Happy 77th* Birthday, Dadaji!

*We think. Due to a fire in India years ago, official records (like birth certificates) were lost. Plus, Ramesh was born in his grandmother's home, not in a hospital. The funny thing is, as a result of the lack of official documents, the United States has the wrong birth year on all of his papers, which makes him younger than his younger brother! Since there's no proof, no one ever bothered to fix it.

So, if Ramesh was born in 1939, we celebrated his 75th birthday today. However, if he was actually born in 1937, then we celebrated his 77th birthday today. Or something like that! (We didn't get a straight answer out of him today!)

Regardless, Shawn made him 2 birthday drawings. We picked up Chinese food on the way to his house (with plenty to leave as leftovers for a few days) and met Raj there after work. We didn't stay too late since he takes his sleeping pill around 7:30 and it kicks in pretty quickly.

The kids working on birthday cards:

(Check out her pencil grasp! Wow!)

Earlier today, I was working with Lilly on saying, "I love you!"
I'm glad she understands my message! She cracks me up! (She enjoys watching that as much as I do!)

Happy Anniversary

Today we celebrate the auspicious occasion of our wedding day 8 years ago. After 15 years together, there has been laughter and smiles and bumps in the road, but there's no one else I'd rather share them with. Happy Anniversary to the love of my life!

Raj was pretty sure I was going to my monthly Mothers & More Board meeting. He had exhilarating plans to get Shawn's knee pads for flag football, which starts Saturday, and baths for the kids... But I had something else in mind to celebrate our 'auspicious day.'

Little did he know that I told my board *last month* that I would not be coming. Last month, I also made arrangements with Melissa, next door, to watch the kids for the evening. And, I made reservations at a highly recommended 'grown-up' restaurant, Bien Trucha, in Geneva. Not bad for a professional procrastinator! (We agreed a long time ago that our retreat to Galena would be in lieu of gifts.)

Raj pulled into the driveway seconds after I dropped the kids off next door. He was confused why I didn't go back to get them when I saw him drive up! Hehehe! I said hello and told him to get changed because we were going out! His look of shock (and relief) was priceless!

Bien Trucha was amazing. The menu is deceiving because it's mostly tacos. What's so special about tacos (other than the yummy drinks that often go with them)? These. Are. The. Fanciest. Tastiest. Tacos. Ever! (The drinks were pretty awesome too.) Now we understand why it's hard to get a reservation and why they have lines outside on the weekends! Yum.

The kids had a great time with the neighbors, too.

 

And the best part of the night: both kids were asleep when we got home. Melissa was laying next to both of them in Shawn's bed, just like I do - Shannon

To top it all, both kids slept. All. Night. Long. I think this might have been a first! (But I'm too sleep deprived to be sure! Ha!)

A happy anniversary indeed!

Rainy day off

It was a rainy day off in honor of Christopher Columbus. Too bad the weather didn't cooperate with the day off of school, but we had plans for the afternoon.

About a month ago, Shawn declared our costume assignments for Halloween. He would be S'mores, Lilly a hot dog, and Raj and I would be campers/boy & girl scouts/ a camp fire... Something along those lines. Amazingly, there was a hot dog costume at the Mothers & More resale and one of the members, who overheard me talking about Shawn's plan, gave me a Frosty the Snowman costume that she made out of a giant stuffed teddy bear. "It's perfect for his marshmallow!" she suggested. She was right.

While Lilly napped, I used pieces of Ikea boxes from Shawn's new desk and made the rest of the S'mores costume. I also needed to cut feet holes in Lilly's sleeping bag style hot dog costume, because, while she could fit inside, it was made for a non-mobile infant. I finished just in time to go to a Trick-or-Treating Nana's Playgroup with Mothers & More. Lots of fun. The senior residents gathered in the lobby and the kids trick-or-treated from walker to wheelchair to cozy couch seats. There was a nice crowd of very sweet grandmas & grandpas with too much candy! The kids also decorated foam pumpkin cutouts with stickers and handed them out to the residents. I'm really glad Shawn had the day off & could come along. (These events are often during the school day.)

Shawn and I agreed that he could go to karate a different day this week so we didn't have to rush around between activities. In the evening, he had his first meeting for Primrose Farm CloverBuds, the precursor to 4-H. Instead of meeting at Primrose Farm though, they opt to meet at Hickory Knolls Nature Center because it's more accommodating to inclement weather - that worked well today! They did some exploring inside the center while parents filled out paperwork. Tonight's main activity was just to get introduced to the pledges (US & 4-H) and to meet each other. The kids sat at a square of tables while parents sat in a row of chairs off to the side. (It's been made clear that this is not a drop off club, but I think it should/could easily be.) The kids made name tags with a picture of favorite thing on back. Introduced themselves & shared their pictures. Lots of pets, games, toys, rainbows... Shawn shared his picture: "Spending time with my mom." I melted. He just grinned at me, knowing exactly what he had done to me. That kid. Geesh!

This is the nametag that Shawn made with the picture of his favorite thing on the back. (It says, "Me and my mom.")

Playdate for Lilly and field trip for Shawn

Lilly had a playdate with Bill, Shelley, and Abby today. They played at a park and wore her out so much that she was falling asleep in the wagon on their way home! She ended up taking an hour and a half (or so) nap... with Bill... LOL
While Lilly was busy, I accompanied Shawn on the first kindergarten field trip. We went to Norton Farm, a local farm that's only a couple miles away from school.  The kids learned about gourds, corn, and pumpkins. We went through an easy version of a corn maze and bawked at some chickens.  The students each got to select a mini ear of decorative corn, mini gourd, and a mini pumpkin. Once they use them in class tomorrow for some activities, they'll be able to bring them home to keep. The popular favorite at the farm was the play area, in which the kids ran loose for a few minutes in lieu of recess. While we waited for the bus to eventually retrieve us, Ms. Johnsen led her class in singing "Tony Chestnut" and "Wheels on the Bus." (They added some very creative verses: the teenagers on the bus keep te-e-xting...)

Kindergarten Alphabet book pages

Gymnast not; head knot (and some karate)

Lilly fell off the bathroom step stool this morning & got a black & blue knot on her forehead. (She's been climbing onto lots things lately and this morning she tested out some dance moves when she got to the top of the step stool. That didn't work too well for her.)  I gave her a soft ice pack to help the swelling and to distract her (she loves holding ice packs).  When she started playing peek-a-boo through the ice pack, I took it as a clear sign that she was okay. A few hours later, most of the swelling was gone, but she does still have a light bruise on her forehead. Poor baby!

It's amazing to see the difference in how her body responds to injuries versus Shawn's dermatagraphia hyper-sensitivity response. He would've had a huge goose-egg protruding from his forehead had he fallen the same way. Yet after the initial welt formed, he probably would've recovered much like her with hardly anything noticable this evening.

Once Lilly's tears were wiped away and her icepack was luke warm, we went to a meeting at Ferson Creek for AVIC (Art Volunteers In the Classroom).  Once a month, parent volunteers come into each classroom for an hour art lesson - separate from the weekly art class in the art room. While parents lead the class with a presentation, a project, and perhaps books and other activities as needed, the classroom teachers meet for grade level collaboration and mini-professional development opportunities. Since there legally has to be a teacher present, not just an adult, a substitute floats between the classrooms to assist and supervise. The AVIC coordinator provides volunteers with a packet that includes research about the featured artist / piece of art and suggested projects. We're also supposed to bring a corresponding picture that's hanging somewhere in the school's hallways into the class as part of the demonstration. I'm signed up with a partner (who I don't know yet) to be Ms. Johnsen's AVIC volunteers. We'll probably take turns being the lead / assistant for the activities. One of our neighbors signed up for her sons' classes, so we're going to swap babysitting for the younger siblings. I'm excited to see what these lessons are like! (And to be in a teaching position without some of the painstaking parts about being a teacher!)

Shawn tested for his first stripe for his purple belt today!

They are also practicing for the next tournament on November 8. They did a lot of work on the round kick - it's a pretty tricky move that I think would knock me off balance! Shawn still has a lot of work to do before the tournament, but it's impressive what a difference a few weeks makes.