These came home from school last week. I love this stuff. 🙂
Year: 2014
First chilly school morning!
These houses are WAY too close.
Since it was cool overnight we had our windows open. So did our neighbors, apparently, because their alarm clock woke me up this morning before 6…then went off three more times. 😐
It’s a good thing this house is temporary.
Like brother, like sister.
NOW it’s my car.
Now personalized!
Robots again—except we’re missing the cats this time.
The Michigan stickers that I got as a Christmas present but hadn’t managed to put on my car yet. I’m glad I waited!
And lastly, a Tardis sticker I’ve had for ages that I also hadn’t put on!
Look who’s turned around?!
We haven’t done one of these in awhile.
Katie Tantrum #74
We had a hankerin’.
Unfortunately we were out of the right vodka so I had to take my new car on my maiden voyage to ABC. 🙂
Holy crap we have a new car!
It looks like we’re getting a new car today.
Tom went alone so we didn’t have to drag the kids and he just texted me that they agreed to our minimum trade-in offer (they had to come up $500 from their original offer to match that). Tom also got them to halve the “reconditioning fee” but I still hate all those fees—the “online special” price magically becomes the original price they were asking after all the fees, etc.
The cons? Our payment doesn’t go down quite as much as we’d hoped (but anything is better than nothing), I’m not sure my new phone mount will fit anywhere (thanks to that huge nav screen), our insurance goes up by $26/year, and we have to put a hitch on (but at least it’s wired for one) but…YAY I have a new car!
Nothing like talking about it Thursday, test driving Friday, and bringing it home Saturday! Stay tuned for real pics once the weather stops being gray and rainy.
The last pic of our old car as Tom left the lot…
A new playground
We were out and about testing out the car and decided to stop at a new playground (it’s at the other local elementary school).
Katie is so different from Owen at that age—she just climbs right up the stairs no problem and zips down the curly slide with no fear.
She kept going over to these but wouldn’t actually get on them.
Then when it was almost time to leave, she decided to start playing in the wood chips and dirt.
Test drives!
Friends were talking about getting new cars and other friends were talking about cars they were looking at and how much their cars were worth…so just for shits and giggles I researched my car. Kelly Blue Book approximated $25k-27k so that grabbed my attention because I knew our payoff was about $10k less. Now, it’s not that I don’t like my car…but I don’t love it (like we loved the Highlander) and I thought What could it hurt to look? Famous last words, right?? 🙂
I had a few cars in mind from friends’ recommendations, so when Tom came home I told him what I was thinking and he looked at me like I was completely nuts. By the time I was leaving for my PTO meeting an hour later, he was on board for some research and we agreed we’d take a quick look at Carmax tomorrow. By the time I got home from the PTO meeting, he told me we had two test drives scheduled (at two dealers) for the morning! 😯 Well well, look who was suddenly on board!
The reasons for wanting a new car were twofold—our current monthly payments are a little too expensive now that our cost of living is higher (our BAH—the money the government gives us for housing—paid for the house AND car in Jacksonville…here, it doesn’t even cover our rent) and we have realized we miss the AWD (especially with actual winter weather coming). So we just thought we’d see what we could find that might cut our monthly payment a bit while still giving us the size we need.
And then the reality sets in that to REALLY cut our monthly payment like we’d like, we’d have to spend about $10k less than we are looking at…and unfortunately I’m really used to the nicer touches of a little bit more expensive car. (When we were searching for this car, we looked at the Ford version of a similar size (I think the Traverse) and everything about it just felt cheap.) I also really really really don’t want a minivan. We don’t need seven actual seats but we do sometimes need six so when parents come to visit we don’t have to take two cars (critical in this traffic nightmare). And I like the space seven seats affords us with the last row folded down because we fill up the back A LOT (we’re not even carrying strollers and stuff anymore—I’m talking trips to Costco, IKEA, Target—all errands in one day type of thing—plus our road trips to Michigan). We use all that space very frequently.
I was 99% sure that there is not a new/different car in our future because we are not the people who just buy a new car on a whim (I kept my last car for 10 years and Tom has had his Prius for six years), but now we’re both thinking about it.
So…we did our test drives. I’ll skip the majority of the BS that goes along with that, other than to say we had Katie with us and she didn’t do too badly. She LOVED playing in the cars in the showroom while we waited and didn’t mind the test drives at all.
Katie: I want to start it up!
Mazda earned points for giving Katie a balloon—and boy did she love it!
After both test drives, we were pretty sure we were going to go ahead with the Mazda CX-9 if they could get us a bit closer on trade-in value. We liked the dealership and they’ve let us take the car home overnight to really test it out.
Most of the things I don’t like about it are minor (the auto liftgate isn’t quite as good, I don’t love the color (see below), it has navigation which I don’t want, it doesn’t have the backup warning beeps, the shifter pattern is WEIRD, and it doesn’t have the automatic three turn-signal-clicks with one press)…but the Bluetooth is nice, it has lots of pep, the third row seating is easier to get into, it has XM, and while it’s not as tall as my car, it still sits high enough to not feel like a car). The things I don’t like about it are things that my current car has spoiled me for over the past two years. It’s definitely a step down in luxury but not enough to be a deal-breaker.
Dolphin Gray Mica—meh. It totally reminds me of the color of our Birdie house—the siding was gray or blue or green depending on the lighting. At least this car doesn’t have shutters that try to match. 🙂
So stay tuned!
Owen’s flower and numbers
This came home in Owen’s backpack today. I was trying to figure out the words (?) on the top (blop? brb?), but then he told me they’re NUMBERS. Well of course, then it was obvious. With an extra 9, a backwards 7, a missing 5, and an extra 2. 🙂
Me: 1, 0, 9—
Owen: NO! 10!
Me: Oh, yes, you’re right, 10!
🙂
A pretzel for Owen.
So Owen came home with his sandwich still in his lunchbox. I asked why he didn’t eat it and he said because he wasn’t hungry. Hmmmm. Odd. But okay, kids are kids, it might be possible.
Fast forward a bit and he says “GUESS WHAT I HAD AT LUNCH TODAY?” And proceeds to excitedly tell me he had a [soft] pretzel from the lunch line!
Wait. What?
Yes, the cafeteria has them available for purchase—and he’s talked about them before and how he wants one—but we hadn’t yet gone over his lunch account/account number with him so we had NO idea how he actually got the pretzel since there was no way to pay for it. And of course, asking him questions got us nowhere.
Us: Owen, how did you get the pretzel?
Owen: The lady behind the pretzels gave it to me.
Us: But how did you pay for it?
Owen: She just gave it to me.
Us: You were IN the cafeteria line?
Owen: Yes.
Us: Was everyone getting pretzels? (Thinking maybe it was some special school-wide thing.)
Owen: No.
Us: And no one asked you to pay for it?
Owen: No.
So I emailed the teacher asking if she had ANY idea what might have happened, as we were somewhat concerned he got a pretzel without paying for it (though we didn’t mind that he got a pretzel).
Then I attended the PTO meeting and asked the principal about it, telling her we did have a lunch account but hadn’t yet explained it/taught him about it yet. She said that for the first week or two, the kids can tell the lunch ladies their name and they will deduct it from their account. So I figured okay, that’s obviously what happened. Except Tom asked Owen if they asked his name and he said no. Hmmm. When I got home from the meeting, the teacher had emailed me back saying that right now they are giving the lunch ladies the lunch numbers, so Owen was probably not aware that they told the cafeteria worker his lunch number. Which I guess is good…but you’d think they’d LET THE PARENTS KNOW THAT.
We told Owen it was okay he got the pretzel and we’re glad he took the initiative to do it on his own, but he can’t just decide to do that whenever he wants because a) he doesn’t eat the lunch we packed and b) it costs money. He said he didn’t want any more pretzels, so we’ll see. 🙂
Welcome to the PTO!
So, in an effort to make some friends and be a part of Owen’s school, I went to the first PTO meeting tonight.
HOLY CRAP. On a few things.
- Wow, they do A LOT of stuff.
- There was so little involvement I thought it was pathetic…but what was sadder? They were THRILLED with the turnout! There were like 30 people there. Out of a school of about 600 students K-6. I assume this lack of participation was normal (and my online friends confirmed it), but I was still floored.
- I want to do a lot, but with Katie it’s hard—night time stuff I can’t do because she needs to be in bed and daytime stuff I don’t want to drag her along. They did tell me there would be some things she could come to (like setting up for book fairs) so I’ll try to help with what I can. (Most of the evening events are things we’d like Owen to attend, which means either Tom or I have to go with him…and the other will stay home with Katie. There maybe a select event where the whole family can we go but I won’t know until they happen…and then I’d want us all attending and not volunteering. But there may be things that we don’t care about attending at which point one of us can volunteer.
So, it will be an adventure! Stay tuned for stories!
Owenisms 53
We’ve promised Owen we will go to Chuck E. Cheese when Uncle Rob comes to visit.
Owen: Can we go to Chuck E. Cheese today?
Tom: Is Uncle Rob here?
Owen: No, but we can send him a video!
Tom and I were hugging in the kitchen when Owen saw us.
Owen: Group hug!
He ran over and we all tried to get Katie to come over while we were hugging. Maggie even came over. Katie got closer but wouldn’t come to us.
Owen: I’ll bring her in!
Katie was complaining that her thumb hurt.
Tom: How about we just take her thumb off? She doesn’t need it.
Owen: Yes she does! For thumbs up!
Mama, I can’t wait until Christmas when me and Katie can sit on Santa’s lap! And we wear fancy shirts! Like a pretty shirt. Or rock and roll shirt. Santa would love that.
Tom asked who Owen played with at school. We’ve obviously been catching up on MasterChef lately!
Owen: Today I played by myself. I played MasterChef. There was a grey box and when the top came up there was salmon! And a knife!
Owen: Maybe we can go to Ikea tomorrow for breakfast. For cinnamon rolls.
Me: You know, I can make cinnamon rolls, too. And they’re probably better.
Owen: Ahhh, no. Ikea.
Katie’s cute little ankle x-rays
When Tom and I looked at them the first thing we said was “Oooh, they’re so cute!” Yes, they’re just ankle x-rays…but AREN’T THEY CUTE?! (These were from awhile ago but just looked at them today.)
I’ll take a snuggle.
Katie was snuggly when she woke up so I took advantage.
Katie’s ankle: The End
It started off great, then hit a rough patch, then ended great so overall I’m happy.
THE GREAT
The hospital is super easy to get to and only takes about 15 minutes—and there’s plenty of parking in the attached parking garage. Everyone was super friendly, the hospital was very nice, and the pediatric area was easy to find. There was plenty of seating for kids and adults…with kids shows on the TV.
We were there about 25 minutes early in case we had to fill out paperwork, and I was surprised when they called us back almost immediately to get Katie’s vitals. They were going to put us in a room but none happened to be ready so we got sent back to the lobby…
THE ROUGH PATCH
…where we sat for 20 minutes until I finally went up to the desk to ask (at military facilities there’s always a sign saying to let the staff know if you’ve been waiting more than 15 minutes). When I told her what doc it was, she immediately kind of laughed and said “He’s always slow…THOROUGH.” /sarcasm on/ GREAT. /sarcasm off/ No, I know being thorough is a good thing, but always running behind is not. If he’s always that thorough they should schedule the appointments accordingly.
Katie passed the time playing with the other kids in the waiting area.
So we kept waiting. And waiting. At 15 minutes past our appointment time (and 30 since vitals) we got put in a room. I wasn’t thrilled…but overall it still wasn’t TOO bad. So we waited. And waited.
And waited.
And had time for three snacks and a drink.
Ten minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes. At the 1-hour-past-my-appointment mark I went out into the hallway to see if I could get an update from anyone…and the doctor was actually in the hall headed to our door. As I started to politely question about the delay, he was already apologizing and explaining that the previous patient had been an acute case—apparently his staff missed signs of low oxygen (?) and he had to rally everyone to get it taken care of and have it be a teaching moment.
THE GREAT ENDING
It turns out I REALLY REALLY like him—he’s very personable, I felt very comfortable with him, and he was amazing with Katie… She was sitting on his chair when he came in, so he got on his knees (down to her level) and examined her right there instead of making her get up on the exam table. He explained everything he did as he was doing it. Just his entire bedside manner and tone of voice was comforting and knowledgeable.
So, his thoughts? Her ankle is fine and we don’t need to see a specialist. He was poking and prodding and she never winced even a tiny bit and it wasn’t swollen and he could see no reason to refer her. His only thought was that it might possibly be Lyme disease (as that affects joints) but since it was just the one joint and no others and no other symptoms, he immediately ruled it out. He did say that if it gets worse then we can revisit it, but for now, just keep giving her Tylenol when it’s swollen or if it seems to be hurting her (which it rarely does). He said he sprained his ankle when he was a kid and it gave him troubles for many years but there wasn’t anything to do for it. He even said if he did refer us, the pediatric orthopedist would say we were wasting his time. He had said he has three young girls himself so if he thought there was ANYTHING wrong at all or ANYTHING at all to be gained from a referral (or more x-rays or tests or whatever), he wouldn’t hesitate. But he just didn’t see it with this case.
I then mentioned that the other doctor had noticed a heart murmur and said it wasn’t serious but that it should continue to be watched. Within about four seconds of listening to her heart he said “Yes, she has a definite murmur.” However, it wasn’t in her armpits and it disappeared when she stood up—and he diagnosed it as a very common Still’s Murmur (also known as a vibratory murmur). He said she was a very healthy little girl and we had nothing to worry about.
On the way out, I briefly mentioned big brother Owen and his GI issues so we chatted for a minute about that—and he told me two of his girls were on the Miralax regimen as well. So I feel good about that aspect when we need to take Owen in.
So, it all ended on a positive note, though I think the wait could have been handled better (why can’t ANYONE in any doctor’s office ever tell waiting patients what’s going on when something like this happens?). And I think I’ll be much happier with them than the first office I had picked from a hat. Score one for Tricare! 🙂
Katie wanted to play in the water!
Owen’s second loose tooth.
He proudly showed me as soon as he got off the bus (but after he hugged Katie).
Then, at dinner:
Owen: Mom, you know what the tooth fairy is going to bring me? A chocolate Popsicle!
Me: Um, that’s not going to fit in your tooth pillow.
Owen: No, the pillow I put my head on. She’ll put it in a freezer bag.
Me: Don’t get your hopes up.
Rules for a happy day
Katie is 2 years 2 months today!
And the very last one was the best!
I really miss knowing the details of Owen’s day.
So, how does Owen like school? He LOVES it!
Unfortunately, we don’t get a lot of details out of him that make sense to us. For example, today was something about letters and a coconut tree (and a song?) and stringing rubberbands on boards. We ask if it was art or math or what…he doesn’t know and doesn’t really add more info.
Me: Were you stringing rubberbands to make patterns?
Owen: If you pull them too far they will break.
Me: Right, but what exactly were you doing with the rubberbands?
Owen: [BIG SIGH] I told you we were stringing them.
Yeah, I want him to be independent but I miss being able to go in the classroom everyday and talk to the teacher like I did in pre-k and see what they’ve been working on.
Continuing peds office inefficiency.
So I called the pediatrician’s office this morning to ask the status of Katie’s medical records since they never called yesterday like they promised.. Um, well, hang on, let me look…no they’re not here…the nurses are in a training so I’ll call you when they’re out at lunch.
Fast forward to 2:30 (!) and I get the call they’re done. I drive straight there (so, maybe 15 minutes) and go to the desk and the lady was totally clueless, as if she couldn’t remember me from YESTERDAY (though I’m not sure if she was the one who called, you’d think she’d remember me). And it was a whole debacle again, with someone else needing to step in to handle it and me ending up pissed because they didn’t have copies of the x-rays—they just had the results form. Ugh. I thought I was pretty clear when I asked about copies of the x-rays—I never said x-ray results. Sigh. At least that part was rectified with a quick call to the imaging place who handed me the x-rays on a DVD within two minutes of me walking in their door. No cost, no stupidity, no drama.
The next update will be Thursday after her appointment with her new doctor.
One of today’s tantrums.
A typical morning
Katie gets into Owen’s bed…
And a superhero appears!
Katie’s cookie mess
Owen picked out some frosted cookies at the commissary today…and man can she make a mess!
Katie had an epic Terrible Twos day.
Katie was in rare Terrible Twos form today. One of those “if your brother had acted this way, we wouldn’t have had you” days. I know it was bad because normally I just get frustrated…but today, Tom was right there with me. I think she had at least four time-outs, but it was probably more like five or six…with many minor tantrums and fits along the way. Here are a few choice moments.
Miss Smartypants
I have a Kindergarten app on the iPad that was for Owen but he’s way beyond it now, so I tried it with Katie. I was amazed at the stuff she knew (nouns).
This is what we do when the pool is closed and our A/C is broken.
Of course the day the A/C goes out is one of the hottest and most humid days this summer. It wasn’t too bad if you didn’t move too much, but we finally had to open the windows to get what little breeze we could in the house. I gave up when it hit 84° and took the kids to the basement…but that only lasted until Katie found the caterpillar water toy. Then it was outside!
