Shoes

-Parker said, "There is one thing I really don't like about kindergarten." I don't know what I was expecting to hear, but it wasn't this........"We have to keep our shoes on all day." Well, that makes sense. Never in his life has he had to keep shoes on all day. And, he has been wearing crocs all summer so tennis shoes probably feel pretty cumbersome. I asked him if his shoes hurt his feet and he said no.
-We almost missed the bus yesterday.
- Jack did not have a great day at preschool orientation yesterday. Very clingy. Great. Here we go again. I envy parents whose children are eager and excited about school.
- Kindergarten is hard on this mom. Just missing my baby.
- I'm sad that summer is almost over but longing for some cooler weather.
- My roots are about 2 inches long--maybe longer. Getting that taken care of tomorrow.
- My cousin Kyra requested this recipe:

Caramel Pecan Cheesecake
2 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
20 caramels
2 tbsp. milk
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 graham cracker crust
Mix: eggs, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer until well blended. Melt caramels with milk on low heat, stirring frequently until smooth. Stir in pecans.
Pour caramel mixture into crust. Let cool for a few minutes. Top with cream cheese batter.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.
Hint: It is better if you let it warm up a bit before serving because the cold caramel is hard to cut through right out of the refrigerator.

Rambling on and on

- Parker has recovered almost completely and had no complaints about going to school today. He even asked to eat school lunch. (mini corndogs)
- I just found some wedding gift towels that we had not used yet. Yeah! It's like Christmas. Can you believe they have been in the closet for 7 years?
- Jack starts preschool next week. GULP.
- I can't get anything done around here even with only one child here.
- I MUST lose weight. Even my fat clothes are getting tight.
- Travis brought home 2 boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts last night.
- Don't ask how many I have eaten.
I think I will go do a little exercise right now!

School stinks when you're sick

Poor Parker has Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. It's a virus so there isn't much we can do and it's making him MISERABLE. He went the first day, then missed yesterday and went back today. He just isn't into kindergarten when he feels so lousy. It's the ginormous sores in his mouth that are giving him so much trouble. Hopefully it will clear up this weekend and he will get a fresh start Monday. Just in case you are wondering, he is past the contagious stage AND he is 6 years old. Not a lot of drooling and putting stuff in your mouth at this stage.

Sooooo, not how I imagined his first week of kindergarten!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good and Terrible

I bought a new camera and these are the type of close-up artsy type pictures I was hoping to get with it. These make me happy. However, these are all outside with natural lighting. My indoor pictures are terrible. See some of those below. It's me NOT the camera but I haven't figured out my problem yet.

INDOOR PHOTOS BELOW

I'm in LOVE

For those of you who enjoy having a few cute, trendy things to wear and don't mind so much about the quality, I have the place for you.

STEVE AND BARRY'S

Tracy and the kids and I went here today and I loved it!!!!!!!!! I bought a corduroy jacket for myself and two pairs of jeans for Parker for $35.00 And none of it was on sale! They have a store in Champaign in the old Walmart and it is HUGE! They are putting one at Hickory Point Mall too. I don't think anything in the store is over $20.00. They have women's (including Sarah Jessica Parker's line of clothes), men's (tons of collegiate sweatshirts and athletic wear as well as everyday wear) children's, and infant's. I am dying to go back without the boys so I can try stuff on and have an unlimited amount of time to look.

The birthday blues

Parker is 6 today. Birthdays are always very bittersweet for me. I love to watch my children grow up, but I hate that they are growing up. This birthday coupled with the start of kindergarten in exactly one week has me boo-hooing all over the place. Then I read this on another blog regarding sending a child to kindergarten

The first day of school for me now means learning to trust someone new with the best part of my heart...

GULP......I couldn't have said it better myself.

I'm going to go soak in some Parker. Man, I love that kid!

Jack

Laying Low

Just wanted to let anyone who reads this blog know that I'm going to lay low for a while. Nothing is wrong, I just want to lay off for a bit and enjoy the next few weeks with Parker before he starts school.
Thanks,
Sara

sorry, sorry, sorry

I hate it when bloggers don't blog and I have been a very bad blogger. I have just been busy and haven't had time to sit down and write anything.
We went to Six Flags last weekend--well, on Monday. I don't foresee us going back for a few years until BOTH our kids are big enough to ride more rides. They have rides for little kids like Jack but they are kind of babyish for a kid Parker's age. There didn't seem to be a ton of stuff for kids Parker's size. We had fun, but we will have more fun if we wait a few years. And there were so many people at the water park that it was actually hard to get wet. Again, when they are bigger, they will be able to do a little more.
Decatur Celebration started last night. It is usually one of my favorite summer activities, but I'm not very excited this year. I have no idea why. I'll still be there, of course, but I'm not feeling my usual enthusiasm. Oh, but the people watching is as good as ever. LOVE IT! It just makes you wonder, "What are people thinking?!?!?!"
Parker has decided that he doesn't want to go to kindergarten. Great. This should be fun.
Even though he has been driving me nuts lately, I am really going to miss him when he's gone all day. I love talking to my kids all day and watching them play and eating lunch with them--just sharing our days together. However, I won't miss the fighting (Parker and Jack and me and Parker.) And I am looking forward to him being in a structured learning environment. But, I'm still a little sad.
As usual, I have left the room and now all hell is breaking loose.
Talk to you later.