School has ended!

School ended on Monday. Xander's first full year has now come and gone. My mother warns me that each year will go faster as he goes through school. I hope not. This one was fast enough!

Unfortunately, Xander has been in a funk for about two weeks. He has sensory issues (touch and sound), so often his funks manifest through these issues. We've had problems with shoes, socks, and pants lately. And then the television being too loud (though he cannot hear it when it is turned down some and is frustrated either way).

I wonder if it is a combination of all that has happened in the past few weeks: my parents have come and gone (and it is always a bit of a circus while they are here, so there were visits with family members, trips to the market, and lots of other things to do), two birthdays (and his big birthday party), the death of our cat, and now the end of school. It's a lot for a person who is just 5 to process.

I've decided to let it be for now. It took a few days of really awful confrontations, fits, and lots of crying on both ends to get here. But he needs some time to process. So I am offering opportunities to be outside, to run errands, and to play. But also leaving him to watch television and zone out for a couple of days too. Until he gets some footing back.

My friend Lisa took photos of her kids on the first and last days of school. I had taken some on the first day, but my last day photos were iffy, because of "the shoe issue".

They do something called gradual entry at our school. This one was taken on Xander's first day going to meet his teacher. (Notice that Liam is the grumpy one in this photo...if it isn't one, it's the other!).

This is his actual first full day of school:
Walking to school with Daddy.
At school...
Entering the Kindergarten area. (That's his teacher holding his hand.)



And this is his last day of school.
(Told you he was grumpy. And yes, this is all I could get. LOL)

Chocolate

One Pixel at a Time...One Vote Counts

I have a friend who is involved in something called the Pixel Project. She's a fellow writer and a big advocate against violence, especially violence against women and families. So when she sent me an email about how I could help her out on this project, I thought about my blog readers. All it takes you is a moment to read and a moment to follow the link and vote.

Here is the information she sent me:

I am involved with the Pixel Project, a global initiative to raise awareness and funds to end violence against women. (Funds go to two registered non-profits.) The entire campaign is being done online and the fundraising is being done through a mystery picture of male celebrities from around the world. The picture will be divided into 1 million pixels, with each pixel being sold for USD$1 each.

We have 2 men committed (a Nobel Prize winner and a Pulitzer Prize winner) but we want to attract a globally known actor. To that end, we are running a Voters’ Choice campaign. The idea is for people vote for their favourite from among 5 nominees and sign a petition that will be sent to the winning actor to ask him to participate.

We are trying to reach 20,000 votes and we’re only at about 4,000. If you are interested, you can vote at http://bit.ly/PixelVote. Feel free to pass this message along to anyone else who might be want to get involved. The men have been selected because they have no history of violence, are globally recognized and have a good record of charitable work. Their bios are here. http://www.thepixelproject.net/community-buzz/voters-choice-celebrity-male-role-model/and-the-nominees-are/

So go...vote. Make a difference!

Coming to 5

Xander's birthday is coming up soon. He's going to be 5 and we hear about it all the time. Apparently in his head 5 is a big thing. I can't blame him, since he will be able to put his whole hand up to tell a person his age now.

The other day I said he couldn't do something, because he was too little. Well, you should have witnessed the sheer attitude I got in return.

"Mommy, I am NOT too little. I'm going to be FIVE soon you know."

:sigh:

Yes, my son, I am incredibly aware of it. Proud, happy, and sad at the same time about it.

As these last few days of this little boy being 4 remain, I find myself walking both in the here and now, and in those last few days before his birth. Remembering how big I was and the things I was doing. How we prepared for this tiny human. And how it was both too much and not enough preparation.

Wasn't that just last week? How did 5 get to be upon us so fast? (And please, no one tell me that Liam will be there in a blink of an eye too.) Makes me wonder if my mother feels this way about my brother and I still.

Out of the Mouths of Babes and Wine Bottles

Yesterday I was trying to hurry Xander along. He's either extremely fast at doing things or he dawdles until I am sure that Mother Theresa would be annoyed. So I told him to go faster. And he turns to me and says, "Mom, can I just go and my own personal pace please?"

It made me laugh. The belly laugh kind. How do you not laugh at something like that out of a 5 year old's mouth.

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Now, since yesterday's post, I've had a few comments (in person, on the blog, and on other sites) about the wine bottles behind me.

Although yesterday was a day where I felt like a bottle or two of wine may have helped, I assure you that none of these bottles were consumed at that time. In fact, the newest of these 5 bottles is over 10 years old.

Check them out!

The two on the left are from our wedding wine.

The Late Harvest in the middle is the first nice bottle of wine we bought and drank together.

And the two on the right are from the university Ray went to.
(The Late Harvest and the two university bottles have been candle holders in the past.)

Kind of cool.
I've been trying to figure out what to do with them. We used to have a huge entertainment unit and they were in there, but that went out about 6 weeks ago and I haven't figured out what to do with the bits and pieces since then.

What working from home with small children looks like...

Ever wondered how moms who work from home do it? It's not elegant, let me tell you. I don't wake up and put on nice clothes and have lunches out.

And sometimes you get little gems like this:


For the record, the "tickle trunk" is about 3 feet from my desk and we have 2 fire helmets in there. Liam put one on him, one on me, and wandered away. I forgot it was there and Ray walked in to find me working and still wearing the helmet. Go figure. I'd completely forgotten it was there.