A Package to Start a New Chapter

A package arrived in the post office box yesterday from the Central School District.

Addressed to the P family, I waited until this am to open it up.

UH OH, it's the Kindergarten Registration Packet for the NOODLE Doodle.

With a knot in my throat, I phoned my mother. She is the one who most understands how I feel about my baby reaching age eligibility for kindergarten.

"OHHHH", she said.....just a long dragged out sort of sad but sweet type of "OH" was her reply. The tone of her voice said so very much...

Oh, I know, I too remember the day you brought him home from the hospital and he was so yummy and brand new.

Oh, meaning, oh, he is not really almost FIVE! What happened to the years that have flown by?

Oh, meaning, oh, he really isn't a BABY anymore. How the heck did that happen?

Oh, meaning, oh, I remember the day YOU went to kindergarten. (and you didn't even cry)

Oh WOW P, think about all the extra money you will have now that you won't have to shell it all out to daycare anymore!


Oh, this surely is a huge milestone for my Noodle, but it's all good. He is super excited and I am too. Another chapter to start, another adventure to begin, all in the name of growing up!

Go get 'em Noodle, you're gonna do great. I am so happy for you and most of all I am so proud of the little person you have become thus far.

Peace

Once upon a Prom

On Saturday, we sat on the coach and chatted before a very exciting day began. With uncertainty in his eyes, he says "Mom, I may have a shot at Prom King."

Wishful thinking is the immediate thought that came to mind. "Really Schmoogie, that would be cool, when is Prom?"

"Wednesday. You know Mom, the King and Queen are crowned based on the most gold slips you earn for excellent behavior and helping out without being asked, and I have a lot of gold slips."

Honestly, I am still thinking yeah, right....

Flash back four years, the old Schmoogie had just finished kindergarten and began camp for the first time. Aware of the gold slip awards, he earned two for the entire summer, approximately 8 weeks long.

Flash back three years, the old Schmoogie earned five gold slips for the entire summer....well, you get the point.

This year, he has been in camp for 2.5 weeks, and has earned the most gold slips in the entire camp. Coming in at 18 gold slips, his closest competitor, a girl two years older than him, had 14. OMG, I am so proud of him!!! Two and a half weeks people, 18 gold slips, unheard of!

At the prom today, he was crowned Prom King. He wore his crown with pride. He danced with pride. He sang karaoke with pride. He is the PROM KING!!

He didn't get as many pretzels as he had hoped, because the other kids gobbled them up as he was being CROWNED!

Oh my gawd, Schmoogie was the Prom King and I am his very, super proud Mommy!

Reunion Update

The reunion was fab. Catching up with old friends, sharing pictures of our beautiful children, swapping stories and interpretation of some of those stories is always charming. Seeing some of whom you haven't in nearly twenty years is always an adventure. Finally seeing someone that you have only had an instant messaging/emailing/facebooking relationship with, getting to meet their husband, and exchanging hugs as if you never parted, priceless.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself, Big D too, considering he knew as many there as I did. A room full of 39 and then some, part of which were proudly married with spouse in tow, others who were not so happily married or divorced, coming alone, props to you all.

Smothered by 80's music and pics of us all in big (and I mean BIG) hair, such sweet memories. Knowing that it didn't matter if they liked you in High School, and now having the confidence to not care, was refreshing. I was me and I was happy.

Mostly all were pleasant, excited, and having the time of their life. There was one though, and he will remain nameless, as I have already forgotten his name. Why? Well, I will tell you why.

I walked up to Mr. ITotallyDoNotRememberAnymore and the following transpired:

P: Hi, I know you.
Them: You do? I don't know you. He glances at my pin displaying my name and fancy yearbook pic.
P: Yeah, I'm Double P, married to Big D, hung out with Suzy Pancakes and Joe Blow.
Them: No, Can't say I remember.

Getting more embarrassed by the second, but not going to let it get the best of me, come up with this clever reply, to which I am still so proud of myself for.

P: That's because you weren't lucky enough to know me in High School.

And with that I turned on my heals, giggled to myself, took a sip of my drink, found my REAL friends and danced the night away.

HOW RUDE!! I mean really, I would have at least faked it, people have no class! Oh, and did I mention that he was standing alone. Hmmm, I wonder why, tee hee hee!

Peace.

June came really quick this year.

Remember the good times you spend with those you hold dear, because like they say, all good things must come to an end.

I was feeling overwhelmed with sadness as I concluded a phone call with Schmoogie's third grade teacher. She explained that he is sad to see the end of the school year is nearing. He is upset that he will not get to see her each day. He has really grown to love Mrs. B, and so have I.

For Schmoogie, it has been one of those years where your child falls into who he is, who he always wanted to be, who he was meant to be. With the selfless guidance of Mrs. B. and personal maturity, Schmoogie has been polished this year.

He has always been a shining star, always the love of my life, always an intelligent, athletic and charismatic child. But this year, he has become more. He has developed the skills that will make him the best kind of friend and just the gentleman any Mother could ask for.

More good things are to come, of that I am sure. New chapters in the life of a Scholar Athlete will soon be here. However, for now, Mrs. B, I do believe your goal has been met. Thank you so much for being the that teacher that students hold in their hearts for years to come. We have been blessed with the opportunity to have had you in our lives.

As for you, kiddo, your father and I are so proud of your accomplishments this year. We are thrilled that you have the natural ability to effortlessly excel. You never cease to amaze us. Here's to a terrific summer stock piled with camp and sports which will lead you into your next chapter, forth grade.

Can it get any better?
Peace.

Overscheduled?

Is it really fair to make him choose between two activities that he truly loves (and is really good at) next year when we delve into the LAX/Baseball overlap?

Big D and I have always said that we would NEVER overschedule our children with extracurricular activities. It isn't fair to them, and it really isn't fair to us either.


As you know, Schmoogie tried Lacrosse this year, and, as it turns out, he is pretty awesome at it. I was concerned because practices would overlap with the up and coming baseball season's practices and early season games. It was a bit of a juggle, but we made it through, while both coaches knew in advance that there may be an occasional conflict. With the final game of LAX, this Sunday, now we are able to solely focus on baseball.

Baseball season should be interesting this year, as Schmoogie has been selected for the All Star Team, and a newly formed traveling world series team. Lot's of baseball ahead!

Big D and I were chatting about what to do next year, when we are faced with the LAX/Baseball overlap, because, admittedly, it was a constant juggle. We have agreed that Schmoogie, who is not like all kids, NEEDS stuff to do. It just works for him. He has always been a very active child, has always needed constant attention, and has always needed to be moving. For him, it will work. We have decided to allow him to play both sports at the same time, so long as he wants to do that come next year.

This decision was not made lightly, we thought long and hard, went back and forth, but in the end, we feel it will work for our child. And, most importantly, he maintained his school work, without ever even a threat of falling behind.

Note: SCHOOL Work ALWAYS comes first in our house, and there was never a night when Schmoogie went to a practice or a game without homework done.

A totally different discussion may take place when faced with similar circumstances for Noodle. One never knows, and we may find that, he like many other children, may not be able to handle two sports at one time.

Peace.

Welcome Baby Javula!

My mother, after celebrating her birthday on this day for 59 years, welcomes her sixth grandchild, with whom she will now share April 21st.

Today, I introduce my brand new baby niece, Javula (pseudo-name). Weighing in at a healthy 8 pounds 2 ounces she made her debut at 1:40 a.m. via cesarean section (it was a valiant effort, Meglet). My brother and my sister in law are thrilled about the arrival of the third, first girl child, to their family!

Excitement fills my heart today, as I await the time I can go and meet the new addition to our family. I cannot wait to hold her ever so gently in my arms and smell that precious new baby smell as I gaze into her eyes with wonderment of what will she be?

Who will she look like? Who will she act like? Will she be shy, outgoing, silly, funny?

How will she embrace the world and relish in all it has to offer, head on, or with reservation?

However and whatever she is, she will be precious, she will be unique, she will be Javula, and she will be loved.

Welcome, new baby girl!

Peace.

Freezing H2O

The science fair exhibit took place last Thursday at Schmoogie's school. Participation is voluntary, but because we never have enough to do (wink) participation is a self induced requirement for Schmoogie.

I encouraged a simple, easy to controlled science project that could be done in a very short time frame this year. We, and I say we, because he didn't do the project on his own, had some spare time the weekend before, so we set up our project.

The objective was to find out if water temperature has an impact on the rate at which water will freeze. I wanted to know, because I remember being told that warm water is a must if you need ice cubes in a hurry.

Three clearly labeled cups in the freezer. Set the timer. Schmoogie flies back upstairs to get back to Wii bowling. I watch the timer and straighten the kitchen. Timer buzzes. Schmoogie runs down, checks the three cups, gleefully records his data, snaps some photos, back up to Wii bowling.

This process continues every four minutes for some time. Results: cold water is the winner. Cold water freezes faster than warm or hot. Go figure!

The Tri-fold Board arranged so eloquently (if I do say so myself) to display our hypothesis, data, pics, etc.

While every effort was made, we missed the science fair this year due to lacrosse practice and my kickboxing class, just far too much to do that night.

The next morning at school, all students that participated in the science fair were invited to a special bagel breakfast.

Much to Schmoogie surprise, when he was called up to receive his participation certificate he also was the proud recipient of the second place ribbon for third grade projects!!

Go Schmoogie!

Peace.

It's a Pleasure to get a Report Card

Schmoogie’s report card came home yesterday. It was exceptional and unmatched to any he has ever brought home. He has always done well academically; sometimes he floors me with his astuteness. But this report card was different, it was special.

He acheived his first “Schmoogie is a pleasure to have in class” comment, which brought a tear to my eye. Schmoogie has an amazing teacher this year, she is really awesome, the type of teacher that you remember for a lifetime.

We had a Report Card Celebration. It doesn’t take much for me to have a celebration, I just love to celebrate. Life is too short, celebrate all it has to offer! I picked up a Cavel Cake with some inspirational wording to reflect the pride Big D and I felt for the Schmoog~master.

After dinner I grabbed the cake out of the freezer, and made the announcement. Schmoogie and Noodle looked up at me with that wide-eyed “but Mom, it’s Wednesday, what could you be celebrating now?” look. I briefly explain, place the cake in front of our little brainiac, hand him a knife and we had a celebration!

He was beaming, he was proud, he was excited, and so were we. It was truly a pleasure.

During the car ride to daycare this morning, Noodle asked Big D why we didn’t sing Happy Birthday to Schmoogie last night. The answer , well, obvious, and Noodle wondered, why then, did we have cake in the dining room??. He then turned to Big D and said “Well Daddy, then we should have sung Happy Report Card Day to him”.

Peace