Headed out

Scouts and gymnastics

Day to divide and conquer 

Then cheer on Steelers

Can this count as 4 posts?

A couple weeks later and here we are. This is what has been happening.

EVERLY:

• has started calling her brother "Cotlan" instead of "Totlan."
• wore jewelry to school three out of five days last week; one of those days, she got her necklace taken away because she wouldn't stop playing with it, even when her teacher asked her repeatedly not to. She's not allowed to wear that one to school anymore.
• changed her clothes three or four times this morning before leaving for school. Ultimately, she wanted to wear a sweater. As soon as we got to school, she took it off anyway.
• has been getting out of her bed regularly at night. I finally told her that I am going to start marking down how many times she gets out of bed, and there are going to be consequences if she gets too many marks. (I have yet to figure out how many is "too many.")  Last night, she didn't get out of bed until 11pm, when she woke to go potty. (She won't get a mark for that.)
• loves cutting and gluing, is very good at recognizing her letters and letter sounds, and is very motivated to learn.
• thinks that she can spell, because she keeps randomly spouting off letters and asking me what that spells. For example: "Mommy, what does 't-t-t-t-l-p-l-r-y' spell?." Usually, I sound out what she spells and then tell her it isn't a word. Once, though, she said, "Mommy, what does 'e-a-r-l-y' spell?" I had to give that one to her. Cortlan was amazed she could spell "early".
• doesn't care much about saving things. When she is done, it can be thrown away.
• started gymnastics and loves it. Though, she needed to be sure to have the ponytail holder that matched the leotard she wore.

CORTLAN:

• laughs and says "You kicked me?? No you didn't!" when his sister clearly means "tricked." He calls her on her mispronunciations all the time...maybe that is why she has started to say his name right.
• was on "yellow" three out of five days last week at school when we picked him up. This isn't as bad as red, but he should be on green. His teacher said, "He was being way too silly with his friends."
• has been doing a great job at getting himself dressed in the morning. For the most part.
• seems to be taking advantage of his color blindness (for John's benefit: his color vision deficiency). Several of the worksheets that he has had lately have required him to correctly identify colors. For example, he was to color all of the pictures that rhymed with "boat" blue and the ones that rhymed with "jar" red. Other worksheets had him using as many as eight or ten colors. I asked his teacher how he has been doing with those activities. She said that his friends help him tremendously, giving him all of the crayons, telling him what color they are. "Here, Cortlan, this is the brown one! This is the red one!" I can just picture it.
• went to the allergist in August and found out that, among the things for which he was tested, he is severely allergic to grass, ragweed, two other weeds that I can't remember, oak, and cat. He did not show a response for crab, lobster, or shrimp. He is on a nasal spray, a liquid allergy medicine, and eye drops. Yesterday, at the follow-up appointment, we found that he may have to get his adenoids removed. An ENT appointment is up next to find more information about that.
• must save everything. It is driving me crazy. Every piece of paper. Every bottle cap, paper towel tube, even the used dixie cups he drinks water out of at school. He sobbed when I told him we were going to have to throw some of it away.
• started soccer again. He got a goal in the first game and was thrilled! The second game didn't go quite as well, but he did seem to enjoy it. He is really liking gymnastics.

JOHN:

• has been working hard and doing a great job at what he does. I am proud of him...it isn't easy to deal with as many people as he does with the grace and respect in which he does it. He is very appreciated at work and at home.
• has been able to experience the "gymnastics thing" this year which involves listening to a whole lot of moms chatting away in the viewing room. He is driven as crazy (or crazier) than I typically am.
• washes dishes like nobody's business.

I:

• have been wondering how I got such a high maintenance daughter.  Seriously. 
• can't believe that I spelled kindergarten incorrectly in two posts. And my mom had to call me to let me know about it.
• have been running regularly (though half the time not getting home until after 9pm) and finally was convinced to sign up for my 3rd half-marathon.  I have a running buddy that I get to run in the evenings with most days, and I have been loving the opportunity to chat and have some social time while exercising.  Often, it is the only socializing I get to do.
• have had some very stressful days at work lately, but I am kind of proud of myself in how I handled them.
• am somehow calmly appreciating my life.  I have alone time (kind of); I have time when it is just me and the kids; I have time when it is the four of us; I have time when it is just John and I...and I appreciate and enjoy all of those times for what they are.  I realize that I need all of that, and that it is all good.

Recently...

My kids are playing so well together right now that I almost feel that I shouldn't be in the same room with them for fear of ruining the whole thing.  I mean, I just heard them give the Little People pig a time out.  Why do I want to mess with that?  So, I figure I have a couple minutes to vacuum or write lesson plans.  Or start a blog entry. 
As I have clearly not had the time to write much in the last week and a half, it isn't for lack of ideas.  Here is some randomness from recent times:

• My kids are surprisingly well-adjusted.  Or maybe they are just tired of us.  After all, they have been stuck with two teachers as parents and, thus, stuck with both of us all summer long.  I for one have enjoyed it, but at the end of the summer, leaving them can go one of two ways:  the screaming-and-crying-because-they-are-so-used-to-being-with-us-that-they-are-like-barnacles-stuck-to-our-legs-as-we-try-to-make-our-exit way, or the "See ya!  Good riddance!" way.  Well, there were no tears as we left last Friday for the weekend to head to the fabulous wedding of one of my bff's.  And when I called my sister (who so kindly watched the kids for us) to see if anyone wanted to talk to me, Cortlan literally said, "That's a 'No thanks' for me."  Ummm...ok?
• Thinking the whole thing was a bit of a fluke, I braced myself for the kids' first day of school this week.  But, the two bounded out of bed in the morning, got ready with no resistance, and happily ate their banana as we kissed them goodbye.  It was like we hadn't skipped a beat since dropping them off at the beginning of June.  At the end of the day, they were both happy and smiling and looking forward to going back the next day.  Whew!  Now if only the morning routine would stay so smooth...
• A few things about running:  There are only three weeks left until the big Race Day.  I am feeling good.  But I can't believe how just three days back at work totally affects how I feel when running.  I am sure I will get used to it to a degree, but I will SO miss my morning runs.  And not wearing heels all day.
• A question:  Could it be that summer seems even shorter now because a day is less of a percentage of our lives as we age?  A four-year-old's summer is almost 5% of his life.  A 34-year-old's summer is only about 0.5% of her life.  Yes, I calculated it.  I have come to terms with my nerdy side.  And I think it is a pretty good theory.  I mean, it does seem that summer is about 10 times shorter than it used to be, right?
• Cortlan started gymnastics on Wednesday.  He absolutely loves it, and I am so happy about that.  It is apparent to me, however, that he has inherited my athletic prowess.  (Keep in mind that I did not make the volleyball team when I tried out in 9th grade.  I don't think I have ever in my life hit a softball.  And my golf skills are reserved to the occasional mini-golf excursion, which is great if the high score wins.  Yes, I run, but that requires no coordination.)  But, he is having fun and I enjoy watching him.  Everly, on the other hand, could deal without having to wait through the entire class.  I have to work on something else to occupy her.
• And speaking of Cortlan, he has actually been sliding more towards the helpful side of the spectrum, the other side of which being hindrance.  Kids always want to help.  It just happens to be that, most times, them helping really just means more work for the parents.  The other day, though, the kids and I were sweeping the grass clippings off of the sidewalk, shoveling them up, and dumping them into the wheelbarrow.  At one point, I had to take Everly inside to go potty, and when I came back, Cortlan had cleaned up and entire pile of clippings, and I didn't even have to clean up after him.  Today, John said to him, "You have been a really big help recently.  I can't wait until you can do plumbing and fix the car."  Cortlan replied hopefully, "I can plumb the car today!"  Maybe we will keep him from the tools for a while.