From left: Gwen, Abby, Kayleigh, Cameron, and Kim

Our good friends came over tonight for dinner.  Kim's husband is going to school in D.C. as part of his Air Force Reserves duty and Kim is single-parenting for the next 18 months!  On the rare occasion when Paul has been gone for a long business trip, I know how difficult it can be, especially with strong-willed girls of this age.  So, I admire Kim so much for what she is doing, keeping her cool and ever-present smile, while also juggling school full-time herself. 

We like getting together for casual dinners on the weekend and allowing our kids to work off some energy together.  Most importantly, it's nice to have someone who is understanding when our conversations can sometimes take 15 minutes to complete a thread because we have to deal with kids-related interruptions. 

These girls have been buddies for as long as they can remember and we want to make sure they continue this friendship for as long as possible.

Usually, we don't eat donuts. Occasionally, though, Paul will stop with the girls for donuts on their way to school. That doesn't occur very often, either.

Since Paul has been gone, though, I thought it would be a fun treat to take the girls to get some donut holes to share (and a cup of Dazbog coffee for me).

It was a little embarrassing as Kayleigh and I sat outside the gym while Abby had her gymnastics class and she needed consent from me for every donut hole she grabbed. Even worse, she thought they were meatballs! "Another meatball, Mama?" "Sure, Kayleigh, have another meatball."

I am still very nervous about the school choice we made for Abby. Both Paul and I fear she won't like the non-traditional learning environment and we don't know HOW these kids learn. We know these kids DO learn a lot, though. We know learning plans are individually tailored, yet, what can we expect?

Well, after just one week, I must say I'm pretty impressed.  Abby ADORES her school and the "work" that they do, but she especially loves the teachers in her class, so I think she'll have a great year.

I recently posted that the lead teacher had warned us that we won't see many products come home because they are process-oriented, not product-oriented.  However, we have seen quite a bit come home in just one week of school.

Product Example 1: When I picked her up today, she says, "Mama, I know how to make the Earth.  First, you make the inner core, then the outer core, then the mantle, and finally, the crust.  That's where we live, and the blue is the water that lays on top; the white is the land poking through."  She pulls out this clay model for which the 4 and 5 year olds willingly gave up recess to finish making!  Awesome science lesson for these kids, right?  Obviously, she retained something.

Abby's Earth

Chinese Characters

Product Example 3: The very next day, she came home with more writing samples.  This time, the Greek and Russian alphabets. 

Greek and Russian Alphabet

Abby doesn't want to buy hot lunches at school. "You only get like two THINGS!" she complains.  So, I've been packing her lunches every day and enjoying this opportunity to get a bit creative. 

The kids have 30 minutes to eat lunch, but Abby insists it's only 2 minutes, which is another reason she won't spend 5-10 of those precious minutes waiting in line to buy lunch and that is just fine with me. 

She has a hard time finishing everything, but I've found that if I make everything accessible and easy for her to grab and eat, she brings home fewer leftover bits.

These are samples of lunches from the past week.  Of course, I've also given her a cream cheese sandwich, jello cup, juice box, and banana when we are running late, but I try to make an effort otherwise.  Believe it or not, it's been surprisingly FUN and really not as time-consuming as I had feared!  The most time-consuming part is really grabbing all the different types of food to throw into the lunch boxes.

Smoked Turkey roll-ups, cheddar bunnies and bears, grapes, cherries, and Pirate's Booty cheddar puffs. Ritz crackers (for cheese and crackers) and fruit/veggie juice box packed separately.

Smoked Turkey roll-ups, carrot sticks, cheddar bunnies and butterflies, strawberry yogurt with Craisins, and green grapes.  Ritz crackers and fruit/veggie juice box packed separately.

Pandan Jam and cream cheese on cinnamon and raisin bagel thin (stacked halves), string cheese, apple slices, fruit gummies.  Water packed separately.

Smoked Turkey, cucumber, and cream cheese on whole grain Sandwich Thins, mangoes, and fruit gummies.  Fruit/veggie juice packed separately.

Lately, Kayleigh sports at least 3 Band-Aids at a time.  She's not actually hurt at all.  Most of the time, she'll find a freckle and demand a Band-Aid for it. 

I don't know a single kid who hasn't gone through this Band-Aid Love phase, but I don't quite understand what the appeal is. 

Luckily, Dollar Store or generic brand bandages are almost cheaper than stickers, so we're enjoying them as fashion accessories.

I admit that I know nothing of the Montessori method of teaching.  With Abby now attending a Montessori Charter school, which can take her through middle school, we're going to need to start learning along with her.

Last night, I attended Back to School Night and one of the first things Abby's teacher told us was, "Don't expect a lot of class work coming home.  We are not product-oriented, we are process-oriented." 

I told Paul this later that night and he said, "Oh, that sounds like [the people I work with]."

Excellent.  Montessori students = Defense Contractors In Training!

It's so strange that this terror of a kitten bites and claws Paul, me, and our other cats, yet somehow knows to grin and bear it with Abby and Kayleigh. He is especially tolerant of Kayleigh, who loves him a little too much...or perhaps his survival instincts are tell him to just go limp and harmonize with his environment.

Abby has been so great with the kitten and only wishes he would stay in her lap longer.  Unfortunately, Kayleigh usually comes up and snatches Puck out of Abby's lap the second he gets settled.

The girls spent their last day at the Littleton daycare this past Monday. We have been very happy with the care and education they have provided for our kids and the goodbyes were bittersweet.

Abby and her classmates have been really looking forward to being Kindergarteners and they have been rushing around, begging and pleading the parents to set up play dates. As the start of the school year approached, the kids pounced on us to make those play date appointments with pleas such as, "My last day here is NEXT FRIDAY, so can Abby and I please have a play date? PLEASE?!!"

How could we not give in? As a result, we're pretty much booked for the next three weekends.

Below is a picture of the girls in the school hallway.  I love the silly facial expressions on both girls.  Kayleigh's class made her a big "We Will Miss You" card, which she loves.


Below, the girls are standing outside of the school they have attended for the past 3 years.

The girls had a picnic/tea party out on Abby's balcony for about 2 hours.  They greeted neighbors and watched the construction crew building the new houses in our neighborhood.

Play time after their evening showers.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I took some time off to hang out with the girls.  Due to Kayleigh's stubborn refusal to wear diapers desire to try potty training, we stayed close to home.  She's getting pretty good about using the potty, but not about consistency, so we still have a ways to go before we can be rid of diapers.

We attended an open house at Abby's school so she could get comfortable with the classroom and teachers.  It was a good idea to attend and shake off some new student jitters. 

On Thursday, both girls started at new schools.  Abby going to Kindergarten and Kayleigh to daycare here in Castle Rock. 

Abby got her requested beenie weenies as her first day of school lunch.

A bit of a rough drop-off, but she had an excellent day after that.  Her teachers said she was happy and friendly, although a little shy because she's trying to learn new rules and classroom routines.

Abby was so excited to start Kindergarten that she literally ran to school and walked straight into her classroom.  Her teacher had to walk her back out to say goodbye to me!

Outside Kayleigh's daycare on day 2 of school.  Both girls have adapted well.

On day 2, both girls seem to have settled nicely in their new schools.  Kayleigh had no issues during the drop-off.  Abby and I tried the drop-off line and I was stunned to see how grown up she looked getting out of the car, unassisted, closing the door, swinging that backpack over a shoulder and waving goodbye to me as I'm ushered forward in the line of cars.

My baby's in Kindergarten!!

Paul flew out yesterday for a two-week business trip to Alice Springs, Australia!  It has brought back all the fantastic memories of our recent family vacation to Sydney back in May....which I'm still not finished blogging about. 

For the past month we have been dealing with transitions with Kayleigh.  She no longer sleeps in a crib, but with the big girl bed comes challenges of keeping her in her room.  The bedtime fighting escalated to tantrums, screaming and crying over 1.5 hours were typical.  We tried everything we could think of - soothing her, making sure she wasn't hungry, thirsty, too warm, too cold, room too bright, or too dark, nightmares, uncomfortable bedding, bedtime too early, too late, etc.  We pretty much ran the gamut in ways to react to her.  Every time we had to yell at her (or spank her!) we felt simply horrified, but nothing gets through to her, so we had to do something! The problem was that she usually clams up and refuses to talk or communicate when she gets into a stubborn mood.  So, trying to solve the mystery at night was impossible and when revisiting the topic during the day, she just says, "huh?" 

Well, with Paul gone and me being scared to death of having to deal with Kayleigh's bedtime war, I felt a desperate need to reach out to Facebook family and friends for help and advice.  People were so kind and sympathetic.  They gave really great advice and in the end, I drew from it enough courage to be proactive and change things up.  The bedtime routine starts earlier.  I stole Paul's reading pillow and made a little reading nest on Kayleigh's bed and we did stories in her room, all of us laying down, rather than in Abby's room.  Afterwards, I had Kayleigh help me put Abby to bed and let Kayleigh close Abby's door.  Seeing her sister stay in her room was the key.  I haven't had even the tiniest issue with her since!  So, keeping my fingers crossed that this will last....at least until Paul returns to help!

Abby starts Kindergarten this Thursday.  Tomorrow is both girls' last day at Primrose.  Abby's super excited.  She and her friends have been busy making arrangements for playdates (i.e., begging and pleading with parents to get in touch with one another and pouncing on the parents during pickup to remember to make those playdates!) as they all know they'll be going separate ways soon.  Kayleigh knows she will be transitioning to another Primrose and it's sad because she is just starting to come out of her shell and we are seeing her bond with the staff and a few kids in her class. 

Abby's request for her first Kindergarten lunch....beenie weenies.  Now comes the dilemma of how to pack a lunch and keep an item warm because heating of school lunches is unavailable.  For some reason, I'm pretty excited about packing lunches.

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We have a new FELINE family member.  I can't recall if I had ever mentioned this, but Abby's been begging for "an orange cat with a white belly who's a kitten" since about Christmas time.  We looked in earnest, but didn't strike any luck.  Then Belle had her skin issues and we weren't ready to bring another cat in for a little while, but she's doing great now. 

At the end of July, I checked Craigslist yet again for orange kittens and found one!  A wonderful lady who fosters kittens had a medium-hair, orange tabby with a white belly, roughly 3 months old.  We contacted her and got to meet "Rusty."  The foster lady took exceptional care of her kittens and this one was found with her sister behind a barn, so severely malnourished that they had developed swollen protein bellies.  She thought they had worms and had dewormed them five times before they figured out it was protein belly.  With a change in diet and a lot of love, Rusty and her sister are very healthy now. 

We loved Rusty and brought him home later that week.  The vet checked him out and immediately announced that he must not have come from the shelter given how healthy he was.  He is a very tall cat and is expected to be a BIG cat, so despite his weight of nearly 4 pounds, they think he really is only about 3 months old.

As with our naming theme with cats, we told Abby she needed to help us choose a Disney character name for her new kitten.  She thought of the little satyr in Disney's Hercules movie, which she hasn't seen yet.  However, she somehow got that satyr mixed up with the satyr named Puck in Shakespeare's play, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," which I highly doubt she's even heard of, yet, where did she get the name?!  (Magnificent daycare she's been attending.  Simply magnificent.)  Alas, she insisted that our new cat's name become Puck.  We liked it and it sure fits his mischievous character, so we now have felines named Tigger, Belle, Gizmo, and Puck.




Tigger was the first to start playing with Puck and they chase each other around quite a bit.  Belle tolerates Puck, loves him because she loves his food, but otherwise just wants him to leave her alone.  Gizmo approaches Puck on his own terms, but Puck's playfulness seems to stress Gizmo out and he'll jump if Puck moves too fast!  Puck has no clue how to run on hardwood floors and we get great laughs watching him skid across the room, flat on his belly with all four legs splayed out.  He has no issues with the girls kid-handling him and he's often snuggled up tight against any of us, including the girls.