an information exchange than a brainstorming/planning session.

2.  And speaking of SchoolSpeak, I think I'm going to like it.  All of the school info is in SchoolSpeak.  The school calendar, the lunch menu and order forms, every other form you have to fill out (so nice to be able to do it online AND there's a copy function for families with more than one student), volunteer sign-ups, etc. are all in one place.

Each grade even has their own page so I can easily check the kid's homework assignments and upcoming tests and projects.

3.  Yesterday I made two pies!  Two!  I made a chicken pot pie which turned out to be pretty tasty.  I used this recipe from JustAPinch.com. The family loved it so I will be making it again.


4. I also made a creamy blueberry pie.  The recipe is from AllRecipes.com.  I made this one multiple times and the only thing I do differently from the recipe is add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and a 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice to the sour cream.  Everyone loves this pie.  Dan even eats it and he doesn't really like fruit pies.

4.  Speaking of blueberries...I used the blueberries that the kids and I picked last weekend.  It was the last day the farm was selling blueberries and the kids had been asking to go.  $8 for a gallon of blueberries!  What a bargain. 

5. This morning I tried something from Pinterest and it seemed to work!  I soaked my feet in equal parts warm water and vinegar for about 15 minutes and then I scrubbed the bottoms of my feet with a Magic Eraser.   The actual instructions said to use a pumice stone but I don't have one so I improvised.  I think I got the same results because my feet were nice and soft and not quite as scaly looking as they normally are.  (Gross, too much information, right?)

6.  Last week, when Peter didn't have any homework, he Skyped with one of his friends on his Nexxus while playing a game with him on the home computer.  So I got to overhear their conversations.  I swear, I felt like I was back in college at a frat party because that's the last time I remember hearing  "bro" and "dude" so many times in such a short period.

But the best was when Peter upped his game and used "broski".  Sarah looked at me and said, "Did you just hear what Peter called Jackson?"  We both rolled our eyes at that one.

7. But Sarah doesn't get off quite so easily because she likes to say "totes" which if you aren't aware is the way the younguns these days say totally.  For instance, "Mom, these shoes are totes cute!"  or "Mom, my hair looks totes awesome this morning."

Well, broski, I'm totes out of Quick Takes so have a great Labor Day weekend and don't forget to head over to Conversion Diary for more 7QTs!

Do they even have Eagles in Egypt? That's what Sarah wanted to know.

Remember last year, when Peter was in the 4th grade and worked very hard on his Country Festival Project?

 Well, Sarah's in 4th grade now and they've already started working on the project.  She really, really, really, really, really wanted Ireland.  That was her first choice.  The teacher had each student to list their top 10 countries for the project. 

The teacher drew names from a hat and as she drew out your name, you got to pick from your list.  But, as luck would have it, Sophie was called before Sarah and Sophie chose Ireland. 

Sarah was mad.  And then her second pick (France) was taken.  Sarah was mad.

So that left her with her third choice...Egypt.

Which would have been fine except that last night that had to draw the flag of their chosen country.  And in art class in a couple of weeks, they are going to make large flags to use in the country parade that they do through the halls.

This is Egypt's flag:

Do you see that Eagle in the center of the flag?  That small golden Eagle gave my girl fits last night.

Fits!

For two hours she cried, cursed Sophie, rolled on the floor moaning about how horrible her life was, all the while trying to draw this eagle. 

She made the eagle to big, she drew it off center, she made it too small. She was upset that even if she did get this eagle drawn tonight there was no way she was ever going to be able to paint one on a big cloth flag.

And then there was more crying, more snot blowing, more wailing and moaning and gnashing of teeth.

I was waiting for her to put on sack cloth and rub ashes all over her face. 

Luckily it didn't get to that point.  After two hours of this nonsense, a shower to calm her down and the threat of bedtime in less than 30 minutes, she sat down (still cursing poor Sophie under her breath) and drew the damn eagle!

And it looked pretty good. 

And no, I don't have a picture because there was no way I was going to try to take a picture.  That would have sent her over the edge.  

And then she finally went to bed.  And then Daddy finally got home from work.

As I was telling his about the whole thing, I bemoaned the fact that we weren't going to have any items from Egypt for her display because I couldn't think of anyone we knew who had been to Egypt. (The whole reason she wanted Ireland or France is that Dan travels there frequently on business and we have some things from there.)

And then Dan said, "Hosam at work is from Egypt!  I'm sure he would help us out."

cue the angels singing

And cue me already praying for the art teacher when they start working on the big cloth flags.  She's going to need it!

Trying to get organized...

The school year is well underway at this point.  Sarah had an hours worth of homework last night.  She sat right down when she got home from school and got down to business.

Peter completed his written work and then asked for a break before he started studying.  He's in 5th grade this year so a lot of his homework will be studying instead of written homework.

Peter's teacher is extrememely organized and for each student, she made a sprial folder with a pocket for each subject.  Peter is responsible for putting any worksheets or written homework in that folder and bringing it home. 

At the Parent/Teacher meeting she stressed that it is her goal to teach the kids to be organized and to learn how to schedule their time so they can get everything done.

She also stressed that now they won't just be able to study for a test the night before and be prepared for it.  She expects them to study some every night.  I like this concept!  In order to get the kids in this habit, she sends home a slip of paper each night with what she expects them to be studying.  She requires the students to write how long they studied each subject (10 minute minimum) and then a parent has to sign it. 

So last night Peter reviewed his multiplication facts, memorized the 23rd Psalm, reviewed 10 states, their capitals and their abbreviations.  He was supposed to also study for an upcoming spelling test and a vocabulary test but he forgot those two books.  I sure am hoping her organizational techniques rub off on Peter because he tends to be a bit flighty and forgetful when it comes to bringing things home he needs to study.

I think Peter is going to have to do some adjusting but I  think he will do well once he gets into the swing of things.  He just needs to get used to doing things in advance instead of waiting until the last minute.

And speaking of last minute, the kids were walking out the door this morning when Sarah exclaimed, "I have P.E. today!" 

ACK!!!! 

She quickly ran upstairs and changed from her normal school uniform into her gym uniform. (They wear their gym uniform all day when it's gym day and their regular uniform the other 4 days of the week.)  And if you don't have your gym uniform on, the P.E. teacher deducts 10 points from your daily grade.

Whew.  Close call.  Sounds like Mommy needs to be a little better organized as well.  Last year they both had P.E. on Thursdays.  This year, it's Sarah on Tuesdays and Peter on Wednesdays. 

I think maybe I need a special folder as well!

Um. Ewwwww?

I saw this on the way to pick the kids up from school yesterday:

BM Septic - We haul milk at night.

Chocolate, I'm assuming....

School Days, School Days...

At 6:40 this morning, my husband and I entered kid's rooms singing, "School days, school days. Dear old Golden Rule days.  Reading and writing and 'rithmatic, taught to the tune of the hickory stick!"

They hopped right up, all smiles!  They love that we start the school year singing that song to them and if it gets them to hop right up then I love it too.

Here is the Annual 1st Day of School Photo:

 Here is the Annual 1st Day of School Goofy Photo:

I love my silly kids!

Over and done with all ready? How can that be?

The kids spent all day yesterday finishing their summer reading and summer homework. And why?

Because they go back to school TOMORROW and for some reason we waited until the last minute to get it all done.  (Poor mothering at it's finest, I suppose.  Although, one could say that now they will better remember the books when they do their projects on them and/or take tests on them in the coming days. That's what I'm going with anyway.)

Summer is over and really, to me it seems like it just started. (Which my be part of the reason we got a little behind on the summer homework.)

I'll admit, I'm a little wistful.  It's going to be quiet around here tomorrow and I'm going to miss those kids. But don't worry about me -  I've got big plans. I'm heading to Target alone

And as much as I'm going to miss those kids, I'm going to enjoy pushing a big red cart happily around that store all by myself. 

Nothing like drowning your sorrows with a little retail therapy.  And before long, the kids will be in the backseat of the car heading home.  There will be bickering, fighting and complaining and all will be right in my little world again.