Knee Deep in the 3 Cs

For my first "The big kids are back in school" project, I decided (quite foolishly, I might add) to tackle the re-organization of my closet. This is a project 4 years in the making. You see, shortly after we bought this house I came to the realization that my closet needed some serious help. But I kept putting it off and putting it off, until my closet became an endless abyss of clutter, confusion, and chaos. I started keeping my clothes in the laundry room so that I wouldn't have to go into my closet. How sad is that? And it was only after I started this project that I realized that perhaps I should have tackled a much smaller, less challenging project for my first week with the kids back in school. But I didn't pick another project, unfortunately. And once I got started, I had to press on.


I figured a good first step would be to take all of my clothes out of my closet. Mistake! You see, when the clothes were all in the closet, it didn't look so bad. But when the clothes started coming out of the closet, well, I honestly didn't know where on earth I was supposed to put it all. I found myself knee deep in the 3 Cs (clutter, confusion, and chaos). It was only after about my 10th trip out of my closet that I decided to give up. No... I decided to snap this picture below, out of disgust. It was at this moment that I told myself that I was disgusted, and that I regretted every single time I've ever said, "I have nothing to wear." I hope that I NEVER again utter those 5 words.

I have a habit of wearing the same few outfits over and over again until they become rags. I'm not sure why, but I do. I think it's because I'm a creature of habit, and comfort. I find a few outfits that I like, and I stick with them. See that red sweater on the top of the right pile? Beautiful wool sweater. Wool, being the word that needs to be emphasized here. Just Can't Wear Wool! So, why do I keep that beautiful wool sweater? Just in case one day there's a major freeze here and everything else in my closet is dirty and I honestly don't have anything else to wear. That's why! It's the same logic that keeps all the clothes that are too big and too small for me in my closet. I could gain or lose a lot of weight overnight, and would really have nothing to wear if I got rid of all the things that don't fit me right now at this very moment. You know what I'm saying? By the way, all of the arguments that run through my head sound much better when kept in my head and not typed out. Somehow, when they get typed out, they just seem to lose something.

Well, I'm here to tell you all that I am trying to purge my closet of some of the 3 Cs. I'm honestly trying... But it's hard for me. So far, I've taken 6 shirts and a pair of sweat pants off the hangers and put them in the charity pile. Whew! I only hope I can actually make a point to take the clothes to charity before I get nervous and hang them all back up in my closet! Joking!!! Well, maybe.

It is my sincere hope that by this time next week, I will have a picture of my newly re-organized, clean closet to share with you all. I'm going back into the closet now. If I don't come back out by this time next week, please send in a search crew for me.

A Good Idea

When Avery was 3 years old, she went through a phase where she changed her clothes several times a day. She'd get a drop of water on her shirt, and she'd have to change it. She'd decide that the outfit she had on really wasn't what she wanted to wear after all. She'd play dress up then get an entirely new outfit afterwards. She'd throw some of it back into her drawers. Some of it got thrown in the bottom of her closet. Most of it got thrown on the floor. I never knew if the clothes were actually dirty, or if she just got tired of wearing them and they were still clean. So, I came up with the great idea to make Avery start washing all of her own laundry. At first, she thought this was fun. But soon thereafter, the novelty wore off and she realized that washing all her laundry was not fun. Problem solved!


Well this is another one of my better ideas, I must admit, because it truly has worked out great and helped to solve a big problem. Right before Avery started Kindergarten, she and I had a disagreement on what was (and was not) acceptable school attire. In a heated moment, I took all of the clothes out of Avery's closet (which was no easy task), and told her that we were going to stay in her bedroom until we found several outfits that we could both agree upon and be happy with for her to wear to school. And so we set about making "acceptable" school outfits. Everything that Avery and I agreed upon got hung on the top closet bar. Everything that we could not agree upon or that she absolutely could not wear to school but she could wear at home, got hung on the bottom bar. By the way, I bought this closet bar from The Container Store for only $9.99. It basically doubles the amount of hanging space in a closet, and I love it because it's super easy to install and you get twice as much hanging space in a closet in a matter of seconds!


So that day, we made several acceptable school outfits together. And then we agreed that every Sunday afternoon, she would venture into her closet and pick out 5 outfits from the "acceptable" top closet bar for her to wear throughout the following school week.
This worked like a charm! After she would wear an outfit, I would hang it back up as an outfit towards the back of her closet so that we would know she'd already worn it (because wearing a favorite outfit several times in a week was also a big problem we needed to deal with). Every Sunday, she'd pick out another 5 outfits, without any confusion or frustration. It was splendid!


So the week before Avery started 1st grade, I told her what I was about to do (go put together outfits for school), and she got so excited. I love this idea! And I do it for Samuel's clothes too, even though the boy would pretty much wear anything I put in front of him, just as long as he doesn't have to pick it out himself...


Ahhh...

No more morning squabbles about what Avery can and can't wear. No more fumbling around in an unorganized, cluttered closet in the midst of our morning madness, trying to match a pink polka dot shirt that she is absolutely determined to wear, even though the color pink in the shirt is the strangest color pink I've ever seen and I can not possibly match it to anything in her closet. No more morning stress and anxiety centered around clothes. Yea!


This year, I also added a daily organizer hanging shelf. I bought it from Lillian Vernon. It lists the days of the week and has a separate compartment for each day. Avery has P.E. on certain days of the week. I put several dresses and skirts in the daily compartments on days when she does not have P.E., so that there's also no problems with Avery wanting to wear a dress on a P.E. day. Yet another big morning fight over clothes, squashed!


I share this with you all because this has truly set me free! I would have started this when Avery was a preschooler and was first trying to assert her fashion independence, if only I would have thought of it back then. We could have avoided so many morning power struggles this way.

Now, if only I could get my own closet organized!

After School Report

Only good news was reported to me at after school pick-up! Smiles abounded from everyone. Whew! :-) Avery told me that she enjoyed lunch and recess today. Samuel told me that he didn't cry at all, and that he made a new best friend, Joaquin. Excellent!

Seasons in the Sun

Have you ever heard that song, Seasons in the Sun? Well, here's my little version of it.

Sweet Summer, it's time to say goodbye.

Even though the weather is still hot and dry.

They say that fall weather will soon be in the air.

School children are everywhere.

With their new backpacks, lunch boxes, socks and underwear.

We had joy.

We had fun.

We had seasons in the sun.

But the hill we barrel-rolled down has been mowed.

And a new school year has begun...

Despite the fact that the kids wanted the joy, fun, and season in the sun to last and last and last, it has come to an end. This morning went just about as good as it could have. I hardly slept at all last night (or last week, for that matter). I think I finally fell asleep around 1:30 a.m. Then Avery woke me up at 5:13 and asked if she could get ready for school, and told me that the countdown clock was blinking zeros. I told her that was great, but she needed to go back to sleep for another hour, at least. When I did wake up Samuel and Avery, they both started crying before their eyes were even fully open. But they did okay getting ready. We talked about all of the cool, fun new things they would get to experience today, and how I could not wait to hear about their first day after school. We got to school on time, which is quite an accomplishment! When I dropped off Samuel in his classroom, he was on the verge of tears, so we said our goodbyes quickly. It was hard for me to leave as quickly as I did. I wanted to stay, but I knew I couldn't. It was better for Samuel if I left. Avery did great, which was quite a relief given how the first and second days of school went last year. She didn't cry at all. She took her spot right next to her friend Jami Belle and started playing with play-doh. She gave me a kiss and a hug then told me I could leave. Well, okay then... I will leave...

Isaac has wanted my full attention ever since we got home. In the past hour we've played hide and seek, colored, played with chalk on the easel, danced, played hide and seek again, eaten a cereal bar, some Teddy Grahams and a bag of Funyuns (yes, I let him eat chips this early in the day). They just sounded good to me too. :-)

I will try to post an after school update this afternoon. Thank you all for your prayers and support during this time of transition.

Love to you all,

Patty

Ready or Not...

Here they come!

Summer is over... Which means it's time to head back to school!

Last night, we went up to the school for Meet The Teacher night. Avery got the same teacher that Samuel had last year, Mrs. Ehlers. Avery also has one of her best friends in her class, Jami Belle. And yes, we are thrilled! Samuel's teacher's name is Mrs. Friederich. She seems very nice and very organized. Samuel has a few friends in his class this year that he had in his class last year. So, we are also thrilled about that. Pictures will be posted (and tears will flow freely) on Monday morning, so check back then... Say a little prayer for ALL of us!

One Year Ago Today...

...I wrote my first blog. And in that time I've realized 2 things; 1) I have a lot to say, and 2) I really love blogging. I love it when I write something, and while I'm writing it I'm crying or laughing or smiling or screaming. And then you all turn right around and leave me a comment, letting me know that when you were reading my words, you were crying or laughing or smiling or screaming too. Thank you all for a really great first year.

Bat Boy

Bat Boy, while sporting his sister's pink Hello Kitty watch and a severely wind-blown hairdo, took time out of his busy crime fighting schedule to let me know that he really liked the guacamole dip I was serving with dinner last night. He gave it a big thumbs up.

More Flags. More Fun. Six Flags!

Hector and I took the kids to Six Flags yesterday. We have not been out there in over 1o years, since before Samuel was born. We've somehow managed to avoid taking the kids out there all these years. But last year in school, Samuel and Avery both read several books and earned free passes to Six Flags. That saved us $62 right there! Yes, it's that expensive!!! Needless to say, we all had an awesome time! Samuel and Avery rode their first roller coaster, and then proceeded to ride it 6 more times. And then begged me to ride it one more time as we were leaving. Avery insisted we take pictures with every single character we saw. And I do mean every character. You'll see... Samuel met Batman and Robin, which was the highlight of his day! His eyes got so big when he saw them. The smile on his face said it all! He also met The Riddler and The Green Lantern, but he wouldn't let me take his picture with them. Isaac loved it too, although he hit his limit about an hour before the big kids were ready to leave. He was tired and ready to go, so Hector took him out to the car and waited while Samuel, Avery and I finished up with a few more rides.

And just in case any of you are planning on venturing out to Six Flags, here are some really great money-saving and time-saving tips that I'd like to pass along to you all.

Money & Time Saving Tips
* Wait until Six Flags offers a special promotion. We went when they were having a special where adults get in for a child's admission fee. Normally, it would have cost Hector and I $100 for admission, but instead we paid $62.

* Purchase your tickets online (even your parking voucher can be bought online). No waiting in the long line to buy your tickets at the admission desks. You simply walk straight up to the check-in gates and bypass everyone else.

* Take empty water bottles, plastic cups with lids, or sports bottles with you into the park. As long as they are empty at the entrance gates, you can take them in. Every restaurant and food vendor inside the park will fill them up with ice water for free.

* Go on a week day. We had NO waiting in long lines. It was great!

* Take a cooler full of food. You can't take it into the park, but you can leave it inside your car and eat lunch either in your car or at the picnic tables outside the park. I mean, when a kid's meal that comes with 2 chicken strips and some french fries cost $10, and a plain hot dog is $8, I think packing the cooler and sitting in your air conditioned car for 30 minutes and saving $60 on cheap, greasy food is the way to go, personally.

* Six Flags sells refillable cups for $13 each. Which personally speaking, is a lot of money for one day's worth of drinks, even if refills on any flavored drink in those cups are only $2.99, and the cups are big. I was going to borrow a friend's cup, but then simply forgot to get it from her before we went. So, the tip still is for you to see if you can borrow a friend's big orange refillable Six Flags cup if you plan on buying sodas. :-)

* Six Flags has a policy on all of their games that states that children get to keep playing until they win the game. At first, Hector and I were inclined to play the games for the kids, thinking that we'd have a better shot of winning. But if we played the game 1 time and lost, that was it... game over. But if the kids played the game, they paid $3 and got to play and play and play until they won. The kids won some really great prizes this way, for just $3. They really were great prizes (a large Super Man figure, a teddy bear dressed like Super Woman, a Curious George stuffed animal, super hero capes, etc)... Awesome, right?!?!

* Okay, and my final tip would probably best fit into the same category as carrying a really large purse with you into the movie theater, full of snacks from home. I called before we went, and told the man on the phone that my youngest child has allergies and that I would need to bring in a few snacks for him. I asked him how I could do that, when their policy is, "No outside food." He told me that as long as the snack food items were obviously for my child, that I would be allowed to bring it inside the park. So, I filled Isaac's diaper bag full of crackers, Granola bars, and fruit, and we all snacked on them inside the park. Hey, what can I say... I learned from the best! :-)

We stayed out there for 10 hours and didn't even come close to riding all the rides. But, there were no lines on any of the rides, and it was overcast most of the day. I just don't think we could have ordered up a more perfect day! Here are tons and tons of pictures...

1

So, how many peaches did our big, beautiful peach tree produce this year?

1... 1 stinkin' peach!

What on earth am I doing wrong?

My Little Sponge

And We All Came Barrel Rolling Down

Samuel desperately wants to learn how to ride his bike without the training wheels. I realize that some of you might be thinking to yourself right about now, "How old is Samuel?" Well, he's 8. And while most children learn how to ride a bike without training wheels much earlier than the age of 8, Samuel has not. I blame this partly on the fact that Samuel has low muscle tone in his arms and legs, so we intentionally held off buying him a bike until he was older (7) than most children, allowing his arms and legs to get a little stronger so that he could actually peddle and steer a bike. And I also blame this partly on the fact that Samuel is not a risk taker. By that I mean that Samuel hasn't really wanted to learn how to ride a bike up until last year, because it was scary for him (the whole falling-off-the-bike thing). Now let me be clear here. I am not complaining about the fact that Samuel is not a risk taker. I mean, having a non-risk-taking child is good for my already overly stressed-out life. But sometimes, I really want Samuel to take risks. Calculated, good risks. Like learning how to ride his bike without training wheels with my help.


So yesterday, I loaded up the bikes in the car and we drove to the kid's school. Lots of big, wide open space... Let's ride!!! I loosened the first training wheel and before I could move over to the second one, Samuel piped up and asked, "What are you doing?" I reminded him of what we'd talked about. It was time to learn how to ride his bike without the training wheels. "Woo Hoo! Let's do it! Come on man, this is going to be so much fun!"


Unfortunately, I was the only person excited about this risk-taking experience...


The tears started flowing down Samuel's face, and I actually made my oldest son take a time out. "Go take a time out and get your body calm. And don't come out until you are ready to have some fun." I know... Horrible, mean mommy... But at the time I was frustrated, and it's the first thing that came out. Sometimes I get frustrated because I want Samuel to know that it's okay to take a risk from time to time, especially if he has someone there watching out for him. Especially if he stands to learn something really awesome from the experience, and have a great time in the process.


The time out was good, for both of us.


When Samuel came back, I told him exactly how we were going to set about making this plan work. He agreed to the plan, reluctantly, and we set off through the parking lot, training wheels wobbling off to the sides, Samuel still doing that hiccuping/half crying thing, straining to keep more tears from flowing, me running along side his bike, holding onto it for dear life. Please don't let me accidentally let go... Please don't let him get hurt... Please help me keep up... Please help me get through this...


And just when I thought he had it, he turned his handle bars sharply. The bike went tumbling down. His chain came off. And he started crying again. And that was the end of our bike riding without training wheels lesson for the day.


I think it's safe to say that I won't need to worry much about Samuel taking risks in his pre-teen and teenage years. It's just not his style. My lovely daughter, on the other hand, already gives me nightmares every time I think of her as a pre-teen or teenager. She's been taking risks her entire life; wiggling her hand out of mine and running through a crowded parking lot at the grocery store; bolting down our alley as I was trying to get the car unlocked in the pouring rain; spinning herself out of the rocking chair and into the entertainment center which required scalp staples to close her head wound; jumping off my bed, feet first, which resulted in a broken foot and sprained ankle; running head-on into the arm rest of the sofa, which resulted in a broken collar bone; twirling herself dizzy, then falling backwards into the wall, which resulted with another head wound and more scalp staples; running through a Walgreen's pharmacy, straight for the exit doors, while I was standing in line to get a prescription (I was 7 months pregnant with Isaac at the time); grabbing frogs and other creepy-crawly things in our yard without the slightest hesitation; and eating spicy foods since she was barely a year old. Taking risks her entire life, and laughing through it all!


So yesterday as Samuel sat on that curb, Avery decided she'd take advantage of the fact that I wasn't exactly focused on her, and climbed up to the very top of a steep hill, then proceeded to barrel-roll herself all the way down, right into a metal basket ball pole in the school's parking lot. When we saw that she was okay, Samuel and I started laughing, uncontrollably. And at that, Avery jumped up, and announced that she was going back up the hill to do it again. She turned to Samuel and said, "Come on, Samuel! It was SO much fun!" I stood up, grabbed his hand, and told him to come with us... we were going up the hill and barrel-rolling down it, all together. "Come on, Samuel. Roll down the hill with us. We'll do it together."

I know what it's like to be so afraid of trying something new that I'd rather avoid the situation all-together. I know what it's like to want something so badly, but to be too afraid of getting hurt to do anything about it. I know what it's like to have anxiety and fear consume me. For the past 2 years, right around this time, I start getting anxious. Very, very anxious. You see, I don't handle the first day of school very well, or the 2 - 3 weeks leading up to the first day of school, for that matter. Anxiety consumes me. I like being at home with my kids. Sure, they can drive me nuts. And sure, sometimes I wish we could take small breaks from each other. But for the most part, I really love spending time with them. And it makes me anxious when I think of them going off to school, and everything that could happen to them. And it saddens me to think about getting to spend only a couple of hours each day with them, because I miss them. I honestly miss them.

Please don't make me let go... Please don't let them get hurt... Please help me get through this...

As much as I want to hold onto them and keep them close to me, and as much as I worry about something bad happening to them, I know that I have to let go, a little at a time. Thankfully, whenever I start getting nervous and anxious and worried, I know that I have someone in my life who's always going to be there for me. Someone who's ready to give me the tough love I need sometimes, or the out-stretched hand that says, "Come on, Patty. You don't have to do this alone. We'll do it together."

After Samuel had such a bad experience on his bike and then he got right back up and we all rolled down that hill together, I thought about what a perfect metaphor it was for the next 2 weeks, with me and the kids barreling down towards the first day of school. I thought about how scary life can be at first, but how fun it can be too. I thought about how proud I am of my kids. I thought about how lucky I am to have Hector and them in my life. And I thought about how wonderful it is that we have each other, our family. I know that we will always have each other, to go barrel-rolling down the great, big, steep hill of life together, all the way to the very end.

"The family; a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that binds them all together." ~Erma Bombeck

I Will

Will you, Patty, take Hector,

to be your husband and partner in life,

to have and to hold from this day forward?

Will you offer your solemn vow to be his faithful partner?

Will you stay by his side in times of sickness and in health,

for better or for worse,

in good times and in bad times,

in times of plenty and in times of want,

in times of joy as well as sorrow, regardless of the obstacles you will face together?

Will you promise to love him more with each passing day?

Will you promise to support and encourage him in his goals and dreams?

Will you honor and respect him,

laugh with him and cry with him,

and cherish him for as long as you both shall live?

I will. Over and over again, I will!

Through the ups and downs; the times you make me laugh and the times you make me want to cry; the rainy days and the sunny days; the times when you think you're sick and the times when you really are sick; the times when I feel like I don't understand you and the times when we are completely in-sync; through the Ramen Noodle days and the Filet Mignon days; through all the heartache and loss we've endured and through all the joyous memories we've created and hold so dear in our hearts; through it all, I will.

To my best friend, husband, and faithful partner in this life:

Happy Anniversary, Honey! May the next 15 years be even better than the last 15.

All my love,

Patty

Take a Guess

Question: How many peaches do you think a peach tree this size would produce in a single season? Go on, take a guess. Leave your guess in the comments. :-)