The truth hurts

Sydney was just drawing a picture of all of the people that he loves. 

Interestingly enough, children (at age 5) are very perceptive and very honest. 

He drew and explained THIS:

Daddy with a grumpy face because daddy is almost always grumpy and just wants to sleep. 

Mom gets a happy face because she's ALWAYS happy. 

Nana gets super smiley because she is always REALLY HAPPY to see us. 

Papa gets a grumpy face, too, because he is kind of grumpy like daddy, because he likes to sleep in the chair all the time and remember he gets really grumpy when he doesn't understand what I am saying.

(NOTE: Buzz Lightyear is the drawing on the far right. He thinks he wants to be Buzz Lightyear for Halloween and is designing his costume.)

Sydney LOVES to watch tv; Wild Kratts on PBS is his favorite show! He also loves to play games on PBSkids.org. If he's not doing either of those things, he is likely at school. He's addicted to paper crafts... almost always drawing or writing something. His drawings are starting to have plan and purpose and you can often tell what he is trying to draw, as well as what words he is trying to sound out. Not bad for five years old with only a month of kindergarten under his belt.

For the record, Mike has been rather grumpy lately. He clocked in 72 hours this week!!! PLUS, he has had a cold (or something) for almost three weeks. We're thankful that he gets to spend SATURDAY with us. (Although, we're hoping he won't be crabby.) Unfortunately, he's right back to work again on Sunday. :( 

He's looking forward to an upcoming week of vacation... It's got to be used up soon, since NEW VACATION is earned as of December 1.

Kind of a crappy day

Today was kind of a crappy day. 

I had a mountain of laundry to fold; although, our cats weren't too upset about that. The house had been in a state of disarray and needed desperately to be cleaned. 

I had noticed a large puddle of pee on the bathroom floor and started to clean that up. Soon, I noticed that the toilet wasn't flushing. Great! The kitchen toilet had backed up. (After buying a snake and a new plunger at Menards, I even stuck my hand elbow-deep into the toilet to feed the wimpy snake into the hole to no avail.) I tried repeatedly throughout the day and was quite discouraged, but thankful that we have TWO toilets in our house!

Silas had violin lessons where he got to use his teenie tiny violin for the first time and he was SO EXCITED!!!!! (It is terribly cute!!!!)

From there, we picked Sydney up from school and decided to play on the playground for a little while. Our playtime was cut short when Sydney suddenly announced "I need to poop!" I suggested that we would go home, but he put the damper on when he announced "I'm pooping right now!" Made him sit on a plastic bag on the way home, squashing the poop in his big boy pants. Stripped him down and was showering him off in our upstairs bathroom (because the downstairs one was still plugged) as soon as we got home. In the process, I had somehow managed to clog the upstairs toilet, too. (Nice. Even went into the basement to make sure that we didn't have sewer backup down there; thankfully, I had ONE GOOD THING going for me at this point!)

While I was cleaning Sydney up, I could hear Silas in his bedroom playing his teenie tiny violin. AWESOME! I was SO HAPPY that he was excited to play.

And then, all of a sudden, when you notice that the house is quiet, there is most likely SOMETHING WRONG. Turns out, Silas had removed one of the strings (the D-string) from his violin and was working on disassembling the bow. For a few minutes, while Sydney stood in the shower, Silas and I  were in search of a missing piece. Somehow, we managed to get a metal clasp stuck INSIDE the (now three-stringed) violin that we had in our possession for ONE HOUR!!!

At this point, I felt overwhelmed. I called Mike at work and announced "I'm sick of being a single parent this week. I need you home NOW." 

Without question, he replied "I'm on my way!" (He racked in 72 hours at work this week!)

Once he got home, he managed to unplug the toilet and found humor in much of my day's events. (I was far from laughing at this point. I was upset over the violin, wondering how much trouble I would get into straight out of the gate.)

We ate a quick dinner and went to the ice cream social for preschool. Mike didn't really WANT to go, but we went... as a family! He kept his grumpy face on and protested participating. (One of the teachers tried to hand him paper plates for the paper plate dance, but he lied to her, telling her that he had sprained his ankle. She believed him, showing pity. When she started to ask him about it, he announced that the doctor said he should be fine as long as he stayed off of paper plates. She missed his joke. Now, he's unable to live it down. Each time that she seems him, she gives him a hard time for lying to her. He did, however, take a few pictures during the dance.)

Having worked 72 hours this week and still getting over a cold, Mike has been especially grumpy, tired and irritable. It has NOT been a fun week.

Teenie Tiny Violin in the house!

We picked up the 1/16 violin yesterday. Silas was excited to TRY IT. You can see the video here.

Lessons are Thursday afternoons. He will start playing his real violin VERY SOON! (He's hoping TODAY!!!)

Here are a few of our pics:

P: Picture Day

Wednesday was an out of uniform day at school because it was picture day. Sydney went to school wearing blue jeans, a green dress shirt and a navy tie. Adorable! I had tossed a polo shirt into his bag so he didn't have to stay in his dress shirt and tie all day.

We dropped Sydney off at school while Silas wore ONLY his backwards shirt. He had been being silly that morning, putting clothes on over his pajamas and putting everything on backwards or in the wrong order. (He stands on one leg, claiming to be a flamingo, and seeks an audience of laughter.) When it was time to go, he wasn't ready. Needless to say, I took him in the car like that. He reports that the seat felt funny on his naked butt. I'm guessing (hoping) he will be more cooperative from now on.

Silas and mommy attended MOPS. Then, stopped to check on the status of the 1/16 (teenie tiny) violin afterwards.

Silas and I were driving through town JUST as the kids were coming outside for recess and Silas asked if we could stop and watch Sydney playing.  Turns out, Sydney really DOES just climb high on the playground area and stays there, fearful of a fellow kindergartner. (He told us he has been staying on the higher parts of the playground.) Of course, we want him to run and play and laugh and have fun being a kid! We're working closely with his teacher on an issue from last Friday's recess...

During recess, I noticed that he was holding himself. He does that when he is nervous and when he has to go to the bathroom.

Once he started pacing and having happy feet, I knew he had to go to the bathroom. He started to go towards the playground supervisor, but changed his mind. Suddenly, hand still holding the front of his pants, he stopped moving and then after a minute, ran off, returning to the playground. I told Silas "I think he just wet his pants."  but was confused when he ran off.

A short while later, he climbed down, with his jeans clinging to his legs and walking in textbook cowboy form. The front of his pants were darker than the rest. I motioned for him to come over by us and he had confirmed that he DID wet himself. A recess teacher took him inside.

I was kicking myself that I didn't offer to take him inside so the recess supervisor could remain outdoors to watch children. Turns out, they dressed him in a pair of huge shorts and safety-pinned him inside of them, commando. I had clothes in our car and could have offered those. They said he handled it VERY WELL!

We are also encouraging him to USE THE BATHROOM AT SCHOOL!

Dentist days

Monday morning, I went to the dentist. Quickly, they asked me if I happened to bring Silas with me - since the dentist was no longer available for the afternoon appointments we had scheduled for the boys. So, we managed to call and catch Grandpa Lowell BEFORE they went to storytime at the library.

Then, Sydney came in on Tuesday afternoon for HIS appointment. (I made sure to bring my camera along that day!)

Silas was reminded that he NEEDS to STOP SUCKING HIS THUMB!!! She reminded him that his thumb "just wants to be a thumb!"

She asked him what his favorite food is and was shocked by his answer.

BROCCOLI! ... because it is crunchy!

She reminded him that he needs his teeth to chew his yummy food.

He's still NOT CONVINCED.... we find him sucking it at night, despite the paint deterrent. :(

Pediatrician insists that we NOT make a BIG DEAL about it; he will quit once people in school make fun of him. (Nice.)

Photo credit: Lowell Guard, via cell phone

Photo credit: Sarah Guard, Canon Rebel T1i

Photo credit: Sarah Guard, Canon Rebel T1i

Photo credit: Sarah Guard, Canon Rebel T1i

School Lunch Lady asked to wear a Hawkeye hat

Serving school lunch today and a 5th grade boy asked me "Can you switch your hat to be a Hawkeye logo instead?" I smiled politely and announced "You know, honestly, I don't even like sports at all... it's my husband's hat." If there was a single ounce of SPORTS BLOOD in me, I would have politely reminded him that I'm pretty sure the Cyclones just BEAT the Hawkeyes 20-17 in their most recent (9/13) face-off.

Boys, meet EMMA!

NEWS:MS Award Winner

Just heard from my MS Society contact person in Cedar Rapids today. She was excited to give me a heads-up for the annual conference that honors MS volunteers and where they share all sorts of news in the MS world. She is hoping I will be able to attend and reminds me that they will pay for a hotel room for one night, either before or after the event. She was excited to inform me that I have been named Rookie Volunteer All Star award winner and she hopes that I would be able to be there to receive my award in late November.

Kind of cool.

Wondering if they are just buttering me up since they have already hinted that they'd like me to consider being the MS Walk Ambassador again... Or consider being the walk coordinator.

Wondering if well even lived HERE in May.

Grateful today, here's FIVE:

OPEN HOUSE for kindergarten

At tonight's Open House, Mrs. Ripley had an Open House Scavenger Hunt for us to learn more about Sydney's classroom and school. We learned what the kindergarten Mystery State is this week. (A: It's Idaho.) We learned that Sydney's favorite classroom centers are iPad and Laptop centers. (Although, in a recent letter from his teacher, we hear that he is fond of writing and drawing a lot, too.) We got to see the music and art rooms and to meet those teachers for the first time.

We found Sydney's artwork hanging in the hallway... trees!

Sydney shows us the BIG FIVE RULES of kindergarten.

(He can recite them.)

A look at the school day and the BIG FIVE RULES.

Sydney's assigned spot to sit on the rug is Nn.

More artwork in the hallway. The kindergarten HOUSE project says: There are __ people living in the ______ Home. 

Sydney wrote: There are 4 people living in the Guard home. His picture shows Mom, Dad, Sydney and Silas. Then, he was proud to show us that Eddy and Otto live there, too. (They are missing their triangular cat ears, but they DO have proper feet... Eddy has white feet and Otto has gray feet.) Nice job, Sydney!

Knock, Knock.

Who's there?

Sydney.

Sydney who?

Sydney Guard... that's WHO!

Looks like a mugshot.... listening ears from the first day of school.

Sydney proudly showed us THIS pumpkin painting in the art room.

We'd never been in the art room before, nor had we ever met the teacher.

Sydney sits at the GREEN TABLE.

A look at the kindergarten classroom. 

Daddy was noticing all of the beautiful bulletin boards and mass organization.

The kindergarten jobs. Sydney is the library helper this week.

Leaving the Open House.... home again, home again... jiggity jig!

Thanks for coming to check out my school, Grandpa! 

I really love my school!!!!

Shooting to the Left and a look on the bright side

This morning, I got EVERYONE ready to go:
Sydney's lunch was packed, his book bag ready, he was dressed.
Silas had his book bag packed with his show & tell item. I had a bag of bagels hanging from the sunporch door chain, as not to forget them. I had two bottles of juice chilled, two packages of bagels and two containers of cream cheese ready to go.

As I was picking out clothes for Silas, I was thinking to myself how nice it is that I don't have to have a spare outfit for him because we've had such good luck with potty training.

We dropped Sydney off at school. We drove over to Noah's Ark preschool and dropped off our snacks. We stopped into the childcare room and gave Mrs. Pat a printout because I had recently noticed that there was a woman that looked remarkably like HER in this picture from September 1, 2012. (Turns out, that IS her!!!) **NOTE: Silas has recently declared that Mrs. Pat is his new best friend.

Since we were early and killing time, I told Silas that I had to go potty. So, we went around the corner and used a different bathroom than usual. While we were in there, I asked him "Do YOU have to go potty?" to which he declared NO. Regardless, I left the door open to my stall to keep an eye on him. All of a sudden, he announced "Oh, wait, I think I just changed my mind." and started to go into the stall next to me.

"Buddy? Please wait for mom." stated with slight panic in my voice.

"Don't worry! I can do it!" he assured me.

"Is the toilet a tiny one? ...or is it too big?" I questioned.

"Um...." he paused. "I think just right."

And then, I heard the click of the lock. Crap.

Followed by the sound of his urine and then, all of a sudden, I heard NOTHING. Double-crap.

Seconds later, he announced "Well, turns out you were right. The toilet IS too big for me afterall. I just went potty on the floor.... and.... on my pants. Sorry Mommy!"

By now, I had finished going potty myself and stood outside his stall. "Open this door right now. Please. Mommy is NOT happy, buddy. I really wish you would have waited."

"Yeah, that would be a good idea next time. Right?" he asked.

We attempted to pull up his wet big boy pants and pants, I washed my hands and we went to tell the teacher that we had left a mess in the women's bathroom. Then, we drove home for a quick shower and a change of clothes. (Thankfully, he could sit on a blanket in the car from soaking his carseat, too.)

On the way home, I called Mike at work, as I was completely frustrated with the situation.

"Well, the good news is... he's very independent.... AND.... at least you didn't have to crawl under the door of the stall, through the puddle to save him."

"True." I stated. "You're right, my day JUST GOT A WHOLE LOT BETTER!"

At home, while Silas stood in the shower, I gathered NEW clothes for him, as well as a spare set to keep in his backpack. We always have to be SO CAREFUL because we KNOW that he shoots to the left and doesn't always get his aim down properly.

Thankfully, we live close enough that we were still ON TIME for his show & tell.

FIRST SHOW & TELL FOR SILAS:
He brought his garbage truck. He reported that he "got it at Kohl's".
Mrs. Julie even had them turn the lights out so that everyone could see the lights on top light up.
Silas did a GREAT JOB with Show & Tell.

He was also proud to hang his bookbag/backpack in the first cuvvy (cubby) because he was the Show & Tell and snack person today.

U: Amazing.

Kindergarten Letter Sounds Homework: U (short u)
u...u...u...up

Example words: up, umbrella, under, sun, jump

Sent this email to his teacher–
Subject: Homework sound U

On Wed, Sep 17, 2014 at 6:39 PM, Sarah Jane (Olson) Guard <sarahjane0512@yahoo.com> wrote:

While doing homework minutes ago, Sydney was disappointed that I wouldn't write one of the words that he mentioned: Amazing. He sounded it out for me: uh-MAZE-ing.

Then, repeated himself: uh-uh... uh-MAZE-ing. I told him that was a tricky one... Because that word is spelled with an A. I was, however, proud of him thinking of that word and fighting for it! His five year old brain IS pretty amazing -just one month of kindergarten under his belt. Sarah

Got this email back from his teacher–

• Laura Ripley
 
• Sep 17 at 7:18 PM

To

• Sarah Jane (Olson) Guard

That is Amazing!!  That is how we talk about certain words too...calling them 'tricky'.  They just don't follow all the rules!  Good for him though:)

I did get those cute masks copied today.  I will use them on Day 30!!

Thanks again!

Laura

First kindergarten field trip to an APPLE ORCHARD

We learned A LOT about apples today!

We learned that RED DELICIOUS apples have five bumps on the bottom. We learned about picking and handling apples. We were even tricked by one that wasn't an apple at all... it was an Asian Pear! We learned that the bottom of the apple used to be the flower. We learned that there is A STAR inside of every apple!

I was surprised to learn that apple picking is a delicate process because you have to be careful not to disturb the bud for next year's apple.

We learned how to KEEP DEER FROM EATING the apples. (Bars of Irish Spring Soap hung inside of nylons deters them; they have one hanging every three or four plants, they reported.)

Each person got to take an apple off of the conveyer belt.

Mommy bought some (delicious) apples for home; we are hoping to enjoy BAKED APPLES for dessert one day this week! We also bought a gallon of cider. 

Sydney's class brought 17 kindergarteners. The spanish speaking school also came with on the schoolbus today, along with the teacher's aides. (Parents drove separately; three from Sydney's class and a handful from the Spanish Immersion School.) There were 12 Clarke College student teachers along as well. We had a very high student to adult ratio. Another preschool was also there for the tour this morning and all of the kids were good listeners.

VERY EXCITING DAY to ride on a schoolbus for a field trip! :)