ewer wondering...

The Boat's Here!

Eric drove the boat up from the Cape last Friday where it had been in storage all winter.  Usually, by now, we'd have had it in the water for weeks and he'd have already have filled our freezer.  But our continued recent rainy weather and rough ocean conditions meant it had to stay down there a bit longer.  You can imagine how that nearly killed Eric!  Fortunately, though, all is well in his world again -- the boat is here, docked a mere 10 minutes from the house.

He and Audrey (yahoo... she's wearing a ponytail -- it looks so good -- but shhhh don't say anything) took it out for a little spin on Saturday, while the boys and I stayed home to do some gardening.  (Well, maybe I did the gardening...)  They caught a ton of mackeral, which they then brought home for dinner.  I'm not a mackeral fan, but Eric smoke it (in a smoker, silly) and then made up some sushi with the jasmine rice I'd made.  It was good.

We went on the boat on Sunday, too.  The whole family, including my parents.  The water was rough, so we didn't last long, but it felt great being out there again!

Stress

I feel like Willie-Woo in the above picture -- just trying to get through my opponent.  But in my case, I'm the opponent!  My patience is very low these days and my frustration level is too high.  Oh my poor poor kids!

I showed Eric my super rosy rosacia-spotted cheeks last week (my sure sign of stress) and instead of giving me the sympathy I sought, he threw out the question, "What do YOU have to be stressed about?"  [With stress on the 'you' part.] 

Normally a response like that would make my blood boil and throw me into a tizzy whereby I'd start spewing out a long list of the things I've got going on that he just couldn't understand.  This time, though, just looked at him and listened.  He assured me he wasn't discounting me at all, more that he was just reminding me that many [okay, most] of the stresses I'm feeling are completely of my OWN making!  I hate when he's right (again).

So for the past week I've been replaying our conversation in my head, vowing to change some things around here.  I said no to two PTO requests, took someone else up on her offer to fill in for me at an event (I've done it a few times for her), sat down at Jack's football practice and chatted with friends instead of racing home to start dinner, and bought preplanted geraniums in good-enough containers instead of transplanting them into cuter ones!  Laugh at me sure, I get it, but each little piece was enlightening.  Good enough sometimes really is good enough, and sometimes you just have to say no!  And the sky didn't fall... 

Since then I've also started thinking about what to give up [or at least ease up on] and have a good-sized list in the my head.  I remember  how great it felt back in November, when I had Pneumonia of all things, letting go out of necessity and I''m embarassed to say I actually found myself wishing I'd catch Jack's little flu bug (that he had this week) just to have the excuse to cut out of some obligations.  Yeah, I'm that cRaZy!  It's a long learning process.  One of these days, I'll get there.

Summer is Coming

"Summer is coming."  Do you watch HBO's Game of Thrones?  One noble family named Stark, who reside in the great North, has the motto "Winter is coming" and they mention it several times an episode.  Right now I feel as if the Ewer's might just be "Summer is coming."  (Especially since we've started our annual nightly tick check, deemed necessary given those two monsters above who love rolling in the grass!)

Now back to Game of Thrones...  The Stark's motto is intended to express a need to be aware and on alert to danger.  For the Ewers, however, it instead means it's perhaps time to play and have fun!  'Cause, man, we are sooooo ready!

The kids and I are done.  Done, done, done.  We're ready to be off routine.  We're ready to wake without the clamour of an alarm.  And we're ready to start living in bathing suits and shorts.

As for Eric, well, he talks about nothing other than fishing, and it doesn't help that one of his favorite TV shoes is Wicked Tuna, set in neighboring Gloucester and showing the struggles and excitment of commercial tuna fishing.  (I knew one captain as kids, we went to school together for years.)  The ocean's calling him, much like summer is calling me!

The first grade at the kids' school has begun the Alphabet Countdown.  I think they're on the Letter E, which means there's about 21 days of school left.  21 long days of school.  I suspect their teachers feel the same way, for the emails have been flying with regard to end-of-the year parties and activities -- tie dying, fiestas, field trips and more. Homework is light, which is good because they're having trouble focusing.  I am constantly buying them new paperbacks at the grocery checkout just to keep them motivated -- the library surely would be cheaper, but fitting in a visit in the middle of our current crazy schedules just isn't worth it!

We built a small backyard fire pit, and have already roasted marshmallows in it.  And I've dragged out the front porch's wicker.  Every day I do a little more pruning and gardening, but the past week's on-again off-again rain has made it difficult to really dig in [pun not-intended].  Our CSA is ready to go, and our planters are waiting to be filled.

As we nail down more of our summer plans, which definitely do include tennis and sailing lessons for the kids, I can't help but notice that everywhere we look, we're seeing signs (albeit little ones) that tell us "Summer is [indeed] coming..."

Teacher Appreciation Week 2012

I had so much fun putting together the kids' teacher gifts this year!  They each have two (a lead and a para) so I needed to find something reasonably priced that was still cute!  I knew I'd found it when I spotted these plastic pitchers in Home Goods last month for under $10.  I hit a home run minutes later when I realized I could use these cute fish straws and cocktail napkins that I'd already placed in my cart too (with intentions to use them this summer with the kids)!  Voila!  Instant gift!

While assembling them, though, I decided they needed a little more oomph and I came up with the idea of a homemade cocktail recipe booklet.  I looked up some fun sounding/yummy tasting drink recipes and printed them out on bright scrapbook paper I already had on hand.  Because Jack's teacher is expecting her first baby and I'm not sure if Will's teacher is even a teetotaler, I stuck to non-alcoholic ones.  (But knowing Audrey's teacher personally and well, I added a bottle of great wine to hers, along with a can of Sprite Zero and some already cut-up berries and summer fruits for an instant sangria.  I received a text from her not long ago with a great big 'thank you' in it!)

We also remember the principal, the school secretary and nurse -- they're awfully good to us, and my kids love them so.  I snagged some pretty gerbera daisies at Home Depot and had Audrey write a little message on the chalkboard.

Part of my PTO Board duties is coming up with the daily teacher gifts we leave in their mailboxes each morning.  Each day's is a new surprise for them, but because we have a tight PTO Budget for this, it's always a fun challenge.

Monday we gave animal crackers saying, "We're crackers for you.  Tuesday (shown) was Smarties candies saying, "Our kids are Smarties because of you."  Wednesday brought star-shaped toy sunglasses saying, "Your teaching gives us stars in our eyes."  Thursday was Razzles candies, with the saying, "You razzle dazzle us" and Friday was Hershey's kisses, saying "It's so sweet having you at our school."  It's so fun, but man is it a lot of work putting together 70 or so favors each day!  Thankfully, Jack and Audrey helped.

And so another Teachers Appreciation Week comes and goes -- and I've already moved on towards planning their year end presents!

Waiting His Whole Life

Eric's been waiting his whole life  to have a son old enough to take over mowing.  Jack's been waiting his whole life  to be considered old enough to do so.  Looks like both of their wishes came true the other night.  And so it goes...

Toss Toss, Sort Sort

I spent every spare minute of the weekend working in my office, going through four years of children's school and artwork, and sorting pile after pile of whatever I once felt was important!  Paper clutter is my devil!

I sorted and filed all of the kids' work into these filing boxes (with way too much help from one particular child, who loved seeing her old stuff and who rescued much of it from my trash bag), but my joy was shortlived when I remembered there's a giant storage bin in Will's closet left over from their preschool days!  Seriously, who hangs on to this much stuff!

Each bin has hanging folders tagged as Age 1, 2, 3, 4, then Kindergarten, First, Second, and so on all the way to Twelfth.  My plan is to only hold on to a few items per grade, but as I stated, I had a lot of "help" this weekend and foresee my having to go through it again and secretly toss a bit more!  But that part should be easy to do one late night paired with a good TV movie.

When the kids move into homes of their own some day, I will give them only two bins -- one filled with school papers and the other with childhood memories (going home infant outfit, first shoes, first sports team shirt, etc.).  I don't have steadfast rules as to what I save, but seem to mostly lean towards pieces with writings/drawings about themselves or our family and those with finger/hand/foot prints.

Of course, I have a bit more more of my own purging to do, but it feels so much more manageable with the kids' stuff out of the way.  (These trash bags are so so heavy!)

On the plus side, I found a much needed password that allowed Eric to finally break into one of our WiFi networks and access all kinds of good stuff for his iPad.  It had been a bone of contention for a long time.  And no, this time I wasn't the guilty party who misplaced it.  I also found the "A Day Out With Thomas" tickets I purchased and tucked safely away in a spot that I never would have remembered come October when he arrives.

Will and First Grade

Eric and I formally made the decision to send Will on to First Grade.  We met with his teacher again last week and informed the principal of our decision on Thursday.  I've been sitting with it since.

 

Will's struggled a bit with his learning this year, and his teacher had recommended that he be retained for another year of Kindergarten.  It's up to the parents this year only; next year and thereafter, parents don't get a vote.

Her concerns centered mainly on his emotional development, saying additionally that he shows early signs of having a language-based learning disability (no surprise given Eric's own).  She also said he'd likely be labeled SPED down the road, which is good news actually because it opens up more resources and makes me more hopeful.  For now his age is against him insofar as our pursing matters further.

 

We've hired a tutor for the summer (and hopefully beyond) from Landmark (the Dyslexia and language-based learning disability school located in our town -- it's renowned throughout the country) and will have him formally tested some time this coming winter (after teacher progress reports).  I did make a first-grade teacher request since there will only be two this year (and because we know a bit about their teaching styles given that Jack and Audrey already had each), but there are no guarantees.

 

So sad that he's struggled so much this year, but happy to have a plan for going forward.  And who knows, a different environment and teacher might mean a whole different learning experience for him.  His current Kindergarten teacher is rather unique and and not a bit relaxed, but man can she teach!  Will already knows more than the other two did at this stage combined!

It's a little odd putting this personal piece 'out there', but since this is a family journal of sorts (with my publishing it each year in hard copy), I didn't want to leave this out.  It's been a big part of our year, and some day, we'll look back and want to remember this time...

Oh How Our Garden Grows

Plans are well underway for our summer vegetable garden.  Eric and the kids carefully measured the chosen spot in the backyard, then traveled to Home Depot for supplies.  We'll have three beds, in the most sunniest of spots.

So far, they've only been able to build the frames, due to our damp and rainy weather of late.  Every so often they peek at their seed packets, showing me all of the foods we'll grow.  Beans, peas, cucumbers, tomatoes... the list goes on and on.  It's exciting and just what my Indiana-farmer-BOY-turned-New England-fisher-MAN needed!  He's as into it as the kids.

They're doing the hard work now, my job will begin soon.  Planting and watering and weeding.  And eating...  Oh the eating we'll do!  But just in case it doesn't turn out quite as expected, we've rejoined our CSA and renewed our annual membership!

Guilty

Lately I've been noticing all of the little things I still do for the kids.  Like pulling their grapes from the stem and cutting up their apples into bite-sized slices.  Heck, I'm still peeling their apples, for that matter!  (Fortunately, though, my bottom-wiping days are long over!)

I've come to realize that I'm super guilty of babying my gang and so have been working on cutting back and fostering independence.  Which is why one gave me a strange look at breakfast yesterday when I told him/her to get their own juice and another questioned me when told to fold up the blanket s/he'd just discarded.  They're capable of doing more, and it's time we all recognize this -- even if it means risking having the entire gallon of milk spilled on the floor!

Home

Will's home with me today, with complaints of a little tummy ache.  Since there's a flu bug going around his Kindergarten class and he doesn't generally complain (and hasn't caught on to the whole 'playing hooky' concept), I thought it best to play it safe.  Admittedly, I like having the company.  And I've missed watching Caillou.  Who'd have ever thought...