Adventures of Buzzy the Bear

My daughter's preschool class has a bear that travels home with each of the students throughout the year. The adventures are recorded in a notebook that travels with Buzzy and the stories get shared with the students during circle time. My son was in this class last year and it seemed every time Buzzy visited us we had absolutely nothing going on. Well, things have changed a bit in a year.

The night Buzzy was with us recently Grandma was visiting from out of town so "the girls" went to lunch and did some shopping before going to the boy's school. We also had to pick up some bakery items to take to the school for a Fall Celebration later that night. It was at the store that we realized Buzzy was missing! We proceeded on to the boy's school, introduced Grandma to his teachers and saw some of the things he had been working on recently.

The entire time I'm panicked about this stuffed bear. What if someone took it? What if we left it somewhere? We would be responsible for ruining a tradition this preschool class has had for years and years!

After leaving the school we backtracked and at our third stop, we found him. We was sitting on the floor of a bookstore surrounded by books!

Needless to say I was very relieved. If this is what it takes for Buzzy to have a grand adventure, I'm not sure I am interested!

Speedy Gonzales

Four months. That is how long it took "us" to stain the kids swing set and replace the tarp that was ripped. And, we still need to replace the carpet we ripped up from the play area at the top of the slide.

Home improvement is not our strong suit!

(This is the before shot)

Reflections

In our bedroom we have framed in a series the 3, 6, 9 and 12 month photos of our two children. I look back at pictures of my babies and wonder where they went. They are only 4 and 6 years old. I am so afraid I'm going to wake up one day and they will be in College. I want to remember that they still want to sit on my lap. That they still want to play with me.

They have gotten to be so independant. They play together fairly nicely, I sometimes have to intervene but it is like having a built-in playmate at this point. They love each other but also know how to push the other's buttons.

I find that I don't really have to interact with them anymore. Interact is a harsh word, I'm always there, I am always responding to their questions, oohing and ahhing over their ideas/songs/pictures. But, I can work on the computer, look through a magazine, read a book and let them play together without getting involved. Of course, as soon as I pick up the phone or start to fix dinner, all bets are off.

I really want to start focusing on the moment. Enjoying the right here and now. I have a hard time with that. I am always looking ahead. Sunday, we were all outside enjoying a beautiful day. The girl was on my lap and the boy was on the hubsters. We were all sitting on the grass throwing a ball back and forth. And, I kept thinking of all the things I needed to do....laundry, cleaning, getting papers ready for school the next day. I mentally had to tell myself to relax, enjoy, soak it in!

It is something I think I will constantly be working on.

Nine Lives

We have lived in our neighborhood for about a year now and although I know several of our neighbors I have not yet crossed into the "just called up to say hello" stage. So, I was fairly surprised when one of my neighbors whom I've only met a couple of times stopped by my house the other day as I was unloading groceries. I had been out all morning and just brought my daughter home from preschool when she pulled up. She wanted to know if we had a cat, which we do. She asked me if he was light brown, which he is. Then she asked me to come to her car.

I knew right away something was wrong.

Apparently a cat had been hit by a car and was on the road just a few houses down from our house. Hating to see it lay on the side of the road, my neighbor placed it in a garbage bag in the trunk of her car. What little I was able to see of the cat made me think it was our cat. Now, our cat is not an outdoor cat and he's a pretty big cat. So, the few times he has tried to sneak outside he is easily caught. I just couldn't figure out how he could have gotten outside and gotten his collar off.

Although I was trying to shield her from the site, my daughter caught wind of what was going on and started crying. I was trying to hold it together so my neighbor wouldn't think me a complete freak as well as comfort my daughter. We went inside to call my husband and who was sitting in his favorite chair? Our cat! All I could do was laugh. My daughter, with tears streaming down her face joined me!

What a whirlwind of emotions in such a short time. My neighbor probably thinks I'm nuts!

On your mark, get set, go!

Well, I am doing it. I am jumping on the Blog bandwagon and starting one of my own. For two reasons. I have always enjoyed writing. And, as a mom to two crazy kids, I felt it was time I started documenting some of the crazy. So, here we go. I am not sure what I am getting myself into. This site will probably change numerous times as I try to get a handle on what, exactly, it is that I am doing.