Home Working

I'm one of those mean moms who makes their children do their homework as soon as they get home. I've tried it the other way, and the moaning and groaning that ensues as a result of my pulling them away from their fun to do the homework is just not worth it. At least the way we do it now, they are still in a "school" frame of mind when they get home. They put their backpacks and lunchboxes away, I get them a snack, we review anything that they've brought home and they finish their homework. And then they're done. And the rest of the day is theirs. Perhaps if they got home later in the afternoon I would make them go outside first, but even with this routine they're outside by 3:30 which generally includes a half hour to watch some TV and just unwind! I'm still not a big fan of the early mornings, but it really does make for a much better afternoon for them given their tendency to wake early regardless.

Carolina in my mind

I always loved this song from James Taylor, in fact I think it's probably one of my favorites by him. Funny how I never realized when I listened to it years and years (and years...) ago that some day I'd be living in Carolina. At times I can't quite believe that I'm so far from home, but then there are other times, most of the time actually, that I've never felt more at home than I do now. Is it because of where we are? Or is it maybe that Kevin and I have grown much closer as a result of our move?

Before the move my life was quite full with all sorts of distractions from friends, neighbors and family. But now it's really just us. I mean, we're beginning to make some new connections with people, but those relationships are all so new, and I really haven't made the effort to take them to a different level. So Kevin is the one that I talk to, and share stuff with, and it's his office that I wander into when I'm looking for a bit of adult interaction. And that's a good thing. I'm so glad that after nearly 12 years of marriage, and over 15 years together, he is still such a vital part of my life. I feel like we're stronger now than we've ever been.

So I guess it's not so strange that I'm feeling more at home in North Carolina after only 8 months of living here. The reality is that home is so much more a state of mind, than the state where you may live, ya know? And my home is where Kevin is. Gosh I love that guy! I am such a lucky girl to have a man like him to come home to.

This isn't where I had intended to go when I first wrote the title for this post. I was originally thinking that I'd write about how much we are enjoying the weather down here--spring sure does spring early around here! And working out in the yard is one of those things that Kevin and I really enjoy doing together. And we sure do have a bunch more yard to work on. Sometimes it's a bit overwhelming trying to figure out what we want to do and trying to get it all done, which means we'll be spending LOTS more time together! There. It does all tie together, doesn't it?

Gymnastics Observation Day

We got to watch one of the girls' gymnastics classes this week for parent observation week. I have a whole new level of respect for how hard they are working each class! They always come bubbling out of the studio and head straight for the water fountain. Usually I am trying to get them home so that we can have a late dinner and get them showered and into bed at a semi-decent time. I will be sure to give them time to drink as much as they want after watching this class. Here is a clip showing them working on their backbends and then working to stand up from their bridge. (Olivia is wearing the pink colored top, and Katy is in the skirted bodysuit that is royal blue on top and black on the bottom).

Getting Ready for Christmas

I have had such a good time decorating our home for Christmas this year. It is usually an enjoyable process, but I guess since it's a new house, all of our old stuff somehow feels more new too as I figure out where it should go. We have WAY fewer shrubs at this house than our old one, so I don't have quite as many lights outside...this year! But I'm prepared for when we do more landscaping! My big investment in decor this year was on red berry wreaths to hang on the inside of all our windows on the first floor. It is so cheerful to see all those wreaths--I'm going to be sad to take them down. Who knows, perhaps some will stay up year-round?

For the first time ever, we have room in our family room for a Christmas tree. It is so nice to be able to sit by the light of the tree while watching TV in the evenings. We're actually enjoying the tree so much more than in the past when it has always been in a living room, which tended to be away from our daily activity. Of course, its home in our family room has had a down side--the girls have been much more interested in it and we have lost (and when I say "lost" I mean "broke") 2 of our ornaments so far this year... Ah well, such is life. They weren't ones that I absolutely loved! I also justified the purchase of a large mirror for over our fireplace as a "Christmas decoration" although I am going to keep it up all year long! I got it for $45 at Ross, and love finally having something large and substantial above the fireplace.

So now that the house is decorated, I've moved on to the Christmas card project. I can't believe that it's only December 6th and I already have all my cards made, the letter written, and the pictures taken and developed. Now all I need to do is sign them, address the envelopes and stuff them. Sigh. Still a lot to do, but at least it's the 6th and not the 16th!

Mom and Dad are coming down to visit us on Friday now, and we have some fun things planned for while they're here: we're going to visit Santa (it'll be interesting to see who sits on his lap this year...), build and decorate a gingerbread house, bake cut-out cookies, and mom is going to teach me to make yeast bread. It should be a fun visit for all of us.

And two days after they leave I'm hosting our neighborhood's cookie exchange! We're up to 10 definite participants with three days left to RSVP to me. Given the fact that I only invited 24 other women, I'd say that's a pretty good response. So I'll be dusting off Aunt Melanie's egg nog recipe, whipping up 7 dozen cookies to exchange and a variety of appetizers for us to munch on (changing it up a bit this year). I think Kevin's looking forward to the exchange even more than I am, cookie monster that he is. Imagine his disappointment when he discovers that I've turned into the cookie nazi and am not allowing anyone to bring chocolate chip cookies this year!

And as we prepare our home for the holiday season, I am also working to prepare our hearts for the celebration of our Savior's birth. What an exciting time of year!

Thankful...

Okay, so is it sad that the thing I'm most thankful for right now is that Thanksgiving weekend is over? The past few weeks have been unbelievably busy around here. Stephanie and I went to Williamsburg to scrap for a weekend at our friend Julie's mom's house. Julie and Teresa joined us--the first time we've ever had anyone other than our two semi-neurotic selves on a scrap weekend. It was such a good time! Julie and Teresa are such special people, and I only regret that I didn't realize how special they were to me until just before we moved to NC. We are planning to make our November trip to Williamsburg a tradition as a foursome. And we're trying to figure out how to convince the hubbies to let us stay a bit longer...

Then there was Ryan's art fair at school. I signed up to help, and became the coordinator for his classroom. This wouldn't have been bad, except that I inadvertantly scheduled Ryan's 7th birthday party for the same night as the art fair. Um, hello? Have I EVER heard of that modern invention called a CALENDAR?!? Apparently not. So I didn't think it was really that big of a deal until he burst into tears TWICE about not being able to go to the art fair because of his PARTY. So I called all of the parents of the children who had RSVP'd 'yes' to his party, explained the situation and we all agreed that Saturday, the 18th, would be acceptable for his party.

Needless to say, framing the art for his class (did I mention that it wasn't ready until THURSDAY?!?!), setting up the display, attending the art fair and then breaking down the display was big fun for mommy on the 17th. My favorite highlight of the afternoon was all the complaining from my dear little son when I brought him with me to set up the display.



Anyway, the party on the 18th was a complete success. It was our first "drop-off" party--no other parents were there. Kevin and I had total control over the activities and their timing, with no obligation to entertain any adults. Cool. The kids had a blast. Ryan had requested a pirate theme, so as each child arrived we got them dressed up in pirate garb, complete with facial "hair" makeup if desired. They

battled with their swords for a while, and then moved on to decorate their treasure chests. Next up, pizza in the kitchen on a table covered with pirate loot (thanks to Livvy and Katy's dress-up 'jewels'). Then we had a treasure hunt. The kids had a blast hunting down the 12 clues and discovering the chest filled with bags of 'gold.' Kev and I corralled them upstairs to the attic for a movie where they first got to spend their gold coins on movie fare (popcorn, candy, soda). The kids
got a kick out of counting out their loot to buy their goodies. And when the movie was over, we had some cake and opened gifts. Everything went so smoothly, but by the time it was over I was exhausted.

The next morning, Sunday, Kevin woke up with a nasty cold. He had a mid-grade fever, and lots of coughing and congestion and spent the day curled up on the couch under LOTS of blankets. I cleaned up the mess from the party, and tried to keep the kids out of his way (in the middle of the family room. yeah, that went well). I thought to myself, that it figures that we've all been healthy up until now, and now that we've got these big plans for Thanksgiving, Kevin's getting sick. Please don't let anyone else get sick!

Monday was fine. Kevin worked from our bedroom and kept away from the children. Then came Tuesday (Ryan's birthday).
All three children woke up with fevers. Sigh. So they all stayed home from school for a nice pajama day in front of the TV. I pumped the fluids and added more vitamin C to their diet. Ryan and Katy seemed to be feeling better by Wednesday. Of course, that would be the day that Olivia began throwing up and I developed a fever. So, Thanksgiving travel plans were cancelled.

Sigh. Yet another turkey-day spent with a bunch of sickos.

By Thursday we were feeling a bit better. No fevers, but I was thoroughly achey and just tired. The kids were whiny. So we went to Cracker Barrel for our turkey dinner. Kevin and I were thinking the kids could have breakfast for their dinner, but all they were serving was the turkey platter. So much for no whining during dinner! At least the turkey was really moist and yummy, and the pumpkin pie was amazing. But how I missed the cranberry casserole and the broccoli casserole and the yummy sweet potatoe casserole and all the family around us.

We were starting to return to normal on Friday, except for Olivia's fever. Ryan
spent the day playing with his new Wii (a birthday present that we obtained through a freak chance of someone not returning to Target the previous Sunday and Kevin being in line at the exact right time). I tried to work on disinfecting the house, but was still dragging. Fortunately, by Saturday we were starting to all feel better and I began working on decorating for Christmas. The weather was amazing and I figured that I better take advantage of the warm temperatures to put up our exterior lights. Livvy and Katy got some nice snotty noses and an ucky cough, but seemed to be feeling okay and still enjoyed some fresh-air time outside.

Sunday was spent finishing up the Christmas decorating. Our tree is up and decorated, and 14 tubs of decorations have been generally emptied and distributed around the house. I've refilled several of those tubs with non-Christmasy decor, so things don't feel cluttered. I'm looking forward to getting the house vacuumed to get rid of the dust and pine needles that have started to cover our floors, despite having switched to a fake tree (who knew they would shed almost as much as the fresh ones?).

And so here I sit reflecting upon the past year and what I have to be thankful for, and sadly I keep thinking that I'm mostly thankful that Ryan is at school (his behavior recently has been a bit on the testy side...), and that we are no longer a bunch of sickos. Seriously, though, the past year has been one full of blessings for our family: selling our home for a great price just before the northern VA market went flat, generally good health for all of us, a fairly easy move to Charlotte, NC, having Kevin around our house and so much more a part of our family as he works from home, a beautiful new home with lots of land where our children can play, new friends and neighbors in addition to our amazing former neighbors, a network of family and friends who have supported us through our move, a new niece who is as precious as she is adorable, positions at the YMCA's preschool opening up for both Olivia and Katelyn, and a new group of supportive women that I've met at Morning Grace. All in all it has been an amazing year.

So while at this particular moment I am reveling in our return to "normalcy" after a brief period of craziness and sickness, the reality is that we have been so blessed this year, and I am truly, completely, thankful.

Good Times

One of my favorite memories from elementary school was the annual book fair. I can remember pouring over the flyer when it came home and trying to plan how I would spend the money that mom and dad would allot to me. So of course I was excited when Ryan began having book fairs to go to a few years ago. This year is even better, though! Now that all 3 are in school, I get to actually help out with the fundraiser. It is without a doubt my favorite fundraiser done by the school. I plan to head it up in a few years if I'm not working outside the home.

I Don't Need a Nap!

On our way home from preschool this afternoon, Olivia seemed a little testy (that's a nice way to say annoying and bratty).

I suggested that perhaps today would be a good day for a nap.

Olivia and Katy and Delaney (their friend who I was bringing home to help her parents), all said that 4-year-olds don't take naps. I didn't feel like arguing the point, so I made a mental note that tonight would be an early bedtime for the girls.

For the past 30 minutes I've been upstairs working on laundry, that never ending chore that I adore. I had set up the Rainbow to vacuum before I realized that a load of laundry was done in the dryer and it was time to fold & put it away, move the load from the washer and start the next (5th) load of the day.

I just came downstairs to start vacuuming and found this:


















So maybe I should actually call this post "Why I Can't Vacuum Downstairs"? Oh, and Olivia dressed herself this morning. She insisted that those leggings DID in fact go with that dress because they both had blue in them. Not worth the battle, so there she is in her very own style statement...

Freedom....

Olivia and Katy had their very first day of Kindergarten today! We were all just a little bit nervous because not only was it their first time to go to a "real" school (as they called it), but it would be their first time to ride the school bus (something Katy has been looking forward to since Ryan's 1st day of Kindergarten!), and most importantly their first day to have different teachers.

Kevin and I went back and forth about the merits of keeping them together another year versus putting them in different classes, and we both feel very comfortable with our decision to split them up this year. Katy has such a strong, nurturing personality that she has a hard time letting Livy do things for herself (including answering questions). And Livy is perfectly happy letting Katy be her little servant and do her tasks for her, and has a tendency to mimic Katy's answers whenever Katy responds first. It's time for them both to learn to be a bit more independent of one another.

I had thought about contacting the principal of the school and asking that they be put with a teaching team (two teachers and two classrooms, but they have lunch, recess and enhancements together). But then I decided that I didn't want to be one of "those" parents--the pushy ones who is constantly intervening on behalf of their children. I prayed about it and put the whole thing in God's hands, and it worked out exactly as I had hoped.

Olivia has Mrs. Rogers who has been teaching Kindergarten for over 25 years. She was the school's Teacher of the Year last year, and she is just so warm, and fun, and nurturing. Exactly who Livy needs, really. Katelyn has Mrs. Wagner who has been teaching Kindergarten for 12 years. She is super friendly, and vivacious and affectionate. Exactly who Katy needs too. And they are one of the four Kindergarten teams--so their classrooms are right across the hall, and the girls will have lunch, recess, PE and field trips together. Thank you, God! And thank you, Mr. Todd!

They were both pretty excited this morning:





















Any pre-bus jitters they may have had were alleviated by their friends Mia (on the right) and Rory (on the left) who are in 1st grade this year. Each of the girls held one of my girls' hands and helped them onto the bus. Ryan helped out with carrying their big bags of school supplies.














They were both looking happy and proud as they got off the bus this afternoon. And one of the perks of Kevin working from home was that he got to be there for their homecoming.















They both had notes from their teachers in their Take Home folders to let us know how they did on their first day at the Rocking K Corral (the whole Kindergarten for the school uses a western theme for the year):




















And they both are looking forward to going back to school tomorrow, although Katy did comment that it was a really long day.

Hello!

I've resisted blogging for some time now, but was inspired by my sister to jump into the world of blogs with one of my own. I suppose it's a natural extension of my scrapbooking hobby, so we'll just see how this goes... Hopefully I will do better at maintaining a blog than I was at keeping any type of written journal or diary! After all, it is much easier (or at least faster) to type than to write.

So, what does "ROK'z mom" mean? Well, I'm mommy to three kiddos - Ryan who is almost 7, and twins Olivia and Katelyn who are 3 1/2. The initial for my last name is a Z, so I have been using the screen name "rokzmom" for some time now. In my head, I hear it as "rock's mom" but my sister always calls me "roxy mom" which I kind of like too! I've wavered a bit about using a screen name that defines me as being someone's mom--it somehow seems limiting? But at the same time, that is so much of who and what I am nowadays. My life revolves around my kids to a large extent, however I also have plenty of "me" time.

I am an avid scrapbooker, and I'm becoming a better photographer as a result. I really enjoy photography, and as a digital photographer, I'm also dabbling in digital scrapbooking. Hoping this blog will help stretch me in my journaling on my pages. Perhaps it will motivate me to write down those funny little conversations with my kids more often?

My husband, Kevin, is now a work-at-home dad, and we are all loving having him around the house and as much more a part of our day-to-day lives. To enjoy this working arrangement, we have recently had to relocate to Mooresville, NC, which is a great community north of Charlotte. I really miss my friends and family, but also love our new home and am starting to make some friends down here.

So, who knows what this blog will contain?! I'm being optimistic about this whole new venture...

The Calm after the Storm

This afternoon when Katy got home from school, Kevin and I made a very unreasonable, difficult, and distasteful request of her before she had a snack. We asked her to wash her hands.

She proceeded to throw a huge fit that lasted nearly 30 minutes and became pretty intense. During which I washed her hands for her. And then took her upstairs to sit on the stool for time out. We used to send the kids to their rooms for punishment, but with all the toys in their rooms, it's just too fun. So now they sit on a stool. Today the stool was right outside my scrapbook room so that I could supervise her while still working on the kindergarten scrapbooks.

Apparently she was tired. Whether it was from the fit or the inherent cause of the fit is not clear. But this is what I saw about 10 minutes into her sitting:

Bowl-o-Rama

What to do on a rainy day when grandparents are in town and school is closed for Veteran's Day? Go bowling, of course! Kevin even came along, taking a short break from work (he was working from home). We played two complete games, and everyone bowled all of their frames with no whining or complaining. Lots of laughter--especially when the kids were beating me! With bumpers. Oh man, talk about embarrassing...

Handsome and Hopeful

Well, it's been exactly 2 weeks since Kevin found out that his position at JP Morgan Chase was going to be dissolved in April. He has been busy posting his resume on The Ladders and Monster, and networking with his years of contacts. He has three promising prospects at this point, and today he is going to a second interview to be the VP of Sales at a mid-size company in Charlotte. This meeting is with the CEO, so if all goes well he may be coming home with an offer. Gulp.









ETA: Things went well with the interview! The CEO and he really clicked. Turns out the CEO knows the man who was the CEO of the company Kevin was working for before JPMC bought them. They've had him do a personality profile test (they said his scores showed him as compatible with their company's environment). He has another meeting with the VP of Marketing next week, and then we'll see. He's also being flown to Baltimore next week by another company for an interview. He's feeling much more positive now.

Rain = Puzzling

The weather did not cooperate with us while we visited Grandma and Grandpa in DE -- it was cold, and wet the entire two days we were there. We stayed mostly inside both days and had a low-key, relaxing, and very enjoyable time working on puzzles together. We finished 3 (!) 500-piece puzzles and got started on a fourth (which turned out to be a real stumper that we had to re-box for a future visit). And today we ventured out for breakfast and dinner after a wonderful lasagna-dinner at home on Tuesday.

Oh, and tomorrow's forecast? Sunny. Oh well, there's always the summer!

Home Improvement

We've been working on a fairly sizeable project around the house over the summer. We've extended our driveway to give our guests a place to park while allowing us to still be able to use our garage. It also gives us a nice level pad for playing basketball. The hoop should be installed in the next month or so.

And then we put in a patio. We knew that we wanted to do a patio at some point, but hadn't planned to do it this summer. But the savings of pouring the patio at the same time that the driveway extension was done was fairly significant, so we now have a patio. And a brick wall. And a hot tub. And Kevin has put in a bunch of landscaping beds which await a variety of plant material that we'll be installing once the weather cools down a bit in September.

It's been a fairly large endeavor, but the results are really nice so far. Unfortunately we didn't do our outdoor furniture shopping in time--everything that we liked (that was in our budget) was already gone thanks to the clearance sales. So for now we're making due with some chairs that were on the deck, and we'll be sure to hit the sales bright and early next year! And let's face it, when there's a hot tub, do you really need anywhere else to sit?!

Princess? or Pirate...

Katy has been asking to have her ears pierced ever since 4 of her close friends got theirs pierced nearly a year ago. I told her that if she still wanted it done when she turned 5, I'd take her to have them done.

So this morning, she and Livvy had a day off from school and I had to pick up a few things from our mall and we took a trip to Libby Lu to get her ears done.

We arrived, and discovered there was only one woman working at the time. Now, Katy is a VERY brave little girl. She barely even flinches when she gets a shot, doesn't even shed a tear, so I figured that she would be fine having her ears done one at a time... can you see where I'm going with this yet?

She selected some pretty pink c.z. heart earrings, and then she hopped up in the chair and sat very still with a slightly nervous grin on her face, waiting to get her first ear pierced. As soon as it was done, she looked over at me with a look of horror as she realized that her other ear still needed to be pierced...

The nice lady at the store gave us all the time we needed to try to convince her to do her other ear, but Katy wanted no parts of it. Not even for a Webkinz.

Fortunately, the package holding the second earring cartridge had not yet been opened, so the lady explained that we could come back another time when she was ready to have her other ear pierced. Katy decided that that was what she wanted to do.

On our way home, she told me that she would get her other ear pierced. She'd do it for her 6th birthday.

So instead of a little princess for a daughter, I now have a little pirate. Why am I really not surprised?

What we've been doing...

Painting! The past few months have seen a lot of cans of paint come into our home. So far, we've painted the kitchen, family room, front hallway, up the stairs, the playroom, and all three kids' rooms. Whew! We will continue the same color from the downstairs into the hallway upstairs and up the stairs to the attic, and have a nice olive green chosen for the living room and "dining" room and powder room downstairs; a deep red for the movie room (used to be Kevin's office), a nice aqua for our bathroom and a beige for our bedroom and the attic, and we'll be using the leftover blue from Ryan's room for the kids' bathroom. Still working to decide what to paint the scraproom and the laundry room...

Here are some pics: