Proud Mama

Today, I am one Proud Mama!

When the alarm went off this morning, I was dreading getting up. I'm worn out from packing and cleaning, plus all the other "mom" stuff I do every day. I was thrilled when my daughter came in and told me to go back to sleep; that she was making my coffee and would get me up in 20 minutes.

After getting a little extra shut-eye, I woke up to find that not only were all four kids up and dressed, they were completely ready to leave for school. They patiently waited while I sipped my first cup of coffee and readied myself for the first of four trips I would make to the school today.

After many hugs, kisses, I love yous, and have a good days I dropped the kids off and headed home to clean up the morning messes and try to get a little packing done. I also wrote up a new post for my other blog, Kid-Lit 101.

Before long it was time to wake up the hubs and get ready to go back to the school for the Citizen of the Month celebration. Amber was chosen by her teacher and classmates as Citizen of the Month for September, claiming she is a model citizen and a friend to everyone. That she is polite, responsible, and exhibits excellence by trying her very best at everything she does.

That right there is very much Proud Mama material. After receiving her award along with the other celebrants of the month, we had snacks and talked a bit before sending her back to class and coming home for a few minutes before having to go back for my son's IEP for speech.

This is the first IEP meeting we've had for him at this school. His speech pathologist was great and seems to be really tuned into him and his needs. He has improved so much over the last year and is now in the 78th percentile, which is fantastic. We believe that he is doing so well that he may not even need speech for this whole school year. More than likely, the new school will evaluate him and release him from it. But that's ok. I know what his weaknesses are and how to work with him, so I'll continue to do that regardless of whtether or not he's officially seeing a pathologist. Again, very much Proud Mama material.

The kids and I are really going to miss this school. They've made many wonderful friends in the short time we've been here. I hope to take some pictures of them on the last day we're here. We've collected many phone numbers, addresses, and emails so they can keep in touch.

We're also looking forward to a new school and making new friends and reuniting with old ones. The kids are excited because basketball season will be starting shortly after we move and they will be playing with all their old team mates from previous seasons. I'm excited, too. I played basketball all through school and was thrilled that all 4 kids show such an interest in it as well.

Back to school shopping

In today’s economy, everyone is trying to save a buck. With outrageous gas prices and soaring grocery bills, everyone’s cutting corners and trying to get the most for their money. Back to school shopping can be expensive, especially when you’ve got more than one kid in school. Trust me, I have four school-aged kids this year and it seems as if the school supply lists were longer than ever. Then, of course, came the clothes shopping.

I did manage to improve my shopping habits this year and ended up spending way less than what I normally do on back to school expenses.

The first thing I did was go through all of the kids’ clothes. I took inventory of what they had, what they needed, and what they could live without.

I gathered up all the clothes that were still in good condition but were no longer being worn and took them to a consignment shop where I was given store credit for the value of the clothes. Using that store credit, I was able to get several good, name-brand shirts in excellent condition for each of the kids. I think altogether I got about 15 shirts for right around $35. That comes out to less than $3 a piece.

I probably could have sold the clothes on eBay and made more money on them, but I didn’t want to go through the hassle of photographing, listing, shipping, etc. This way was easier for me and it only took one day, where eBay would have taken at least a week.

Next, I made a list of what each kid absolutely needed. Socks, underwear, shorts, etc. Then I headed to the local thrift stores. My favorites are Goodwill and Salvation Army. They have great sales and the clothes are almost always in excellent condition. There, I was able to find shorts, shirts, pants, and a couple of sweaters/light jackets for cool mornings. I spent about $60 and each kid got about 4 outfits. Keep in mind, that these are pretty much all name-brand clothes that I’m buying and they’re all in excellent condition. It takes a little extra time to dig through the racks to find the good stuff sometimes, but it is worth it when you can get a shirt for a dollar that normally retails for $15.

After that, I went to Walmart and bought all new socks and underwear for each kid, which cost me about $50. My twins are really into Hannah Montana, and Walmart has an extensive line of her clothing, so I got them each a HM shirt there which cost me about $18.

I also went to JCPenney, Stage, and Payless Shoe Source. Each store was running some kind of special and the kids ended up with 3 more outfits each and 2 pair of shoes each. Altogether, I spent about $160 at these stores.

Which brought my total amount spent on school clothes to about $275 or close to $70 a kid. And they all got enough clothes to last them at least couple of months. I’ll have to get them a few more pair of pants when the weather turns but for now, they’re good.

Last year, I bought everything new and spent about 3 times what I did this year and got less.

With the supplies, I pretty much went straight by the list. Even getting all the brands asked for. I bought them all at Walmart because they had a decent sale and spent a total of $97 on supplies, including backpacks. I even bought all 8 reams of copy paper that was requested. Guess I was feeling generous after saving all that money on the clothes.

Lesson learned: Less really is more, if you play your (debit) cards right.

Friday Musings

The kids finished up their first full week of school today. The twins are doing great and are looking forward to starting the orchestra next week. My son loves his teacher and his class. I think the fact that they have a hamster and a fish tank helped a lot with that. He’s normally not a big fan of school, unless you count lunch and recess.

Kaylee did really well in Pre-K this week. She had an accident on Monday and cried until I got her out of the car, then she was fine all week. No tears or potty incidents. She finally confessed that she was scared of the bathroom at school, hence the accidents the first few days. We talked about it and now all is well with her potty world.

Kaylee has made quite a few new friends. The ones she mentions the most are Thomas and Benjamin. Yes, my daughter’s best friends are boys. She is already saying that she will miss her Benjamin Jones when we move. Her Benjamin Jones. How cute.

I’m waiting to see if we are going to qualify for another relocation package or if this move is gonna be out-of-pocket. They’ve already shelled out over 10 grand on moving expenses, hotel accommodations, and meals on us this year. I doubt they’ll do it again. But I can hope, right?

I washed, dried, and folded 6 loads of laundry today and they are all still sitting in the baskets, waiting to be put away. Laundry fairy, where are you when I need you most?

I’ve got tons of packing to do. Which is pretty much my own fault since I’ve known this move was coming for at least a month now. I just wasn’t sure of the date. I’m still not sure of the date. I just know my hubs was told “very soon” and “as soon as possible” so I’m thinking 3-4 weeks at the latest. I’m just glad all four kids will be in school when I finally do get around to packing. They don’t need to hear the obscenities I’m sure to mutter while I fill box after box with this junk we’ve spent the last 11 years accumulating. I threw away a lot the last time we moved, but I think we’ve collected twice as much as I threw away in the last seven months.

Now that all four kids are in school, I’m bored during the day. If I had any kind of talent, I’d start designing blogs or something creative like that, but I wouldn’t know where to start. I do good to make my own presentable. I’ve been playing around in Photoshop lately and will post some pictures I’ve taken sometime. I’ve made earrings and drawn pictures (mostly of eyes and horses - weird, I know). I’ve cleaned house and done laundry. I’ve watched movies and gone to the library. I’ve played computer games and alphabetically organized all of our movies and now, I’m bored. I’ve run out of things to do. Which I guess is a good thing because I have more time to spend online here at my blog and twittering and reading blogs and maybe I’ll even start posting more and get more involved in the blogging community. Who knows? I just need to find something to do…And I don’t mean washing dishes, putting laundry away, or scrubbing toilets. I’m looking for a hobby, not a chore.

Well, I’m gonna sneak into the kitchen and make some these delicious little things. I make ‘em at least once a week. Have I mentioned I love the Pioneer Woman’s website? If you’ve never read her, You definitely should. Mouth-watering recipes, excellent photography, and humorous, well-written posts galore…You won’t be disappointed.

Kaylee Goes to Pre-K

Today is Kaylee’s first day of school. She should probably be going to kindergarten, but her birthday misses the cut-off date by about 6 weeks, so it’s off to Pre-k she went.

She was excited and anxious and cried just a bit as she realized I would not be staying there with her. Her teacher, Mrs. A, was really nice and comforting and I knew she’d be fine as soon as I was out of sight.

Do most 4 year olds not recognize their own written names? I’ve never really thought about it before but Kaylee has known how to read, spell, and type her name for at least a year and a half. And she’s been writing it for several months now, which was also a shock to her teacher. I was surprised at how many kids in K's class couldn't recognize their own names. Maybe it's the former teacher's aide/literacy tutor in me, but I've always worked with my kids on things like this. I think I started teaching Kaylee her name when she was about 2 years old. She could actually type it before she could write it or spell it.

Before I left I kissed Kaylee’s hand and reminded her of the story we’d read the night before. She was in tears and begging Mama to stay with her, but I somehow kept my cool and assured her she would be fine and I would pick her up this afternoon. Then I left with tears in my own eyes.

My baby is in school. What am I going to do with myself for 7 hours everyday? So far today, I’ve read a book, taken a morning nap, and checked the clock a zillion times to see if it was time to pick her up yet. And it’s not even lunchtime. I’ve still got nearly 3 hours to go. I hope she’s holding up better than I am.