soup season

I'm the type of person who doesn't like to eat soup/stew/chili in the hot months.  I just can't do it.  Somewhere around March myself says NO SOUP.  Anyhoo.  Now that it's cooling off again, soup is back on the menu. YAY!!  My favorite canned soup is from Progresso, Light Chicken Noodle.  It's just that perfect amount of noodles to broth that I enjoy.  I also like creamy chicken and wild rice, homemade or from a restaurant but not from a can, especially from Emily Bites. 

Anyone have any good, easy soup recipes to share??

This week

Well, this week sure was a whirlwind.  I've been running around like a chicken with its head cut off.  Mr. Goo started at an actual daycare on Wednesday (OhMyGawd) but it turned out pretty good.  AND... Monster had a whole day off preschool... Seriously two weeks in and there's a day off? Turns out the second Tuesday of every month there's a 2-hour late start which means no preschool (since preschool ends at 10:45 anyway).  Yikes.

My mom, had her hip replaced on Wednesday meaning she's out of commission as our daycare for the next 6-12 weeks depending on how she recovers, as to why Goo is at an actual daycare.  Grandma is still going to watch Monster in the afternoons because grandpa will also be home (he works in the morning).  It's going to be an interesting new routine and then once we get used to it, JT will be starting a new schedule and then Grandma will be back to watching both kiddos, or so we hope.  Oy. 

It's okay. It's all good, just a bit of reshuffling and unpaid time off and all that jazz.  We'll figure it out :) But, working for only 3 hours in the morning and then getting to leave to get monster from preschool... pretty sweet and flies by!

First day of school traditions

When I was in school there were certain things that we did every August to get ready for the first day of school.  I'd get a haircut, some new clothes, and possibly new shoes.  My favorite thing was getting new school supplies and a new bag for the year.  I clearly remember after the annual shopping trip, putting all my folders and notebooks in nice piles and sorting through the markers and pencils that we had bought.  I especially remember in 2nd grade having a messenger bag of sorts and making my friend come over so I could show her all the supplies and the new bag that I had.  It was so exciting. 

Now that I'm the mom, I'm trying to establish traditions like that for my kiddos.  Even though it was just preschool (JUST PRESCHOOL!!!) this year, I did the new clothes/shoes for Monster and she even got her first haircut! It was only a little trim but she looked so grown up afterwards. 

We also did the traditional picture on the front steps.  I was going to do a sign saying first day of preschool and all that, but then I realized she can't hold the paper, probably wouldn't look and smile at the camera, and can't stand up by herself anyway, so I just went with her sitting on the steps with her book-bag. It was cute anyway.  Maybe when she's older... there was a super cute sign that I saw on Raising Snowpeas, that Jodi made herself!!

Another tradition I'm hoping to start is muffins for breakfast on the first day of school.  In one of my all-time favorite books, the family always has fresh baked muffins for special occasions like the first day of school.  Always one to get ideas from books, I decided I wanted to do that too.  I made oatmeal blueberry applesauce muffins (say that 3 times fast) that I found on pinterest.  I wasn't extremely impressed with them but they were still pretty good.  I think if I made them again I would cut out the blueberries and ramp up the apple/spices. 

first day of preschool

Yesterday was Monster's first day of preschool and she did AWESOME.  Not a single bit of crying or fussing or bewilderment.  She played with her para and made friends with the little boy who sat next to her at table time/snack time.  It was really great to see! 

We got her all ready to go in the morning and put her on the bus... It all happened so fast that I didn't have time to get upset about it. I didn't even think about it, just waved bye and then got Goo ready to go. 

After dropping Goo off at grandma's I did pass the preschool bus on the way to the school.  I got to her classroom and just settled in to wait over by the windows.  I don't know for sure if she knew I was there at first, but I think she saw me a couple of times.  I know for sure one time she started to come over to me but then got distracted by a new toy to play with. 

She was so great the whole morning, rode the bus like a boss, and I had nothing to worry about after all...

on the eve of preschool

My baby girl, who is almost 3, is going to start preschool next week.  To say I have mixed emotions about it is unrealistic.  When I think about it, I want to curl up under a rock with her and pretend that time isn't going on.  She's my baby and always will be.  However, on the other hand, I know she'll do great in school.  She loves other kids, being around them and being exposed to what they're doing.  She doesn't get a lot of interaction with other kids her age, mostly just way older kids or her baby brother, so I'm interested to see what it's going to be like.  The problem I'm really facing is that she can't communicate with other kids or express her needs.  She's going to be in the special needs classroom and we got special permission so that she could start at the beginning of the year at 2 years old (because her birthday isn't until October) so that she can get the extra help of another year of preschool.  She'll have lots of one-on-one attention and the ability to learn what school is, so that's good.  Also, she'll have all the specialists (Speech, OT, and PT) that will come in the classroom to work with her and teach the teacher and paras what she needs as well. 

We considered putting her in an integrated classroom where there were half "normal" kids and half special needs kids.  The idea behind this was to expose her to other kids who were normally talking and running around like 3 years olds "should."  We decided against it because I just couldn't do it.  We observed a class one day and it seemed to me that the kids were so much older and more "normal" than my monster ever would be.  They were playing together and sitting at the table and doing all the preschool activities that you imagine they'd be doing... while Monster just sat by herself on the floor.  There were a number of adults in the room and they said that she'd have a para especially one-on-one with her, but I still felt uncomfortable.  Would she get the attention she needed? What if she freaked out? What if she didn't?  What if she just sat there?  There were no kids with physical needs that I could see, so Monster would be the only one obviously different.

I don't know how I'm going to feel next week, but at least I've met the teacher and the teacher has met Monster and knows what she's like/what she needs to focus on.  I'm very excited/nervous for this BIG milestone in my baby's life and in my mama life... Now to figure out what to do with Goo...