Fun Run

An update on school: I'm warming up to the whole school idea. Things at school are good for Buddy and I'm enjoying a few hours of silence each day. Sambo whines and cries when Buddy is gone, so I usually put him down for a nap early and enjoy true quiet. But mostly I'm enjoying the pure joy that Buddy feels while at school. He seriously loves it!

Last Friday Buddy's school had their annual "Fun Run," their run to earn money for the school. I've lived in this town long enough to know it's a big deal for the kids. In past years each grade got a couple of hours to run around the track. One boy I know ran 11 miles last year!

This year each grade only got 20 minutes. I'm not sure why they changed things, but I didn't know any different, so it was still so fun. It was quite an enjoyable experience cheering the little Kindergarten kids around the track. Between church and the neighborhood, I knew quite a few of them.

Most of the kids (Buddy's age) ran 5-6 laps. For the record, Buddy was right in the middle of the pack and finished 6 laps (1.5 miles). A handful of exceptional kids ran 7 laps and it was so exciting. My dad has done a few marathons and that feeling of pride for him I felt at the finish line was the same for these little kids. I am a huge proponent of children playing outside and getting plenty of exercise and it was really cool and cute to see how proud these small children were to accomplish something.

One of my favorite kids in primary (I know I shouldn't have favorites, but I can't help it) is this little guy (below). I already have so many stories about him, but now I love him even more.

He sprinted around the track the entire time and was quite a distance ahead of all the other kids. He finished his 7 laps well before anyone else finished and eventually the principal encouraged him to stop running and get a drink. His mom was standing there with me and was just in awe because she had no idea he was a runner.

And one more cool thing: Each Kindergarten child had a 5th grade "buddy" that ran along side of them to offer them encouragement. It was darling for one thing, but so funny to see some of the good runners out-run their "buddy." A few of the buddies were begging their kindergartner to slow down and walk. Classic!

Evening Out On The Town

G and I had been anticipating this past Thursday night since May -- when G bought me tickets to go see the Killers perform for my Mother's Day gift. I told G I'd take him (as opposed to some other friend/date) for his Father's Day gift. That was pretty clever, I thought.

We started the night at our favorite Portland restaurant, Pambiche. It's a small little Cuban place that has a delicious meal called vaca frita. (Sometime I'll have to tell you the story about how our love for this meal came to be.)

After dinner I needed a chocolate fix and we had some time to kill (notice the pun) so we stopped at Rose's Deli for some chocolate cake. Yum!

Once we were sufficiently full, we left for the concert. G got amazing tickets, so we were on the floor up pretty close to the stage. I was a little freaked out that there were no seats because I feel too old to mosh or have somebody else's sweat or beer poured all over me. Luckily, only "floor" ticketholders got to be on the floor so it definitely wasn't a free-for-all. And much to my relief (and G's disappointment) the crowd, especially near the front with us, was extremely mellow. No crazies, no crowd surfing, and no moshing. The guy in front of me smelled like he hadn't showered or washed his clothes in awhile, and somebody near us had major gas, but otherwise, it was OK.

(These pictures were taken with our cell phones, without zoom, so you can tell how close were were.)

The concert was amazing. This was our second time seeing the Killers, and they lived up to our expectations this time too. Trust me, it was so cool.

I felt a little awkward wearing my "Killers" t-shirt to Buddy's "Fun Run" at the elementary school the next day, but I had to. It amazes me how many people don't know the Killers (and looked at my sideways for wearing my shirt to cheer on 5-year olds as they ran around the track). So anyone within the sound of my voice that hasn't listened to the Killers, please do. You'll thank me later.

Chivalry

We were driving down the road today and out of the blue Buddy says, "I'm going to buy my wife a Lexus."

I haven't been able to stop laughing about that all day. It's especially funny because his favorite cars are a Cobra Mustang or a Camaro. And already at the ripe age of five, he knows that a wife would be much happier with something a little more luxury.

Emotional Wreck

*Warning: Melodramatic Post Ahead*
If you think crying on the first day of school is lame, do not read this.

I couldn't quite decide what I'd call this post. It's been a long and hard week. School started, among other things, which as you know, I have been dreading since the day Buddy was born. I remember when we first moved into our first house and I met my neighbor. She told me she sent her children to a private school and she told me how she made that decision. I told her how frightened I was to make decisions about Buddy's education and how I dreaded sending him off to school. He was probably eight weeks old at the time. Every September since then I've had a pit in my stomach as I heard all about "back to school" this and "school supplies" that. I loved school when I was a child and I highly value education now, but it doesn't matter. School = dread for me.

I made way too much of an effort to be this boy's mommy to send him off to be trained and formed by somebody else.

Not to mention, one of my cyber "buddies" went to trial today to fight for her baby. Her son's birthfather is contesting the adoption. (She'll be my real "buddy" in a few months when she speaks and presents at the awesome conference I'm planning, so I'm not totally stalking her. But I would.) The story is heart-wrenching and I have felt sick all day -- make that all week -- over this situation. This is every adoptive parent's worst nightmare. If you could, please pray that the judge will have the child's best interest in mind. Please. Read more about the story here.

I'll tell you what: putting my son on the bus for the first time this morning at around the same time as my friend was starting her trial was really bad. Oh my gosh, I hated that moment. Buddy bounded onto the bus like it was no big deal. Meanwhile Sambo was crying out his brother's name over and over again (and that's coming form a child who never speaks at all). I just wanted to bring both boys back into the house and spend the whole afternoon holding them.

This picture is seriously hard for me to look at. Isn't he too small to be getting on a bus ALONE?

The other problem with sending him to school is he's at the age where I can distinctly remember my own childhood. Before Kindergarten I have no real concrete memories. But I can remember lots about my life at his age. And it doesn't seem that long ago. Soon he'll be a pre-teen. Then he'll be a too-cool teenager. Then he'll leave me for his mission. Then he'll become a husband and father. Time goes way too quickly and while I think I do well at enjoying every day, I wish I had more time with him when he's small.

Lest I get too dramatic, here is a little recap of how the first two days of school went from his perspective.

The school did a really good job of prepping the kids and parents, so while Buddy kept telling everyone he wasn't excited for school to start "because he'd rather stay home with his mom," he actually was pretty calm about the whole experience. At the last minute, he got switched to afternoon kindergarten, which was a HUGE relief to me. I never wanted morning, but thought it would be the "right" thing to do. This is SO much better.

Anyway, on the first day of school I started the morning off with a power brunch. Buddy absolutely loves a hearty breakfast, so I made waffles, scrambled eggs, sticky buns, and juice. He was in heaven. G had an early morning meeting, so he came home after that so he could spend the morning with us too. That made Buddy almost as happy as the breakfast. After breakfast, G gave him a father's blessing. I tried to snuggle him, but he pulled away and said, "I know how much you love me" in an exasperated tone. He was ready to get the show on the road.

We all went over the school early enough to get pictures and show daddy around the school a little bit and when it was time for class to start, he walked in without any big deal.

I picked him up after school and his teacher told me he was extremely disappointed he didn't get to ride the bus. Monster cookies were waiting on the counter for him at home, but he was too excited to play outside and swap first-day-of-school stories with the neighborhood kids.

Sambo and Buddy waiting for the bus today.

Other noteworthy things about the start of school:
* He has three other children from his primary class in his school class so he's got tons of friends already.
* His happiest part of the day was: recess.
* His saddest part of the day was: not getting picked that day to show off his "Me Bag" (a bag of items he picked out to tell the class about himself-a paper and pencil, a movie, a whale, his bird book, a picture of his family.) He started to get mad but didn't let the teacher know. (He'll get his turn to share in the coming days.)
* Nothing embarrassing happened.
* He told me that they get to sit on "learning mats" when it's time to learn something new. But he was terribly disappointed that they didn't learn ANYTHING yet.
* They didn't get to read anything.
* He was very "reverent" the whole time, he says.
* He held the door open for the class today.
* The teacher asks the kids if they'd like a hug, handshake, or high-five when they leave for home and he prefers hugs.
* He gets annoyed that the teacher won't let him bring home his artwork for his mom to see. "Why would she need it? She already has one!"
* He said he had a lovely chat with the bus driver this morning on the way to school. He was the only child on the bus, if you can believe it. I don't believe him, but he says he showed the bus driver a blue heron, a green heron, and a sandhill crane as they all flew in front of the bus on the way to school.
* He almost forgot to get off the bus this afternoon because he was too busy playing "cards" on the bus with an older kid. (That is so typical of him, I can't even tell you.) The bus driver had to yell his name to get his attention after I started getting on the bus to find out where in the world he was after a large group of neighbors filed off -- and he wasn't among them.
* Nobody got in trouble in his class yet. But one boy talked without raising his hand. Buddy was relieved that the teacher didn't get mad.
* I don't believe this either, but the teacher has a pet squirrel in the classroom. A real one, he says. I suggested it was probably a guinea pig, but he got offended and said he knows a squirrel when he sees one and this was definitely a squirrel with it's bushy tail.
* Luckily he has come home happy both days with all sorts of stories to tell. So at least I know he's fitting in. And as much as I hate it, I know he's right where he should be.

They Say You Shouldn't Cry Over Spilled Milk

Am I the only one who spends at least half of my day cleaning up spilled milk? (The other half of my day is spent washing sheets/clothes/pajamas thanks to children who poop/pee/throw up/get bloody noses all over creation).

In running through the events of the last week, I tabulated that I've cleaned up spilled milk six times. And those are just the incidences I can remember off the top of my head.

(1) Buddy spills his cup of milk while putting it in the fridge.

(2) Buddy spills his cup of milk when he stands up suddenly while at the counter.

(3) I spill the soymilk when I try to shake it, without realizing the pop-off lid isn't secure.

(4) G spills droplets of milk from the soymilk carton all over the floor -- while trying to carry a pile of recycling to the garage.

(5) Sambo spills a sippy cup when he reaches suddenly up to the counter while I was trying to pour the soymilk -- because he just couldn't wait for me to finish.

(6) Sambo spills milk all over the floor because his sippy cup lid isn't screwed on properly.

I kid you not. This all happened in the last week. Please will someone let me know that I'm not the only one?

Yes, I Can!

For years I've been wanting to give canning a try. I know how I am with food, though, and I knew I'd become addicted. Last week I bought some canning supplies on craigslist (for a very good price, I might add) and have been organizing and washing an obscene number of really old and nasty bottles ever since.

Yesterday was my very first attempt, and it was a huge success. All but a few jars sealed properly and those that didn't, I re-canned and they turned out good the second time. The recipe says that it takes at least a month for the grape juice to really be good, but we opened a bottle last night and partook. And I'm not exaggerating when I say it was fabulous. So we are salivating thinking about how good it would be a month from now once the fruit releases more juice. I'm really glad I practiced with something super easy because I'm going to give peaches a crack soon. I'm picking up 78 pounds of peaches Saturday. Wish me luck!

Thanks to the Vials for their wonderful grapes! I really hit the jackpot!