Caleb and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day

Yesterday after school Caleb said his 2nd day of school was great and that he “ended up” on green, but he almost got a yellow card for not cleaning up when he was supposed to.  We had a little chat last night about the fact that if he gets in trouble at school, he is automatically in trouble at home.  He now knows our expectations - yellow isn't okay, but it isn't the end of the world - red and orange are unacceptable.  We use a color system at home as well and if he gets yellow at school, he gets yellow at home.  Same goes for red.  We have consequences attached to the colors and he knows what they are.  He assured me that it wouldn’t be a problem. He even went so far as to say that he “definitely” doesn’t want to ever be on red or orange! 

In his classroom, green is for good choices, yellow is for a warning, red is for bad choices and orange is when you have to go to the principal’s office.

I posted about it on Facebook last night and his teacher replied that he was “far away from yellow.”  She said that some kids at his table had thrown trash on the floor and she told them that it was against the rules.   I told her that I didn’t really think she would have trouble with Caleb because he’s such a pleaser. 

He proved me wrong.

I ate lunch with him today because my schedule allowed it.  I’ll only do that occasionally, but it was nice to have the option.  We were sitting at the table eating and I noticed that he was really quiet.  He finally looked up at me with big tears in his eyes and said, “I got yellow today.”  I tried to keep my cool and asked him why.  He explained (with a little coaxing) that he had gotten in trouble for throwing rocks on the playground.  We talked about why that was a bad choice and he admitted that he knew it was wrong, but said that someone else was doing it too.  Of course, that launched the explanation of why we don’t do something just because someone else does. 

After lunch, I e-mailed his teacher and told her that he had fessed up.  She said that he and his friend were “showering” the other kids with rocks (pea gravel) to keep them from going into a certain area of the playground.  My jaw must’ve fallen to the ground when I read that.  She told me not to worry because it’s all new and he’s trying to figure it out.  Yeah…but he knows better than to throw rocks.  It’s not like it was okay to throw them at daycare and all of a sudden it’s okay at kindergarten.  I assured her that I would follow up on it at home and he would have consequences. I also told her that I forgot to mention that he’s not only a pleaser, but he’s also a follower (much to my dismay).

So, Caleb was moved to yellow at home and grounded from all electronics (TV, Wii, etc).  Rudy told him that he was going to take him swimming, but he just couldn’t since he had made a bad choice at school.  He has now apologized about 25 times and has promised repeatedly that he won’t ever throw rocks again and he’ll try very hard to stay on green. 

To top it all off, he smacked his head on the metal tray of the whiteboard in the classroom this afternoon and had to go get an ice pack from the nurse.  He has a bruise on his forehead.

Yesterday afternoon after school, we were in my room and I had to leave for just a minute.  I told him to stay in the room and I’d be right back.  When I got back, he wasn’t there.  Turned out he went to the bathroom, but didn't know where the one nearest my room was, so he went to the one outside of the cafeteria. I spent almost 5 minutes in a near panic searching for him. I could just imagine him going out to the playground without an adult because it's so tempting to him. We've now had a talk about how it's not okay to leave my room without telling me.  Next week, he’ll start going to after school care on Mondays and Wednesdays.  I have meetings after school every Monday and I’ll be working in my room on Wednesdays until it’s time to go to Bible study at church.

Learning the rules of “big school” has been tough on the little man the last few days.  He’ll get there and he’ll be just fine, but he’s really struggling.  He LOVES school and I even overheard him playing school in my room this afternoon, but the rules of the game have changed.  The expectations have increased.  At the end of every day he is exhausted and hungry.  I wonder if it would be easier for him if he wasn’t in my building, but I don’t think it would be.  I just think I might not realize how tough the transition has been for him.

And another thing…

I made it to day 3 of kindergarten before I got choked up.  No tears, just a lump in my throat.  We were pulling into the parking lot this morning and Caleb said, “I think I can go to my room by myself.”  When we got in the door, he looked at me and said, “You stay here.  I can go to class by myself.”  Whew.  I didn’t fight it, just let him go.  I did check to make sure he got there, though.

The Last Days of Summer

Technically, summer still lasts for another month, but things are winding down around here. School starts tomorrow. We made the most of our last days of summer:

Saturday (7/30) – Rudy and I spent the day shopping in Branson and then came home (without the kids) for a date night.  We had dinner at Café Rue Orleans in Fayetteville and then went to see Horrible Bosses.  It was so much fun to have adult conversation and see a grown-up movie in the theater!

Sunday (7/31) – I drove to Hot Springs to spend a few days there with the kids while Rudy started summer band. The kids and I stayed with Mom and MrL.  It was unbelievably hot (over 100* every day).  We stayed inside as much as possible!

Wednesday (8/3) – The kids and I said our goodbyes to Lala and Pops and drove over to Sherwood to spend the day with Memmie and Poppie.  They rode over to Little Rock with us so I could get Nola a napmat for her new daycare. We enjoyed visiting with them! 

Thursday (8/4) – I took Nola to her 18-month checkup with Dr. Schaefer. (more in a separate post)  After that, we met the boys for lunch and then took both kids to the new daycare.  Caleb went there for a week while I was in meetings.  Nola cried when we dropped her off, but apparently calmed down pretty quickly.  Caleb wasn’t too keen on going to new place where he didn’t know anyone, but he handled it pretty well.  While they were at daycare on Thursday, I got my hair cut and colored. Rudy had band that night, so the kids and I were on our own.  We met Caleb’s friend Isabel and her mom and brother at JumpZone.  The kids had a great time playing and Kristie and I enjoyed getting to know each other a little better.  Afterwards, we had dinner at Bariola’s.  By the time we got home, the kids were worn out! 

Friday (8/5) – Rudy took Nola to her last day of Gymboree.  The kids would’ve gone to daycare, but it was closed for promotion preparation.  We had a lazy day at home for the most part, but ran some errands and played as well. 

Saturday (8/6) – We wanted to do something fun to celebrate our last weekend of freedom, but it was SO HOT (106*!!!), so we needed to do something indoors.  We decided to go to Fast Lanes to bowl. It was a lot of fun. Caleb used the ramp and the bumpers, so he did pretty well.  After bowling, the boys rode the go karts.  Nola and I wandered around until it was their turn. 

Nola pulled my wristlet and phone out of my purse and strolled through the place like this:

Oh. My.

Sunday (8/7) – AAAGGGHHH!  The last day of freedom!!!  We spent the morning at church, had lunch at the new Five Guys burgers and then had a usual Sunday afternoon.  Rudy took the kids to Tanyard Creek in the evening while I met my old friend Leslie for dinner at Las Fajitas.

This past week, Rudy and I have had meetings every day.  The kids have gone to daycare.  Nola still fusses at me when I drop her off, but she’s settling in well.  She has one teacher that she has really taken to.  That makes me happy.  I know she’s doing well when I’m not with her.  Every day when we pick her up, we hear what a great day she’s had and how much fun she is.  Caleb did well there too, but he’s ready to get the show on the road and go to his real school. 

On a not-so-happy note, after 3 days of daycare, Nola got her first cold. She has coughed and had a runny nose like crazy.  On Thursday night at 11:30, I sent Rudy to WalMart to buy some Vicks Vaporub.  I read the craziest thing online about putting it on her feet and covering them with socks.  I was very doubtful, but gave it a try and was shocked that she was asleep – not coughing – in a matter of minutes. I don’t know why it works, I just know it works.  She smells like I remember my Papa smelling, which makes me smile and laugh, but she’s not coughing, so I’m happy.

Branson (yes, really)

Last spring, Mom called and asked if we would like to book a trip to Branson with them at the end of the summer.  I’m not a big Branson person.  I’m not interested in the shows and the town is a little, well, um -- conservative for me.  The only restaurant that we ever really liked there has closed down.  But – I do love the outlet malls and I do love to take the kids to Silver Dollar City, so I decided that it sounded like a great way to wrap up the summer.  It seemed so far away at the time.  Well, the time went by quickly as always and sure enough, before we knew it, the trip had arrived.  We stayed at a fabulous resort complex called Marriott Vacation Resorts.  It was absolutely wonderful. (Thanks, Jenn!!!) It had 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  Caleb slept in the king bed with Lala and Pops.  The other bedroom had 2 queen beds, so Nola slept in one of them bolstered by pillows and Rudy and I got the other one.  It worked out perfectly.

Our trip started last Tuesday (7/26).  Our condo was right by the amazing pool.  Caleb wasted no time getting in the pool and Nola followed right along behind him.  They both love the water.  Because I’m still recovering from my Novasure procedure, I wasn’t able to get in the pool with them, which was a bummer.  It was so HOT and all I wanted to do was get in the water!  Rudy graciously offered to plan and cook our meals for us. The first night, he grilled whole chickens and stuffed peppers that he had prepared before we left home. We had the peach delight dessert that I brought.

On Wednesday, we braved the soaring temperatures and went to Silver Dollar City.  With our season passes and some coupons that we had, it only cost us an additional $30 for Mom and Mr. L to go with us.  Because they were with us, we got to do some things that we don’t usually do.  Rudy and I actually got to ride the Wildfire and the Powderkeg…twice…while they took the kids on the train ride and to the new Half Dollar Holler.  It was a fun day and we were TIRED when it was over.  (Scroll over pictures for descriptions.)

Here’s a (sideways) video of Caleb dancing in the creek to the cajun band.  That child is a mess.

 

Wednesday night, the kids swam and we had burgers for dinner.  Then, we took advantage of the resort activities menu and joined in the fun of making s’mores at the firepit.  It was really cool that they had all of these things you could choose from to do.  That was the only one we were able to participate in and it was so much fun.

Thursday was our shopping day.  The boys went to Springfield to the big Bass Pro Shop and out for a BBQ lunch.  Mom, Nola and I hit the outlet malls looking for deals!  Nola’s ready to move up to 24 month clothes and we were hoping to find some things for her to carry her over until the weather gets cooler.  We didn’t have much luck.  They already had winter sweaters in the stores!  It was 102 degrees outside!!!  We did find a few things for Caleb’s back-to-school clothes and a couple of things for each of us.  We had lunch at Panera and then took Nola back to the condo to nap with the boys while Mom and I finished making our rounds.  We really enjoyed our day.  When we got back, the boys and Nola were in the pool.  We joined them poolside for a while and then came in for dinner.  Rudy grilled steaks for us that night.  He was quite the chef!  We spent the rest of the night getting our stuff together for our trip home on Friday.

 

Friday morning, we loaded up the cars.  The kids went to Hot Springs with Lala and Pops.  Rudy and I did a little kid-free shopping and then drove home in a very quiet car.  I didn’t have to fish anything out of the backseat floorboard, figure out why the DVD wasn’t working, clean up any spills or calm any crying and nobody once had to pull over on the side of the road to go to the bathroom.

Two Wheels

July 18, 2011
Caleb decided that he was ready for his daddy to take the training wheels off of his old bike so he could learn to ride without them.  His new bike is still a little bit too tall for him, so we thought we’d start with the shorter one.  I had just gotten Nola to sleep when Rudy came inside to get me.  Sure enough, Caleb was riding on two wheels!  I ran inside to get the video camera!

While he was riding, I also managed to catch this blooper.  Caleb wants me to send it to America’s Funniest Videos.  It just might win us $10,000!

It’s been an eventful summer for this little guy.  He lost his first tooth, learned to ride his bike, learned to ride on a tube in the lake and gained a lot of independence.  He’s growing up in a lot of ways!
Ready…
Set…
Go! 

Pomp and Circumstance

Caleb graduated from preschool on Friday night.  It was an adorable program and he loved being with his friends.

 

After the ceremony, the daycare provided a spaghetti supper for the families.  At each table, there were 2 white balloons and a red balloon.  The parents wrote our hopes for our children on the white balloons.  The red balloons represented the kids. 

Then we tied the 3 balloons together and we went outside where the kids released them.  It was pretty sweet.

We have been so blessed to have Caleb’s pre-k teacher, Ms. Elizabeth, since he was started at CCCC when he was two.  Caleb loves her and we are so grateful that she has helped to prepare him for school and life!

 

Here’s our favorite graduate:

Sticky Icky Week

Monday (7/11) was a busy day for us. Caleb went to Sticky Icky camp in the morning at Imagine Studios. Nola and I picked him up at 11:30 and met Stacy and her kids at Mellow Mushroom for lunch.  (My review:  thumbs way down.)  After lunch, we made a quick Target trip & came home for Nola’s nap.  While Nola was napping, Caleb and I made lemonade popsicles and Shrinky Dinks.  Caleb was fascinated by both, but then decided to try on my rainboots with this swimsuit & goggles.  That was, um, interesting...

After nap, we met my friend Becky and her son Ethan for some pool time, then came home for dinner.  After dinner, we made shaving cream bags (ziploc bag with shaving cream and food coloring).  That activity didn’t last long, so I decided to make a bean tub for the kids to play in.  I put 2 bags of dry pinto beans in a plastic tub, buried some small toys and let the kids dig around in it.  They played for 30 minutes without a fuss, then played some more. 

Tuesday (7/12) was not a very good day.  It started off okay.  Caleb went to camp.  Nola and I ran some errands.  That’s when it turned sour.  I needed to run one last quick errand before we picked Caleb up, so we dashed into Gordman’s, looking for a swim shirt for Caleb.  He has been asking for one for weeks.  Nola was tired of running errands and getting pretty grumpy.  I tried putting her in the shopping cart seat and she screamed like I was killing her, so I carried her for a while.  When I stopped to look at something, I sat her down in the basket part of the cart and told her to sit down.  I turned my head for a split second and felt the cart move.  When I turned back around, she was bent over the end of the cart and flipped out, landing on her head on the concrete floor.  It probably took me half a second to scoop her up.  I checked her over and didn’t find any blood or obvious injury.  She was screaming at the top of her lungs, of course.  I carried her back out to the car and got her somewhat calmed down.  I drove (very shakily) to get Caleb.  When we got there, one of the other moms that I know was picking up her daughter.  I told her what had happened and she helped me reason that I needed to call the pediatrician’s office to find out what to do.  When we got out to the car, I called and the nurse told me I needed to take her to the ER.  Panicked, I left Rudy a message to call me and headed for the hospital.  After we checked in, I noticed that Rudy had called, so I called him back.  I told him what had happened and that I’d let him know when we were finished.  We were taken back to a room and I had to tell the story multiple times, feeling guiltier and guiltier about my huge mistake every time.  Caleb made certain to let the staff know it was my fault, which he had heard me tell Rudy on the phone.  The nurse and the nurse practitioner looked Nola over carefully, asked me lots of questions and then told me that she was going to be just fine.  She showed no signs of concussion or other brain injury.  I was instructed to take her home and watch her closely for 24 hours.  As we left the hospital, I praised God for her safety and knew that I had learned a lesson that I’ll never forget – use the seatbelts in the shopping cart, even if the child doesn’t like it. 
After lunch, I turned a movie on for Caleb and we spent the afternoon recuperating from our terrifying morning.  Poor Caleb was bored out of his mind, but he was patient and did a good job entertaining himself for the most part.

Wednesday (7/13) was a much better day.  Caleb had camp.  When Nola and I picked him up, we took him to get a haircut and then went to lunch.  It was raining for the first time in a long time, so the temperatures were bearable.  After lunch, we had a rainy day inside – watching movies & being lazy.  Wednesday night, we had dinner at Catfish Hole with the band camp staff.

Thursday (7/14), Nola and I went to Gymboree before we picked up Caleb. 

Rudy had a short day on Friday and knew that I needed some time to get some things done by myself, so he took the kids for the afternoon.  That morning, I had taken Nola for a hearing evaluation (a separate post about that to come).  In the afternoon, I went to Hobby Lobby to get some things I needed for some projects I’ve been working on and then came home to work on the projects.  I got some things framed and even did some scrapbooking.  Rudy took the kids to Tanyard Creek to splash and play.  The report I got was that Caleb became an expert crawdad catcher and Nola picked up every rock in the creek.  They brought home pizza and we played outside for a while before bedtime.  Once the kids were in bed, I worked some more on scrapbooking.  I got all of 2009 finished, closing out another album!  Now, I’m only a year and a half behind.  Yikes!

Post Vacation Post

We came home from St. Louis on Wednesday (7/6).  On Thursday, Nola and I started going to Gymboree.  Caleb and I went when he was a toddler and I really wanted a chance for Nola and I to have that time together too.  She seems to really like it.  She’s definitely a mover and shaker.  I am worn out by the time it’s finished.  She is on the move the whole time we’re there – climbing and crawling and throwing balls all over the place. 

On Friday morning, Rudy and I went to a funeral.  We managed a last minute babysitter so that we could go pay our respects to Janet and her family.  That evening, we made our first ever trip to Beaver Lake.  My friend and colleague, Kerrie and her family had us over for BBQ and boating.  Caleb LOVED getting to ride on the tube with Kerrie’s son, Luke.  He and Rudy also rode the waverunner.  Nola really enjoys being in the water.  She’s pretty fearless.  After we boated, everyone (except for me) swam for a while and then we went inside for dessert and the boys played Rock Band.  It was a great night with a wonderful family!

Saturday (7/9), I got to spend the evening and night scrapbooking with my dear friend Stacy.  We love to go to the late night crops at Signed Sealed Delivered.  It’s such a productive moms’ night out!  We’re going back at the end of the month to a pajama party crop. 

Sunday (7/10) was the first day of U of A Jr High Music Camp.  Rudy was asked to conduct a band this year, so his time commitment wasn’t quite as much as previous years.  He still had to be there Sunday, though.  It was so crazy hot that the only thing I could do with the kids was put them in water.  I filled up the kiddie pool, turned on the sprinkler and turned them loose.  They had a great time splashing and playing and I got a little sun while we were out there. 

St. Louis 2011 ~ Sunday-Tuesday

After our late night at the Arch on Saturday, we had a lazy morning on Sunday.  Jerry and Sherry had offered to watch the kids while Rudy and I went out, so we decided to take them up on it.  (They might have disowned us if we hadn’t!)  We were going to go to dinner and a movie, but I suggested that we go to Six Flags.  We used to have season passes before Caleb was born and I hadn’t been since then.  After lunch, we hopped in the car and headed for Eureka.  We got a few minutes from the house and I realized that if we bought our tickets online we would save about $20, so we turned around and went back.  As I got on the computer to buy the tickets, Rudy was watching TV and saw a weather advisory for St. Louis County.  There were ugly storms brewing in the Eureka area, but he watched for a little while and determined that they would be gone by the time we got there.  I hit “purchase,” spent $100 and off we went.  The closer we got to Eureka, the darker the sky got.  We did a memory lane drive through Fenton to kill some time while the storm passed over.  When we got to Eureka, it was raining, but not pouring, so we went on in the park.  Those $100 tickets were nonrefundable after all.  It rained…and rained…and rained some more.  There was thunder and lightning and all of the rides were shut down.  We did manage to ride the carousel 3 times…because it was covered and out of the rain.  After a while, it became blatantly obvious that this storm was not going to pass over, clear up or plain ol’ quit.  We finally decided to tuck our tails, cut our losses and go out to dinner.  So…after 3 rides on the carousel at approximately $15 per person per ride, we left Six Flags.  Not our best adventure…

We went to dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants, Lazy River Grill.  Yum.  Deelicious!  We enjoyed being in familiar surroundings, visiting with each other (without wiping children’s mouths, taking anyone to the bathroom or reminding anyone to please be careful and lean over their plate).  After dinner, we decided to head on back to Florissant, pick up anyone interested and go get frozen custard.  That’s just what we did…and Fritz’s  was wonderful.

Monday was actually the 4th of July!  Rudy and I took the kids to the Mills (mall) for a while.  Both kids LOVED the aquarium at Cabela’s. 

Caleb tried out a bat at an electronic batting cage and then on this crazy trampoline thing…

We got both of the kids some new Crocs and had a late lunch at Chevy’s, which was supposed to be quick and just a snack, but it took them 45 minutes to bring our food.  Nola was exhausted, so Rudy ended up taking her out in the mall to walk and then I switched places with him. 

By the time we got back to Jerry and Sherry’s it was almost time to eat dinner.  The boys squeezed in a little fireless fireworks time in the driveway…

  

…and Little Miss Firecracker walked the runway for a few pictures.

After dinner, we went to the Florissant fireworks.  It was a great show! 

 

Caleb acting silly…

Our whole crew…

 

Jerry and Nola watching (and laughing at) fireworks…

Tuesday was our zoo day!  The temperatures dropped a little and we were able to enjoy a great day at the St. Louis Zoo!  The kids loved seeing the animals and our friend Jenny joined us to catch up on each others’ lives.

Click here to see Caleb grow up taking pictures with the frog statues at the children’s zoo:

Petting animals at the children’s zoo:

Caleb up close and personal with an elephant and a zebra:

Nola up close and personal with a chimp:

Jenny and Caleb petting stingrays:

Jenny and the kiddos:

After the zoo, we went back to the house to give Nola a chance to take a nap and everyone a chance to freshen up.  We had dinner at our all-time favorite restaurant, Cunetto House of Pasta.  Nola was a grump, so it was a little stressful.  Sherry graciously volunteered to take her outside to walk around so that Rudy and I could finish our meals in peace.  (Maybe next year we shouldn’t try to do the zoo and a nice dinner on the same day.)  Afterward, we spent some time outside of Cunetto, letting our dinners settle and playing with the kids. 

Sherry, Jerry, Rebecca & Jared with Nola and Caleb:

It was a great ending to yet another great trip!