As promised, here is a quick post about Quiet Tiger's first day of school. Today public school opened and she is a preschooler at a local elementary school.
Not going to smile.
Not going to do it.
You're leaving me here?
My Quiet Tiger with one of her Teacher's Assistants.
Of course, I've already had my issues with the public school and their registration rigamarole and absolutely ZERO communication. Good gosh. Filling out countless pieces of paper that all say the same thing, just in different ways. Name, address, phone numbers, emergency contacts, allergies, demographics, etc. One staff person told me one thing, that gal's supervisor told me something completely different. I much prefer to work with the supervisor! And today we just showed up because no one told me when to be there, where to be and the school's website and corresponding calendar were BLANK!
Really?
[They were updated on Meet the Teacher Night, which I was never informed of and clearly missed thanks to their lack of communication. Sheesh.]
But she made it! She walked into school with her empty backpack and we said our goodbyes. While my daughter was distant and wouldn't make any kind of connection with me, this wasn't a hard morning for me. I truly think this is the best place for her this year. She needs to learn some key things and I think the teacher we have been assigned to is perfect for her (he's an adoptive dad).
Miss Quiet Tiger will probably be the highest functioning student in the PPCD/LifeSkills Pre-School class and the supervisor is strongly suggesting L go to a different, non Special Ed pre-school class also within the school. But that suggested class is 5 full days a week with no option of going half-days. And her teacher would obviously not be the same adoptive dad who sees the behaviors that I see in my girl. If the class she starts today is indeed not the right fit, we will pull her out at the end of the semester in December and then determine if we should attempt the school's preschool if there is space for her. But we are trying what seems like the ideal fit for her right now.
I will not send my 4 year old to 5-day, ALL-day preschool!
That is way too much for a young child, in my opinion,
especially MY child who came from life in an institution.
You can keep your opinions on that to yourself, please.
Today, I picked her up at lunchtime despite the program being full-day, we ran to Walmart for some school supplies and came home for sandwiches and Cheez-Its (her choice for a treat from the store). I made sure she followed that with a nap/downtime to unwind. I was able to finish up school with the boys while she rested/slept.
She said she enjoyed her day and wants to go back. Here's to a great year for my pre-schooler!
Last week, my husband left on a 3-part business trip. He flew to Chicago to attend a recruiting event for his company. His best friend's brother is interested in Edward Jones and wants to be in Chicago, closer to family. Jay didn't have to attend this event per se, but thought it advantageous not only for himself, but for this new recruit for reasons I won't go into here. From there, Jay went up to his mom's summer home in Hayward, Wisconsin to meet another Wisconsin client and also to see friends in Minneapolis to lead a seminar.
As you know about me, when the husband is gone, I normally have a special, secret house project planned. I think I get it from my Grandma. After all, that fireball of a woman bought a house without talking to my Grandpa about it! [I promise not to buy a house without you, Jaybird!]
Hmmmmm. What to do. What to do.
It has been in my mind forever to paint my kitchen cabinets. Jay and I had talked about it but have never done it. This week I tackled it. So long, dark oak. Hello, crisp, clean white!
I used a Rustoleum kit from Home Depot ($79.00) and I love how it turned out. I worked my butt off each and every day he was gone, managing to get school work done too. We were up early every morning and stayed up VERY late every night to get this done quickly.
The kit we used from Home Depot.
So far, I recommend this kit.
We'll see how the finished product holds up over time.
The BEFORE shot from the day we moved in.
Gosh, I'd love to get rid of the black appliances too!
STEP 1 - DAY 1 (MORNING)
Cleaning surfaces, removing drawers, doors,
adding a little wood filler
& general prepping.
STEP TWO - DAY 1 (AFTERNOON)
Deglossing
Did the cabinet bases, back of cabinet doors and drawers
Did the front of the cabinet doors in the evening
STEP THREE - DAY 1 (EVENING)
Bond Coat
No turning back now!
Loving the look of the white already!
STEP FOUR - DAYS 2 & 3 (MORNING)
Bond Coat - coat #2
Ah, this is it!
Looking amazing, but will it need a 3rd coat?
Note: I didn't deglaze my cabinets, which would be the next step in the process. I wanted them bright white, so I skipped this step in the kit. Did seem silly to buy a kit and not use a portion of it, so there may be another product out there that's not as wasteful.
STEP SIX - DAYS 3 & 4
Protective Top Coat
Cabinet bases & drawers & back of doors on day 3
Front side of doors on day 5
AFTER SHOT! - DAY 6
Very happy with the results.
My biggest challenge was the dog hair - keeping it out of the paint!
I did do that extra, 3rd coat of paint. I just felt it needed to look more "solid" white like the rest of our trim work around the house. And after reassembly, I did notice 3 tiny touch ups that needed to be made. Not a big deal, but it does make me wonder how this will hold up in the months to come. I will report back.
Here's a good before-after shot so you can see the difference close up.
I cannot possibly tell you how much I love this.
What a difference a little paint makes!
Kitchen is definitely brighter and feels bigger.
All in all, this is just 1 step of many in hopes of getting this house ready to sell. No, we are not moving soon. Yes, we like this house very much! But Jay's commute is 25 miles 1 way and we'd like to be closer to his office within the next couple of years. We haven't made 1 change to this house since we moved in. We've socked away as much money as we can and we continue to live on a small budget while Jay builds his business. Now it's time to make some improvements to this place with hopes of getting a little more money out of it when it does come time to sell. Further projects include (in random order):
** Painting the bathroom cabinets (I have paint left over from this project, so the boy's bathroom will be soon to follow) ** Flooring (getting rid of carpet and putting in laminate or rubber flooring) ** Deck & Fence (just necessary repairs but also changing the stain color) ** Deck Covering (this one is probably way, way too expensive, but we'd love a covering over the upper portion of our deck, complete with lighting and ceiling fans)
I would be remiss if I didn't mention that this kitchen updating happened over our 13 year wedding anniversary. We debated whether he should go on this business trip over our anniversary, but flights were cheaper. We enjoyed a fun date night at a Wounded Warrior Project fundraiser before his trip and Jay also picked out a couple of suits for work (hard to believe he only had 1 suit as a financial advisor). He was due for a couple new ones. We'll go out to dinner when he gets back.
It's the first day of school for Super C and Super E and we are excited!
The books are unpacked from shipping boxes, school supplies have been purchased. We are ready for another year.
How can I possibly have a junior higher?
Super C is officially a junior high-er, I guess. He's beginning 6th grade. Sixth grade was still elementary school when I was a kid, but around here, 6th grade is junior high. This year is one of the favorite years among Sonlight Curriculum parents. This is our unit all about Asia! Having ties to China and Japan, I am super excited to learn and re-learn right along with Super C, even if I had read most of the Japanese books to him back when were were living in Nebraska years ago! We are sharing math curriculum with a friend, but we surely hope to breeze through 2 years of math in 1 year like we did before. Math is Super C's forte, so if he wants to push, I'll let him push. That's the beauty of homeschool! Super C is excited to start blogging this year! He'll be publishing some kid-friendly blogs under a pseudonym that I'll be sure to share.
All 3 enjoying Super C's interactive CD-ROM Encyclopedia.
Starting the year off with China!
Super E is entering 2nd grade. We were able to borrow curriculum for him from my friend Amy back in Nebraska this year, with a few added pieces from my local friend Jamie, plus a few "readers" ordered from Amazon Prime. Borrowing makes such a huge difference considering Super C's curriculum was over $450 USED! [gulp] He has quite the stack of books on his shelf too. He's looking forward to learning about the Vikings and has promised to work hard on reading and math this year. Today he shocked me with the chapter he read in his reader. Now, if he can gain confidence to read in front of others. He even hates to read for his dad and clams up! We are switching math curriculum this year because a local friend of mine had one for sale that she will be letting me borrow for the year. I'm lending her some handwriting curriculum. Looking forward to trying Saxon math with Super E.
Using the easel in the kitchen for spelling practice.
Tuesday afternoons we'll have our homeschool group. It's not a full fledged co-op, but I use that term nonetheless. I'm on the board this year, so that gives me added responsibilities for sure. Both boys and I are also looking forward to taking tennis lessons on Wednesday morning this year. Even I get to join in. Will be fun to play again. I was the boys' ages when I took lessons every summer and I loved it!
I think it will be a busy year!
As you recall from my previous post, Miss Quiet Tiger will be going to pre-school this fall! The first day for her isn't until August 25. We like our homeschool to be just a couple of weeks ahead of public school, so we start with the boys now and the girl will go when school opens. She is looking forward to it, as am I, although she is plenty miffed that she can't take tennis lessons with us. I'll be sure to post all about her big school day when it arrives.
Here's to a fantastic year of school for all THREE of my kids!
After 2 years in the business of Financial Planning with Edward Jones, my husband earned his first Diversification Trip (aka Div Trip). He has to meet a certain amount of criteria in a certain timeframe and the company rewards him with a gift of time off.
Get ready for the bragging, because I'm going to brag my little head off in this post.
Brag #1
To earn your first trip within the first couple of years with the firm is a BIG DEAL! It shows how hard my husband has been working to earn this. These trips aren't easily won. During the trip, they celebrate the "first timers" both publicly and privately. It's a big deal, folks!
Brag #2
When you meet other "first timers" on the Div Trip, you get to talking and learn about their offices back home. Most have taken over existing offices with more than $30 million dollars or even more in assets. Yes, Jay took over an existing office (and it was less than $10 million), but he earned this trip BEFORE taking over this office. It must be nice to have $30M or $40M just handed to you in 1 office. My husband has built this business up from scratch, from nothing. Earning this trip says A LOT! Is Jay good at what he does? CLEARLY! ABSOLUTELY! NO QUESTION! And I'm one PROUD WIFE!
Back to the trip…
We chose Jackson Hole because we thought it would be nice to leave the CRAZY HOT weather in Texas and head someplace cooler for a week in mid-summer. Jackson Hole offered the "cheapest" add-ons (Jay and I are taken care of by the company but we do have to pay for the kids). I only put "cheapest" in quotes because the extra hotel fees for our family were small, the upgrade to a minivan wasn't bad, but the airfare for the kids was INSANE! Such is life flying into a small ski resort town. Oh well. It all evened out in the end.
We also invited my mom and stepdad on this trip. Edward Jones allows us to bring a set of parents and we offered this to my family as a thanks for all the support they gave to us during our disastrous adoption journey.
This was our Quiet Tiger's first flight since coming home on an airplane from China. We weren't sure how she'd react. I secretly bought her a ladybug backpack from Target and picked up a couple of cheap toys for the plane and filled the bag with snacks. She didn't know about it or see it until the night before we left. She sat with Jay on the plane since he had never flown with her before. She did great! Not a tear. No nerves. No nothing!
In San Antonio, ready for her first flight since China.
If this isn't cute, I don't know what is!
Our plane touched down in Jackson right next to my mom's plane that flew in from Chicago. I watched my mom and stepdad walk off their plane onto the tarmac as I was waiting to disembark from our flight. We met outside the airport, got our rental car and drove to the hotel.
Oh my!
Hotel Terra is amazing! I fully expected to run into Jennifer Aniston or Adam Sandler or some other celebrity who frequents Jackson Hole! No celebrity sightings though. We had a 2-bedroom suite which also included a murphy bed for the kids. We had a balcony, a living room, a full kitchen, a dining room, and 3 full bathrooms too. Talk about exquisite! Everything was organic too. Organic soaps, cleaning supplies, robes and towels.
Spoiled rotten!
Dining room and kitchen. Dark doors behind Super C hide the murphy bed.
Photo bomb courtesy of Super C and his Tepig from Pokemon.
Relaxing after travel in the living room.
Our room.
Grammie & Rand's room.
1 of 3 bathrooms!
Loved the double sinks.
Two bathrooms had jetted tubs. The boy's bathroom had 1 sink and a huge glass shower.
The first night we had our welcome dinner for all the Edward Jones guests. I'd say there were probably 100 financial advisors there, plus their spouses and any families that came along as well. Much to our surprise, the only bad thing we could say was that the food was bland that night. That shocked us and we hoped things would be better. We met advisors from all around the country, even from Hawaii! There was a good handful of homeschool families there too, and that made me smile.
The next morning, Jay had an early morning meeting and the rest of us enjoyed a provided breakfast. The kids went to provided daycare after that and all of us adults went to a meeting about what to do in the area and a few general rules and guidelines for the trip. Quiet Tiger, who normally fears the hotel daycares that Jones provides, did great. I brought along a bracelet for her to wear and she had to give it back to me when I picked her up. Although seemingly happy and not too stressed, her eyes wouldn't connect with mine when I dropped her off or picked her up. She still goes to that far away place, wondering if we really mean it when we say, "Mommy & Daddy always come back."
That afternoon we were surprised by an offer for lunch. One of the product partners who worked with Lincoln Mutual who co-sponsored the trip, offered to take all of us out to lunch at the resort. The kids ate buffalo sliders and I had my first Banh Mi (Vietnamese pork sandwich) that is my new favorite sandwich in the whole wide world.
The rest of the time was really ours to enjoy.
We visited downtown Jackson. A great town full of shops, touristy and all, surrounding the town square. The big hit was the candy shop where we loaded up on Salt Water Taffy. Jay found a gallery and bought some artwork for his office back home (I'll probably blog about it later). We searched for shirts and hats for the kids. I bought a bracelet for me and an ornament for our Christmas tree, something I'll do with every Div Trip Jay earns so we can remember our travels. We bought a gift for Jay's assistant who we love! We stopped off at Albertson's for groceries so we could cook in our hotel room and enjoyed looking for moose along the way back to Hotel Terra.
I love a ski town!
The town square.
We hiked Jenny Lake in the Grand Teton National Park. How amazing! I'm a nature girl and I so badly wanted to hike all the way around the lake, but there was no way my kids nor my mom and stepdad would have done it with us, so we hiked about half way and my stepdad offered to buy us boat tickets back across the lake. The boat was one of L's highlights. Water girl.
Hiking!
Oh, the beauty of this place!
The falls at Jenny Lake
The company put on a Wyoming-themed dinner on Wednesday night. We got to take the gondola up the mountain to the restaurant where there was dinner and music and beer and wine. The views were amazing and the kids loved the gondola ride. None of them had been on one before. For the record, my daughter called it a "gondafor." Cute. After the dinner we made a very interesting connection to some possibilities in the adoption world. I hope and pray that I can blog about that in the future. I'll keep in vague for now out of necessity, but you can be praying for something to come of that conversation for sure!
On the mountaintop for dinner.
The only reason L isn't pictured is because of the edge
and no one wanted her to fall down the mountain.
Thursday we just stayed local. The boys did a bungee-trampoline thing at the resort. Thanks, Grammie for the tickets! We went back into town for a few more groceries for a picnic the next day. We cooked some frozen pizza for dinner back in the room.
Friday, we drove all the way up and through Yellowstone National Park. We saw Old Faithful, the calderas, the mud pits. We saw buffalo, 1 black bear cub, a pika and elk. The kids did a quick program at Old Faithful. We didn't hike much. It was a LONG 14 hour day in the car driving from place to place but so worth it! What a HUGE park! America's first National Park!
Old Faithful.
So much more majestic in person than in photos.
A must see!
The colors at the caldera were amazing!
On Saturday, Jay and I took the boys hiking Taggert Lake Trailhead, leaving Quiet Tiger with my mom and stepdad for a few hours. Taggert Lake was by far my favorite hike! I found myself choking back tears over God's awesome creation. I couldn't think of one Bible verse, one line to a worship song, anything to praise Him. Yeah, my spiritual pathway is clearly nature. Once we hit the lake I was able to regain some composure and I can't tell you how many prayers were uttered on the rest of that hike. LOTS of prayers for Lily. Prayers for Lynette. Prayers for Hilary. Prayers for Beth. Prayers for Jeanine. Prayers for Laurie and so many other friends. My boys made the 4 mile (approx.) hike too and were just about to begin fading when we reached the end and gobbled down our picnic lunch.
The falls at Taggert Lake
Our picnic view.
Doesn't get better than that!
That night we had our farewell dinner back at the hotel, complete with cocktails for the adults and face painting for the kids. The food was amazing! Much better than our first night. The adults ate all the ice cream on the kid's buffet. No joke! We were sad to see it all come to an end.
2 Dragons and a Butterfly
Our flights back home were early and we had to leave the hotel at 5am. The airport was INSANE with 4 large, full flights departing at 7am. We were there plenty early but had to rush once we got there. Security had to open up an extra line just for us 7am-ers. We didn't even have time to give a hug goodbye to my mom and stepdad. We just all ran directly onto our flights. Poor Super E cried huge tears begging me that we didn't have to get up early the next day for anything. He was so exhausted! Sweet boy.
We returned home tired but relaxed and happy to see our dogs and our home and our clean pool again! [Editor's Note: Our house sitter Kaylin ROCKS!!!]
What a blessing to work for such an amazing company that honors its employees, the spouses, the children and the families! Thank you, Edward Jones! Jay can earn up to 2 trips a year. Maybe our next one we'll leave the kids with family and enjoy a getaway on our own. Maybe we'll venture out as a family again. Our kids are good travelers and I'd love for them to see as much of the world as possible while we have the opportunity.
