Back to It

Most Wonderful Time of the Year

We can exhale now. All of the children have been escorted back to their respective schools.

Kindergarten and First Grade

Too Cool for Outside Pic

So I Got One Anyway

Seems like just yesterday when they were so sweet and posing for their mama...



We are so excited for them (and for us) starting this new chapter in their lives.

First and Last

Today my kiddos are finishing up another year of school and I am so proud of them.

This is Emi and David on the first day of school.



And this is them on the last day (today!).

They have grown so much! (Emi may make her goal of getting to 6'5" yet!)

Looking forward to the lazy days of summer...

First Day of School

It seems like only yesterday that we were telling David he'd be going to school with Big Sister Emi next year...

Emi's First Day of 4th Grade (August 2011)

But that day is here. Today the whole family escorted David and Emi to their first day of school.

Emi 5th Grade, David Pre-K

Emi was embarassed that we were escorting her to her class and taking pictures (get used to it baby girl!) and David was so excited about making new friends...he wasn't embarassed by us being there. I feel sorry for his teachers because the class is 75% boys...luckily there are 2 teachers to keep things under control.

Happy for Big Brother

And Aubri was so excited for her brother before we dropped him off, but so sad on the way home... until Daddy took her to see any old friend at her old school... she brightened a bit after that. She sure does miss her brother when he's gone...

Next Year, Baby Girl...

What They're Teaching in School These Days

Exercising - David and Aubri from Nolita Morgan on Vimeo.

BS (Back to School)

So Emi started the FOURTH GRADE today! And the day started off a little rocky (of course).  David and Emi both woke up on the wrong side of the bed... and my efforts at preparing a hearty and healthy breakfast which consisted of a wonderful Kale and Feta Breakfast Casserole didn't seem much appreciated (initially). I used Red Russian Kale and maybe that didn't seem too eye appealing to them. After being forced to taste the casserole first before deciding, everyone but the oldest seemed to like it (or at least the complaining ceased). That's good because we are having it for breakfast tomorrow too. Along with some corned beef hash to mix things up a bit.

We escorted Emi to her new classroom this morning (loaded down with supplies) and then to the noisy gym where the masses were. As we walked the halls, David's little mind was blown away by the dinosaurs in the library and all of the kiddos at the school. In fact, I got a good picture of my little trio outside and David looks like he was hovering above the ground with excitement (and it wasn't even HIS first day of school....love that boy!).

After we left her school David talked a bit about when he starts going to her school and I told him that by then, Emi would be moving up to the next school...and Aubri would be left at their current school. And we'll have 3 schools for 3 kids. Made me a little teary eyed thinking about my baby girl going into the 4th grade.

Mom of the Year (not so much)

I definitely won't be nominating myself for that award based on the happenings of last Friday. In my defense, Aubri woke me up from a sound sleep during the Unholy Hour and since I couldn't immediately go back to sleep, I replied to a comment on my blog and clarified some ingredients for Marinated Cheese to Scott's sister via e-mail. I am sure that little hiccup in my sleep pattern is what rendered me incompetent for parts of the rest of the day.

To wit:

Typically after breakfast, once the kiddos are all ready to walk out the door, IF we have time, the Little Ones can watch a DVR'd episode of SuperWhy while I finish getting ready. Friday morning, I selected their show, put the dogs up and gathered up my stuff when I heard David say "Oh my gosh!".  When I got to the Living Room, I saw that my precious little kiddos were watching Hell's Kitchen which is a complete departure from the educational show they were supposed to be watching. At this time, the winning chef team was oohing and ahhing (and no doubt bleeping and smoking) over their reward (which I haven't seen yet). I immediately snapped off the TV and told the children to let me know if one of mommy's shows is playing instead of their shows so I can fix it. Fat chance that they will; I will probably have to record my saucy shows in my bedroom from now on....lesson learned.

So, on the heels of all the negativity that might have filled their ears and eyes, I got the kids loaded into the car and headed off to school. About 5 blocks down the road while I was making a left turn, Aubri let me know that she was not buckled. Luckily we were only a few more blocks away from the school. {Sorry, baby girlie}

After we got David safely to his class, Aubri and I headed to the Urgent Care center where the kind doctor verified that she did have an ear infection. While we were filling her prescription, I let her eat an entire bag of gummy bears. Actually, that's not true - she shared a couple with me and she didn't actually finish the bag until we got to my office.

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So anyway, the rest of the weekend was nice and productive. We were so very happy to not have anything planned that was geared towards "Back to School". Friday night Emi's summer camp did their annual program and they did a great job. I am soooo glad she is not like me in that she's completely cool with being on stage, projecting herself and making eye contact.  To this day if, I was up there on stage and made eye contact with someone I knew, I'd probably immediately start projectile vomiting. After the program, there was pizza, so dinner took care of itself that night. All we had to do was put the 2 kids we left with (Emi had a sleepover) into their prospective beds and then it was Dexter: Season 5 {Thank you, Amazon!} for the rest of the night. Well, just 2 episodes, actually.

Saturday was about catching up on laundry (like that's possible), purging Emi's room of her hoards of crap (and organizing her locker and shelves so she can handle Putting Things Away), finding school supplies out of the hidden caches of supplies from years past, and zipping outside here and there to try to maintain some semblance of the opposite of neglect. Later, I went from pajamas to my swim suit after Emi got home, and we took a nice dip in the pool with her friends. After a very late lunch, the whole family packed up to get Emi some new soccer cleats and then grocery shopping at Target. I know, big time fun! It was too late for a full meal when we got home, but because it is still technically summer AND it was Saturday night, we celebrated with fresh from the oven chocolate chip cookies and milk. Then we shuttled everyone off to bed so we could watch Seven Pounds. Whoa...this movie was a good one! I would totally recommend you add it to your Netflix list.

Sunday, we went to our bible study for the second time and I have to say, I am really enjoying that class. The people are nice and it really, really, really helps to discuss what we read so as to have a deeper understanding of the lessons involved. Some stories in the bible are hard to digest without discussion. Something that really hit home this time were the effects that decisions of earlier generations of people have on the generations that follow. ... the sins of our fathers.  Very thought-provoking stuff indeed. It's been a long while since we've been a part of a bible study group and this has been nice.

After a short nap, Emi and I went shopping to update her clothing options for school and pick up the remaining school supplies needed. We were on a tight budget so it was a challenge but we made it. Our budget was $125.00 but we could have gone up to $200 if needed. Emi needed some new shoes and some other pieces to go with what she already has in her wardrobe. We went to Kohl's and scored some sneakers, "toning" flip flops and cute turquoise slip ons; 3 skorts (1 for me); 3 camis; and 2 tees for $100.18.  It would have been $118 but we applied for the store credit card (which would have been a 20% discount had we been approved but because I have a freeze on my credit, ended up being a 15% discount instead). We went immediately to the Dollar Tree to retrieve the remaining school supplies plus other sundries and ended up spending $22.50 there. So, things were solidly under budget. The weekend was packed with good lessons for Emi in budgeting her money. She wanted the magenta soccer cleats which were $5 more than we were willing to spend so she had to cough up that extra money. I owed her $10 for past allowances so I gave her a 5 spot and the transaction was complete. Now, for the Little Ones who were quietly observing the deal, they learned that if you whine a lot about wanting the more expensive shoes, mom and dad will eventually give in and also give you money.... oy!

Sunday dinner was a nice home cooked meal of Chicken Curry and Spinach Sauteed with Olive Oil and Garlic to round out the weekend. After the Little Ones were tucked away in bed I had some time to comb through some of Emi's hair. I'm hoping that tonight the rest will be combed out and she will have a new style for a while. If we could get a few more days like the 3 we just had (minus the doctor visit) we could catch up a little more life...

Ready for School

Family Business

Everyone in the Morgan household is healthy and happy at the moment. *Knock wood!* Poor little Aubri was scheduled to get a shot yesterday and ended up getting 3! Bless her little heart!  She had no idea what was happening when the nurse jammed a shot in one leg, then the other and came back to the original leg for the last one. I'm told she was crying for Mommy and Daddy afterwards. I wish I could have been there to comfort her but I am also glad she associates that pain with her aunt instead of her mom! ;.)

Later, she told me about the shots with her bottom lip jutting out and I gave her lots of hugs and kisses to make it better. Now, instead of walking like a drunk being pulled with an invisible string attached to her waist, she walks like a drunk being pulled with an invisible string attached to her waist who has recently been clubbed in the leg. I bet she has already forgotten the whole tragedy already.

David has been cracking us up lately. We really need to film his story times because they show so much creativity! Last week I asked him what he did at Aunt Dee's house and he said they went to church. I said "Really, what did you do there?" He replied "Played in traffic." Okee....

And the other night at bedtime after we'd read 3 books I told the kids that it was time to get in bed. David stopped me and said "Actually, it's time for me to pee" Good boy! He's gotten so much better about the late night peeing thing too...if he has to pee he either quietly goes to Scott's side of the bed to whisper for help or just pees by himself and gets back in bed. We leave a light on for him so it's no problem. He's such a good boy and a quick learner!

Emi is doing well with school starting back up and next week SOCCER starts back up. I hope her cleats from the Spring season still fit but I sorta doubt it because the size 8 Crocs I bought her are being returned as I type this because she is now wearing a size 9!!! Baby girl is growing like a weed. She recently decided that she wanted to wear her hair loose in an afro and while that initially gave me heartburn, we are working with her daily to moisturize and detangle her hair. It's a struggle but she looks so cute! I am trying my hand at cornrowing and I am S-L-O-W-L-Y getting there. I get much need inspiration from Katie at Happy Girl Hair.

We've been busy with school starting back up but we still make time for the Farmer's Market, bike riding and swimming. And we've really been concentrating on cooking dinner at home every night. Last night the family approved of my first time manicotti dish (which was uber filling) and the night before I made pizza after I saw a cool brie, proscuitto and mushroom pizza recipe by Half-Assed Kitchen mentioned on She Likes Purple.

I have been trying to use up ingredients that I purchased some time back before they expire (i.e: manicotti, quinoa, red lentils, brie, proscuitto, etc) and sticking to a weekly menu in order to adhere to our budget. It's been a challenge but we love a good food challenge here in the Morgan household. We've been lucky enough this week to have made enough of some good meals to have leftovers for lunch and also freeze extra meals for the days when I don't feel like cooking...

Eagle IRIS

Snow Day

So this past week has been kind of Cabin Feverish for those of us living in Central Oklahoma. Last week we were hit with an Ice Storm followed by several beautiful inches of snow and it was a veritable winter wonderland here. Thursday and Friday were snow days for us. The 4 day weekend was welcomed with open arms. We all were fine with work and school being canceled but when our scout meeting was canceled and also Emi's first basketball game, that made us all a little anxious. We'd already taken advantage of the down time to catch up on DVR'd stuff, read, reorganize the basement & garage, deep clean the bathrooms, shred and purge several boxes of records, play some board games, etc. We were ready for some outside contact! So we tried to integrate back into society on Sunday by going to church and then Home Depot. That kept us from going completely stir crazy (that and FaceBook I should say), but later that night (around 6ish) we got word from IRIS (automated alert system that calls/emails us) that school was canceled for our district because the roads were still bad for bus travel. Okee! That was unexpected because the roads in town were clear. I had to get on FaceBook to check with fellow parents in my district to make sure we weren't getting Punk'd.

Scott took one for the team and stayed home with Emi on Monday and I was G-L-A-D to get back into the swing of things back at the office. So, Monday night was a real nailbiter as we kept seeing neighboring districts canceling school for Tuesday due to Freezing Fog (yipes!) and icy roads. At this point fellow parents were simultaneously volunteering to drive out to pick up kids in the rural areas and fantasizing about run-ins with the school superintendent if he should decide to cancel school on Tuesday and sometime after 8 PM (!) IRIS called us to let us know that school was canceled again (4 days!)!!! Scott and I were starting to wonder if IRIS had taken on a life of her own a la Eagle Eye.

I took time off today to hang with Emi and I have been praying all day that school will be in session tomorrow. I heard a rumor from another mom that school might be out until THURSDAY! I want to believe that I will be taking my daughter to school tomorrow morning because IRIS in fact has NOT called yet, but there is still the element of surprise with an early morning cancelation.

Two years ago much of Norman was without power for a week and we were more sympathetic to school's being closed. But this extended break seemed a bit overmuch. And according to the 4Warn team we are to expect a "winter mix" Thursday and another winter storm on Monday. Please don't let IRIS know!

First Day of School

Spoke Too Soon...

Today we got a call from Emi at school asking to be picked up to change because she had been exposed to "itching powder" on her lunch break.Turns out she and some friends were playing with the seed balls from a Sweet Gum Tree on the playground...they grind up the balls and refer to the resultant dust as "itching powder". I talked to the lady in the office and we determined that this was not a real emergency (no rash) and that Emi would probably be fine going back to class. Daddy called herback at the school to reinforce that we both thought she could deal with her "itching".

A couple of hours later I got a call from her teacher letting me know that Emi howled at the top of her lungs for 30-35 minutes and pinched the principal when he took her to the office. This after she was given a fresh shirt. Her teacher was shocked (as were we) and she said that Emi was fine now (until she gets home that is!)...she just wanted to let me know about the situation. So when I picked her up from school, she was fine. I inspected her for any irritation or rash and found nothing at all.

She wrote an apology note to her teacher and agreed to apologize to her principal in person the next day for pinching. No TV or games this evening!

Gifted

We always felt that Emi was gifted and talented, but we weren't sure how others (her teachers) felt. Today she was tested and unofficially qualified for the GT program! Baby girl done us proud!

Do-Si-Do

Emi's school had a big Hoe Down today! The kids have been practicing Square Dancing for the past few weeks in PE. Emi was paired up with her friend, Billy, and when he would get distracted during the dance (they are only in Kindergarten, mind you), she would just do the moves (do-si-do) around him and then grab both of his arms and basically force him to promenade with her. She didn't seem to have ANY qualms about taking the lead. Not sure WHERE she gets that. Her partner's mom told me that she would make a good wife someday! Here! Here!

Kindergarten Picture Day

Today was my sweet little girl's first school picture day. Daddy and I worked with her on relaxing and trying not to do the fake smile thing. We told her to think of something funny. We practiced a little, but I can't see that either of us looked like we just heard a funny joke...

Kinder Kinder

Much has happened since my last post (which was a long time coming too) but the biggest news is that my baby girl (she's 5) started Kindergarten this past week. After 3 years at preschool, I think she was ready for it. And I was ready for the daycare cost to go way down too!! Last week we met other Kinder parents at the PTA orientation. The current president of the PTA actually knew us from the adoption seminar we attended before Emi was born. "Back to School" was BIG FUN where all of the parents could purchase school logoed merchandise and lunch tickets, sign up the kiddos for the extracurriculars and also volunteer to help out. We met Emi's teacher and were very pleased. She just happened to be the teacher I picked to e-mail midway through the summer when I was trying to find out information on school supplies and why the school website was down. Sweet baby girl has quite a few little allies in her class already PLUS an awesome teacher. Very nice. Couldn't be more pleased.

I spoke too soon - I had lunch at the school cafeteria with baby girl on Friday and it was pretty bad. Much worse than I remember my school lunches to be. Monday she starts bringing her lunch...and if she whines, egg salad every day... ;.)

Emi also started soccer this past week. She had a couple of really good practices before the big game today. I would say she sorta "choked" at the beginning of the game and didn't exactly want to play. We think she was overwhelmed by the crowds of cheering parents. Her Grandma Babe and Grandaddy-o coerced her into joining the game by telling her they'd give her a quarter for every time she kicked the ball...in ANY direction. I could see her counting out loud after a few kicks. That's my girl. I also promised her a snowcone if she played. She had a good time and even scored a goal! And even though we weren't supposed to keep score....WE WON!!!!! Way to go girls!!