JTOK Chatter > 2014 > Page 5

Year: 2014

Volunteering, Day 2

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Katie was super excited to go to Owen’s class today. As soon as we walked in the room, she asked if she could go play with the dolly. 🙂 So off she went and I busied myself getting more yarn ready for the same art project (I’d have the rest of the kids—including Owen—today).

The teacher told everyone Owen’s mom was here again and so was his little sister. For the most part, Katie being there was NO problem whatsoever. There was only one time when I saw her over playing with the blocks…and some of Owen’s classmates got sidetracked and were there with her, too. A quick talk from the teacher sent them back to their groups and it was fine after that. She pretty much stayed in the “housekeeping” area (with a table and chairs, kitchen, dolls, dishes, and pots and pans) except for once when she wanted to get on the computers and two very short times she came out and wanted to come with me. I simply pointed to the kitchen and told her to go play—and she did!

Today Owen was at the coloring table and my art project table. He was being a bit boisterous at the coloring table—yelling across to a friend at the art table—and I had to tell him to sit down and color a few times. (But it wasn’t just him. I had to talk to a few of the kids.) Then once he was at the art table, he was being a bit of a showoff and I had to subtly tell him to cool it. He was lacing standing up out of his chair and making all these grand sweeping movements and loudly saying how easy it was and how fast he could do it. I was like “Where did this obnoxious little boy come from?” (I mean, it was partially cute but if it was any other kid it would have annoyed me 100% so it was partially annoying me. If anyone else had done that I would have told them to sit down as well.) So that was interesting.

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Towards the end of the hour, I went over and asked Katie to pick up all her blocks…which she did! With no further prodding from me! Yay Katie! Then at the very end of the hour she picked up most of the housekeeping toys, too. 🙂 When the teacher had the class thank us for coming in to help, the assistant also made sure to tell the class that Katie picked up most of the toys by herself. (I’m guessing they have issues with the kids picking up after themselves!)

I’m so glad I got to be there for two days! And since Katie was so well behaved, we were invited back any time! (This is a big deal because little kids generally aren’t welcome.) YAY KATIE! 🙂

Volunteering in Owen’s class!

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We got an email from Owen’s teacher that they needed help in class this week to get ready for Thanksgiving. Tom was going to be working from home so I’d be able to go without Katie!

I was there a few minutes early so got to see them practicing a Thanksgiving song. Owen was a leader…until he saw me watching then got shy so he was replaced.

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I was in charge of the art project—lacing yarn to make a pouch. I had to cut yarn lengths, tape the ends, and tie them to the pouches (then assist the kids). It’s amazing the differing abilities of all the kids—some pay attention and follow instructions well and some DO NOT. Let’s just say I was kept busy untangling and unthreading bad lacing. 🙂

Unfortunately, I didn’t get Owen at either of the two tables I was watching over (the art project and a coloring project).

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I was asked if I could possibly come back tomorrow because no one else had responded yet. I said I could if I could bring Katie. The teacher had said before she thought it would be okay to bring Katie since she seemed to play well by herself. So I said we’d try it!

I guess he really was sick.

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Owen hadn’t felt the best all weekend but it was never anything serious (i.e. no fever)—he just seemed more tired than normal but nothing that out of the ordinary.

So come this morning, he was even MORE tired than normal, but I still didn’t think much about it because it was Monday and he’s been tired every morning. I didn’t think he wanted to miss school because he loves school, but I thought maybe he was milking it a little more.

He ate his breakfast but didn’t eat as much as he normally would. Then instead of playing afterwards, he just curled up on the couch. Hmmm. Okay. So then the alarm rang to get ready for the bus stop and he got up and walked to the foyer but wasn’t putting his shoes on. He said he didn’t feel good. Well, he’d been saying that all morning so I wasn’t really sure what to think.

So as I was debating what to do (make him go to school, keep him home) he vomited all over. Four times. Poor Owen. And poor me because he was ROOTED to his spot on the floor and couldn’t move five steps into the bathroom to hit the toilet. At least it was 1) on the wood floor and 2) not AT the bus stop or ON the bus.

So he was obviously staying home…but of course then he felt better and wanted to go to school. And when I told him he was staying home he suddenly wanted to color and play and watch TV. Sorry, kid, right now you’re going back to bed since you’ve told me all morning how tired you are and want more sleep. I told him after he rests awhile he can come down to watch TV (I’m not evil, LOL, I remember the fun of watching TV while I was home sick).

So he was kind of upset and Katie was a HOT MESS because she was already ready to go—with coat and boots on—and she did NOT want to get undressed. So I sent Owen up to change into jammies and rest and he had a fit because he did not want to rest…but he finally went upstairs. I set him up with a barf bucket and tucked him in. And he was back downstairs less than 10 minutes later. So I explained that he’d been complaining how tired he was all morning and how he was practically sleeping on the couch so he needed to rest to get healthy…and we had a talk about how staying home from school sick doesn’t mean we can have fun and play games and watch TV all day. Staying home sick meant you had to rest. So back up he went, where he stayed for about 30 minutes. Okay, fine. Then I let him watch TV.

He seemed to be feeling better around lunch and ate a piece of toast with peanut butter. Then I made him lay down for a nap when Katie took hers and he rested but I’m not sure he ever slept (though his eyes were closed when I went up to check on him—and I think if he had heard me, he would have popped up). So he got to crash on the couch and watch a movie. This is how I found him. Such a boy. 🙂

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And after Katie got up I happened to get a call from a friend asking if I could go rescue her son from their front porch because she hadn’t made it home in time and he would be wondering why he couldn’t get in the house. 🙂 So I dashed through the back yard to go get him and when he came in the house, it was GAME ON. It was like Owen had never been sick. Running and jumping and playing and screeching like nobody’s business. 🙂

Interesting sidenote. When I called the attendance line, you didn’t get to talk to anyone and you just left a message—and they asked what the doctor said or what the symptoms were. Then about 4:15 I got a call from the school confirming that Owen was home sick and what his symptoms were. Apparently they keep track of these things? In case…they need to know who Patient Zero was?

Lunch and library with my little man

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Ironically, I had planned on coming in for Owen’s lunch today (since Tom was going to be home!) and he was super excited about that. When I got there, I saw them still out at recess.

I watched him play for a good five minutes before one of his friends saw me and pointed me out! Then he came running over to give me a hug over the fence. 🙂

Eating lunch! He is SUCH a card—I was stealing his apple pieces and he thought that was hilarious and kept laughing and telling all his buddies that I was an apple stealer. I do have to say that I am glad Owen eats all of his lunch—I’d say maybe one kid aside from Owen ate his whole lunch, maybe four picked at about half of it, and two didn’t eat more than a few bites.

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While we were there, his classroom assistant teacher came up and said hello then said “Aren’t you proud of Owen for his award?” And I basically said “Yeah, but I didn’t know anything about it so we weren’t there! And his dad was home, too!” You could see the light bulb go off and she apologized, saying they were working late at school last night and totally forgot to email or call, that she remembered at 10 and assumed it was too late, and then forgot in the morning. She seemed to feel badly. I felt a little better since she did apologize, but honestly I was still pissed. Of course it would be US this happened to and no one else since the beginning of school. 🙁 She did say she had him keep the award so they could take a picture of him with it sitting in the teacher’s chair so hopefully I’ll at least get that. [[Note: Owen didn’t bring the award home and I haven’t received any word of any picture and he said they didn’t take one. Sigh.]]

Anyway.

I heard her mention that they were going to the library after lunch and Owen asked if I was coming, too. I said I sure could!

It’s a process, let me tell you. They all had their coats (since they had had recess right before lunch) and their lunch bags (since they had just been at lunch) so they had to deposit all that stuff outside the library! Well, actually, the coats went in a pile outside the door and their lunches went in a pile inside the door. Then they all filed in to the story area where the librarian read them a book.

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Then she handed out apples with their names on it (which I later learned has their borrower code on it for checking out books) and told them to go get their books! I had thought we would be in there for 10-15 minutes with kids looking for and picking out books, but by the time the last kid got his apple, the first ones were checking out. By the time I walked over, Owen had his book already checked out, had his lunch box, and was waiting in line to leave! Apparently the library is a very well-oiled machine. 🙂 Then on their way out, they had to grab their coat (which the teacher had lined up all along the hallway). I hugged Owen and said goodbye!

Owen’s Good Character Award

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So I was sitting at home minding my own business when I got this text from our neighbor:

BIG CONGRATS TO OWEN!

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Wait, what?! He got a good character award and no one told us?!?! I was PISSED. There was no email, no note in his daily folder, nothing. And Tom was actually home and we ALL could have been there!

I know in the grand scheme of things it’s not a big deal, but he gets SO excited when we’re there and he would have been over the moon about this. I actually momentarily had thought about just going (since I go on random Fridays), but this morning was a bit crazy as there was someone supposed to be here working on the garage so we were waiting and waiting but then they canceled…

So, I was happy that at least she was there and grabbed a few shots for me…but I literally wanted to cry because we missed it. 🙁

I sent a quick email to the teacher asking why we hadn’t been told in advance. (Past awardees have been alerted via email so precedent has been set, otherwise I wouldn’t think twice about it.) I am sure it’s just my bad luck. 🙁

But…YAY OWEN! 🙂

Katie takes flight!

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We had a MOPS get together at Flight, a trampoline park (the same one Owen went to recently for a birthday party). She LOVED it—as if there was any doubt. 🙂

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There was one tiny accident at the end where another little girl slid down the trampoline and apparently ran over Katie’s finger. Both were crying but Katie was over it in about a minute. 🙂

It’s a little expensive (we had a group discount today) but we’ll definitely go back. 🙂

Owen decided to write Santa this morning.

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That’s a board game, a skateboard, and Legos. 🙂

I clarified which board game, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t mean a real skateboard (he has a cheap 3″ toy one from a birthday party that he loves so I’m guessing that’s what he’s thinking), and any Legos will apparently do. 🙂

I’ll get him to write a REAL list soon. And hopefully nudge him in the direction of some things I already have (though the Legos won’t be a problem)!

Owenisms 57

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We were at Five Guys for dinner. After we’d been sitting there for a bit, out of nowhere:
Owen: There are only four guys.
Me & Tom: Huh? Ohhh.
Me: Five Guys is just the name of the restaurant—
Tom: It’s not how many people work here.
Owen: Oh!
Time passes. We’re all eating.
Owen: LOOK! There’s five guys now!

Owen: Where does Aladdin live?
Me: In Arabia. I show him on a map compared to where we live. It’s a different country.
Owen: So we can’t go there, right?
Me: Right.
Owen: Because we’re not country people.

Owen saw a commercial for a toy: We can go online to get that, right?

Owen: Mama, I’m sad.
Me: Why?
Owen: I miss Miss Sheryl and Mister Eddy. He’s fun and he’s weird.

Housewarming Party!

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Prepping the bar!

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My Andrew!

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The kitchen table ended up being the center of the party. We definitely need a bigger kitchen AND a bigger table! 🙂

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Skyping with a good friend who couldn’t make it!

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About 1/3 of the food that we had. Which was way too much. 🙂

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The sign comes out! I gave the background story and told them that since he’s five, you know even if I HAD tried to tell him to do it he would have likely screwed it up, so it had to have been completely random! Everyone LOVED it!

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The only two guests who weren’t Tivo peeps—our realtor (who helped us find this house) and her friend “Moral Support.” 🙂 They got along with everyone and had a good time!

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I learned later that they were making fun of my pantry labeling—this ketchup was the “LAST ONE.” 🙂

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Maggie got along with everyone and actually wasn’t too much of a pain!

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Charlie was right in the thick of things, too. I know she’s the people person cat, but we didn’t think she’d stick around with 25 loud people…but she did. She was in the middle of it for the most part…and didn’t mind the attention! 🙂

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Amy wanted to steal the kids’ minion backpack.

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Those of you who know…KNOW what this box means!

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Rivals…on the chair of truth. I’m not quite sure how it got called that, but by the end of the night it was THE name and probably half the people had been in it. 🙂

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The kids came home from the sitter’s at 8 and stayed up for a bit since there was just so much going on it was way too exciting to go to bed. 🙂

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One of the many, many things I never saw happen until I was looking at other people’s pictures!

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The night was pretty much wrapped up by 10:30 or so, with most of the major cleaning done and the last people leaving about 11 (gone are the days when we were partying hard until 2am!). 🙂

We agreed the party was a great success! There was too much food, lots of laughs, and lots of wine…and no one got hurt and nothing got broken! There was one red wine spill at the very end of the night, but considering how many people were drinking and sloshing red wine glasses it could have been lots worse many times over.

And we can’t wait to do it again!