Who's the Boss

According to Finley, it is Santa Claus.

Yesterday, Mat told her to do something and she was not pleased.  I was working in the yard and she came out to announce that "Daddy is not the boss".  So - figuring she was going to say I was, I said, "so who is then?"  She told me "Santa Claus."  Alright then.

Today Finley came home and told us that they talked about their personal space at school and that you have your own personal bubble, and if you get too close to someone else, you will pop their bubble.  She found this extremely hilarious.

 In our house, I am definitely the boss.  Wait......hear that?  That is my kids laughing at that statement.  Even they know that isn't true.  I spend so much time with them that I probably sound like Charlie Brown's teacher when I talk to them.

If I say "if you don't stop (insert here just about anything Finley might be doing) I am going to call daddy" and they stop immediately.  If I start to dial, they really get nervous.  So, I think you can tell (without me outright admitting it) who the real boss is in our house.

And it ain't Santa Claus.

Where Were You?

Where were you on September 11th, 2011?  I am sure you can remember every detail.

I remember.  I was a nurse at Johns Hopkins Children's Center.  I had just taken a child to the operating room and was in the elevator heading back to our floor.  A gentleman got on the elevator with me a floor or two later, and said very matter-a-fact "a plane just flew into the world trade center".  Being a young 26 year old - I looked at him waiting for the punch line of the joke.  But he looked at me and just nodded and I knew he was not joking.

I ran off the elevator on my floor to the closest TV.  Many of my nurse mates were gathered around the TV watching the events unfold.  We stood motionless.  Powerless.  We tried to shield the children on our floor from what was happening on TV.  We asked the parents to please use the lounge TVs so that the children could not see what was happening.

Disbelief was what we felt.  You just don't know anything, and your mind is racing.  I had a cousin in New York who didn't live far from the Trade Center.  Did she know what was going on?  I called Mat and he had seen the news as well and they were watching it at work.  No one knew anything.

As we stood watching, the second plane flew into the second tower and screams were heard all over our floor.  We clung to each other.....still not knowing what this meant.  Terrorist?  We were too young to think that.  But we knew something was happening and that it was terrible.

Johns Hopkins Hospital is in Baltimore, MD.  We were less than an hour from the Pentagon.  When news spread that the Pentagon was hit, our hospital went into full lockdown.  We weren't allowed to leave.  No one was allowed in.  Our shifts were extended indefinitely until they got a handle on what was going on.  I remember I was supposed to be working an 8 hour shift that day, but ended up working 12 hours until we were allowed to leave.

The shift coordinator at the hospital came to our floor.  She had gotten word of the lockdown and tried to keep people calm.  We tried to occupy the kids.  Many were too young to have a clue what was going on.  But it was hard to work.  Hard to concentrate.  Hard to keep our eyes off the television wondering if there would be more planes.  More unknowns.

The shift coordinator told us that she had gotten notified that we might have to move children - the least sick -to make room for incoming injured from the Pentagon.  She had no idea how many, or when, but that we needed to start to decide which children we could move.

As time went on, and the news continued to be more and more devastating, we knew no one would be coming.  Soon, all planes had been grounded, and we were allowed to go home.

The day was exhausting.  We watched the towers sway and fall.  We watched a plane fly right over my parent's home town and crash near by.  It was all just too much to take in.

We were just bystanders, and I remember all of this.  Imagine what it was like for those who were there.  For those whose family members called them to say they had been hijacked, or that they were too high in the towers to get out.  To call and say their final goodbye.  Imagine what it was like for them.  What it is still like for them.

Life has gone on.  Even for the families of the victims of 9/11.  Many people have found new love and remarried.  Many have found ways to honor their lost loved ones.  A beautiful memorial now stands where the towers once stood.  10 years have passed.

But we haven't forgotten.  Not one detail.  8:46 am.  9:02 am.  9:37am.  10:03am.  2,977 people.  8 of them were children.  That catches me every time.  8 little kids.  Riding on airplanes going on vacation.  How frightened they must have been.

Our world will never be the same.  We as people will never be the same.  But we must move forward.  We must move on.  Because if we don't recover the terrorist win.

The importance of memories

In the wake of 9/11, many families are recounting their memories of the loved ones they have lost.  It is the memories that will always keep them alive.  The stories of the people they loved passed on to their children who can pass them on to their children, and so on.

Mat and I are suckers for family heirlooms.  Hanging in our living room, we have a collection of old family pictures all the way back to great, great, great grandparents.  We keep a running history of our family dating back to the early 1800s.  We have countless stories told to us by our grandparents that we have kept careful history of.

We have many wonderful pieces in our house that have been given to us from family members.

This rocker and quilt:

The rocker was my great-grandmother Appolonia's.  She got it when my grandmother Bonnie was growing up and my grandma passed it to me.  Mat and I and my dad re-finished it before Arlington was born, and restored it to its original glory.

That rocker is SOLID.  I rocked all three of my kids in it.  We have had it in our homes all over the country for the last 10 years and it just as beautiful as the day my grandmother gave it to me.

The quilt that I hung on the rocker was my Nanny's.  She made it and I was very happy that my Aunt Sally let me have it when she died.  It still smells like her.  I love having the rocker with the quilt together - two great memories from two great people.  Every time I walk by them, I think of them.

This Sewing table/machine and sewing box:

These belonged to Mat's grandmother Lyday.  I was so excited when Mat's mom gave them to me after she passed away.  She knows I love to sew and quilt, and I have used both of these quite often.  The sewing box is amazing - I love it.  My kids love going through it, looking for treasures.  And the sewing machine is amazing - they don't make them like this anymore.  I have found a special place in my new sewing room for both of these, and I get to enjoy seeing them everyday.

This desk:

Was Mat's mom's when she was a little girl.  When we first got it, it was full of notes from her childhood and had her handwriting inside the top drawer.  It now belongs to Arlington.  Arlington loves this little desk.  She had filled it with her own notes and favorite items.

This desk:

This is my desk from when I was a kid.  The last time I was home, I asked my mom if I could have it.  My dad had stained it to match all of the furniture in my room and now it sits in Finley's room.  Finley thinks she is such a big girl sitting there coloring.  It is fun watching her.  What is NOT fun is thinking about how many hours I sat there studying as a kid.....

Moving on.

We have many more treasures, and I will share more with you in the future.  But tonight, I was just feeling nostalgic.

Randoms

This morning I had a meeting for the garden club.  My new friend, Maria, and I joined the local Garden club and have already been helping different areas around town.  Today we gathered at Kimball Farms (which is totally yummy and cute) for breakfast and to sign up for the committees we wanted to be on.  It was great to sit and chat and be kid free for awhile.  That was my first experience with that.  Loved it.

I was able to pick up a birthday present for my mother-in-law while I was there too.  I loved being able to get her some local goodies.  Her birthday was awhile ago, yes, but she has been away taking care of my sister-in-law Teen who is due with her second baby any day now.  So I was waiting to get something a little closer to her return home.  It was fun shopping for her.

I spent the rest of the day working in the yard.  It is coming along.  The progress is slow, but I think it is going to look great in the end.  I am not going to take any pictures until it is all the way done in at least the front, so you may not get to see those for awhile.  Right now it looks like a mine field out there.  Holes everywhere.

This is the wood pecker who is pecking at the light pole at the end of our driveway.

The kids had another great day at school.  Arlington and Finley came home full of stories.  Finley started her braille classes today.  And Monday she is going to be going through the halls with her cane with her orientation and movement specialist.  She was kind of excited about that, so that was good.  Arlington had a special celebration in her class today because it was the third day of third grade.  That is cute.  Cainan - well he had a good day as far as I could tell.  Typical boy - couldn't tell me a thing he did today - nor did he care to remember.  He was just interested in getting to his toys.  Said his day was good, and could he play with his superheroes.  So.....there you go.

Tonight Mat is back from a trip away.  He was in NYC and then down in our old stomping grounds in Connecticut at a meeting.  It is nice to have him home after being gone a few days.

Tomorrow is another busy day.  I am volunteering my nursing services for a Girl Scout camp from 9-4 tomorrow.  That should be interesting.  Mat has a few meetings with neighborhood folks, and tomorrow is our monthly teleconference with the RDH12 families.  I am sorry I am going to miss that.  I will be anxious to hear what the other families are up to and how their kids are doing.  Plus - we found ANOTHER family!  And the best part?  This family has a 22 year old child with RDH12 LCA, and they still have some sight!  We were amazed.  This is kind of unusual, but it gives us hope that we might get longer than we expect if a cure takes longer than we expect.  WE are anxious to learn more about this family tomorrow.

I am done rambling.  I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Day Two

Today only Arlington went to school.  Our new school district divides that Kindergarten kids up and sends one half the first day and the other half the second day.  It is a big class (5 kindergartens and over 100 kids) so they like to ease the kids into the school year.

So today, Finley and Cainan were home with me.  I had a hard time getting the kids out of bed today - school had done them in already.  It was another rainy day which always makes it interesting at the bus stop.  Once Arlington was gone, the littles and I returned home and had to spend most of the day indoors due to the weather.

Today Arlington had another great day at school.  She learned a few more kid's names.  She seems to be coming along socially.  Arlington has never been worried about who she should sit with at lunch, or who she should play with.  She will sit with and play with whomever is willing.  And she doesn't mind sitting or playing with kids she doesn't even know.  Her feelings do not get hurt easily and she is quick to forgive.  She makes a great friend.

She talked a very long time about her day today.  She was very excited because she achieved role model status today, which is the highest you can get in her class.  The teacher has set up a chart in her class - role model is the highest......calling your parents is the lowest.  There are 4 levels in between.  Depending on how your day is, the kids have to move their clip in one direction or the other.  When we toured the class, I told Arlington her clip better never been in the "calling your parents" section.  So today she was so happy to be at the higest level.  She got to put a special "sparkle bead" on her clip.  If she gets 5, she gets a special prize.  She could hardly contain her excitement.

I didn't completely understand HOW she achieved this today, but it had something to do with winning a spelling contest.  I find this interesting because Arlington is not the best speller.  She is must too worried about the content of her story to worry about how the words are spelled.  But today, she did great.  We are really proud of her and hope it continues.

She just talked and talked about her day.  She does really love school.  She loves all parts of it.  Even the boring worksheets.  She sees them as a game.  I hope she always keeps this love of learning, and that she rubs off on her brother and sister.

Tomorrow it is everyone back to school.  We are getting into a routine now.  We are starting to get busy with making after school activity schedules and volunteer activities.  Arlington has signed up for Chess, Tennis, and Brownies.  Finley is signing up for Daisies and we are working on getting piano lessons started.  She wants to take an art class, but they are really expensive.  Cainan is signed up for Karate and will be going back to Kumon enrichment classes.  I have signed up to volunteer at the school and will be teaching a braille letter to Finley's class each Monday, and helping in the health office with screenings in a few weeks.  I have also joined the garden club and am going to be helping out at a local Consignment sale in a few weeks.

So we are keeping busy.  It is still hard to believe that it is September.  Before we know it....it will be Christmas.

First day of Kindergarten and 3rd grade

Today was the first day of school for the kids.

They could hardly sleep last night because they were very excited.  Arlington touched her outfit about 1 million times making sure she had all she needed.  It was really cute.

Today, the kids were up bright and early and ready to go.  It was a rainy day, so we had to take all pictures inside.  Arlington was the first one out the door to school.  Her bus came at 7:40 pm.

After she left, the littles and I came back home to finish getting ready.  I took their pictures and had them get their bookbags.

At one point I asked the kids to turn around so I could get a picture of their bookbags.  Here is what they did:

Apparently they are practicing for a life of crime.  Awe.some.

 Their bus came at 8:30.  Finley was quiet, but ready to go.  Right before she got on the bus, she came back to me and gave me a big hug and said "I love you".  About broke my heart.  I know she was nervous.

But she got on the bus then and didn't look back.  Cainan bounded right up the steps onto the bus without any problems.  And they were off.

It was so weird for about the first hour.  The house was so quiet.  I was thinking - did I tell them everything?  Do they remember not to talk to strangers?  Will they remember where their snack is?  Will Finley have someone to sit with at lunch?  Will Arlington appraoch kids she doesn't know and ask them to play?  It was tough.

But before I knew it, 4 hours had gone by and it was time to get Cainan off the bus.  He was so excited....he had a great day.  He told me all about his day and he made a few new friends.  He couldn't remember their names, but I was so glad he had kids to play with.  He loved his teacher.  He got to play with blocks.  And now he was home without his sisters with his mommy all to himself.

At 3:00, I went back to the bus stop to get Arlington.  Yes, it was still raining, much to my dismay.  Arlington also had a really great day.  She loved her teacher and has made a new "best friend" already.  She and her new friend in her class share the same color eyes and a love for dogs.  This sealed the deal in Arlington's book.  She talked about many kids in her class, and everything she did all day.  She was excited to show me her planner and her "homework" for tonight, which was for me to fill out about 1 million papers for the school, and her to read.

At 3:50, I went back to the bus stop one last time for Finley.  5 trips to the bus stop - a friend of mine said I need to build myself a little shelter at the bus stop.  She is right - I was there a ton today.  Still raining, of course, I waited for my youngest to get off the bus.  She came off and jumped right into my arms.  She told me right away she had a really great day and played with a lot of kids.  She ate lunch with a new friend.  She loved her teacher and even got to play with toys. She was the fastest at cleaning up.  (hmmmmm...mental note for home life).

Although, she had an interesting story from lunch time.  I packed her lunch.  I didn't want her worrying about going through the lunch line until she was used to being there.  The cafeteria is large, and daunting.  So, she says to me "I didn't eat my sandwhich today".  I fussed at her becuase we had talked about 1 million times about the importance of her eating her lunch at school so she wouldn't be tired and hungry in the afternoon.  But she said "I ate pizza".  I stared at her.  "Where did you get pizza?" I asked her.  "Well, I love pizza, so the teacher bought it for me".  Oh.my.goodness.  She gave them a "Finley look" and they bought her school lunch?  GGGGRRRRRREEEEEEAAAAAATTTTT.

Finley and I had to have a discussion that lunch at school is NOT free food, that she needs to eat what I gave her.  But she just kept telling me how much she loved pizza.  Finally, I think it stuck that she needed to stick to her sandwhich and sometimes I will let her buy lunch.  I sent her teacher an email to apologize and offer to pay for the lunch she ate today and ask to make sure she doesn't do it again.  My goodness that girl!

So a good first day.  Tomorrow - Finley and Cainan don't have school.  Kindergarteners get to slowly get used to school.  But Arlington will be back to school tomorrow.  The littles and I are hoping for a nice sunny day to enjoy some time outside and hopefully take a trip to the library.  Then the real routine of school begins.

School eve

Tomorrow is the first day of school.

I think I am more excited than the kids.  Well - maybe not more excited than Arlington.

Arlington woke up this morning and said "it is school eve!!"  She is so funny.

The bookbags are ready.  Bus tags are attached.

The lunch bags are out and ready. 

We are ready.  Tomorrow morning will be interesting around here.  We have an early start so that Arlington can be on the bus by 7:40am! 

I will share all the pictures of their first day tomorrow.  I can't believe my babies are going to Kindergarten and that Arlington is a 3rd grader.