School has started for everyone (as of last week) and it's safe to say that we are all in a daze here. I don't know about you, but it just feels wrong to have to send your kid back to school in August. September I can handle, but August? August is, and will always be, a summer month for me! What I am looking forward to, however, is getting ourselves back on a schedule again. When all is said and done, I crave a routine. And school has the tendency to force us back into one, haha!
Anyhow, like I mentioned above, we've all started school now. Matthew is officially a third grader and Hoonie, poor Hoonie, has begun a trial stint in daycare. Boy, was that ever a tough decision to make. We (Jack and I) had always planned on (me) staying home with the kids until they were school age. But with Jack out of work, actively looking for work and possibly getting work at any time—combined with me now back at work...blech!—we had no other choice but to start him down that path. Fortunately, the daycare where I work is pretty nice and he only needs to be in there for two half-days a week (just enough to reserve a spot in case we need to enroll him full-time should Jack find a job). His first day there was really hard on me and I felt pretty miserable about it all day. I still do, actually. But I think I will learn to accept it (in time!) and be thankful that at least he is on the same campus as me and that I can stop by to visit him for lunch (or vice versa). Jack brought him by my office the other day and we picnicked outside during my lunch break before they left for home. All in all, I guess this whole daycare situation could be a lot worse (<--trying really hard to look on the bright side here).
In other news, we have internet service again (we've been out since August 12th...oh, the horror!). Our old service provider was absolutely horrible so we had no other choice but to make the big switch (big = more money). But, we may buy into our new providers internet phone service (which will end up saving us more money in the long run). We're trying it out right now and so far so good. Do any of you guys out there have internet phone service? What do you think of it? Anyhow, there's still no DSL service available where we live (ah, sweet country life) but now with our new internet provider, we can finally watch a YouTube video again. Long live the internet! :)
I can also share some recent pictures with you now too (yes, mom...finally!).
I know, I know...apple pictures are boring. But I'm so excited to have a great crop of them this year! :)
Plus the boys (Matthew & his cousin) can't get enough of them...especially after a swim in the creek or an adventure in the paddleboat.
And see...they make for a cute back-to-school gift too!
Just in case you were wondering...this particular apple did not come off our tree.
Both the boys have really been enjoying the creek this summer. Last year, because of all the crazy fires, they didn't get to do as much swimming as they would have liked...but they've more than made up for it this summer. They've honestly been in the water most every day. Sometimes several times a day. And Jack (who's infamous around these parts for his non-traditional parenting tactics) will even opt to go swimming with Hoonie versus having to clean him up after a particularly messy dining experience. Really.
Matthew has finally progressed beyond the doggie paddle (though it's still a favorite of his, hee!) and has even tried some rudimentary diving and cannonballing. :) And Hoonie usually swims around by himself wearing his wings or a floaty suit. He's actually gotten good enough to swim without either when he's in a pool...he'll jump in, surface to the top and swim over to the wall without much (or occasionally any) help. Bets are on that he'll be swimming completely on his own by next summer!
Getting ready for another cannonball/belly flop.
He's a water baby for sure. And he doesn't even mind the cooler creek water!
And of course before we knew it, along came the dreaded first day of school. Here's Matthew on his first day of school. He's in third grade already if you can believe it! I can't...
Matthew actually got two buzz cuts this summer.
His desk and books for this quarter. :)
And Hoonie started school/daycare the week after Matthew. He was so excited that first day that I thought it wouldn't be that hard on me. Wrong! I focused all day on not letting the tears start (while I was at work) or else I knew I would lose it. I still feel bad about it, to tell you the truth, and I really hope it gets easier for me to deal with it somehow. :(
Hoonie was so excited to go to "school" like brother!
Hopefully this isn't how he feels about school...
All in all, Hoonie's first day was pretty good. When Jack and I left, he could hardly take the time to stop what he was doing to say bye to us. But his teacher told us that by 10:00, he was done playing and ready to come home. When he realized he couldn't, he had a tantrum. As Hoonie said, "I was kicking and screaming and yelling...because I missed you." Oh, how sad is that? But another teacher was able to console him and get his mind off of us by playing with him outdoors (we love Teacher Blanca!). And when we picked him up, he was so amazingly cute. Dirty—with paint all over his clothes and sand in his hair—but oh so cute! The one thing I do feel good about is that he actually gets the chance to do things. I always had the best intentions of doing all sort of things with him while at home, including taking him to the park 2-3 times a week, but as most of you busy moms know...we just never got around to doing most of them. Now he gets the chance to paint, play on the playground, have music time, etc. while he's in daycare. (<--Again, trying to be positive about things here). When all is said and done, though, I would still rather be at home with him...even if to do nothing special (big heavy sigh).
And because I can't end on that very sad, down note...I'm gonna share a couple more happy pics of the boys. Plus I know my mom can never get enough of them! :)
Happy weekend everyone. Hope you're enjoying the last days of summer to the fullest!
We have internet, cable and phone all through the same provider. We just bundled them a few months ago and so far, no interruption in service. I do worry that the internet will go down which means the phone will, too. But if that happens we have our cell phones, so no biggie really. We're saving money, too, which is great.
Posted by: Erin Sweeney | August 30, 2009 at 05:51 PM
Miss you guys!
Posted by: Stacy | August 30, 2009 at 09:41 PM
So great to see a post from you! I can't believe how big the boys are getting. =)
Posted by: Tina Cockburn | August 31, 2009 at 02:52 PM
margaret! thank you for such a fantastic update! you are such a good mom. hoonie will be okay. he's a great kid and will adjust. i am glad that work is going well for you and we still pray often for jack. i miss you!
Posted by: marnie flores | August 31, 2009 at 10:52 PM