Oh Happy days!

School has started and boy can I see a difference int he attitude of the 12 YO. He is happy. He says school is going well and he has made friends. I feel bad for having him change schools when he was int he last one since Kindergarten. The new school is also K-12. However, he is a bit of a geeky kid and earned such a reputation. I'm sure the kids remember how he acted the day in second grade when we changed to an ineffective ADHD medication or the time he....

We told him this was an opportunity to be a new person. His new classmates have no memories of him. Yesterday I called to get him into the advanced band at school.

He is popping out of bed and getting dressed without being reminded. A gentile reminder to brish his teeth or clean up from his breakfast are a nice respite from the nagging I was doing at the end of last year.

On the other hand, there is the 7 YO. He's having trouble getting up. However I think he's pretty happy. He likes his teacher and has friends at school.

Menu Plan Monday/Back to school

I have not participated in several weeks. Shame on me. But school started today so Time to get back into a schedule\

Mon - Meatloaf (Mixed and wiating int he fridge for someone to bake it.

Tues - Chicken Breasts

Wed - Pork Chops

Thurs - Beef Tip roast

Fri - Tuna Noodle Casserole

For more great Menus and organizing tips check out Laura's blog

Here are my boys getting on the bus. It arrived 13 minutes after the Time I was told it was scheduled. The Public high school bus came, then the Freshman bus came - Imagine a public school district so large, it has 2 high schools, East and West plus a freshman high school.

Generation gap

This was drawn by my 7 YO. I want to draw your attention to the spelling of the comment by the stick man in the cart. (Wii)

Small world

The new school the boys are going to has a program where they have an experienced Mom in the school contact a new Mom. The "Buddy" can then answer questions about the school, the PTO, etc. Great idea. I got a call from min Sunday night. She has a 7th grade boy. We arranged to my for ice cram Monday night and she brought 2 of her son's friends. They will all be in the same homeroom as my 12YO.

Turns out my buddy (S.) and I have a lot in common. She grerw up in my hometown, 50 mile North of here. She graduated from the High School that is the rival to my Alma Mater. She had heard of my Uncle (one of the 17 Aunts, Uncles and Cousin's who have graduated from that school) She works outside the home as a programmer/Project Manager. Where as I manage email servers and email adminstrators. We talked about how she is studying for her PMP Certification which I got 2 years ago. We could not have been more compatible.

Oh yes, she is co-chair for the Market Day program. Something I did for 2 years at the old school. (Before I became insane and was the Director of the Wrestling club for 2 years).

I would be thrill if this developed into a friendship.

Moving is expensive...

I try to be very conscienous about the way I spend my hard earned money. But here it is, the middle of the month, and I have about $200 to make it to payday at the end of the month. That money is for my gas, household groceries and my spending money.

The 7yo threw a fit this morning asking why I could not take him to McD's for breakfast. Heck, I'd rather spring for ice cream. But before we moved, we would indulge in a once a week trip via the drive through. Of course we are not traveling 45 minutes to the YMCA for day camp any more. Not it's more like 17 minutes.

What have I spent my money on? Organizing "stuff" bins, baskets and the like. We also went gained an extra bath that needed a shower curtain, rug, soap dish. Both bath tups are slippery, so they needed bath mats. They there is the food. We cleaned out the freezer and the pantry. Those need to be stocked back up with sales goods.

I had to buy a wireless network card for the computer int he basement. The router went on the first floor and we were not about to pull a cable.

Now it's back to school time. Uniforms, the 12 YO requires a gym uniform. School supplies. I may need to get Hubby to pay for the first week of school lunches.

Then there is the school tuition. I have requested a disbursement of funds from the education fund, but they have not arrived. I sure hope it arrives beforme the next payment is due the first of next month.

I still want to build shelves in the basement. Shelves to store holiday decorations, my craft and sewing supplies, and all that other stuff we tend to keep in the basement.

Now I am about to count my pennies to go get a cup of coffee.

Things are better...

So there are things that money can buy: a car repair for one. So sort of Idle-air intake valve went bad. So it is fixed and my car runs again. Hubby made a comment "So maybe that was the reason for your complaint that your car was not "running right" that I ignored. (Gotta love a man who admits his mistakes like that. Yes, earlier in the summer I complained that the engine was "rev-ing" far too long after I removed my foot-to-the-floor posture I was using on my trek up and down I-75 for far too many miles (Before the move).

I have not sent the 7yo back to Daycamp this week. He gets stronger everyday and he's starting to get fiesty. But it has been so danged hot here in SW Ohio and with him not being able to swim, I imaginged that daycamp would be tourture. So I have left the 12YO brother in charge. I did relent and allow them to go to the neighbors to play yesterday. They both went. I'm sure the 12Yo was packing an XBOX controller so he could play with the younger boys. Yesterday after coming home, the 7yo complained that he and his brother were "yelling at each other a lot."

A little while later, the 7yo Drama King came back. During the whole ordeal of the broken arm and surgery, Drama King stayed home. It was amazing. But last night I was awarded a tearful performance of the old play "Everybody at Daycamp is mean to me." I'm not sure what brings this up, but it seems to happen ever 3 months or so. He does nto like what he is doing and wants to change. We look into it and he is making a mountain out of a molehill. He only has 2 more weeks of daycamp. He has loved it so far and this is the first complaint. I did assure him that he most likely would not be in that program next year.

When will it end?

So I'm all ready to go to work today. The boys are settled, DS12 has agreed to be the babysitter and has a list of phone numbers and another list of do's and don'ts.

Guess what, my car will not stay running. I start it and it stalls. So before 9:00 am I have found a repair shop close to my house, called a towing company. My car was loaded on a flat bed and I have a reciept for just under $70 for towing my car about 2 miles. Who knows what the repair will be.

It's a good thing I am a state employee with a gazillion sick days and a Gazillion +1 vacation days.

Overheard this weekend

7yo: Mom, can you get me some chips?
Mom: You can get them yourself, It's your arm that is broken, not your leg.


I mean, if he's going to eat potato chips, he should have to expend a little amount of energy to get them, right? Besides, he needs to give his eyes a break from all the TV-watching and Video game playing.

A boy and his arm

The boy's surgery went well. Were got home at 2:00 PM. He puked at 4:00 PM, but has been eating ever since. he just asked for Orange juice. I offered 7-UP. He got some water.

He cannot understand why I won't let him go find his friend next door or let him invite the friend over.

I have been away from work 8-1/2 days out of the last 10 business days. My blackberry has gotten quite a workout. While I have the sick and vaction time, i feel like I do need to show my face in the office for at least half days next week. The Doctor was unsure about sending the injured boy back to Daycamp, but I am going to call them to see if they have accomodations for a boy who cannot swim. If on friday their field trip involves water (today's was a trip to the local waterpark) I can keep him home.

New Church

I went and registered with our new Parish on Wednesday. They asked for a fmaily picture. I could not find one. (I'm sure my Mom took one at Christmas, but I don't have a copy). So Hubby went and found the tripod and we went out on the deck and took these.

It is interesting, the last two parishes I have been members of are the two largest parishes in the entire Archdiocese. One was the one I grew up in, went to school at and was married at. We still attend occasional Masses there as my brother and his family go there. Then the one just ot the North we were members of for 13 years. I had been an Extraordinary Eucharistic minister for 9 or 10 years, both the boys were baptized there. As a matter of fact, My grandfather had been a member of that parish and his funeral was there.

I had a nice chat with the Director of Adult faith formation at St. Michael's, the new parish. She said this new one is average sized for the Archdiocese. This is a new experience for me. We did have someone stop us after Mass and comment about Hubby's license plates. There are from his alma mater, the Catholic University 50 miles to the North where we just moved from.

Catholic parishes, they are the same, yet they are all different. I am looking forward to this new experience.

What is it about my boys and getting close to turning 8?

My Now 12 Yo. He was climbing over a fence and fell and broke his arm. This is his First Communion picture. He had to have surgery to pin the bones back in place. This was within weeks of his 8th Birthday.

This is my 7 Yo. His birthday is in 7 weeks. He fell of the Monkeybars and broke his elbow. He is scheduled for surgery on Friday to pin his bones together.

I had to call Hubby after the daycare called. I was on the other side of campus. We were going to take him to a close hospital, but when he got to the Y, he said it looked so much like the older boy's that he decided to swing by home and pick me up and go back down to the local Children's hospital rather than getting sent there from the other hospital.

Actually, the boy we have dubbed our "Drama king" was quite stoic. He kept saying it did not hurt that much. But knowing him and how he looked, he was in some pain. The nurse said that his vitals were telling her that he had some pain. His respirations and heartrate came down after he was given some pain meds. He did not flinch when they put an IV in his hand.