Only 4 more days until we close on the new house. YAY. We're not moving in right away since we're heading to Atlantic Beach, NC on vacation next weekend, but I can't express how relieved I will be to finally have the whole real estate buy/sell process completed. And to have an end to living out of suitcases, essentially, in sight.
The temporary housing situation has been great, all things considered. The clubhouse pool has been fantastic fun for the kids (and for Brad and I!) and a welcome relief to the intense heat here in Arkansas. The house is spacious and has a nice office for Brad, even, so we could pick up life here without too much delay. It's only a 7 minute commute to my office and less than a minute from Target and a beautiful mall. But all of that good stuff aside, it's still very temporary.
I miss some of the basics that this house doesn't have: a land line telephone; an iron and ironing board (I've looked like a mess at work some days!); my crockpot (which is essentially my left arm, let's face it!); my sharp kitchen knives; a number of the clothing items I forgot to set aside for temporary housing, etc. I don't think the kids notice too much of what's missing, but I'm sure they'll be happy to see some of their toys and books come back into play.
I'm guessing that one of the first orders of business upon closing this week will be to visit the house and go for a dip in the pool. We won't be moving our things in until August 11th, but I'm sure we'll be moving in some bathing suits and towels before then!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Random Updates...
- I recently discovered that I have grown a half inch since sometime in my early twenties when I had my height checked last. Seriously! I'm now a full-on (slightly over, even!) 5'1" tall woman! Measured and confirmed for my life insurance application. Crazy stuff. But dang, I will definitely take that half inch!
- Driving home from Target today, Maddie said, "Mom, are daddy caregivers better than mommy caregivers?" Taken aback (and buying time to figure out my response), I asked her what made her ask that question. "Well, in the Cinderella story, there is only a daddy caregiver. And he wants to find a mommy caregiver for her. So I want to know if that means that mommies are better caregivers than daddies?" Two observations about this: 1) I was very impressed with her deductive reasoning on this one, I have to admit. It was a bit of a proud mommy moment for me, both because I think this is a very logical - yet complex - conclusion to have drawn and a very insightful question, and also because her vocabulary is truly HUGE these days. Caregiver might not be the best example of this, but it's decent. She's forever coming out with big words that surprise me. 2) We are a very lucky family. While I may think we are different caregivers, there's no way on earth I could ever say that I think I'm a better caregiver than Brad. As a parent, he just rocks. I'm thankful we're a great team, and that our kids get the benefit of that.
- I'm really worn out from several nights of very bad sleep in our household. Every time I think we should be past middle of the night wakeup calls from toddlers, another one happens. Last night, Lyla was awake and climbing around in my bed for several hours. Since Brad had to get up at 3:30 AM for a business trip, this was just double torture. Here's to a better night tonight...
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
We have a school!! Woohoo!
Tuesday finally produced some great results in the school area...we got Madelyn registered for kindergarten! YAY! It wasn't without drama, though. I took her to Bellview Elementary at 8:45, in anticipation of registration beginning at 9. Of course, there were already parents there ahead of me and working away like busy little beavers registering their children, but not too many. I brought M with me figuring she might help a bit by showing her cuteness and wowing the receptionist and any other staff in attendance with her manners, winning smile, etc. ;-) I was feeling a bit desperate, and anything was worth giving a try! What I had sort of forgotten about was that Maddie has really never been in an elementary school before. So while we've been talking about school starting, going to K, etc., actually stepping into that elementary school was quite a shock for her. I saw her just looking around with big wide eyes while he headed for the office, and when we settled into the cafeteria to fill our forms she just looked around and said to me, "THIS is where all the kids eat lunch?" The sheer size of it all compared to her 9-child private pre-k school and classroom was pretty overwhelming at first!
After Maddie waited fairly patiently while I filled out about a million forms, we turned them in and then had to basically get "processed" by the receptionist. Here's where the fun began... they weren't happy with my proofs of residency, of which they require two...didn't seem to understand that no, we don't have a rental agreement OR utility bills because those are being paid directly by Unilever, etc. They wanted an actual social security card, not just her number...we lost that back in Chicago somewhere, and frankly - who the heck asks for an actual card anymore when you have the number, a birth certificate, a passport, and the actual child sitting right there in front of you? Maddie started to get impatient at this point (understandably!), but fortunately there was another very sweet woman working in the office who kindly volunteered to take Maddie to the kindergarten wing for a little tour. The receptionist and I finished up, and in the end she told me that we needed to come back with a copy of the district's approval or transfer letter, but that other than that - we were good to go and should come back the day before school starts at 4 PM to find out what teacher she has, followed by an ice cream social. Nothing like waiting until the last minute!
We left, and Maddie was adorable on the way out. She only spent about 10 minutes touring with the office assistant, but as we walked out she showed me all of the rooms she had seen, told me about the music room, the art room, etc., and really seemed to be excited about starting. When we got in the car, she asked me, "So? Are they going to let me go to this school, Mom?"
Well...I thought the answer was yes, though I was a bit tentative. So I wasn't all that surprised when I got a call from the district office (vs. the school office) several hours later telling me that they had heard from the school, knew we had registered at Bellview - as we should have - but that we would have to wait until August 1st to find out where she would be accepted to school. This is because while we are living in the Bellview area now in our temporary house, when we move to our permanent address she will be a district transfer. And they only had a few spaces left in the K classes, which they wanted to reserve for actual district students. Sigh.
Long story short, we went back and forth on the subject, and the district office really seemed conflicted about what to do about her situation. After several phone calls within the district that went all the way to the school principal and then the district superintendent, the district office called me back late in the day to say they had decided to accept Madelyn into Bellview Elementary. Yahoo!! This is the best elementary school in the state, so I'm very happy with this; not to mention the fact that she will be a "car rider" since she resides out of district, but this elementary school is very close to our new house. So...with her K school supply list in hand and an actual school to set sights on, Maddie and I are both looking forward to spending Friday afternoon together having lunch and going back to school shopping. I always loved going with my mom before school started each year, and I think Maddie is excited too!
After Maddie waited fairly patiently while I filled out about a million forms, we turned them in and then had to basically get "processed" by the receptionist. Here's where the fun began... they weren't happy with my proofs of residency, of which they require two...didn't seem to understand that no, we don't have a rental agreement OR utility bills because those are being paid directly by Unilever, etc. They wanted an actual social security card, not just her number...we lost that back in Chicago somewhere, and frankly - who the heck asks for an actual card anymore when you have the number, a birth certificate, a passport, and the actual child sitting right there in front of you? Maddie started to get impatient at this point (understandably!), but fortunately there was another very sweet woman working in the office who kindly volunteered to take Maddie to the kindergarten wing for a little tour. The receptionist and I finished up, and in the end she told me that we needed to come back with a copy of the district's approval or transfer letter, but that other than that - we were good to go and should come back the day before school starts at 4 PM to find out what teacher she has, followed by an ice cream social. Nothing like waiting until the last minute!
We left, and Maddie was adorable on the way out. She only spent about 10 minutes touring with the office assistant, but as we walked out she showed me all of the rooms she had seen, told me about the music room, the art room, etc., and really seemed to be excited about starting. When we got in the car, she asked me, "So? Are they going to let me go to this school, Mom?"
Well...I thought the answer was yes, though I was a bit tentative. So I wasn't all that surprised when I got a call from the district office (vs. the school office) several hours later telling me that they had heard from the school, knew we had registered at Bellview - as we should have - but that we would have to wait until August 1st to find out where she would be accepted to school. This is because while we are living in the Bellview area now in our temporary house, when we move to our permanent address she will be a district transfer. And they only had a few spaces left in the K classes, which they wanted to reserve for actual district students. Sigh.
Long story short, we went back and forth on the subject, and the district office really seemed conflicted about what to do about her situation. After several phone calls within the district that went all the way to the school principal and then the district superintendent, the district office called me back late in the day to say they had decided to accept Madelyn into Bellview Elementary. Yahoo!! This is the best elementary school in the state, so I'm very happy with this; not to mention the fact that she will be a "car rider" since she resides out of district, but this elementary school is very close to our new house. So...with her K school supply list in hand and an actual school to set sights on, Maddie and I are both looking forward to spending Friday afternoon together having lunch and going back to school shopping. I always loved going with my mom before school started each year, and I think Maddie is excited too!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
School Stuff
I'm heading in to work late tomorrow morning in an attempt to get Maddie's kindergarden situation straightened out. I'm trying not to stress about it, but the fact is she still doesn't have a school assignment and most people I know with kids her age have been to some sort of "meet the teacher" event, orientation program, etc. And school here starts August 19th...just one short month from today. Add to the fact that I'm just generally not ready to be the mom of a school-aged child, and you can see how I might be a little uptight about all of it.
For anyone who doesn't know the situation: the schools in Northest Arkansas are extremely crowded. They area adding a new elementary school every year or two in the two primary districts (Rogers and Bentonville), but the area has just grown so much over the past 5-10 years - and continues to do so at record rates, in terms of children entering the schools - that in spite of the new schools, they are continuously at or above capacity. The state of Arkansas has legislation about the number of physical bodies allowed in a classroom; once that max is reached (it's somewhere in the low 20s), they cannot put another child in the class, no matter how many teachers, assistants, etc. are available to help with the class. The home that we purchased is in a neighborhood that has some of the highest demand in the Bentonville school district, though it is geographically located in the town of Rogers. As a result, moving here in July meant that the two elementary schools that Madelyn would be districted for are 100% full with long waiting lists. While we've known for some time that we would be moving, the school districts here require two different proofs of permanent residence in order to allow registration due to the high demand. So there was no way to register her earlier.
Of course the district has to provide schooling for all children, so there obviously was an alternative for Maddie. But, she would have been bussed to the neighboring town of Bella Vista, which would have required a bus transfer, a very long ride, and getting on the bus at some very early hour like 6:30 AM. In my mind, just not an option. She's 5, people! And since this state has full day kindergarden, she would have gone from basically being a kid who spends most of her days playing to a kid spending all of her days at school or on the bus. Just seemed sad to me, honestly. And that's without taking into account that she would be in a different school than most of the neighbor kids.
To avoid the Bentonville situation, we went ahead and applied for a transfer to the Rogers school district. The request was granted, but we don't find out what specific school she will be going to until August 1st. And I'm hearing that the school we are closest to, which also had one of the best reputations in the state, is looking like it's already at capacity for kindergarden. Location is key, since we will now be responsible for providing all of her transportation to and from school since we're not technically a resident in the district. SO... tomorrow is the first day that students who are new to the district can register. And you can bet I'm going to be there with bells on at 9 AM, hoping (ok, maybe begging?) for a slot at Bellview, right near our house. I will feel so much better when we have her registered officially and when we have a school we can show her definitively!
For anyone who doesn't know the situation: the schools in Northest Arkansas are extremely crowded. They area adding a new elementary school every year or two in the two primary districts (Rogers and Bentonville), but the area has just grown so much over the past 5-10 years - and continues to do so at record rates, in terms of children entering the schools - that in spite of the new schools, they are continuously at or above capacity. The state of Arkansas has legislation about the number of physical bodies allowed in a classroom; once that max is reached (it's somewhere in the low 20s), they cannot put another child in the class, no matter how many teachers, assistants, etc. are available to help with the class. The home that we purchased is in a neighborhood that has some of the highest demand in the Bentonville school district, though it is geographically located in the town of Rogers. As a result, moving here in July meant that the two elementary schools that Madelyn would be districted for are 100% full with long waiting lists. While we've known for some time that we would be moving, the school districts here require two different proofs of permanent residence in order to allow registration due to the high demand. So there was no way to register her earlier.
Of course the district has to provide schooling for all children, so there obviously was an alternative for Maddie. But, she would have been bussed to the neighboring town of Bella Vista, which would have required a bus transfer, a very long ride, and getting on the bus at some very early hour like 6:30 AM. In my mind, just not an option. She's 5, people! And since this state has full day kindergarden, she would have gone from basically being a kid who spends most of her days playing to a kid spending all of her days at school or on the bus. Just seemed sad to me, honestly. And that's without taking into account that she would be in a different school than most of the neighbor kids.
To avoid the Bentonville situation, we went ahead and applied for a transfer to the Rogers school district. The request was granted, but we don't find out what specific school she will be going to until August 1st. And I'm hearing that the school we are closest to, which also had one of the best reputations in the state, is looking like it's already at capacity for kindergarden. Location is key, since we will now be responsible for providing all of her transportation to and from school since we're not technically a resident in the district. SO... tomorrow is the first day that students who are new to the district can register. And you can bet I'm going to be there with bells on at 9 AM, hoping (ok, maybe begging?) for a slot at Bellview, right near our house. I will feel so much better when we have her registered officially and when we have a school we can show her definitively!
Getting to know The Natural State
The license plate tag for Arkansas is "The Natural State," so we figured we shouldn't delay too long before experiencing some of the state's nature for ourselves. I've heard from many of my co-workers that most all of the activities around here center on either the outdoors or team sports, so while our family might not be completely up for team sports right now (Maddie's a possibility, but since she had surgery on her nose in May, things like soccer, t-ball, etc. are on the no-no list this year), a family hike seemed like a pretty good way to get introduced to nature! After hearing that the weather was going to change substantially via a cold front coming through that would finally bring us down below 97 degrees - to a lovely 86 with little humidity - I jumped online and started researching hiking trails suitable for the crew.We opted for a "moderate" hike as as opposed to one classified as "easy." Our kids have hiked before and part of the fun for all of us is climbing the hills and not having completely flat, paved trails. Since we're in the midst of the Ozarks, finding elevation isn't too tough. I chose the Tanyard Creek nature trail north of us in Bella Vista, since it was only a 15 minute drive and promised a little bit of everything: a waterfall, a creek, a dam, and decent opportunities for learning through volunteer-created placards detailing various wildlife and plants, as well as local history. 
In spite of the best laid plans...it took us forever to get out of the house. You'd think I would be used to this by now, but it still seriously amazes me how long it can take to corral everyone and everything required for a day trip with three kids. Between packing up lunches, gathering swimsuits (just in case), sunblocking everyone, and trying to find appropriate shoes for hiking amidst the very limited selection of clothes and shoes we have here in the temporary house, it just took forever. So I was a little bit exasperated by the time we finally got on the road just before noon, but the kids grew increasingly excited as the drive got hillier and hillier, and of course their enthusiasm is always contagious!
Our hike was great. We did a loop that was just over 2 miles long, and we took just over 3 hours to do it. We obviously weren't hiking the entire time - there was quite a bit to see and do along the way. There was a beautiful meadow with wildflowers and lots of creeks and pools with frogs, fish, crawfish, etc. to check out, and the kids were really interested in stopping to read every sign. Maddie, in particular, is a nature nut - so this was right up her alley. We hiked up to the dam, and while Maddie was rather disappointed that it wasn't one made by beavers (the concept of a concrete dam was just not something she was willing to accept, LOL!), later evidence of beaver activity along the creek cleared that right up. We spent a whole lot of time 
walking along the shale rock ledges and through the shallow creek and waterfalls created by them, which was definitely the highlight of the day. The kids found some very large spiders (eek!!) and crawfish, and we literally had to tear them away from exploring in the pools.
walking along the shale rock ledges and through the shallow creek and waterfalls created by them, which was definitely the highlight of the day. The kids found some very large spiders (eek!!) and crawfish, and we literally had to tear them away from exploring in the pools.The downside of the trip was the fact that we started just after lunch...sort of the witching hour when it comes to young children in our house. Lyla had napped in the morning, so we thought she'd probably be ok. But Sienna was yawning on the way there, and despite my attempts to convince her to take a short power nap, she didn't fall asleep. Lyla is such a walking kind of kid that we decided to leave the Kelty carrier in the back of the van when we parked. But, given that it was nap time, it didn't take long before she was asking for a ride every now and then. I realized how out of shape I've gotten pretty quickly, trying to climb hills while carrying my 25+ pound two-year-old! And about 30 minutes into the trip, Sienna started to develop a blister. So she ended up spending a decent amount of 
time on Brad's shoulders, which also made his hike quite a bit of work! By the time we reached the very cool suspension bridge over the creek at the end, we were all exhausted and ready for a nap and an ice cold drink of Gatorade!
time on Brad's shoulders, which also made his hike quite a bit of work! By the time we reached the very cool suspension bridge over the creek at the end, we were all exhausted and ready for a nap and an ice cold drink of Gatorade!Overall, I think the trip was a big success. The big kids must have thanked us for taking them hiking at least three different times during the trip, which I usually take to be a very good sign that they are super happy to be somewhere. I think we were all happy to be doing some good solid outdoor time after the heat of the past couple of weeks; it's still such an adjustment for our kids to be inside most of the day at this time of the year, as opposed to spending 5+ hours outside a day running around and enjoying the weather!
I had absolutely zero desire to cook by the time we go home, since my day had started at 8 when I took Madelyn and Sienna to the farmers market to stock up for the week and I hadn't stopped until we got home from the hike until after 4. So we got cleaned up, did a bit more research (thank God for the internet!) and found a pizza restaurant where nothing on the menu has any nuts or is made with any ingredients made in plants that process nuts , and we loaded up once more. Ironically, the restaurant was called CiCi's Pizza, which may be spelled differently but I assume is pronounced the same way as our most common nickname for Sienna. So we all had a good laugh when Sienna took a look around the very crowded restaurant in the middle of dinner and said, "WOW, guys! Everyone wants to come to my pizza restaurant!"
Friday, July 17, 2009
I couldn't resist...
After reading Madelyn a bedtime story tonight (post-pool, where everyone apparently wore themselves out!), I walked into Sienna's room to find this sweet scene:
It was just too cute to pass up the photo op. Notice it's still light outside - very light. We've had such a hard time getting the kids to bed at a reasonable hour because it's stays lighter here, later, than it did at home. I'm so relieved the kids are in bed and asleep before 8 PM! Hopefully our Saturday morning will get started on the right foot with a bit more sleep!
It was just too cute to pass up the photo op. Notice it's still light outside - very light. We've had such a hard time getting the kids to bed at a reasonable hour because it's stays lighter here, later, than it did at home. I'm so relieved the kids are in bed and asleep before 8 PM! Hopefully our Saturday morning will get started on the right foot with a bit more sleep!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Blogger's remorse...
Ok, so I'm feeling sightly guilty that my last post was so, um... negative. I'm a fairly upbeat person and it takes a decent amount to get me down, so even I was surprised at how down I got by the kids' behavior at church. I'm happy to report that the kids were back to being their normal, fun selves and mommy was in turn in much better spirits towards the end of the day on Sunday. Phew!We've added a new post-work activity to the daily routine. If it's not swelteringly hot (which seems to be rare!), we've taken to after work bike rides, now that the bikes arrived in our partial shipment from the moving truck. Yes, that means our things have arrived here in Arkansas - and are now in a storage area somewhere, eek! In any event, Maddie had outgrown her bike and we all headed to Walmart on Sunday afternoon to get a larger one that we had promised before leaving Massachusetts. She's getting pretty decent without training wheels and can go about 30 feet, but she doesn't often choose to try without her training wheels. So for now, she's graduated up to a 16" bike with training wheels. She picked a very girly Hello Kitty model, complete with handlebar streamers. She loves it and has had no problem switching to the larger size and is now trying continually to beat her own fastest record and go as fast as she possibly can. Speed demon!
Sienna is still on her Dora bike, and she too has gotten extremely fast on that little bike! Now that we have two of them able to ride for a decent distance, up hills, etc., we can actually go on a family bike ride and feel like we're getting somewhere - which is really fun!Lyla enjoys riding in the bike seat on the back of Brad's bike, and I have to say...I'm relieved not to have to pull that big ol' bike trailer around all the time with two heavy kids inside. While we still like to use the trailer now and again, I much prefer the full family activity with everyone on bikes. In the neighborhood we're in, we can actually ride on the sidewalks up to the community pool, etc. so we'll probably try that at some point, though the life jackets and noodles add a bit of cargo that might take some configuring!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
