Growing Like Gang Busters!

I bet you were all wondering when I would post an update on our garden. Well, the wait is over! You can all breathe a deep sigh of relief... :-)

Three years ago, right after we bought this house, I planted a fruit tree in a corner of the backyard. I knew it would take a while before it started bearing fruit, so I was patient. Summer after summer went by, and I started to get frustrated. I was thrilled when this summer, the fruit tree got flowers on it. It had never done that before, so I was sure it must have meant something important! Here's what the tree looked like on April 1.

Perhaps I should have paid more attention to the date I took the picture, and considered the possibility that my fruit tree was playing a joke on me. The tree got only 3 pieces of fruit that looked like peaches. But a few weeks later I went out to the tree and all 3 pieces were still very small, and were completely shriveled up. The tree never produced any more fruit. And I never gave it another thought, until today. Hector was mowing the lawn, and I heard the lawnmower stop all of a sudden. He came into the house and said "Guess what I found?" And from behind his back he pulled out a huge peach! "No way" I yelled! We went out to the tree and it is, in fact, producing fruit. Avery ate 2 peaches by herself. They were SO good and really sweet! There's only about 6 more peaches on the tree, but still, it's something!

I think seeing Avery's excitement was the best part of it all. As for the rest of my garden, this time last year, my garden was completely dead. So, a few weeks ago when I noticed that everything in my garden was starting to turn brown, I assumed that everything was about to die. I stopped watering the garden and waited. I was really looking forward to digging up everything after it died, so that I could start my winter garden. And then the rain came... It rained, and rained, and rained some more. It rained for 5 days straight. That's when I posted on here that I was so bummed about not being able to do anything the week before school started with the kids. Yeah, well my garden must have got the message that it was not time to die after all, because everything started growing again (even the crepe myrtle that Hector dug up back in March and we thought he had killed, it came back up!). Today, I picked 20 pieces of okra, 30 jalapenos, a cantaloupe, 2 cucumbers, a bell pepper, 1 Roma tomato, 3 peaches, and 9 grape tomatoes. So far we have harvested 5 cantaloupes, and there are several more growing in the garden. I have 3 canning jars full of pickled jalapenos, and another 25 jars of every kind of pickle you can imagine that I made from the cucumbers. I can't even keep up with everything, it's all growing so fast. I don't know what was in that rain, but it's crazy, I tell you. And I'm loving every minute of it.

08/30/08: Our very overgrown garden (above) and one of our cantaloupes (below)

I could put a bunch of quotes here from famous gardeners, about gardening and it's rewards, or how life relates to gardening, or how much joy one can get from gardening... But I won't... Instead, I will leave you all with one of my own quotes that I made to Avery this morning, and her response.

Patty: "Everything in our garden is growing like gang busters!"

Avery: "Yeah, and it all tastes really good too!"

The Good vs. The Not-So-Good

If there's anything I have discovered when it comes to helping out at the kid's school, it's that the same 3 or 4 parents always seem to be the ones who volunteer to do everything. I realize that a lot of parents work, and they are busy, but I would think that all parents would want to help out in some way. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Still, the teachers (and ultimately the kids) need the help and support of the parents. The good thing about me helping out at the school is that I get a chance to see them interacting with their teachers and classmates. I also get a chance to let their teachers know that I am an involved parents. I've seen children suffer in school, and I think it could have made a huge difference in the child's success at school if their parent(s) would have been more involved. The not-so-good thing about me helping out in both kids' classrooms is that I have an active 1 1/2 year old, and many of his naps (and therefore, my quiet time too) are sure to get interrupted. But that is a small price to pay.

This morning, Samuel's teacher sent me an email. In the email she said that she is "enjoying getting to know Samuel's personality. He has a cute sense of humor." Seems like Samuel might be telling his knock-knock jokes in class! No seriously, his teacher seems extremely nice and I am thrilled with how well he is doing in her class. His teacher had a quote under her name in the email. It said "It is easier to build a child than to repair an adult." I quickly Googled it, and found out that the quote came from a former slave and 19th century racial justice advocate named Frederick Douglass. I really enjoyed reading about him and his life, and I thought that I would include this link here for others to read:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1539.html

That quote and everything that Frederick Douglass worked so hard for in his life are things that we can sometimes take for granted, especially with the public education system. We are very blessed. So, I will take "the good" right along with the "not-so-good" of public education! And I will feel very thankful that I can help out in any way I am needed.

In Other News

Despite the fact that we have been so focused around here on Samuel and Avery starting school, there are a few other pieces of information that I would like to share with everyone.

I have started tutoring the same little girl I tutored last year after school. Even though I had set in my mind that I was not going to watch her again this year, I winded up agreeing to do it. And here is why...

When I spoke to her father on Monday morning, I told him that on Wednesday nights our family would be going up to our church where the children would go to choir practice and missionary lessons. I told him that he would need to pick her up from my house on Wednesdays by 5:00. When he told me that there was no way he could do that with his work schedule, we both stood there for a minute in silence. He asked me if children who are not members of our church could participate in the Wednesday night activities. With shame and embarrassment in my heart, I told him that I would be honored to take his daughter to church with us, and I apologized for not suggesting it myself.

My plan was to tell this father that I could not tutor his daughter after school, but God had another plan.

In other news... Isaac seems to be adjusting to days at home without the big kids around. He stills goes up to Avery's bedroom door from time to time, and knocks on it and calls out for her. But we have been keeping ourselves busy and Isaac seems to be enjoying his new-found freedom. He brought me the remote control yesterday, and started banging on the t.v. Seems that Samuel's daily cartoon marathons over the summer must have rubbed off on Isaac. He really likes Sesame Street. What is it about Elmo that attracts the undivided attention of so many kids? Whatever it is, I wish that I could bottle it up and use it whenever I need to get their attention.

Today, Isaac discovered that standing on his toy t.v. is pretty funny because when he steps on it, it starts to play music that sounds all smeared together. This is big fun! But you know what is even more fun?



Jumping off of the toy t.v. into the cat's pillow while Mommy is yelling NO! That's definitely more fun!!! I didn't find it nearly as "fun" as Isaac did...

What else keeps the little man busy during the day? Glad you asked... Well, he loves dancing to music, whether it's actually playing in the house where we can both hear it, or just in his own head. :-)

Isaac, The Dancing Machine...

He also likes going on hour-long walks in our neighborhood, which I clocked at about 2.2 miles. My heels and pinky toes are showing the signs of going on these walks, but Isaac's feet still look great! He doesn't seem to mind sitting in the stroller for that long at all. He is having a grand ol' time...

"Can we go on another walk, please Mommy?"

Isaac also enjoys sitting quietly in his room on Avery's toy microwave, and when he thinks I'm not watching, he likes to count to 3 and chunk various items across his room. Hmmm, Isaac, who made this big mess in your room? I don't know, Mommy. Perhaps it was Avery. Oops, she's not here...

The Mess Maker

I honestly don't care how big of a mess he makes because life at home over the past 3 days has been peaceful and quiet! I must admit, this part of the big kids starting school has been nice... That's it for now. Hope everyone has a great day.

3rd Time's a Charm!

After Avery's "meltdown" in the school gym yesterday morning, I felt the need to sit her down last night and talk things through with her, in the hopes that dropping her off at school on the 3rd morning would go smoother than the first 2 mornings. I love the fact that my kids know they can be completely honest with me about how they are feeling. I asked her why she thought she reacted the way she did. And she told me everything she was feeling (scared, unsure, nervous) about starting Kindergarten. Starting school can be overwhelming, I know! I was terrified when I started Kindergarten. And over the past couple of days I have received emails and phone calls from many of you, who have shared similar school experiences with me.

I prayed yesterday before I had my talk with Avery that God would give me the right words to say to her... words that would help her to realize that while it is okay to feel scared, it's not okay to behave the way she did. And I think whatever it was that I said must have made an impact on Avery, because this morning when I went to drop her off in the gym, she gave me a big hug, kissed my cheek, asked me 2 questions, and then sat in her classroom's line. She sat there, and waved at me and waved at Samuel from across the gym. And when her teacher came to get her, she walked by me, gave me 1 more hug and kiss, and walked off with her classmates. She did it! "3rd time's a charm" is my new favorite saying. :-)

The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

It was the waiting that destroyed things this morning. On the first morning of school, parents are encouraged to walk their children to their classrooms. And as I wrote yesterday, things went okay with Samuel, probably because he knows by now how these things work. Saying goodbye to Avery yesterday did not go well though. In every childhood education class I've ever taken, and in every book or piece of advise given from early childhood specialists, when it comes to leaving your child in the care of someone else, the best advise that always seems to be given is to make your goodbyes fast; say your goodbyes, give your child a hug and a kiss, and then make a swift exit. Yesterday, that's what I tried to do with Avery, but then her teacher asked me to sit and stay a while... I should have politely declined her invitation, but I sat down. Which, as I expected, made Avery's fit even worse when I did leave a few minutes later.

So, after school yesterday I talked to Avery about it. I explained to her that on the 2nd day of school, I would need to take her and Samuel into the gym to wait for their teachers. This is how their school does the morning drop off. You can either pull up to the curb of the school where a teacher is waiting to open your car door (doesn't it sound so nice?) and let your children walk into the gym by themselves, or you can park, get out of your car, and walk with them to the gym. And since I know how my children are, I park and walk with them to the gym, where they are put into lines with their classmates to wait for their teachers to come get them and take them to their classes. At least, that's how it's supposed to work.

This morning, I parked the car and walked the kids into the gym, and Samuel walked off without even saying goodbye to me, and sat down in his line. :-( I still can't get over what a big kid he is sometimes!

But there was poor Avery, crying and holding my hand. She did not want to sit in her line. And since I remembered how much Samuel struggled with this drop off process last year, I offered to stand along the wall of the gym with Avery (like I did with Samuel last year), and wait for her teacher to come and get her. I would give her a big hug and a kiss and then she would take her teacher's hand. This worked like a charm with Samuel for the first few weeks of school. We did this every morning for around 6 weeks, until he became comfortable with the drop off routine, and he started sitting in line in the gym with his classmates. I was confident that this would work with Avery too. She reluctantly agreed to the plan. And so we stood there and waited, and waited, and waited for her teacher. And the longer we waited, the more intense and loud her sobbing became. Snot was pouring out of her nose, and her eyes were puffy and red. As I tried (and failed) to calm her down, other parents and teachers started to offer their help. And while I adore my daughter and sincerely appreciate other adults stepping in and trying to help, the attention seemed to make Avery's sobbing even worse. Finally, Avery's teacher arrived and tried to take Avery from me, but Avery had a bear hug grip around one of my thighs. She was not letting go. "No, I don't want to go to school. I hate school. I don't like it here. I'm just shy and I want to stay home." I held back the tears though, and the more I tried to reason with Avery, the tighter her grasp became. I looked at her teacher and told her that this was not how I wanted to leave my child. I could not leave her that way. Her teacher told me that I could walk her to class, but today was the final day I would be allowed to do that.

And so we walked, with me trying to push Isaac in his stroller with one hand, and trying to pry Avery off of my leg with my free hand. We walked and got to her classroom, where I told Avery that we simply could not say goodbye that way. I did not want to start my day like that, and I suspected that she did not want to start her day like that either. She eventually did calm down and I left her in the arms of her teacher. As I walked off, I could hear that she was still crying, and as I turned the corner, I started crying too.

It was heartbreaking. What else can I say?

I pulled myself together when I saw Samuel coming around the corner with his classmates, heading for his classroom. I waved to him and he smiled and waved back at me. His teacher stopped me and told me that Samuel had a great first day of school. He responded to her questions, he interacted with other children at group time, and he seemed to respond really well to her verbal instructions. I had recommended at the "Meet The Teacher" night that she should tell Samuel a few minutes beforehand when they were going to change activities. She said doing that seemed to really help Samuel in transition times, and she was thankful for the piece of advise. She also told me that they drew family portraits yesterday in class, and Samuel drew me, Hector, himself and Avery. And when he turned in his drawing, his teacher asked him if he had a baby brother at home. Samuel shook his head no. Then the teacher asked him if he had any pets, maybe a dog or a cat that he wanted to add to his drawing. Again, he shook his head no. I laughed and told his teacher that in fact, Samuel does have a baby brother (right here in the stroller), as well as 2 dogs and 1 cat. But, I told her, he doesn't really seem to care for the animals all that much. She laughed and said that at least we both know now that Samuel holds his baby brother in the same regard as the dogs and cat... Poor Isaac!

I left the school feeling relieved. Seeing how far Samuel has come in school reminded me of how he started Kindergarten. This time last year, I was feeling the same way. Samuel has come a long way! Knowing this fact, I am reassured when I think about Avery. I know that she will be okay too. And more than likely, 4 years down the road, I will be reminded of this time in the life of our family, and hopefully I will be able to laugh as I am prying Isaac off my thigh and leaving him in the arms of his Kindergarten teacher.

After School Update

Yes, I am back on here again. :-) But it is just to let everyone know that Samuel and Avery had a good first day of school. When I asked Samuel what he did today, he told me that he played with playdough, and that was it. When I questioned him more, he told me that he also ate lunch. That's it? Oh yeah, he also remembered playing on the playground and his friend Tanner broke his arm and was crying and they had to go inside and they called the ambulance and a fire truck came too, and then he went to the hospital. Yep! So, as you can see, nothing much really happened on Samuel's first day of school...

When I asked Avery what she did on her first day of school, she told me that she played with playdough, and then she read a book, and then she colored, and after that she ate lunch, then she played on the playground, and then had circle time, then she played with the baby dolls and played in the kitchen area, and after that she colored some more, then she read another book and had a snack, and then her teacher told her she needed to put her papers in her backpack and then she got her lunch box and lined up and then she came and saw me in the cafeteria. And oh yeah, she forgot to eat her Yogo's. That's all!

Whew, what a day!

First Day of School!

Well, it's here! The first day of school has arrived. Last night, getting Samuel and Avery to actually go to sleep was difficult. They were both crying about not wanting to start school, which of course made me start crying. Avery kept saying that she was going to miss me and that she wanted to be with me during the day. Samuel kept saying that he liked spending time with me much more than he liked spending time at school. I've been told before that the fact that my kids want to be at home is a good sign that they feel loved and comfortable in their home. And while I realize that ultimately that's a good thing, right now it just makes us all feel a bit sad. As I explained to Samuel and Avery last night, we are a close-knit family, and we love each other deeply. It will always be difficult, more than likely, for us to leave each other and deal with changes in our family. But, I told them that whenever they feel sad during the day at school, they can remember all of the wonderful days we have spent together, and remember that we will definitely have many more happy days together in the future.

This morning went about as smoothly as it could. We were eating breakfast together when Avery started crying. She told me that she knew she was supposed to be happy about starting school, but was it okay if she cried anyway? What can I say, she is definitely my daughter. The tears flow as freely from Avery as they do from me! :-)

We dropped Samuel off at his classroom first. He cried a little bit, but overall he did really great. And do you remember how he didn't want any pictures taken at Meet The Teacher Night? Well, today, he had hit his limit of picture taking once we actually got to school, and refused to smile in the picture above that Hector took of him and I at his desk. Oh well... I told him, as I was leaving, that this would be the only "First Day of First Grade" that he would every have, so he'd better make it a good one! He was laughing as I left...

Avery started crying the moment we hit the parking lot of the school, poor thing! It was probably more difficult saying good bye to her than it was when Samuel started Kindergarten. She was a mess. I managed to not cry this morning, even though Avery was crying. I had planned a quick and smooth exit from Avery's classroom, but as I was heading out of the room her teacher asked if I would like to sit down and stay for a minute or two. AGH! So, I sat next to Avery, which made her even more upset when I did actually get ready to leave. Hector and I waited in the hallway for a minute or two, and peeked back in the classroom. There was Avery, playing and sitting at a table full of girls, looking happy. On our way out of the building, I couldn't help but peek into Samuel's classroom too. He was sitting at his desk, and he looked happy. He smiled at me and I smiled back. And off we went to start our day!

As some of you may remember, I put together a slide show when Samuel started Kindergarten. Well, I have put together one for Avery too. :-) Would you expect anything else? It took forever (or so it seemed) to post the video here. So, I hope you all enjoy it!!! And by the way, for some reason the last song of the slide show messes up in a couple of places and starts playing another song. But I like the song so much that I left it on there anyway. Just hang in there when it starts to mess up, because it corrects itself after a few seconds. I hope it all works (keeping my fingers crossed)!!!

Being at home this morning without the big kids is, well, quiet. Isaac has been wondering up and down the hallway asking for Avery. It breaks my heart every time I see him get to the end of the hallway, poke his head around the corner where Avery's bedroom is, and call out "A-E" which is how he pronounces her name. I guess we all have some adjusting to do!

I know that many of you have either started back to work today, or have kids starting back to school today. I hope that you all have a truly wonderful first day of school! Thank you all for your support and prayers. It means everything for Hector and I to know that so many of you are praying for Samuel and Avery during this time of adjustment.

Meeting The Teachers

How quickly our summer has gone by!

This week has been full of activities that need to be done in preparation for Samuel and Avery to start school on Monday; hair cuts, dental appointments, trips to Walmart to buy lunch box items, ironing of school clothes, etc. Last night, we all went to the school for "Meet the Teacher" night. We were thrilled to see that Avery got the same teacher that Samuel had in Kindergarten. She is an amazing teacher, and we know that Avery will do really great in her class this year. In Avery's Kindergarten classroom, there is a home living center, complete with a play kitchen and baby dolls. On the bulletin board, each child has their name with the words "Welcome to Kindergarten" in big, bright letters. There are group tables where 6 children all sit together. In the middle of each table is crayons, glue bottles, and scissors. There is a big carpeted area for circle time. There are bean bag chairs in the reading area, with books like Just Me and My Dad, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Brown Bear Brown Bear. It's quite charming and comfortable. Avery felt at ease almost immediately. It was nice.

It's quite interesting, the differences between Kindergarten and 1st grade... It was evident the moment we walked from the Kindergarten hallway into the 1st grade hallway. Samuel, unfortunately did not get the teacher we requested for him to get this year. It seems that the teacher we felt would be best for Samuel took a teaching position much closer to her house. Samuel was assigned to another teacher's class. In Samuel's 1st grade classroom, there are individual desks, no group tables. There are no toys or play centers. There's no glue or scissors left out on the desks. There are dictionaries on the bookshelf. On the bulletin board there was a picture of a sugar bowl that said "We don't sugar coat things in 1st grade." Hmmmm..... I have a feeling things are going to be different for Samuel this year!

Regardless of the "tougher" classroom environment, Samuel's teacher seems nice, and Hector and I are hopeful that Samuel will warm up to her quickly.

One more final note... Avery was more than happy to pose for a picture that her Mommy wanted to take of her in her new classroom. On the other hand, when Samuel saw me reach for my camera he immediately said through clinched teeth "Don't take pictures of me, mom." Request granted!

So, here is 1 picture of Avery in her Kindergarten classroom. More pictures (of probably only Avery) will be posted on Monday, her first day of Kindergarten!!!! :-)

"Life is what happens to you while...

...you're busy making other plans."

I am a planner. I love planning birthday parties, dinner parties, holiday events, you name it. However, I can't tell you how many times I have planned an event, only to reach the end, and realize that I had not stopped along the way to enjoy myself.

It will probably come as no surprise that I have been planning for Samuel's and Avery's first day of school for several weeks now. Okay, I'll be honest, I've really been planning this for several months now! I've bought them shoes, socks, clothes, lunch boxes, back packs and school supplies. I've let them pick out what they want to wear on the first day of school. I've had talks with them about school, what they can probably expect, what they will more than likely be doing during the day, and various other topics as they have come to mind. And even though I have known that August 25 was going to be their first day of school, I honestly can not believe that it is finally here!

I found myself this past Sunday evening unable to sleep. Our summer was almost over, and yet so many of my plans with the kids had fallen by the wayside. I wanted to try to squeeze in every single plan that we had not yet done this summer, into this final week before school starts. I stayed up late on Sunday night, planning the week away. We would ride our bikes every morning, go to the water park, go to the library, go to the zoo, and so on. So, you can imagine how upset I was when I woke up on Monday morning to a severe weather storm. It rained all day long. When I woke up on Tuesday morning, it was still raining, hard!

I was going over my plans for the week in my mind, trying to see which plans could be altered and somehow salvaged, when Avery came up to me and asked if I could read her a book. We sat down together on the couch and I started reading a tiny book called The Pet Store. I began reading "This is a cat. This is a dog. This is a bird." You get the idea... I read the entire book and when I got to the end, Avery asked if she could read it to me. She opened the book and started reading very fast "This is a cat. This is a dog. This is a bird." But when she turned the next page, she hesitated. She told me that the picture looked like a snake, but the word underneath it looked like it said something different. She started to sound out the word, and she finally came up with it... lizard. She read the remaining pages "This is a mouse. This is a hamster. This is a fish. This is a pet." And then it occurred to me that Avery had just read her first book. She had read the entire thing, and not just looked at the pictures and guessed what the words said. And I was able to be a part of it when she achieved this wonderful milestone!

For all of the plans that I have made for my children over the past several years, many have indeed fallen by the wayside, but many more have come true and unfolded right before my eyes. And unfortunately, I will admit, there have been many times when I have forgotten to take the time to enjoy myself along the way. It seems that in my attempt to plan out these last few days of summer, I almost managed to let life pass me right by. I almost managed to not enjoy myself. I almost missed out on baking cookies, making sidewalk chalk art on paper grocery bags, hearing Samuel finally learn how to say the days of the week in Spanish, hearing Isaac say "Hi, Avery!" for the first time, and listening to Avery read her first book.

We've had a great summer. And although I am sad to see it end, and I am sad to see Avery start Kindergarten and Samuel start 1st grade, I know in my heart they are ready, and so am I. Which brings me to my new favorite quote:

"Of all the wonderful things in the universe of God, nothing seems to me more surprising than the planting of a seed in the blank earth and the result thereof." - Julie Moir

It is good to make plans. It is good to plant seeds and watch them grow. Over the past several years, I have planted many seeds in the hearts and minds of my children; seeds of love, hope, faith, family, tradition, responsibility, values, respect, honesty, and knowledge. But if there is anything I have learned, it is that what matters most when it comes to planting those seeds is to not allow myself to get so consumed with the planning that I forget to enjoy the wonderful and surprising result thereof.

Here are just a few pictures of Samuel, Avery and Isaac enjoying their summer.

Playing at the beach with cousins Amarie and Aydin.

Getting ready to enjoy pizza with cousins Taylor, Sadie, Jackson and Sebastian.

Riding their new bikes.

Camping in Cooper Lake State Park.

Going on a nature walk.

Getting wet at the spray park.

Making mud pies in the backyard.

Picking squash in our garden.

Welcome!

Greetings, everyone!

In an effort to make your life and my life less complicated, I have decided to start a new web page for our family. I am hopeful that this will prove to be a great way of keeping you all updated on our family as a whole. In the past, I have updated everyone via email on different things the kids were doing at the time, as well as maintaining websites for Samuel, Avery and Isaac on http://www.babiesonline.com/. And while the Babies Online websites have been great, it is very time consuming to update 3 websites on a regular basis. Plus, those websites are geared more towards babies and not so much for "big kids," and I never really could give you updates on Hector and I too.

So, you can come here any time you want, as I will be updating this and posting new information, pictures, etc. on a regular basis. I truly hope that you all enjoy this!