Hi, my name is Maggie and I have a son in Kindergarten...

Like all other parents, we've been busy these past weeks. School has started. In our house, it's only Finley who has begun as Dash's preschool doesn't start till Sept. But oh the changes...You see, we are "afternoon" people. And this year we had no choice. Kindergarten starts at 8am, with the playground opening at 7:30 which means we have to be up at ohmywhere'sthesun o'clock. I can only imagine what this will feel like in the winter when the house is cold and it's still dark outside. *Shudder* Brooks is in trouble since I've already had my first awkward run in with a parent and it's his fault. He volunteered in the class this week alongside another dad. They spent a good long time together and chatted it up. The dad then came to find me at pick up (two days later) to tell me how much he enjoyed meeting my husband since as a stay at home dad he spends most of his time around mom's. So I asked if his K child was his only and he said yes. Then I made a comment about being jealous of his alone time. His whole face f e l l. "Didn't your husband tell you that my wife just had a miscarriage??" No. No he didn't. F*&#$.

Anyway, we're surviving. As much as I hate getting up early, I am finding that I love BEING up early, so that's a plus. It's an awesome thing to have all the daily chores done before lunch. And Fin is thriving. He loves school. He's been on green every day so far (they go on a stoplight system, green=good, yellow=warning, and red=note home to parents) and his teacher told me he's doing great so that makes my heart sing. We have homework every night but so far there has been little protesting over doing it. He is also just flying through books. We're reading The Adventures of Captain Underpants series as a family and before we start that each night he reads a different book to his brothers. It's amazing how much they love to sit and listen to him. I'd love to catch a picture of it some day, but so far I haven't been able to tear myself away from watching them.

Dash and Kell are in a whirlwind of colors and shapes and letters and trying to find ways of playing agreeably while Fin is at school. Dash will have Miss Annette and Miss Shannon for Pre K this year. Fin had Miss Annette as a 3 and she couldn't be nicer and at this point, Miss Shannon is family :) Dash can't wait for his turn and I'm looking forward to having some alone time with Kell. Kell had a fabulous second birthday - getting a new basketball hoop from his grandparents and a ride-on toy from mom and dad. He never ceases to amaze me with his joy over the funniest things - the book he got from a friend was just as exciting as a giant plastic Little Tykes monstrosity. Go figure.

Dad's work is trucking along and my big news is that I started classes this week. I had a few moments of panic over what-am-I-doing and how-will-I-do-this and then again what-the-fuck-was-I-thinking, but I feel ready to start something new. Not sure I'll finish a degree or certificate, and not sure I need to, but it feels good to be doing something for me. I'm already being challenged to think outside the box and I am SO an in the box person that it should be interesting. My rules for assignment number one included keeping the camera on Auto and shooting in full sun - so contrary to what I prefer to do! And I am totally amazed at how easily the camera decides I need the flash. Irritating is saying it gently. I'll try and keep you up to date on my projects if they turn out at all interesting. The other students certainly are (more on that later). I've also been dieting. I know, I hate that word almost as much as the general concept. I miss carbs. And I miss booze. And I'm starting to get increasingly concerned that I am a totally boring and grouchy person when I'm sober for long periods of time. So we'll see how long that lasts.

Off to play with the littles before it's time to pick up the Fintastic!

I Heart Faces: Eyes

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces is eyes. I love my boys' eye's. I love their friends' eye's. I love taking ridiculously close-up pictures of eyes. This made for a tough choice...


In the end I had to go with this one. I was trying to take a nice picture of Kell on the train. But Kell seems to think that the closer he gets to the camera, the better the picture will be. And for once, I agreed. :)


Don't forget to head over to I Heart Faces to take a look at some of the other great entries!

Shopping With Kids? Yes You Can!

I love to shop. I especially love antique stores that are packed to the gills with treasures and curiosities. I also have three smallish children. You can see where this would pose a problem. Yesterday we took the boys to a bunch of the neat stores over in Ventura and I had a fantastic idea: I made them each a checklist of things to find. This time I made it just five easy things - a doll, antique utensils, old books, old signs and costume jewelry. I also had them work as a team against Brooks and Kell (who had the actual list of things I was looking for). They had a great time and it totally kept them from being bored. When they had checked off everything on their lists, I had lollipops ready. But they were SO good that when they spotted a cupcake shop, I agreed to the upgrade :)

Alphabet Summer

I was really hoping to find some way to keep the kids learning this summer without resorting to simple workbooks. And when I read about Alphabet Summer, I knew I had found it! The idea is that you choose a letter a day (or every few days in our case) and plan on some learning activities that complement the letter. I made my boys each a notebook with a basic plan for each day as well as some worksheets to go along with each theme. We're skipping around as we go and working the letters in where they fit with our schedule.
Here's Dash's notebook and the first page...
So far it's going wonderfully! Finley especially enjoys finding new words that go along with each letter so that our days are full :) Here are some pictures from W and R days. And here are some links to other families that have inspired this terrific idea:

Home By Heidi
The Moes Family

What are your kids up to this summer?

DIY Art Project!

One of my favorite blogs is The Lettered Cottage. Layla's designs and remodels are amazing, but I usually read them and wonder if I should hire someone to do something like that around here. Then she published this tutorial. Not only did I love the idea of a piece of art like this, I had the perfect place for it AND I figured Brooks and I could make it happen! So here's what we did...(TLC has WAY more detailed instructions, I'm giving you bare bones here)
First the frame had to be assembled.
Assembling the frame was an all-male event :)
After it was all put together, it was time for staining...
Once the stain dried, I sanded it lightly just to rough it up a bit. Then I sat down with the stamps...
I did the stamping and tried to be as haphazard as someone with OCD is capable of...
And expertly hung by my Woob...
Finished product...
It was so fun to make and I LOVE the result! Don't forget to hop over to TLC for other great decorating ideas :)