It's our first day of summer vacation and I have this feeling of "whew, thank goodness it's finally over". It's so nice to be able to relax and enjoy life without all the extra busyness that comes with having kids in school and having to worry about all the little things they need help remembering to do. I was just reminiscing about school years past and how I've created my own coping methods without even really realizing it. When I look back in hindsight, I can see how I dealt with my stress by getting really fixated on a hobby or a distraction just to make it through the year. Then when the end finally comes, I find myself even more excited than my kids for it to just be over. But on the flip side, I'm always glad to send them back to school in August as well.
So what was this year's distraction? Oddly enough, it was adding even more activities to the mix. It doesn't sound very logical to me now that I pause to think about it and write about it. I started volunteering regularly at the school again. I've had more time to do that this year, now that they're at a school that starts early enough, and that we can get to in a short amount of time without having to spend the better part of two hours just getting them all delivered to school. It's nice to be a part of their school and for my kids to see that what they're doing is important to me. I've really enjoyed being able to get out of the house a bit and spend some time around adults even if it's just for an hour once or twice a week.
In addition to volunteering my time, I scheduled the kids in more activities than ever. Seth moved up to middles school this year where he plays the trombone in the band and in the Jazz Band, and he also started going to the Magic the Gathering Club and the Chess Club. He also played soccer in the fall and spring as did Mark. Cami played basketball in the fall and went to Chess Club, Spanish Club, and Chess Club at her school. Lena started going to dance class in the fall and in the spring she started going to preschool once a week as well. They're all getting older and it's kind of fun to watch them grow and develop. I'm really committed to helping them develop exercise talents. I didn't ever get in to exercising until after I had kids which, in my opinion, is a little late. I want them to be confident and I want them to have fun exercising and not have any self esteem problems that come with not being good at sports like I experienced. (Sidenote: I was so proud to my daughter's report card this year. For specials, she got 4s (which are like As) straight down the line in P.E. I've never really viewed her as athletic either, so I'm very impressed that the teacher liked her performance in P.E. For me, this means that she gave it a 100% effort and did her best and that makes me very proud. She's my first kid that has ever done this. It's so funny because both of my older kids have always complained about how hard it is to get all 4s in their specials classes, but especially P.E. I think it's just another sign that she's at the right school. If she can go all out at a subject that's not her favorite without whining or wimping out, then I know she's happy where she is and that's good enough for me.)
I've also really cut down on the amount of time I spend shopping. I've been trying to live healthier and eat more real foods and less processed junk and corn products. That means eating fresh fruits and vegetables and things that are made of ingredients I can actually identify. It also means not buying as much on sale or on coupon. So I mainly just shop at Costco for bulk ingredients and at Sunflower occasionally and have been getting most of my produce from Bountifulbaskets.org
2010-11 - Part 1: I survived by listening to Dr. Laura in the car, for my 20 minute drives, each way, to my daughter's school in Golden, followed by a 15 minute drive to my son's preschool in Arvada, and then just a short 10 minute drive over to my oldest son's elementary school. I had to do something, so I wouldn't go insane in the car, but sadly for me, Dr. Laura retired. This is also the year I started baking bread and granola regularly. My kids even stopped liking bread as much.."Ohh no, not homemade bread again," they'd moan. It was even good bread!
Part 2: Luckily, some friends introduced me to Dave Ramsey around this time, so for the second part of the school year, I switched the dial over to the station he's on and became a Dave Ramsey groupie with them. I also started attending a budgeting group with them and got uber obsessed with household budgeting in a new way. I've always been frugal, but we really started amping it up at our house in 2011. We made some big strides and even got our cars paid off. It turned out to be a pretty good year for us.
2009-10 5th grade Seth, 2nd Cami, preschool Mark, baby Lena - the Coupon years, + became a gym rat
2008-9 4th grade Seth, 1st Cami, Mark toddler, Lena born, the coupon years
2007-8 3rd grade Seth, K for Cami, Mark baby: Painting the house a lot and doing projects
2006-7 First grade for Seth, Mark baby, volunteered in the 1st grade classroom weekly to get a break, + started doing remodeling projects
So what was this year's distraction? Oddly enough, it was adding even more activities to the mix. It doesn't sound very logical to me now that I pause to think about it and write about it. I started volunteering regularly at the school again. I've had more time to do that this year, now that they're at a school that starts early enough, and that we can get to in a short amount of time without having to spend the better part of two hours just getting them all delivered to school. It's nice to be a part of their school and for my kids to see that what they're doing is important to me. I've really enjoyed being able to get out of the house a bit and spend some time around adults even if it's just for an hour once or twice a week.
In addition to volunteering my time, I scheduled the kids in more activities than ever. Seth moved up to middles school this year where he plays the trombone in the band and in the Jazz Band, and he also started going to the Magic the Gathering Club and the Chess Club. He also played soccer in the fall and spring as did Mark. Cami played basketball in the fall and went to Chess Club, Spanish Club, and Chess Club at her school. Lena started going to dance class in the fall and in the spring she started going to preschool once a week as well. They're all getting older and it's kind of fun to watch them grow and develop. I'm really committed to helping them develop exercise talents. I didn't ever get in to exercising until after I had kids which, in my opinion, is a little late. I want them to be confident and I want them to have fun exercising and not have any self esteem problems that come with not being good at sports like I experienced. (Sidenote: I was so proud to my daughter's report card this year. For specials, she got 4s (which are like As) straight down the line in P.E. I've never really viewed her as athletic either, so I'm very impressed that the teacher liked her performance in P.E. For me, this means that she gave it a 100% effort and did her best and that makes me very proud. She's my first kid that has ever done this. It's so funny because both of my older kids have always complained about how hard it is to get all 4s in their specials classes, but especially P.E. I think it's just another sign that she's at the right school. If she can go all out at a subject that's not her favorite without whining or wimping out, then I know she's happy where she is and that's good enough for me.)
I've also really cut down on the amount of time I spend shopping. I've been trying to live healthier and eat more real foods and less processed junk and corn products. That means eating fresh fruits and vegetables and things that are made of ingredients I can actually identify. It also means not buying as much on sale or on coupon. So I mainly just shop at Costco for bulk ingredients and at Sunflower occasionally and have been getting most of my produce from Bountifulbaskets.org
2010-11 - Part 1: I survived by listening to Dr. Laura in the car, for my 20 minute drives, each way, to my daughter's school in Golden, followed by a 15 minute drive to my son's preschool in Arvada, and then just a short 10 minute drive over to my oldest son's elementary school. I had to do something, so I wouldn't go insane in the car, but sadly for me, Dr. Laura retired. This is also the year I started baking bread and granola regularly. My kids even stopped liking bread as much.."Ohh no, not homemade bread again," they'd moan. It was even good bread!
Part 2: Luckily, some friends introduced me to Dave Ramsey around this time, so for the second part of the school year, I switched the dial over to the station he's on and became a Dave Ramsey groupie with them. I also started attending a budgeting group with them and got uber obsessed with household budgeting in a new way. I've always been frugal, but we really started amping it up at our house in 2011. We made some big strides and even got our cars paid off. It turned out to be a pretty good year for us.
2009-10 5th grade Seth, 2nd Cami, preschool Mark, baby Lena - the Coupon years, + became a gym rat
2008-9 4th grade Seth, 1st Cami, Mark toddler, Lena born, the coupon years
2007-8 3rd grade Seth, K for Cami, Mark baby: Painting the house a lot and doing projects
2006-7 First grade for Seth, Mark baby, volunteered in the 1st grade classroom weekly to get a break, + started doing remodeling projects
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