I can almost relax.
One kid down; one to go! Pablo finished up his school year yesterday. They actually had a graduation ceremony, which was ADORABLE, and which you may likely see none of, since stupid-ass me forgot my camera. Oh, I was so frustrated! I was all out of sorts from being up half the night because my nephew called at 2 a.m. and then showed up here at 7, needing some gas money to get back home (I’ll bitch about all that in another post, maybe) and I had to get Pablo to school 15 minutes early, which practically required a miracle – it is SO hard getting everyone fed and shoed and buckled on time! When I was a few blocks from the house, I realized I didn’t have my camera, but they were emphatic about the kids being there on time so they could get them lined up to walk. I only had 3 minutes to spare at that point, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to get it. Sadness!! I have thousands, literally thousands of boring, mundane, day-to-day pictures of the kids – pictures of the most basic stuff ever – and on the most precious, cutest, most photographed day of the year, I don’t have my camera! And, to make it all worse, I was sitting two feet from Pablo, in the front row, and he knew all the hand motions and dance moves for every sweet little song they did. Torture!
Anyway. I wrangled all the kids at that little operation yesterday, and then we zipped across town to pick up a form for the doctor that Mallory needed to be officially registered for preschool. We got that turned in on time (thank God!) and came on home. It was an exhausting morning! After the kids had lunch and went down for their naps, I took a nap too! It was awesome!! And we had crazy rain yesterday, with lots of thunder and lightning. It made for perfect napping. The house got all dark and everything!
Kayley has this week of school – and she went back to Troy’s last night – and then she has Monday, Tuesday, and half of Wednesday, and she’ll be all done with 6th grade. I am SO excited about having the kids out of school! This will be the first time in FOREVER that we haven’t had anyone’s schedule to adhere to but our own. No therapy appointments, no speech, no getting to school on time. No washing dozens of tiny uniform pieces! I am stoked. I may have already mentioned it, but I’m still planning to keep to a strict schedule over the summer, with actual schooltime every day. I’ve been studying a lot of preschool-age home school curriculum. I’ve also been picking Cindy’s brain, since she’s a preschool teacher of kids the same age as my own. I’d like to keep Pablo on track and in “school mode” since he does so much better with a strict routine, and I honestly think ALL the kids would benefit from it. And wouldn’t it be AWESOME if Mallory started her first year of preschool in the fall, already knowing the alphabet and how to write her letters and how to write her name and all that? I’m excited about it. And again, excited that it’s going to be on OUR schedule, and not anyone else’s.
What else has gone on? Not a whole lot. We had some of Paul’s family over on Monday to barbecue. His step-grandmother was in town from Florida just for the day, on her way somewhere else. Those crazy retirees and their traveling! Paul went on an all-day motorcycle ride on Saturday. The kids and I just hung out here, pretty much. We went to Sam’s Club on Saturday, and that was pretty much our big outing for the weekend! We’ve been doing a whole lot of playing in the backyard. I just finally broke out the chalk and the bubbles, and both have been a big hit. And also, I think I forgot to mention it, but Mallory has learned how to pump her legs while swinging, and it’s really opened up a whole new world for her! And ME, since I don’t have to constantly push her! Now if I can get the other ones to do that too, it’d be super.
In the past week, I also read a book. What? Two complete books in two weeks? Me?? More books than I’ve read in the past year! I’m liking this trend, though, and I’m going to keep trying to carve out a little time to read whenever I can. It makes me almost feel smart! More so than sitting in front of this box!
Here are a few recent pictures of my kids, which I just grabbed off the camera last night:
The girls, reading together:
Pablo coloring with his new 3-color crayons:
The kids outside – you might have to view this one larger to see it – it’s Kayley and the little girls on the tramp, and Mallory swinging. Look at her go!
And these were taken after K’s choir concert the other night:
My parents…
Kayley and Taylor:
These girls are looking mighty grown up all of a sudden! Crazy what a little makeup and blow-drying will do, along with dressy clothes!
Okay, so the reason for the title, “I can ALMOST relax…” is that even though today is the first day of NO SCHOOL for Pablo, I made appointments for he and Mallory both to have physicals this morning, in like ONE HOUR, and I’m not even showered or dressed and the kids aren’t dressed and nobody’s eaten, and hey, I’ve gotta run! See ya!
Random LaLa Goodness
LaLaGirl is the mother of a teenager and two young sets of twins. She's happily married, loves living in Colorado, and writes almost daily about married life, raising multiples, and parenting a child with autism.
Maybe one of the other parents in Pablo’s class got a shot of him? I know I took pictures of many of the kids in my twins preschool class to put in frames for them…maybe another parent did too. Got any of their phone numbers?
Congratulations to Pablo for such a fantastic school year!!
Great pictures. Kayley sure does look grown up – and gorgeous!
Yes, Kayley’s hair looks adorable. And your backyard looks like kid-heaven.
The little ones are soooo cute. Laura, you look so much like your mom and your sister really resembles your dad. And has Kayley lost weight? Because she surely looks like it! Her face looks so slim; maybe it’s just that she’s getting older and just starting to look more mature? I don’t know but she really looks a lot slimmer. Gosh, she’s so pretty.
I was just thinking that the pics of your sister resemble your mom.
The kids are growing up so fast, Laura! The little ones are precious and Kayley is beautiful!
Sounds fun! Glad we can all start playing again soon!
Great pictures!!!! You ARE a total dead ringer for your mom!