Welcome to my world...

So Yesterday (Wednesday) was a normal day until this one thing happened.

The kids and I were waiting for Paul to come home from work. He was due in about 3:30 so we were just hanging around...waiting. We hear the door open and then close and so we go to the kitchen to greet daddy. As I go into the kitchen I see Paul grabbing a metal spatula and another kitchen utensil that I can't exactly make out. He is also grabbing a ziploc bag...and SMILING like he has just been caught.

So of course I ask Him, "What are you doing"
He said, "This is an answer to prayer."
And I said, "What? My spatula?"

And He said.........

"No, Caroline (the cat) threw up! and I need some throw up for my bible study illustration tonight for small group."

So he proceeds to "scoop" the cat throw up into the bag with my spatula and what I now know is a rubber spatula and put it on the top of the refridgerator until small group that night.

Welcome to my world, people, welcome to my world.

Jacob's First Day of First Grade

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Well the first day was wonderful. As you can see from the pics. First Grade is an entirely different animal than Kindergarten. Now you might be saying, "Duh, Tanya", but as someone experiencing this for the first time I was not quite ready for what I'm calling the "First Grade Attitude". Lately he knows everything. I was unaware that he came in to such a plethera of knowledge and so I find myself continually telling him things that, "(he) knows...mooooommmmmmmm." So we have been dealing with that. yeah...and save the "it only gets worse" comments, please...we do work with teenagers...we know. Thank you.

Anyway...hhe came home with homework today. Yep. Homework. On the first day.

Of course he was exhausted because he is used to having a FOB time. (That's Flat On Back time for those of you who did not know.) He hasn't been taking naps all summer, just resting. Well no rest for the first graders makes for super cranky first graders when they get home. Not only was he super cranky but he was one of the last ones to be picked up today....NOW WAIT. Before you start yelling at me about how I should have been on time...just read on.

Short story...Jacob's school used to be split into two buildings. PK-1st in one and 2nd-4th in another, 5th on a campus of their own. This year all the children are in ONE building...PK-5th under one roof. Why you ask, because they are tearing down the other building and building a new beautiful one for next school year. So that's added people and children in the building plus all of the extras that come on the first day to pick up their kiddos. School ends at 2:45 so at 2:45 I pack the other kids up and drive over to the church (right next door to our house) to pick up Paul. We drive out of the church drive way and...get in the line...literally backed up all the way to the church. Big deal you say? The church is about 1/2 mile from the school. Yep. The line to pick up the children from school is 1/2 a mile long. We need to get gas, because waiting for that long we were going to run out of gas. So we go past the school and get some gas and come back to get in line. Clearly this is not going to be an easy pick up. We wait and wait and wait and we finally get to school and we FINALLY get Jacob and go home. We walked in the house at 3:47. That's right folks...1 hour and 2 minutes after leaving to travel 1/2 mile to pick up my son from school. Lovely. Maybe tomorrow will be better...please God, please.

God is totally into details!

So each summer I begin praying for my children's school teachers for the upcoming year. This summer was no different. I began a few weeks ago praying for Jacob's teacher (even though I had no idea who she was). I began to pray that she would be exactly what Jacob needs for 1st grade. After all, God knows them both so I figure He would be the best at putting the two together! I also prayed for someone who loved boys and the energy and patience they require. I prayed that she would be structured and fun because Jacob needs both of those things equally. Most of all I prayed for a good relationship between Jacob and his teacher and me for the maximum amount of fun and learning this year.

So......


Meet the Teacher was last night...well let me back it up a bit.

Yesterday morning I went to the school at 7:30 to help host a Welcome Back Breakfast with the PTA. I walked up to the school and the list was already out so I checked to see who Jacob had for a teacher and...his name was NOT on ANY list! I calmly checked again, thinking surely I have missed his name...NOPE. At this point I begin to semi-panic. I did not want to freak out for no reason...I mean if I am going to freak out...I need a valid reason and my son not being enrolled in school a mere 5 days before it is to begin IS A VALID REASON ladies and gentlemen! So I say forget the breakfast I am going to go find out why my kid is not enrolled in school! I walk into the office and they are working on this very problem. Apparently they were working with an older version of the software and the new version rolled over onto their system and several children were dropped off the teachers rosters and some other children who were already dropped mysteriously appeared back onto the list. So they were working on it and they new that Jacob needed a class...so I decided not worry and to go serve breakfast.

After the breakfast, I found out that Mrs. Hare is going to be Jacob's teacher. I asked around a little bit and found out who Mrs. Hare was and went to meet her. She is SUPER! She is a more seasoned teacher than we had last year. Much more established and very structured.(yeah!) I told her I would bring Jacob to meet her later that night.

Back to my story...

We all go to Meet the Teacher and we are the first ones in to Mrs. Hare's classroom. Her room is so fun! Jacob immediately began checking things out after meeting Mrs. Hare, of course. I filled out all the paperwork I have to do and then began talking a little more to Mrs. Hare. I asked her how many boys were in her class and she said there were 8 or 9. Then she said this, "I love boys. I have 3 boys of my own and I just love them!"

I said a short little, "THANK YOU GOD FOR BEING ABOUT THE DETAILS!" prayer and told Jacob it was time to go. He walked over and gave Mrs. Hare a hug and she said, "Come back on Monday, we are going to have so much fun!"

Thank you God for being about the details.

Success!

Well ladies and gentlemen...Thank you so much for your prayers and supplications for my school supply dilema. HEB came through for me and I am now the proud owner of over $45.00 in school supply product! Yeah. My son can now begin school and succesfully complete his first grade year! We also went to the Disney store where they had backpacks on sale and with the purchase of a backpack you got a lunch box for absolutely free!(maybe not absolutely...we drove there, bought the backpack, ate out...etc.) Anyway...free. So we are now the proud owners of not one, not two, but three...yes three (3) backpack/(free)lunch box combos. we are OFFICIALLY ready for school.

I have not fallen off the bloggy planet!

In the words of the Who's from Whoville..."We are Here, we are here, we are here!" We made it back from Ecuador. God did some amazing things there. To see some video blogs and some pictures from our trip go to www.bbcstudents.com.

We are now in the "Oh my goodness, school starts in two weeks" freak out mode! I went to buy school supplies the other day...can I just say...

The "school people" need to get together with the "school supplies people" who need to get together with the "Target/Office Depot/Walmart people" and they need to have a little meeting and then maybe lunch...coffee at Starbucks...whatever....

AND DISCUSS THE SCHOOL SUPPLY LISTS AND ALSO DISCUSS IF THE TEACHERS NEED IT THE MANUFACTURER'S SHOULD MAKE IT AND THE STORES SHOULD SELL IT!

So...needless to say...I went to two stores and I still don't have everything that Jacob needs to start school. Don't get me wrong. If they need it for school, I have no problem buying it! I want to make school the best experience for both Jacob and the teacher. So I will buy the plastic blue folder with brads and pockets...if only someone would make it and someone else would sell it!

There I am done with my venting...thank you and have a nice day.