Trunk or Treat

We went to a trunk or treat tonight and the kids posed in the back yard for me before leaving. I don't know if I will get another chance at doing the picture thing tomorrow so here they are......the Metcalf Kids for Halloween 2008:

Tid Bits

I feel like I am on a merry go round that keeps picking up speed. I have been so busy but when I come here to blog and share it all, I have a hard time remembering what has been going on. Ha.
I have been starting to go to the gym regularly. Tim has been doing some type of pre-training for Iraq so he has been going in late every morning. So he and I have been going to the gym together. I told him before going that he had to be nice to me. He enjoys making his soldiers work so hard at PT that they puke. He loves watching Biggest Loser because he likes how mean and tough Jillian is. He has been very nice to me…..no Jillian like behavior. He told me he just can’t be that way with me since I am his wife. Very sweet.
The kids are all jazzed up for Halloween. Connor plans of being the Punisher…..he wants me to go out and buy him more guns though. Gavin got a hoodie and gloves that are a skeleton costume. After talking to his friend, he doesn’t think it is cool enough and wants another costume or some type of wicked weapon to wield (say that 10 times fast). And Laurel was going to be a purple bat, but when we went to the store and saw all of the sparkly princess dresses, she was hooked. She is going to be Snow White. She insisted that she needed red lipstick for the costume so after some thought I gave in. I mean, what fun is Halloween if you can’t use a little makeup as a little girl. We are going to be going to a Trunk or Treat for my friends ward tonight so hopefully I will has pictures to post of them soon. Connor is bummed out cause I won’t let him go out to trick or treat this year. Am I being too mean? But he can do the trunk or treat so I am sure he will get over it.
I swear that Laurel lives in a musical. It makes me laugh cause Tim hates it when I make him watch them…..he says that it isn’t realistic that people will break into song for no reason. Now his own daughter is doing it all the time. What a hoot. She sings even where there isn’t anyone around for an audience. And they are necessarily songs that are known. She makes them up as she goes a long….sings about her day or what she is doing or what she wants to do….whatever strikes her current mood. I wish that I had a way to capture some of it on tape.
I had an IEP meeting about a week ago for Connor. He is struggling pretty bad at his new school. I think it is due to it being a different environment and trying to readapt to a new place….there is always a time of adjustment. I also think that they aren’t giving him all the services that he may need. And I took him off his meds before we moved here. The school wants to move him to another school entirely and put him into a program that would keep him in the same classroom except when he has to go to his 2 elective classes. I am not happy about that choice. Part of me, thinks that it is a good idea. Who wants their child to struggle? I find myself second guessing sometimes about how I may have an unrealistic expectation for what Connor should be able to do, but then I talk to him and realize that I am not too far off of what he can do. My big fear is that I put him in this program and then he is forever stuck and won’t be allowed to progress out of it ever again. I want him to reach higher, not remain in a comfort zone. I have come to the conclusion that part of his struggles are also from his laziness (for lack of a better word). He has been able to get away with people carrying him through for so long that he expects it now. He knows that if he says he can’t enough some adult at school will step in and “save” him. I feel like my time is running out…..he only has 5 more years of school (although I know that technically, he can stay in longer. I am hoping that he doesn’t need to.). Anyhow, I decided to put him back on his meds and ask for an aide in the classes that he struggles in the most. I want them to really exhaust their efforts before I put him into this other program. It would just feel too much like taking 2 steps back and then freezing in place. I know that they are going to be difficult when I go back with this plan….they already act like it is all said and done and he will be going to the program that they want because they don’t want to put forth the effort. I try hard not to be frustrated and to believe that Heavenly Father has a plan for Connor and me to make this work. But there are times…..in the darkest parts of the night……that I feel like a failure.
Gavin is still Bakugan crazy. He mopes a lot because he wishes that he made money to buy them all the time. If there are any good suggestions on how to do that out there, I am all ears. After hearing him grumble about how I NEVER buy him anything, I sat him down and gave him and economics lesson. I showed him how much we make and where all it goes. It was an eye opener for him, I think. He didn’t realize how much it costs to “live life”. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop the grumbling. He has become a wheeler dealer though. He took the Bakugan that he already owns and has sold them for some major profit to be able to buy more. I am impressed that he can find kids with the disposable income to do it and then gets them to do it. I was never that resourceful as a kid.
Lastly, my niece, Elisa, is getting married in February. She asked me if I would be her photographer. I was blown away. I was so flattered and honored that she would entrust that task to me. I am shaking a little in my boots about the prospect. It isn’t something that you can “do over” if it somehow gets messed up. But I think that I am up for the challenge. It made my mom cry to hear about it. My dad has been the one who has taken so many wedding pictures for family. But he has gotten to the point in his Alzheimer’s that he isn’t capable or interested in doing what used to be a passion of his. So, in essence, I am carrying on that torch. I hope I can fill his foot steps adequately.
Well, I need to be getting back to housework. So not into doing that lately, but it is the never ending task……

Field trip and Bakugan

I love Autumn time. I love to see the leaves change color. The colors that appear at this time of year are some of my favorites. I miss being able to see it all happen. In Texas, all we really get to see is the grass turn yellow. But this week Laurel's preschool class got invited to go to a pumpkin patch. I was so excited. It has always been one of my favorite activities to go do with my kids. Going to a farm, picking out a pumpkin, maybe doing a hayride or walking through a corn maze.....those are the makings of some fun memories and some great pictures. So when Friday rolled around I was primed to go. We headed off to the pumpkin patch and after driving for about 15 minutes we were at "the place". It was a lawn in front of a church building right off of a very busy street. They had bought a boat load of pumpkins from an Indian tribe trying to make ends meet(that part I think is really cool). The pumpkins were spread around the huge grass lawn on wood pallets and there were stations set up around the perimeter. The preschool classes broke into groups and they got to go on a "hayride".....it was a hayride for the most part except that it just went in circle around a shrubby field(not much to look at). Then we went to the next station where they stood in a circle and sang Halloween songs. After that there was the "color a picture of a pumpkin" station, then the face painting station(everyone got painted on their hands)and then they went to a station where they got to paint a tiny pumpkin.

The last place they went to was the "read a Halloween book" station and then they were rushed back to the buses. The kids had a fun time, but I was sad. I know that I shouldn't care cause Laurel never knew the difference, but I was really sad that there was no picking out a "special pumpkin" or even getting close the the big pumpkins at all. The closest she got was the teeny thing she painted. I had been putting off buying any from the stores cause I thought this would be the place to get hers.....oh well. Like I said, she liked it so I will not complain anymore. I do miss real pumpkin patches though.....
Not much else going on in the Metcalf home except the constant chatter that I hear from Gavin about Bakugan. For those of you who don't have kids old enough to know what this is.....thank your lucky stars. LOL. It is basically another form of Pokemon, in a very loose sense. You buy these balls that open into things that battle each other and there are cards involved.
Going to Walmart turns into a production....they run right to that place in the toys. Sadly since they are so popular here, there are hardly ever any of those toys on the shelves. Gavin once asked me to visit ALL the Walmarts in the area(only 3 of them around here.....thank goodness). He finally found a KB toys that has quite a few of them. Now I am just hounded by him to to chores around the house to make money to buy them. I guess it could be worse. He could have some habit that cost him a ton of money to support. I will be thankful for that for just a bit longer.

It's been a good and busy week. I am still sniffling and sneezing my way through it and I am tired of being snotty, but it's been pretty productive....mostly.
We had parent teacher conferences on Thursday. I wasn't told anything I didn't already anticipate. Connor is doing well in his resource classes, but pretty much failing his regular ones except for Science(cause he likes the labs and that saves his grade.) He has been getting frustrated with his locker, but has otherwise been doing well. I am STILL waiting for my IEP meeting to come about or as they called them here ARD meetings. Just have to be different, don't you TX? Anyhow....Gavin is doing awesome in his class and is getting a straight A.....his teacher went so far as to say that he is the most intelligent in her class. Wow. I never thought I would hear that about one of my kids. So pat on the back to Gavin and on my own back too since the genes must have come from somewhere. Ha. Laurel is doing great too in Pre-K. She LOVES her teacher and her teacher loves her back. I can tell it is a good fit. Laurel frequently comes home with "star of the day" pinned to her chest. I used to question whether it was a favorites thing or not, but after talking to the teacher, I found that it is just Laurel working really hard to please her teacher and in the end gets that reward. Basically you get a star for certain good behaviors and Laurel is competitive enough that she wants that star so she works to make sure she has the most stars on the board at the end of the day. What a hoot.
Tim went TDY to Fort Irwin this weekend so it has been pretty quiet. I look at it as a practice run to get us ready for him going to Iraq in January. The kids were really good and helped me to clean up around here and we even found the time to completely reorganize and "spring clean" in all of their rooms. I weeded out old and broken toys. Never got to my own room though. Ha.
Laurel got a chance to go to Chuckie Cheese on Saturday. My kids love that place. I call it a mother's migraine inducer, I'm gonna beat you if you don't get to the car cause I want to leave now not in 2 more minutes, money waster, I can't stand the stupid ticket prizes....place. That' a mouthful, I know. They all have a good time and I guess in the end, that is what matters. I got a funny sketch picture out of it so it wasn't all bad on my end. I am just glad that I only have to endure that every other year or so. Ha.

I love how Laurel looks drugged or sleepy, Connor looks like he is being choked by Gavin, and Gavin's glasses are crooked. All in all, a good representation of a day at Chuckie Cheese!

Skewed view

Okay, it is a sad commentary when perceptions have become this skewed. Driving past the gas station on the way to drop Connor at school, I thought "wow, gas is cheap right now". It has come down to $3.02 here in TX. I say this is sad because a couple of years ago, we would have been outraged about gas being over $2.00. Strange.

Doped Up

So, I haven't posted for a bit. Partly because not much news worthy was going on and party due to illness. Laurel came down with a cold. But she refused to stay at home and get better. She even woke me early Saturday morning just as the sun was thinking of rising to wail in my ear that she missed school. After explaining to her that there was no school on Sat., she proceeded to cry and tell me that she wanted to go anyway. She cried again on Sunday. I hope she keeps her enthusiasm for school intact.....check back in around 4Th grade and ask me if she has. In the meantime, I caught her cold too. I hate being sick and colds are the worse. They linger forever and seem to sap you of your strength. And of course being mom, you really aren't allowed to give in to being sick all the way. I don't do cold meds very well, either. So I have been a little loopy lately. In the meantime, my housework has piled high. My love seat has laundry overflowing like an avalanche ready to roll. At least I had the energy to wash it all. Now I just had to excite everyone into having a laundry party and get it all folded and put away.

Other than that, the kids are getting excited about dressing up for Halloween. Connor wants to be the Punisher. I am thanking my lucky stars cause it will be an easy and cheap costume. He already has the T-shirt so all he will need to do now is wear some black pants. Gavin was thinking of being a viking or knight, something with a cool sword to smite his brother with, but is now undecided. And Laurel was dead set on being a purple bat. I don't know where she came up with that, but that is all she talked about after dressing up for Halloween last year. So I was all ready to figure out how to sew a cute purple bat costume. Then we went to Walmart and walked past all the costumes and she saw all the sparkly princess dresses. She is now going to be Snow White. She couldn't resist all the sparkle and girliness of it all. Ha. She will make a very cute Snow White too. I was Snow White as a little girl so she is just taking after mommy.

Can We Cuddle?

Laurel wasn't feeling very well the other day and was getting kind of sad and grumpy. For those of you with kids, I am sure you can relate. Because she was feeling grumpy, she was being impatient and I was being short with her. All of a sudden, she asks me," Can't we just sit down and cuddle for a minute?" Of course I did it. I love when my kids give me a chance to have a quiet moment to just sit and hug on them. Those times are coming less and less and most times I have to force them into it with bribes. But I have noticed that even with Connor and Gavin,when they are having a bad day or coping an attitude with me, if I just stop and ask them to hug me, they tend to perk up and act better instantly. It also helps me to figure out what is really wrong sometimes. It's hard to remember that in the heat of the moment, but it does work. As I held onto Laurel and laid my cheek against her hair, I realized that there are still days that I wish that I was little enough to curl up into my own mother's lap and just cuddle with her.....to pretend that all the "bad stuff" would disappear. So, I will enjoy my moments of cuddling my kids for as long as they will let me.