Mosaic Roll Call

It took months, but it's finally finished. Through the efforts of several moms, including myself, we completed this mosaic art installation as a school fundraiser. It had been eons since I last made a mosaic so having that skill revived was a bonus for me. The visual beauty that it adds to our school just makes me so proud to have taken part in this project and my kids are just thrilled to see their handprints and names out front of their school.

Lock Down Drill

This week was drill practice at Aidan's school. They did fire drills, earthquake drills, and lock down drills. What, you aren't familiar with lock down drills? Yeah, neither was I until Aidan told us all about them during dinner.

A lock down drill in Aidan's words "you have to close the door and stay away from the windows so that the criminal or robber doesn't see you. You can hide under your desk."

There was no discussion about the criminal possibly being a shooter. I was relieved about this, because frankly, I really wasn't prepared to explain to my boys that during a lock down there would possibly be someone with a gun who may shoot someone.

What I do know, is hearing my kids have to practice lock down drills in elementary school makes me truly sad. What has our society become that my kids innocence has to be tainted in such a manner.

I Think I've Managed to Overcome our Homework Struggle

It's been a long time since I've posted I've been trying to figure out how to manage school and the homework struggle. We've been in school for a couple of months now and I think I've finally found the answer to this trick....thank goodness! By week 2 of school I felt like I was walking a tightrope when it came time for homework. If I didn't get it balanced out soon, I was doomed for misery the rest of the school year. I just didn't know what the best way to manage it was. Aidan now in 2nd grade has a significant amount of homework. Despite the fact that it's really extremely easy, more a test of patience for Aidan since he's been doing this stuff since he was 4 yrs old, he still has difficulty getting it done because of the mere fact that it's totally boring. I tried to explain to him how he could get it done in 5 minutes if he would just focus. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to matter to him. The added struggle has been his brothers' distraction. Trying to send them to their room until Aidan is done with his homework proved unsuccessful. Boys get rowdy and Aidan wants to know what they're doing. So, I've started assigning homework (preschool worksheets and art projects) to Miles and Liam so they are doing homework along side Aidan. In the beginning there were a few objections from Liam " Homework, why do I have to do homework!?" Most recently, they've fallen into the groove and know the drill now. They sit together and do their homework. Aidan gets to focus and get his work done, with a little bit of struggle, giggling and joking, as well as correcting his brothers homework (have to remind him that's not his responsibility). With a bit of redirecting homework gets done, not as quickly as I would hope but it's coming along. The only problem now, is homework for three just means I'm getting pulled in 3 directions at once "Mommy how do you this? Mommy Is this right? Mom why do I have to do this?". Which clearly I know this is what my future holds once they're all in school but I'm just not ready for it now. Or maybe I will never be, so I need to figure out how to balance this out so I can make it across that tightrope in one piece, with my sanity.

A Murder at the Souk

Last weekend in the presence of 48, including royalty, sultans, merchants, genies, shoppers, a crazy beggar and many other interesting characters, there was a murder near the Oasis Bar and Baba's Banquet right smack in the middle of the souk, ahem..actually smack in the middle of Jenny's living room, the home I helped transform into a magical Arabian marketplace.







Six mom's including myself hosted an Arabian nights murder mystery party as part of a fundraiser for Aidan's school. With weeks of preparation, and yards and yards of fabric, a zillion stings of lights, and lots of gold and glitter we were able to create an amazing setting, transforming a home into a full oasis of Arabian fun. It was almost painful taking it down after the party, considering how much work went into it.



We served a feast fit for a Sultan, grilled meats, curries, kapsa, couscous, cucumber yogurt, falafels, a variety of rice dishes plus much, much more and ended with exquisite desserts, turkish delights, stuffed dates, cardamom rice pudding, semolina cake...all of which we the hosts made. It was my first time cooking Arab cuisine, not only was the food exotic but it was delicious too! We had belly dancers perform during dinner. We sent our guests home with a CD of the magical music played that evening and some incense so they could recreate the atmosphere at home.
Needless to say, our extraordinary efforts we put forth to create a magical Arabian evening was all well worth it. We had so much fun, with everyone dressing up and role playing through the murderous plot. Definitely a fundraising event worth repeating.

Homework

I'm amazed at the amount of homework that is assigned to my 1st grader...and sometimes I'm also a bit resentful because it cuts into family time. Even though it's all pretty easy for Aidan, he insists that I be there right with him while he does it. Somehow I'm going to have to cut him loose and have him work on it maybe at the kitchen counter as I complete some of my own tasks.

I usually try to get Aidan to do his homework before we pick up his brothers in attempts to reduce the distractions. We aren't always successful with this so the next best option is to have Miles and Liam do homework too. Miles especially really enjoys this, as a matter of fact, he often requests to do homework. I'm glad he sees it as a game an has fun with it. I sure do hope he feels the same about it when he's in elementary school and has real homework that needs to be turned in.

Calendar Pride

Inside this package was a sweet gift for Mommy and Daddy (or should I say Mom and Dad, that's another post) that Aidan was so very proud of.




Aidan made this "Seasons" calendar in his computer lab. He did the illustrations depicting each season and with the assistance of parent volunteers, his teacher assembled the calendars. Each student decorated an envelope in which the calendar was wrapped in. This was such a thoughtful and practical gift that we just loved. Receiving a handmade gift from a child is just one of the sweetest gifts you could receive.

Not Halloween Yet

No not Halloween yet, even though this little pirate might make you think so. Today was Aidan's school spaghetti feed and first PTA mtg. We went as a family, enjoyed a fun meal (and sangria too!) with classmates and families. Childcare was provided and had activities, games and face painting for the kids while the parents attended the PTA meeting. Everybody enjoyed themselves and we're so pleased to be part of such a dedicated community..."every child, everyday"

Snack Time, Snack Week

Aidan's kindergarten class has each parent sign up to provide snacks for a week. This happens to be my week. I have to provide a snack for 20 kids. They request that it be a healthy snack, preferably organic, with no trans fats or processed sugars, no peanut butter or peanut products, and that you provide 2-3 choices. I shopped for the week and this is what I have planned:

Mon - Barbara's Organic raspberry/fig newtons and organic raisins

Tue - Honey wheat bagels with cream cheese and strawberry spread, organic vanilla soy milk

Wed - string cheese sticks, honey sesame crackers, and dried cranberries, vanilla soy milk

Thurs - blueberries, raspberries, wholegrain cheese crackers and apple juice

Friday - bananas, Colby cheese and honey wheat pretzels and organic lemonade.

Aidan is a picky eater, so I had a difficult time coming up with snacks that were suitable for the class and that my child would eat as well. I kept reverting back to peanut butter and having to remind myself, no peanut products.

The nice thing about getting this week done early in the year is that I won't have to worry about it the rest of the year.

First PTA

I attended my first PTA meeting and let me tell you I found it a bit daunting. I think it's fantastic that they raise so much money for the school and the kids enrichment programs. With out this, our kids wouldn't have the gardening, PE, music and art classes and the playground wouldn't be as fresh and rejuvenated as it is right now. In order to do this though, they have lots of events, fundraisers, and need for volunteers...I mean lots! Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to being active in Aidan's school, I've signed up to be a room parent, I've signed up to bring snacks for the third week of September, and have signed up to chaperon their first field trip. I'm just saying, it's just the beginning, we're just into our second week of school. Phew! I'm realizing, the ball just started rolling and I've got to get psyched to keep that ball rolling...commitment and involvement is what it takes to make a school great and I sure want Aidan's school to be all it can be. So, PTA here I am.

Mama's Kindergarten Jitters

I know I'm not alone with this one. There must be lots of Mommies out there with the kindergarten jitters. At least thinking there's lots out there makes me feel better about it. I can't help but worry about my baby (yes I know he's 5) going off to kindergarten in a great big school with hundreds of kids and 22 in his class for him to get lost amongst. I can't help but worry about whether I've prepared him for this moment. Have I done my mommy job? Will he be able to manage his zipper on his lunch pack? Will he be able to peel his own banana? Will he remember to wash his hands after using the potty? Will he make new friends right away? Will he shine like a star and be a good student (of course he will, hee! hee!)? All these thoughts just have been racing through my head, keeping me up at night, just wondering. In 5 days, my baby boy will be heading off to his first day of school. Yes I'm excited for him but I'm also anxious about all the "what ifs?", the millions of possibilities of "what ifs?"

I've talked to him about kindergarten and his new school. I've driven him by and pointed out his soon to be new kindergarten playground. He seems so nonchalant about it all. I ask him how he feels about it, he shrugs his shoulders and says excited. And I say "really, really?" And he says "sure". I'm not sure what I'm expecting but I would think a show of a little more emotion, whether it be him bouncing with excitement or trembling with nervousness, but please kid...show me something!

Oh well, in the meantime I'll continue to check and re-check my lists. Did I get everything he might need? Do I have enough lunch foods for him? Blah, blah, blah