First Day of School 2010

Back to school.  It's always such a bittersweet time.  So happy and proud to see my girls growing up and advancing on to the next grade.

But sad that it means they're a year older and that much closer to leaving the nest :(

Every year I look forward to the alone time it gives me. But every year on that first day I always seem to have that feeling of loneliness and what do I do now?  Hopefully this year that won't last too long.  As usual, I do have a long list of stuff I want to accomplish.....actually getting to it is a different story! 

Do they think I'm made of money?

My kids start school Wednesday so we are officially broke!

Registration fees..........public school is no longer FREE!

Athletic fees so my daughter can participate in tennis and track.

School photos....because even though they suck, I've been getting them all along and have a frame going for each kid so I get the minimum package.

School supplies...........because they "need" all this stuff that they come home with at the end of the year less than half used!  Seriously, my kids have come home with 5 different color notebooks that they had to have with maybe 10 pages used in each.  Really???  This year I tried to recycle a bit more than in the past.  Still had to shell out a decent amount though because they both needed new backpacks and lunch bags. 

Tennis dues.......they collect from each player to pay for the banquet, a place mat they make for each girl, parents night and coach gifts.

A new tennis dress..........is there some reason they can't wear the same style two years in a row??  Ugh!  Never mind the fact that they have to BUY the dress in the first place.  All the other sports have school owned uniforms!

Pep band shirt......again, is it so awful to wear the same shirt from last year?  I guess so!

Band field trip.........yup, school hasn't even started and we've already had to pay for a field trip!

And who knows what else!  I guarantee that both kids will come home the first week with something else they need money for.  I'm already hearing rumors about a $100+ calculator that my daughter is supposed to need for honors Algebra. 

And they're off

Today was the first day of school. And of course being the great mom that I am I couldn't let the morning pass without forcing my kids to pose for pics before heading off for the day.

Miss Skowt started High School today. I think I've been more nervous about it than her. That is until the time came that she had to head out to catch the bus. She leaned over and held her stomach saying that it hit her all of a sudden and she was really nervous! But she made it on the bus and as far as I know has made it through the day. Actually as I type this her day should be ending.



Last night she had to made sure her nails were perfect. She now has matching black fingers and toes. She's going all goth on us! lol

But of course the photo that turned out the best of her was the one where daddy had to make an appearance!

My baby, Tiger, started 5th grade today. She's at the intermediate (5th -8th grade) school this year and thinks she's all important now. She gets to have her own locker!

Of course daddy had to get in on the action with her too!

They will both be gone by 7:30 this year so I have all these plans to be all productive this year. Yeah right......we'll try again tomorrow. After they left today hubby and I took a ride and went to breakfast. When we got back we talked a bit and while he headed to the store I laid back down because I was so tired....stayed up a bit too late last night after getting up at 4:45 the previous two days. I just got up when he left for work, had some lunch and here I am.

They should be home in about 30 minutes....this first day went by way too fast. Maybe I shouldn't sleep 2 1/2 hours of it away like that!

{Insert catchy title here}

We went to see the new Harry Potter movie on Sunday. Skowt finally finished reading it on Saturday so we all decided to go see it on Sunday. Loved it! I think it's probably my favorite so far. But that could just be because it's fresh and new. I also liked that there was a bit more humor in this one and a little hint at romance too! I don't want to say too much and spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet.............but what are you waiting for if you haven't?

We aren't really taking any type of family vacation this summer, just doing some day trips here and there. Though with my hubby working overtime we haven't done much of that either. We are planning a trip down to Six Flags Great America in IL on Saturday. We haven't been there in forever. I can't wait. Gotta get some roller coaster time in! Hope the weather cooperates.

I've decided I don't want August to arrive just yet. I was looking over all the stuff for the kids school registration and figured out that it is going to cost us about $900 just to get them going and registered for school. That's rental for 2 saxophones, 5th grade fees for Tiger, Freshman fees and the athletic fee for Skowt. Then on top of that don't forget school supplies and new clothes!

And that coincides perfectly with the fact that as of next week hubby will no longer be working his second part time job with the post office! So much for putting in all those years working toward a full time route and being at the top of the list as far as seniority goes for the next opening. First they closed a nearby office and brought two carriers over who bumped him back to 3rd in line. Now they are getting rid of the route he subs for and combining it with another route so they really don't have a position for him anymore. It bothers me but he seems to be OK with it. He's been debating lately which job he was going to stick with permanently and this kind of helped with the decision. Plus he has problems with his shoulders and casing the mail all morning makes it worse some days so in the long run I guess it will be a good thing.

This one time, at band camp.....

Skowt came home yesterday with the news that when she is freshman next year the high school band is planning a trip to Florida.

Ahhh! I'm not ready for this!

She didn't have many details yet, but had a packet to start raising money for their trip account. This frustrated hubby and I a bit. You expect them to start fundraising for a trip we know nothing about yet? I emailed her band teacher today and she assured me that the HS teacher was working on a letter to be sent to parents by the end of the week.

It scares me to death to send her on a trip like that! And not just because she is diabetic and who is gonna take responsibility for making sure she gets her meds and eats regularly? I've been on a trip like that when I was in High School. I know what the older kids were up to. In fact quite a few kids got sent home for their behavior. My mom has said that she was scared to death to send me.

But it's part of being in band, how can we not let her go? This will be her only opportunity as her school only goes every 4 years. Mine went every two. I wasn't able to go my sophomore year because I had to go on a family trip. Fun.
It was during Christmas break and I got back before the band did. I had to sort music during my band hour because there was no class.

Maybe I'll just have to torture her and go as a chaperon!

We got spirit, yes we do

We got spirit, how 'bout you?

School spirit that is.

Here's a pic of Tiger taken this morning before school.

Today is their all school photo day, the first year they've done this. They were all supposed to wear school colors if they had them. Think she's got enough? She's got one purple pony tail holder and one yellow. Same goes for her socks.

You can't see it but she's also got purple hairspray in her hair. I think it kinda looked red with her hair color, but she loved it. She and her sister had to have those school spirit pants last year too, which just happen to cost a small fortune.

Survived the 1st day!

Well, they both made it through the 1st (and now 2nd) day of school. Skowt was kinda bummed. She kept counting down the hours left of summer. They both look so thrilled to have their pics taken don't they?



This year two neighbors and I are carpooling to bring Skowt and each their kids to school. They just built and opened two new intermediate schools in town. The elementary schools were getting too crowed and the middle school was just old. So now we have two schools with grades 5th-8th.

The one our kids go to is practically right across the street. But it's a 4 lane highway so even though all three of them had their hearts set on walking or riding their bikes, they aren't allowed to. Not only a school rule, but city too. The principal told us they would turn over anyone not following the rule to the local sheriff. Yikes!

They do provide bus service but it would only take them 50 minutes, yes that's 5-0 minutes to get across the freakin street! We are one of the first stops, then they get everyone else, then go to drop the high school kids off first, wait there while they pick up more kids because it's one of the shuttle buses and then head to school. Ridiculous!

Me on the other hand, I'm having a rough time adjusting already! lol I was so looking forward to them being at school and getting going on my long list of projects. But guess what? I don't feel like doing a darn thing! I think I'll enjoy my first week of freedom and then get into the swing of things next week. I hope.

Happy Labor Day!!

Happy Labor Day everyone!! So how have you been spending this unofficial last day of summer?

Me? I worked for 6 hours this morning. How fun is that? Don't believe I had fun? Didn't think so. At least it's time and a half!!

Still not buying my excitement? LOL

I am excited about school starting tomorrow!! Yippee! Time without the kids during the day! What could be better than that? It's amazing how at the end of the school year I look forward to them being home and having more time to spend with them doing stuff besides homework. Then as the summer goes by I look more and more forward to them going back to school.

I also want to send a shout out to the folks in the path of that nasty hurricane Gustov. My thoughts and prayers are with you all!

Checking out my old school

Today my daughter's tennis match was held at my old high school. I haven't been back there since my brother graduated in 1991. I had to go inside and check it out. Luckily there were people around and it was open.



It was kind of weird walking around those halls. It was the same yet different. They added some trophy cases and vending machines. They painted some things. All the lockers were green now (the school colors are white and green) instead of that puke grey color lockers usually are.



It felt kind of strange though, like I was trespassing on someone else's property. I didn't stay in there too long or go around the entire school. I still felt like I was gonna get in trouble for wandering the halls without a pass and get detention! LOL



My daughter played two matches. One singles and one mixed doubles. She lost both but she is getting better though and not losing by as much. She's been trying to perfect her serve.



Then when we got home the kids talked me into going in the pool. I'm not much of a swimmer. I used to love it when I was a kid. We spent most every day in the pool at the sitters house. But at some point I changed into a boring adult who doesn't want to get wet. Not to mention I look hideous in a swim suit. I was thinking about when and how that happened.



Then it dawned on me, having been inside my old school today. It must have been the swimming classes I had to endure in high school gym. It was bad enough having gym with the boys but then having to swim with them too! Enough to traumatize any teenage girl.



I had the cool male gym teacher though who was willing to let the girls sit out *ahem* during that time. Not so with the other female teacher who not too many people liked. Too bad everyone knew that your little visitor was in town and that is why you were sitting out.

Art Project

One of Skowt's latest art project assignments was to create an over sized version of an everyday item. She chose a camera. She even made it a Canon (though not my model). Maybe she'll take after mom with a love for photography. She has been asking for her own digital for her birthday this summer!

So cold

No school today because of the cold temps. It went from a balmy 40 or so at midday yesterday to -9 with a wind chill of -35 this morning at 5:30 when I checked the weather and closings. The kids were happy to have a day off. That is until I told them that meant school would go a day later in June since this was the second cancellation of the year. It should be back in the 20s tomorrow. Crazy WI weather!

Spent part of the morning waiting for the washing machine repair guy. So glad he showed up during his scheduled time period. We had originally scheduled this last week and hubby had to cancel to go to work since it was 1.5 hours past the block of time they gave us and no phone call yet. Everything seems to be working smoothly now. Our machine is only a couple months old but when on the spin cycle it would shake like crazy and end up half way across the laundry room! It weighs a ton so it was not fun trying to push it back. He had to do some leveling and install some riser kit under the unit and all is well now.

Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble! Gobble!

I just want to take a minute to wish everyone reading a very safe and Happy Thanksgiving!! We are spending a quiet day at home as a family and will be joined later today by my mom and mother in law for dinner. Most of my family is spread out over the country and it's days like these that I realize how much they mean to me and how much I miss them.

My hubby and younger daughter are working hard on her mouse trap car today. She is in third grade and she joined her school's Einstein club where they learn about different inventors and try inventing and building things themselves. Their assignment over the break is to build a car using a mouse trap. Hmm. Third graders with mouse traps? How many do you think will be crying by the end of that meeting? The teacher provided some websites for help and ideas. Here's a
high school class page, there are some pretty cool ones there.

I'll try to remember to post a picture of the finished product.

A million things went wrong today

At least that's what my oldest daughter claimed of her first day of school. Oh no, my fears for her came true. Not really. Turns out it was more like 5 or 6. I taught her something, she sure knows how to exaggerate! And all my worrying throughout the day for was, of course for nothing.

My younger daughter....no worries for her. Sounds like she had a pretty good day.

One day down.

One more week!

That's when the kids go back to school. WooHoo! But really, I don't know if I'm more excited or nervous.

Excited because they will be back on a more regular routine and out of my hair for a few hours a day....some quiet time for me! I'll be able to get out and work a little more. Not that I love my job but it gets me out of the house and the extra spending money is nice. They won't be here constantly bickering about EVERYTHING! And driving me bonkers! I know it was just a few short months ago that I was looking forward to them being out of school, so we could sleep late and spend more time together. That changed fairly quickly.......it's a vicious circle.

Nervous because my older daughter will be going back to school for the first time after being diagnosed with diabetes. I'll constantly be worrying about her and hows she's doing. Also because my younger daughter ended up with the toughest teacher in 3rd grade, after having the complete opposite in 2nd grade. I was worried enough as it was that she'd be behind the other kids, now more so! Who knows maybe that toughness and structure will be good for her. She can be a handful!

Movin' on to Middle School

Tonight was the parent class for kids moving on to middle school. My daughter takes hers next week. I signed up to go to have an idea of what to expect when she starts. Glad I did, it all sounds a little confusing. Much different than when I was her age. Just learning the vocabulary will take a bit.....bases, mods, rotations, pride. Can't you just call it homeroom like we used to?? lol No more Home Economics, now it's Family Consumer Education. Forget about shop class, now it's Technology Education.

She wanted to sign up for the class because she is nervous about changing schools and knowing where to go and how to use a locker. Hell, I think she'll be fine, it's me that's gonna have the hard time with a middle school kid! Especially now with her new medical issues. I guess we will see.....

School's out for summer

This was in the paper last week sometime. My husband cut it out and hung it on the fridge. This is exactly what happens at my house every year!