In the Home Stretch

We register my husband for his last semester of school the first of next month. He should graduate in December with his degree in Mechanical Engineering. He is so close to being done I can taste it. I am so proud of him. It has been a long couple of years. When my younger son turned 3 a few months ago we were both saying that it seemed like he had been 2 forever. This semester has been nice because he has been around more often at home than he has in a long time. He leaves at a reasonable time in the morning and is usually home for dinner or at least before the boys are in bed. I wish we could carpool more often but it hasn't happened much.
There is a 7 week break between Spring and Fall Semester. He wants to do an internship at the company he worked for before he went back to school during that time and the internship will roll over into Fall Semester and should qualify for one of his classes.
We aren't sure what we will be doing after he graduates. Hopefully we will be able to stay living where we are, but that will all depend on who is hiring and what they offer him. We hope that I can stay home with the kids soon after he graduates which I am really looking forward to. It has been difficult with my older son in school and coordinating pick up and drop off at my sister-in-laws house since she is babysitting for us. When he starts 2nd grade at the end of August it is going to get even more confusing mainly because we are going to have him back at the grade school by our house and the bus usually comes around 7:30 a.m., but it takes me around 45 minutes to drop my younger son off and get to work in time. Hmmm...maybe my husband can help out a little depending on his class schedule. It is a little stressful but it will all work out. After school is another problem since I work until 5 p.m. and even when the "After School Program" starts he will beat me home. This makes me a little nervous since he will only be 7 but my husband said that he was babysitting other younger kids when he was this age alone. Others have told me that their kids have been at home alone when they were younger than my son will be and for a longer period than he will be.
Thanks for listening to my ramblings.

Duckie Blankie

My younger son is really attached to his blankie. I think it started about the time we took his binkie away. He likes to have it when he sleeps so when he is at my sister-in-laws house during the day he will ask for it for his nap. My husband thinks we should get rid of it. But I just think that is mean since he is only two. It does get kind of gross if I don't wash it at least once a week because he likes to chew on it. My older son and I never had anything like this for comfort so I'm not sure if it would tramatize him if we took it away. Plus he is so cute when he is cuddling with it and he is even cuter when he asks for it. I remember when my little sister would throw fits if she didn't have her 'DyDy' and I could really do without that drama. I think it would be better to let him naturally outgrow it, but what if he doesn't and is still wanting his blankie when he is 10? Any advise would be helpful.

Potty Training

Our little boy is 2 1/2 and had been showing a little bit of interest in potty training so I bought him some little boy underwear (they are so cute and little by the way). Last week my sister-in-law (who babysits for us) and I worked hard at getting him to use the toilet but he just wasn't getting it. In fact one night he went right next to the toilet. So we kind of gave up and went to pull ups. The day before yesterday he wanted to get on the bus with my older son and my brother-in-law told him that only boys who use the toilet can ride the bus. He was devistated and cried for a long time or so I was told. Then last night he says he wants to use the potty, but he has said this before because I think he feels big just sitting on it. So he crawled up on it and low and behold he went #1. I'm not sure if it is what my brother-in-law told him or not but I was so proud. Who would know that something so little would make me so happy?

Bad Day!

Last night after attending my mother-in-laws birthday party I was preparing to drive home. I was carrying multiple items including my two year old so I sat my phone on top of the car while I loaded everything else in the car. Well...I forgot about the phone and drove off with it still on the top of my car until I heard a clunk noise which reminded me that I had set it on my car. Whoops! It was dark and on a fairly busy road. Needless to say, I didn't find it before "my Hero" was run over by another car. The screen is in about a billion pieces. I am so sad, but luckily my mother law had a phone that she is going to let me use. It isn't as nice but at least I have a phone. Right?! So then we drive home. Me in the car and my husband in the truck. About a mile from home his surpentine belt breaks, and then we get out of our vehicles and notice that the little car my inlaws gave us has a flat tire. These usually happen threes so hopefully we are done now.

Parent Teacher Conference & Dentist

Austin is in first grade this year. We transfered him to a different school this year so that he could be bussed to my sister-in-laws house until I get off work. He has been wizzing through his homework and has commented that he gets bored at school. He teacher told us that he is one of the smartest kids in his class and he is in the advanced reading group. I should be happy about this, but last year at his old school he was about average. Does this mean he is improving or that he isn't be pushed enough? I'm not sure what to think. If we just coast through this year I hope that he isn't behind when we transfer him again.

Lucky guy got his first filling at the dentist today. He was such a trooper. He was a little scared when we first went in and he got a little agitated when he tasted the sealant, but then they put the "elephant nose" on him. Things went pretty good from there. He said it felt like there was a ball in his cheek and he kept giggling about that. I was afraid that he might be afraid to go to the dentist after this, but I don't even think he remembers the "fairy prick". Plus he got to watch cartoons the whole time. Not too bad.

Mean Dogs

First let me say that I am a dog person. I love dogs. We own a miniature schnauzer right now, and have had a black lab and bloodhound in the past (which aren't small breeds) so I know it wasn't the size that scared us. So I keep thinking about what we went through and wonder if I could have handled it differently to improve the outcome. This is what happened: the other evening the boys and I decided to ride our bikes to Austin's school so they could play on the toys. On the way there a weimaramer dog (which are suppose to be good dogs, good with kids,etc.) came running after us. I had Tate on the back of my bike and Austin was riding his own. At first I thought that he just wanted to run along side of us than he caught up to Austin and started nipping at him. He teeth came down on his arm but I wasn't sure how hard. He was crying saying that the dog had bit him. I told Austin to go as fast as he could and after we got up the road a bit we pulled over and I checked his arm. There was some scratches and teeth marks but the bite didn't break the skin. I think it mostly scared him. The boys had a lovely time playing at the school and then it was time to go home. I gave Austin the option of going around the long way which would be an extra couple of miles or to be brave and try to pass the house with the dog again. This time I was prepared and put Austin on the other side of the road and I rode closest to the house. As we came up on the house there was not just one but two dogs this time. My protective mother claws were out and they crossed me and started for Austin so I circled around and started yelling at them. One of the dogs started nipping at my feet and I got really scared and lifted up my legs, tried to kick their faces, and screamed loud. They were growling and weren't happy at this point. Luckily the owner heard me scream and called the dogs back to their house. I yelled at her to "keep her dang dogs away from my kid" which is very out of character for me, but I was trying to protect my child. Well, did I overreact? Maybe if I stopped my bike to pet the dogs and let Austin ride ahead it would have been better. Then again, they might have really taken after him and I would have been too far behind to defend him. I think we will just hop in the car next time we want to play at the school.

The tooth

Austin lost his first tooth this past weekend. It has been loose for a couple of weeks and it was just hanging there. His permanent tooth was growing in behind it and Spencer thought that it would grow in crooked if we didn't get his baby tooth out of the way. So after he fell asleep Spencer pull it out with pliers. He didn't even wake up. He didn't even realize it was gone until Spencer said something to him the next morning. That night we didn't get home until late and Austin fell asleep in the car on the way home so he couldn't put his tooth under his pillow. When the tooth fairy didn't come he was upset, and told me that he had woken during the night and put his tooth under his pillow. I felt so bad. Our tooth fairy must have been sleeping on the job. The next day he was carrying his tooth around with him and lost it in the pickup. He was so devastated but do you know while he was taking a nap my mother in law showed him that the tooth fairy must have found his tooth because she left him some money. All is right in the world again.