First Day of School!

First day of playschool 2011

Tuesday was Barnes' first day of Playschool at First Presbyterian!  It was a big day.  I planned out everything... had his breakfast ready, backpack packed, clothes laid out, sister dressed and ready to go.  So its time to wake him up and it goes like this:

Me:  Barnes its time to get up.

BBP: ME NO GO TO SCHOOL!

Me: Its going to be fun! You will make new friends and make crafts and sing songs and play outside.

BBP: ME NO LIKE SCHOOL!  ME NO GO!

Me: Well, lets get ready and we can talk about it over breakfast.

So we have breakfast, which he refuses to eat.  I try to persuade him that he will love it, to which he fights me at every turn.  We get dressed, he hates his clothes, doesn't want to wear what I picked out.  Overall, it isn't going well.  So I ask if I can take his picture, to which he relents and actually half smiles. I then bribe him with a box of gummy lifesavers to even get in the car.  But this seems to change his attitude... THANKFULLY! And he eats his gummies and seems content on the way there unless I directly mention school and he says, ME NO GO!

About this time, I'm thinking I'm totally going to be the mom whose child must be peeled off her thigh. Dreading every minute of the embarrassment of having to wrangle him and try to keep Anna Kate happy and content as well while we are in the middle of a swarm of kids and parents.

So we get there and it goes like this:

1.  I sign him in.
2.  I tell the teacher about his tree nut allergy and give her the epi pen, which is totally ridiculous to talk about punching a hole in his leg and calling and ambulance! OH DEAR, I'm sure they LOVE  me already.  I'm the MOM with the allergy kid!
3. We go to the bathroom, which hes fascinated with because there is a tiny little boy sized urinal in the floor and he says! ME PEE PEE IN THAT!
4.  We go back down the hall after washing our hands and I take him to the classroom.
  THIS IS THE MOMENT I'M DREADING!
5. I tell him I'm going to leave and he says, Bye mommy and walks away!

NO screaming, no drama, not even a second thought.  He just walks away.  I'm in shock!  I grab Anna Kate and get the Hell out of there~ FAST! I take one more look as I'm heading by the classroom door and hes sitting at a table playing with an etch a sketch.  He looks up and waves at me and that's it. First day drama was non-existent.

7.  I leave and cry all the way to the car!  I'm overwhelmed by what a big, smart, handsome, precious little boy that the baby I held in my arms has become.  I think to myself that Brad and I have done good. We have done well.  He is a great little boy.

After I leave, I call everyone I know to tell them how shocked I am at what happened and say how proud I was of him.  When Anna Kate and I pull up to the school to pick him up at 11:45 we are the first SUV there.  My friend on the phone says... YOU CANNOT BE THAT MOM! Leave now and drive around for five minutes.  Then you can come back.  (Thanks for the advice, Jamie!)

When we come back, we are about car #8 in a line of 30+ SUVs and mini vans all waiting anxiously to pick up their pre-schoolers.  So as the line starts moving and they put him in the truck the convo goes like this,

Me:  Barnes did you have fun?

BBP: Yes, Mommy.  Me played outside!

Me: Great! I'm so glad you had a good day, do you want to come back again soon?

BBP:  Umm, No thank you.

OH DEAR! Who knows how things will be tomorrow when we go back for day #2.  Wish us luck and say a prayer.

from green to gorgeous!

So, many of you know that I used to be quite crafty before children took all my extra time (and I dont mind a bit).  Well, I got to revisit my creative side this weekend when I redid a couple of chairs.  I drove by and saw them sitting outside a thrift shop here in town.  I stopped immediately and checked them out.  I didnt buy them that day but I couldnt get them out of my head.  So I convinced Brad to go buy them with me a couple of days later.  Luckily, while he didnt see their potential AT ALL, he indulged me and bought them anyway.  Im excited at how they turned out.  From Gross and Green to Gold and Gorgeous!



before with a green seat and cream chair





after, with champagne mist chair paint and red/gold silk cushions!




I think they look fabulous in the dining room!



Our visitor

We had a visitor tonight!  A tree frog was stuck on the outside glass of the door.  Barnes loved seeing the frog from both sides of the glass.  We talked about the little suction cups on his feet and how his little throat was moving so fast while he breathed in and out.  Barnes even got to pet him!  We have named him Mr. Froggy and we hope he comes back soon.

Choo Choo!

We have loved going to the Casey Jones Museum here in town since we moved back to town almost 2 years ago.  Its one of our favorite things to do.  They have train tables set up for the kids to play.  We made our normal weekly visit this on Thursday and Anna Kate got to join in the fun.  Barnes wanted her to get in the train with him and ride.  She loved it!