Family Fun Night!

That is what it is called. It is a school / parish function. After 4:30 pm mass tonight, they did a blessing of all the teachers. Then, out ot the parking lot where they have tables set up, and music and food and drink. (Hot dogs, hamburgers, soda's and water). It was very, very, very humid tonight. So.....stinking....hot. It was fun, but I did get to seen in action some things I didn't like.

1) My fourth grader, along with two of her friends, excluded another girlfriend. I spoke to her about it then, and we will definately be having a LONG discussion tonight on how that WILL NOT be tolerated. I want to scream, HOW DARE YOU!!!??>>!!! But I will try to find the right mommy words to express to her my dissatisfaction and sadness over that. She knows better...and will be reminded.

2) My second grader has a really hard time playing with her classmates. She feels left out and out of place. This breaks my heart.

3) I watched as Julianne was doing her usual "touchy/pulling" stuff on her friends...and they did.not.like.it. :( How am I going to get them to understand that she means no harm.....

Anyway...I got to mingle, and the kids had fun. Here are some pictures.

Look out school....here we come....

Well, the school supplies are (mostly) bought. The new school shoes sit waiting to be worn. The new school jumpers for the girls are here....well, Alena's has to be returned for a smaller size...but they are here! Julianne got a "ready for school" haircut. She looks so cute, and even though it was just a trim, it makes her look 2 years older, which makes me put on my pouty face just a bit.

We went today, Sunday, for the Preschool and Kindergarden "open house". It was a madhouse there...and the AC had gone out, so it was HOT HOT HOT in there. Imagine, a million kids, three million parents, and no AC. yeah...it was m-u-g-g-y!

Mason got to meet his new Preschool teacher, Ms. Maureen. She seems really nice. Mason was a bit sad that his teacher from last year, Mrs. Mary, who he LOVED...is not the teacher of his class. Mrs. Mary loves Mason, she told me so every day. "He so reminds me of my grandson"....she would always say.

Julianne got to see her class, and find her seat. We are glad to know that sitting right behind her, at another table is her new found friend, Olivia. This made her happy. Julianne practiced, and when given the opportunity, said to the teacher, "Hello Mrs. Oldani". It was great. The school and Jeff and I have all been working on getting them prepared for Juli and her special needs. So, we will see how things go. Hopefully they won't have to move her down to preschool, like the suggested they might....because if they do, then we will lose our scholorship. So....we will be working REALLY hard with her.

So....come on Wednesday, because we are ready for school. Well....except for that waking up early part.

Bra day....

My daughter would die if she knew I were typing this. But this is a very important day in a mothers life. Ever since I brought my first born child, my little girl Allison, home from the hospital...those fast 9 years ago, I knew this day would come. I can't stop time...no matter how hard I should try....but nope. Time stands still for no one.

So, today....after we went and got new school shoes, we went to Walmart for the school supplies that still remained on our list of things to get. While there, we had to get new socks. The "just the right kind" of socks. They have to be the really, really thin kind, with no seam in the toe. Because, you see....Allison is a freak when it comes to socks and shoes, and as we have lived through in the past, if her shoes and socks are not JUST RIGHT on school mornings....it really creates a monster. So....we have the "just right kind" of socks.

In the same department as socks....just a few feet away, hangs the tweeny bras. Yes. Oh, yes. The bras.

Allison has been asking for a "beginner bra" for sometime now. And, she is 9, and going into 4th grade...and well....things are slowly happening. :wah!!!: So....she got a three pack of "sports bras". 3/$8.88, Walmart special.

Bra day.

Thank you, Jesus!

We were informed today that we were accepted into an awesome program!! There is this great program here in the city of St. Louis called Today and Tomorrow Education Fund. Here is the website:

http://www.privateschoolscholarships.org/index.html

Basically, it is through the archdiocecese, and it is a scholorship program that is devised to get City residents to send their children to Catholic (or other private) schools, in the City. If approved, they will pay a portion of the tuition, up to $2000 per year...Up To 8th Grade!!! Well....we were approved today...for $2000 this year! Since Julianne went to a public school last year, it made her eligible to apply for this scholorship! This means $2000 knocked off the tuition this year, and we depending on our financial status, this will continue through 8th grade.

God...is....Great!!

My Birthday Gift....

In an effort to post something tonight...I thought maybe I should share with you what my kids gave me for my birthday. My birthday was in June, so this was a couple months ago....but I still crack up about it.

They gave me a back massage, *George Jefforson* style....

You can't see it....but I am laughing my arse off while they are doing this.

The love of a lap....

Sometimes, I forgot what it means to really be a *mommy*. I am so busy trying to be the *mother*, that the mommy moments sometimes get bypassed. Tonight, a mommy moment slapped me in my face, and I felt the chills of love, like I haven't felt in awhile.

Tonight, after I put Audrey to bed, I sat on the couch. Mason was asleep on the couch next to me. Allison was asleep on the sofa. Alena was playing on the computer, and Julianne was lying on the living room floor. Yes, unfortunately, over the summer, our bedtime routine for the kids has become very lax, and quite often, they sleep wherever they crash out. Of course, this will change in the coming weeks, as school is returning. Anywho.... Out of nowhere, Julianne gets up and comes over to me at the couch. She is such a pretty girl. She was wearing her cute mint green and pink pajama pants and a light blue shirt. They don't match, but she dressed herself for bed, and she did a darn good job without my help. Without words, she just sort of climbed into my lap, and cuddled up so she could be in a position to fall asleep in my lap. This child never does this...to me, anyway. Sometimes she will fall asleep in Jeff's lap, but never me. Her face was ever so sweet. Her long tan hair with her curls, with the front of her hair pulled up into a small ponytail on the top of her head. Her bee stung lips. Her full cheeks. Her beauty was striking to me, and I stared at her. I told her I loved her. She said, "I wuv you too"...and then she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

It made me reflect on my life. I seem to always be running and rushing and panicking and always hurrying. But tonight, I had a fleeting moment of stillness. I looked around the room at all my babies, except for the one who was actually in a bed! They are all growing so fast, and getting so big. I thought to myself that this little 5 year old balled up in my lap, would soon be way too big to fit on my lap, and that this would very soon be something of the past. Holding my baby something of the past???? So, I held her. I held her for so long my arm fell asleep. I rubbed her face, and kissed her forehead. Such a sweet girl.

And for a few moments tonight, I felt the mommy in me.

Good me. Good me!!!

Well, lol....I am so proud of myself. I have taken my little calender, and have written everything from the school year calander in it.....early dismissals, spring break, all school mass days, etc., etc. I have written in the times of Julianne's speech and OT's. I have written in my what Saturday's and Sunday's I will be working starting in September. Yay me!! A little bit of progress is always nice. Now....when I know the days and times, I will add Girl scout days, Doctor visits, volleyball, swimming and such.

This is good. I feel a teeny bit proud of myself. Let's see how long until I lose this one.
:)

Back to that darn Daytimer...

A few posts back, I blogged about how excited I was to buy a new daytimer....to keep all my very important appointments in.

Well, I lost it. It is in this house somewhere, but I don't know where I stuck it. Darn it. I so wanted it to be different this time.

However, I did purchase a pocket calender, and, and and....I put all the school dates and OT dates and speech dates in there already!! So, I did good, and I am doing good so far. It is my very big goal this year, to put everything in that book in regards to school, three girl scouts, preschool, work, Juli's therapies and everything else! I am soooooooo going to try really hard to be more organized this school year....

which, as I did my calender, realized school starts in two weeks.

Oh
my
Gosh.

We have had a REALLY great summer, and I am sad it is coming to an end.

But I am even more sad that I have to start the whole, getting kids up early, crap.
:)

Petoskey, Michigan....

We finally got to take a vacation. After missing the last three years of the family reunion, this year we got to go!!! It was held in Petoskey, Michigan, where Jeff's sister Patty and her family lives. It was fabulous, and beautiful, and just plain awesome. The kids had a blast every single day. We were so very fortunate that things fell into place for us to be able to go. Patty and Pat graciously hosted us for the entire week we were there. Jeff was able to cash in some life insurance to get enough for us to not have to worry about gas and a little spending money too and from, and I stashed away some money for awhile, so we even had a little secret money to go with.

I took about 180 pictures, and they are all awesome. I will share some here. I am so blessed to have such great family on my side as well as Jeff's side. We really, really....and I can't stress really enough, had a great time.

Cousin Catie was such a blessing to us. She is Patty and Pat's daughter. She just took all the kids under her wing and entertained them, and made the trip even more special for all of us. Here are some Catie and kid pics.

Making heart and Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes:

At the park:

Projects!

And just a few more for fun: