I’ve had this post sitting in my inbox unfinished since school started.  A great idea, Daybook in pictures…except my mood is perpetually shitty and it’s not getting any better.  Especially when my kid who can bust out a narrative has all of a sudden forgotten how to do that.    So for now, maybe pictures are a good thing as opposed to words.

I am wearing…

I am praying for…These four as they start school.  The Armstrong boys and a little boy who is starting a new routine without his brother by his side.

I am grateful for…a dear friend who understands the desire to keep her kids home.  And all the other friends who checked with me Monday to see how I handled BH going to school.  Even though they might not have the same desires, they know me, they knew just how hard Monday morning was.  And they care.

Towards a real education…going over work we did this past year.  Pretty awesome.  And enough to make me super angry at my boy being at school.  Not sad, just really effing mad.

From the kitchen…

You can’t see me…

I am reading…

The first day of school…

Left behind…

You know the saying, “if you don’t have something good to say, don’t say anything at all.”  My mom taught me that phrase many years ago.  I’ve had varying degrees of success following it.

I teach my children a better version of it: is it kind? is it true?  is it necessary?  Generally, wonderful words to live by.

I’ve been silent for a while because really, I have nothing positive to share.

Silence can be golden.

Now is not a golden time for me.

Five for Friday…when your heart is breaking and you just want your kids home because you know, deep within your soul, that you are supposed to be educating your own children.  The only problem, God failed to make that clear to your spouse.

:: I will never, ever understand what the hell Baby Hulk is doing in school all day long.  Do you know most K classes are released an hour before the rest of elementary students are released?  Not at Rogers.

:: I will never, ever understand the point of homework in Kindergarten.  It is stupid, pointless.  It will do one thing: teach a child to think of learning as work.

:: I swear, and I know I heard correctly, that reading groups might not be set according to level.  If this happened, the reader could mentor the non reader.  Yes, that’s right.  Please tell me who thinks a Kindergarten child should mentor a classmate?

:: Clearly, I’ve already had a conference.  The teacher said she might not have explained it properly.  You think????  Considering the fact that another parent asked about this at open house and that is where she made her “mentor” statement, I don’t know how WE were confused.  At my conference, armed with information from my friend with a Phd in elementary math education as well as general knowledge and research that comes from assuming I was going to homeschool for the past 6 years, I was more than ready for the meeting.

:: The conference ended with her asking if I was a certified teacher to which I responded “no, a lawyer”.  And a parent that expects 9 months improvement in all areas especially reading.  I questioned her on exactly how we were going to find BH’s starting point because clearly a K test isn’t going to cut it.

It’s going to be a LONG year.  And the kicker????  I was appointed to FREAKING TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK.

ME!!!

I am not kidding.  Someone really likes to kick me when I’m down, don’t they?

(And to be clear, even if I didn’t want to homeschool, I would think teacher appreciation week was stupid.  One day, fine, a week?!  It’s not happening.)

There have been signs that Sunshine is all girl.  Small ones, though Lance would say he knew she was different from the beginning.  I beg to differ.

(She is a lot like me though.  She hates mess.  Hates it.  Which of course, I love.)

Most recently, Sunshine has shown quite a bit of interest in dolls.

A baby to be exact.

With American Girl opening in Houston, I decided this was THE WEEK!

And so, Grandpa took Sunshine shopping today.

She was in heaven.  Heaven.

She literally squealed with delight in the car while clutching her new baby.  

Baby Hulk,

Last night I packed your Wookie t-shirt.  It’s too small for you.  I didn’t put it in the attic for your brother or in the donation pile.  It’s yours.  But it’s starting to look a bit too short on you.  Your dad says it’s time.

And it is.

Time to move in another direction.

It’s your first day of school.  Your first day of somebody other than me teaching you.

Academically, you’re ready.  More than ready.  (You’re welcome to any teacher you have in the next three years.)  I do have concerns, not the typical “no school will be good enough” concerns.  Concerns I won’t write here.  Concerns I take to the altar, to Mary.

I pray that your teacher appreciates the amazing, sensitive and quite honestly, brilliant boy that you are.  I hope she embraces the bit of quirkiness you have.  I pray that she has patience with you and that she keeps the fire going that I started in you.  I hope she finds ways to keep you engaged and interested.  I hope you find friends that are kind and interesting.  I hope that you flourish in school.

And every day, I will be waiting to hear all about your day.

My sweet, handsome, smart little boy, I love you so much.  I’ll miss learning with you and teaching you.  A secret, thus far, you are my best student.  I already miss your sweet little face.  I pray that God watches over you, that Mary mothers you when I’m not there and that those five little saints known as your sisters storm heaven to keep you happy and safe.  Maybe they can throw a few prayers my way too, that I stay sane while you’re gone.

Happy First Day of School, BH.

St. Gerard pray for my boy.

PS…that bitch who didn’t let me say goodbye this morning, well, she’ll pay.  I promise you that.  SHE. WILL. PAY.

Yes, a break from vacation pictures.  Am I finished posting pictures from the trip?  Not even close.

:: Football season is starting.  As is fantasy football.  Last year, Lance had his big auction during the week.  I was sick.  Puking sick.  SO what did Lance do?  Left me home with five kids.  He won the league.  It’s a decent amount of money, so I have been waiting for him to collect.  As of today, he has yet to collect his money from his win.  I assume when he goes to this year’s auction in the very near future, he’ll be collecting.  He says he ins’t sharing.  That’s fine, just expect a withdrawal from me for the amount of the league fee.  Because I am not paying for a league in which I don’t receive a benefit.

:: Baby Hulk told me today that he wanted to go to Trulucks for his back to school meal.  I love that kid.  Not enough to take him there tomorrow, but still, I love him.

:: I took the boys to mass at St. Michael’s today at noon.  Although we attend another church on Sundays and Holy Days, our closest parish is St. Michael’s so that’s where we go for daily mass.  The boys love Monsignor and have seen him quite a bit over the years.  I thought they deserved a blessing from him today before starting school, especially BH.  So what did they do?  Got into a fight while at church.  In front of the priest.

:: I had one thing to buy BH today at Old Navy.  I heard a lady talk about how it was going to be long sleeved weather soon.  WTH?  I know she can’t possibly live here.

:: I am still dreaming about last night’s amazing show.  Brings a smile to my face.

Last night was amazing.  Simply amazing.

Another killer Old 97’s show.

Yes, another.  They just do such a great job every single time I see them, I can’t decide which show is best.

Okay, I admit, that show almost two years was probably the best ever…You just can’t beat getting tickets to a sold out show from Rhett Miller himself!

Last night was the anniversary show of Too Far To Care, an incredible, beloved album.  But for me it was a chance to FINALLY see the band with Chelsea.

Ten years ago, I introduced Chelsea to the band via Satellite Rides.  What 12 year old wouldn’t love Rollerskate Skinny and Bird in a Cage?  Of course, there was Question and my personal, all time favorite song, Designs On You.

She became an instant fan and over the years we’ve shared our taste in music despite our age difference.  We discussed each new album, and I sent text messages from the last several shows while she was in college.

You can only imagine the text messages that flew between us when I was able to meet the band with the boys.

When we heard the band was coming to Houston someone gave Lance tickets so he gave Chelsea two tickets to use.  We arrived right as the show started.

I could hear Timebomb.

And the guy at the window couldn’t find our tickets.

Do you think I went postal?  Maybe.  When Barrier Reef started, I finally shouted, “why aren’t we just buying tickets????!!!”  We did, and while Lance stayed behind to get over being slightly upset with me, I walked to the middle close to the front where I knew Cory was.  I’m sure he was more than annoyed to hear me scream my story in his ear while the band was playing.

Meanwhile, they found the tickets, and Lance got his money back for one ticket, they needed mine and I wasn’t going back outside.

Overall, an incredible show.  The band didn’t disappoint and played some additional songs and the ending: Timebomb again which was perfect because I had missed it.

Chel and I were like kids once we found each other.  The first thing we did this morning was text about the show and how great it was.

We took the kids hiking at Petroglyph in Albuquerque Sunday morning.  You can tell we’re inexperienced hikers because Lance and I are constantly calling out to the kids to be careful.  At one point BH climbed over rocks and I couldn’t find him.  Squirt and Goose followed, but still, I was pretty nervous.

Snax didn’t seem to mind this hike.

And it’s boring…

You would have thought we were hiking this instead of a child friendly trail.

We power drove after Lance got off work last Friday to Las Cruces, New Mexico so that we could go here.

Someone randomly mentioned White Sands thinking that we would be driving in that direction on our way to Durango.  We weren’t supposed to drive in that direction.

After researching White Sands, it became a must that we get there.

We were not disappointed in the least.

Before arriving, we learned about how the park was formed and the plants and animals that live there.  We weren’t prepared for just how nice it was.

We took a one mile hike in the hot, hot heat.  The boys loved it.  We forgot water.  For someone who loves hiking, I am not very good at it.  Who forgets water in the blazing heat beating down on white freaking sand???

We survived.  We saw animal tracks, took a great family picture and the kids earned their Junior Ranger badges as well.

A great start to our vacation.