I am Michelle D. Carter

Last night was Meet Your Teacher night at school. Alyssa, Alex and Andy were so excited. In addition to meeting your teacher; you can order school apparel, sign up for PTA, volunteer for various committees and bring your school supplies. We ordered our supplies through school. The plus side is I didn’t have to run around Target with the list and make sure I got everything nor did I have to carry them to school. The down side is they order EVERYTHING you need. So, if you have something left over from prior years (like a pencil box), now you have “extras.” And, with everything already at school, you need to label them that evening. Luckily I had remembered and printed several labels for Alyssa. The boys’ items didn’t need labeled as they would be sharing everything.

Each teacher had a list of items they would like to have for the classroom. If you wanted to pick something to bring, you could. We had gone to Andy’s room first. He picked an item. Next was Alex’s room. You better believe we weren’t leaving that room until Alex had picked his item. With the open house format, it can get kind of crazy. I had already forgotten about picking something, but Alex did not. He kept reminding me. I asked the teacher where her list was, it was in the hall. I turned to tell Alex only to have him say, “Mom, you don’t have to tell me, I heard her, it’s out in the hall.”

Alex has an incredible memory. In March, we had gone to school to start the enrollment process. The boys got to spend some time in the classroom. While there, they made frog hats. Alex had asked about his frog hat. It was a good thing Tim had saved them. He pulled them out of a file and Alex was thrilled to see his work. I won’t be able to put anything past him.

This morning Alex comes running into my bathroom, “Mom, will you help me pick out my clothes for school?”

“Awe, sweetie, school doesn’t start today.”

There was a big sigh of disappointment. We went down to the calendar where we are tracking the days. Four more days until school… and counting!

I was feeling a bit guilty about not taking the kids to do some of the things we had planned to do over the summer. So, yesterday we had lunch with Daddy, did tons of art work at Kaleidoscope and ran through the fountains at Crown Center.

It helps that they are all located close together. Tim works about a block away from Crown Center. He walked over to have lunch with us. Tim then took the kids to Moneyville while I went to get tickets for Kaleidoscope. Moneyville is an exhibit located at Crown Center that teaches kids about money. It’s really pretty cool. You can print your own money with your picture on it, play the stock market, run a lemonade stand, learn the importance of saving early and some of the things the government has put in place to prevent counterfeiting. My little sweethearts thought that they were REALLY making money. Alex kept going through the line to print more and more money. He told me everything he was going to buy. So cute!

Tim headed back to work and we went on to Kaleidoscope. Sponsored by Hallmark, kids use their imagination to make art with paper, ribbon, melted crayons and tons of stuff. The kids made puzzles, crowns and glasses. Although I’m a bit concerned, Alex took the glasses and used them as handcuffs behind his back. That position seemed a little too natural for him.

Each session is 40 minutes. We didn’t get to do everything that we wanted. Luckily for us, the second session still had spots available so we were able to go back in and complete our projects. The kids had a blast! They are still asking this morning when we can go back.

I actually remembered to take their swimsuits to run through the fountains. They love running through the water. Usually it’s extremely hot and the ice cold water feels great. However, with it only being 85 degrees, spending all day in the freezing water wasn’t as much fun. They did have a great time though!!

They were all well behaved and had fun! It was an awesome day!!

You may or may not know that I lost my job at the end of December, 2007. It was the week right before Christmas. Anyway, I applied for a ton of jobs but nothing prevailed. So, we decided to take the boys out of daycare. I could be home with them while looking for a job. While this sounds like an almost ideal situation, the uncertainty is difficult. After all, I continued to apply for a lot of positions and wasn’t getting any nibbles and a seven month gap in employment certainly doesn’t make me more marketable.

A couple weeks ago I had an interview with a medical equipment company that went well. I spoke with the hiring manager earlier this week. She was friendly and said she would know more by Friday. I took this as a good sign. I haven’t been written completely off.

Yesterday I had an interview with a diabetic supply company. I GOT THE POSITION! The down side, it is commission only. As with any commission only position, not having a stable income to help cover your expenses could cause more problems than what it is worth.

So, I get a call from another company this morning for a phone interview next week. How cool is that?!! I’m not as worthless as I thought I was!

Wish me luck. I’ll let you know what happens!!

I can’t believe that school starts in just one week. Today we will find out which teachers the kids will have this year.

I am SO disappointed; I found out a couple weeks ago that one of the Kindergarten teachers announced that she’ll be taking different position in the school district. Alyssa had her and I was looking forward to one of the boys being in her class. We are putting the boys in separate classrooms so I knew one of them would have her. She is an awesome teacher.

Yesterday I sat down to see what I planned to do with the kids this summer and what we’ve accomplished. Besides frequenting the pool, I thought we’d have lunch with Daddy, visit Crown Center, meet Grandma and Grandpa in Omaha and go to the zoo. The only accomplishment was the pool.

We spent yesterday afternoon at Summit Waves. It’s the city’s pool. Tim bought season passes, so we need to get all that we can in. Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks that way, I saw several people that I know there doing the same thing.

I’m also trying to get the kids back into a regular bedtime routine so they get plenty of rest. Alyssa is definitely the one I will need to work on the most. She didn’t crawl out of bed until 10:30 yesterday. This morning the boys woke her up around 7:45. She came downstairs complaining. I told her she needed to be up anyway. “But Mom, I still have a few more days.”

So the anticipation of school leaves me with mixed emotions. I’m ready for them to be in school, yet it brings an end to the fun we’ve had this summer. I’m anxious about my Kindergarteners, especially Alex. I can’t go to the bathroom without him wondering where I went. I’m sure he’ll do fine (I hope!).

And so, another chapter in our lives is coming to an end. It is bitter sweet.

I’m back! Tim had a conference in Minneapolis last week so we tagged along for a mini-vacation. We left after swim lessons on Thursday which put us at our destination around 7:00 pm. The kids did GREAT! Of course, there was a lot of “are we there yet?” But with the TV in the van and their DS’, they kept themselves pretty well entertained.

We spent ALL DAY Friday at the Mall of America, Nickelodeon Universe. Literally, ALL DAY, we arrived around 8:30 am and didn’t leave the Mall until 10:00 pm. Nickelodeon Universe is the theme park smack dab in the middle of the Mall.

I learned that I need to ease the boys into the rides. The first ride, they cried. The second ride, they cried. The third ride took a lot of convincing they would be OK, some tears, and then finally, “I like this one.” I had to drag Andy kicking and screaming on the Orange Streak, a roller coaster the snakes it’s way around other rides. In fact, the first time we went on it, he wouldn’t go. By the end of the day, I had to drag him kicking and screaming OFF of it. However, whoever he sat by, he needed to be able to have a death grip on their shirt while laughing the whole way. We rode it five times in the last half hour. Alex overcame his fear a lot quicker. Once I said, “This ride is just like the baby ride you just went on,” he said he would give it a try. He even went on the Splat-O-Sphere with his sister.

Of course, the trip wasn’t complete until we saw Sponge Bob and Patrick. They were so excited to see them. Before we left for our trip, I told them were going to see Sponge Bob. Alex asked, “Really, Mom? Are we going underwater?” You are one smart cookie to know that Sponge Bob lives in a pineapple under the sea!

The plan was to spend Saturday at Underwater Adventures, an underwater aquarium at the Mall of America. However, the kids wanted to ride more rides. So, we let them pick a few rides to go on, and then we were on our way.

We stopped at the Medford Outlet Mall and did a little back to school shopping. All three of them got new winter pajamas that they all had to wear last night to bed. It’s only the hottest part of the summer and they are wearing flannel.

Around 8:00 pm, we are finally on our way home. The kids did great on the way home too! Alex was the first one to fall asleep. Andy’s not one to sleep in the car. He stayed awake most of the way home. He stated, “I need to go potty. Can we stop where there is some light? I can’t go pee in the dark.” Tim and I couldn’t help but laugh. Alyssa was awake the entire trip home. According to her, we arrived home at 2:17 am. It was good to be home and in my own bed.

It was a good trip! Alyssa said we needed to do that more often. I agree! It was a lot of fun and we SHOULD do it more often!!

Get ready, get set. 13 more days and school starts. Today we picked up our school shirts. Each year the students get T-shirts to wear on the first day of school and field trips. Don’t they look cute all lined up and ready to go.

I am taking Thursday and Friday off. I’ll be back to blogging on Monday.

Believe it or not, but the pool is growing old. I’m tired of dragging everything up there to sweat in the hot sun. When I get in the pool, the kids want me to throw them or play tag. Generally by that time the sun has zapped my energy.

Alyssa appears to be tiring of it as well. She knows if she complains about her ears hurting, we won’t go. The boys are still very eager to spend the day attempting to grow gills. Knowing this, I knew whatever we decided to do; it would have to be BIG for the boys to change their mind about going to the pool.

Alyssa has been begging to go to Paradise Park. “Please Mom, let’s do something different. My ears hurt so can we go to Paradise Park?”

“Well, we will have to talk to the boys. They have their heart set on going to the pool.”

“Boys, want to go to Paradise Park?” Alyssa asks.

“We want to go to the pool.”

“Hey boys, do you want to play with the balls at Paradise Park?” I know that they LOVE playing in the Foam Factory. They like to gather up the balls and shoot them at other people. What boy wouldn’t enjoy that?

I knew how to convince them.

Upon arriving at Paradise Park, the piercing screams of joy burst ear drums in a four block radius. Alex is so excited he’s jumping up and down shouting, “I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it.”

Apparently it was a good decision. The best part… I didn’t sweat. No strong body odor today.

After almost 11 years of marriage, Tim didn’t know. I had told him but he never really knew until he got to see it…

While growing up I was a great swimmer and a pretty damn good diver. I lived in the water as a kid. My children definitely get this from me. I always had my lessons in the morning. I hurried through my chores so I could be back up at the pool when it opened. Sometimes I would even go back after dinner.

I wasn’t a life guard. Sitting around watching kids would interfere with my swimming and diving. I “competed” with the other kids. We would see who could “out do” each other with stunts off the diving boards. There was only one other guy would could “out do” me. He could do a gainer (while jumping forward off the diving board, you do a back flip in the air), I couldn’t. I did jack-knife dives, flips, one and a halves, back dives and back flips. While he could do more stunts, my form was much better.

A couple of days ago we took the kids to the new pool in Lee’s Summit. The kids wanted to impress Daddy with their diving skills (yep, I taught all three to dive off the board). I decided I might as well enjoy it too. The dive was perfect, just like my younger days. Tim was in awe. He had never seen me dive before. I still got it, I thought. However, a dive was the only thing I attempted. At my age, trying to re-live my younger days would have probably landed me in the hospital. I know my limitations.

By the way, for those of you who thought I was going to spill some big secret, shame on you. Tim is not only my husband, but also my best friend. I share everything with him. We love and RESPECT one another. He makes me stronger!

18 days until school starts. Actually, 17 days and 23 hours to go. Not that I’m counting or anything. About a month ago I received my weekly (it certainly seems like I get them that often) Land’s End catalog. They’ve got great products that seem to last forever, an excellent return policy; however, their prices aren’t always the lowest. I guess it’s a matter of you get what you pay for.

The boys needed lunch boxes for their first year of school. Alyssa needed to replace her’s because it is too small. I found the perfect lunch boxes in the catalog and let them pick their own color. When they arrived, Alex was so excited he filled his with pencils and a flashlight. He said, “Mom, I left room for my lunch.”

So this morning, I received an e-mail from Land’s End. I’m not exaggerating when I say I get them weekly. Not only could I have got them without giving the state money, is it Missouri’s tax free weekend, but they’re now on sale, $5 off. That’s $15 plus tax I could have spent on me! That’s just my luck!