Things I have learned since my daughter started Kindergarten

Finally, life is calming down now that my daughter is in school. We are getting settled into a routine which is such a blessing. Life is very different and it has taken awhile to get used to the quietness and time available to finally get stuff done.

The following are a few things I have learned and observed since my daughter Kindergarten:

• I am thankful for back country roads because making a left turn out of the school parking lot is next to impossible.
• I am tempted to make a citizens arrest on a few punk teenagers who don't know how to drive on these back roads. That is the side effect of the high school being next to our only elementary school.
• Most parents are clueless.
•  I would support uniforms in our schools. My daughter is too much of a diva about clothes and seeing the high school girls in daisy dukes and showing cleavage irritates me as a mother.
• The old guys who sit at McDonald's in the morning make for interesting entertainment. 
• There really is such a thing as running into the grocery store and grabbing ONLY what you need and be back in your car within 5 minutes! 
• The days are not nearly as long as I thought they would be.
• The perfect time to clean up the inside of my car is when I am waiting in the line to pick her up. It is also the perfect time to pay bills, make phone calls, or play 'Angry Birds'. 
• I am elated to be without Spongebob Squarepants during the day. Wish you could see my dance of joy for that- it's a little Irish jig with some disco in the mix. 
• My dogs don't know what to do with themselves when the house is so quiet- so they annoy me more. 
• Going for walks in the crisp morning while the sun is still rising is priceless. 
• Attempting to find a job after being home for 6 years is not easy emotionally. 
• After school is more hectic than I ever imagined since my daughter tries to cram in everything we used to do together during the day into the few hours between school and bedtime.

I'm sure I will learn a lot more as the year goes on, but the changes in life have been interesting. 

My passion and that time of year again!

It's that time of year again! The point in the year when I gather my photos together to submit to our regional hospital for the 2013 calendar.  The last two years I had a photo selected--July 2011 and July 2012. It's just a hobby right now but I have dreams of turning into something a little more. How much more I'm not sure about quite yet. Mainly my hesitation comes from the fact that I honestly dislike taking pictures of people. I'm a nature photographer and the dilemma comes as- what do I do with that? Which is why it may always be just a hobby.  Another hang up is my camera.  It can hold its own in today's world in general; however, I have had this camera for 6 1/2 years and let's face it--in this age of technology, that is ancient.  I am also limited with a 50 mm lense which hinders my creative spark.

With my daughter in Kindergarten now, photography has been an outlet for my extra time and creativity. So, here is a sample of photos I plan to submit. Considering I let my photography lapse for the last few months it's amazing I even had anything to submit.

Now what?

This day has been sitting here waiting for 5 years, 8 months, and 10 days- give or take.  I dropped my daughter off for her first full day of Kindergarten this morning. I had to be more nervous than she considering our conversation as we pulled up to the front of the school.
Me: "Ok, now you know you go in the front doors, go left, down the hall..." (I got cut off).
Her: "I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING! Don't worry mom!"
Me: "Love you"
Her: Slams the door and runs off.

Certainly thankful it went that way and not a couple of scenario's I had in my head of a screaming, reluctant girl.  On the drive home I start to plan out my day. My first day of freedom.

1. Go for my 1 hour power walk
2. Do dishes
3. Vacuum
4. Sew up a few things I haven't had time for

So I get home and get right to my list. Ummm...school started at 8 am and I'm done with my list by 9:45. Five hours and 15 minutes to go. Now what? Without "Mom I'm hungry", "Mom, play with me", "Mom, I need ______!", "Mom, let's go to the park"...etc. I was a little lost.  I found myself with dishes done, floors clean, beds made, laundry done, dogs taken care of, bills paid, recent photographs ready for a 2013 calendar submittal and then....nothing. The house was so quiet except for the occasional bark of one of my dogs at something only they seem to hear. Being a stay at home mom is great but maybe only when you actually have a child at home all day. I need something or someone to keep me on my toes all day and my two dogs laying around like lumps isn't cutting it.

Day one down and the only conclusion I can find is---I need a job.

Only 3 weeks to go!

Here we are--only 3 weeks until my daughter's first day of Kindergarten.  I cannot believe how fast this summer is going. At the beginning of the summer I had a list of summer activities.  I remember looking at that list and thinking it wasn't nearly enough and now I doubt we'll even finish half of it.  We have kept ourselves busy; however, this past week I have felt like a mom neglecting her child since we had three showings for our house and I have spent much of the last week cleaning. My self-diagnosed OCD goes into overdrive when we have a showing so imagine me on my hands and knees scrubbing every little inch of my kitchen--not a pretty sight. In last couple of weeks we have managed to do some fun art activities, go school shopping, see a couple of free movies at our town's theater, play outside, and attend a festival.  Highlight of the last couple of days was actually getting rain! I haven't seen drought conditions like this in my life and have never been so happy to see rain.

I have gone off track with my order of days so I'm grouping these pictures together in no particular order from the last couple of weeks.

 We had a Game Day! This is a great idea for any family and it costs nothing-if you already have games at home.

 I LOVE Melissa and Doug products! They are so durable and good 'ole fashion fun which children love. This cupcake toy is a blast for kids. They can take the 'frosting' off and put on a different one.  The 'icing' tubes are markers which you can use on the 'frosting' part of the cupcake (they wipe off with paper towel). It also comes with an oven mit, pan, and cupcake holders. Lastly, you can attach a candle on the top (Velcro).   I also recommend the ice cream cone set from Melissa and Doug.

 School Shopping! She was so excited to get a big girl backpack and lunch box. Again, I love Melissa and Doug items!

Barbie Day! Our tomboy does occasionally play with Barbie's.

At the end of our local library's summer reading program names are picked for certain prizes that children were able to sign up to try and win for reading a certain number of books.  Our daughter got this prize. The Color Twister by Crayola is an easy to use paint spinner. It requires no batteries-children simply push the plunger down and it spins. 

Our very first project from Pinterest! I found these two projects on Pinterest and thought I'd give it a try. All we needed were crayons (which are dirt cheap right now because of school starting), a canvas board (2 for about $7.00), a hot glue gun, and a blowdryer. 

We hot glued the crayons to the top of the canvas

We then used a blow dryer to melt the crayons as much as we wanted.  For the other art we also used a canvas and simply hot glued crayons into the shape of a letter (although my middle line on my 'E' should have been shorter) and then melted a pink crayon on the tip of the hot glue gun to make the drops and splatters on the canvas. They easily hang on the wall with a nail.  

Has anyone else done a project from Pinterset?  I'd love to hear about it. I'm excited to try even more.

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