It's Just Kindergarten!

I realize that one day my sons will most likely apply to college and we will go through many weeks of filling out applications and gathering pertinent personal information and making copies of birth certificates, etc. I am fine with that. It is a regular right of passage. What I am not fine with however, is having to do it now, when my son is not even 5 years old! Okay, here is the deal. While I am a firm supporter of public schools, we happen to live in South Carolina. In Charleston county. As a friend of mine once said, "We are in the worst county, in the worst state in the whole country. You could very well be sitting next to the dumbest person in America." Harsh, but could be true.

Because Wes and I do not poop money, private school is out for us and we are left looking at the public school options. The school we are zoned for - which I have not decided about yet - and the several magnet schools that you have to apply to and hope and pray that your name is drawn in the lottery. And of course, since this is a government run operation, the process is ridiculously inefficient. Despite the fact that all four magnets are county schools, every application has different requirements. You know just a few things like, birth certificates, social security cards, 18 proofs of residency (including a notarized affa davit swearing you live where you say you live), discipline records, immunization records, self addressed stamped envelopes...have I left anything out?

So my friend Katy and I decided to brave it together and we headed out to turn in the applications to all the schools. Of course it being us and all, we ran into several snags! Like, for instance, the Mr. T impersonator who tried to pick us up at the gas station, and the man with Turret's Syndrome at the library where we made copies. And the fact that when we were finally ready to head out we realized that neither one of us actually knew where 2 of the schools were located. After a few phone calls to her hubs (thanks Zack!) we finally made it all the way out to Mt. Pleasant (a good 30 minute drive). We then spent 15 minutes trying to figure out how to get into the school which was locked up like Fort Knox. Finally got buzzed in, found the office, pleasantly announced we wanted to turn in our applications, and we were brutally rebuffed. The secretary gave us a withering look and proceeded to point out on the application where it said that we were supposed to turn in the application for that school at the district office downtown. And of course, right above that statement was written, "Please read this form carefully..."

Oops. I am now convinced that they will probably reject Noah's application (if they ever get it) based on the fact that his mother cannot follow directions AT ALL! At least the other ones got turned in fairly uneventfully.

Sigh. All this is very stressful. It's kindergarten for crying out loud and its all enough to make one consider home schooling. Just kidding.

Here's to hoping that come January one of these schools calls to offer a spot to Noah!

Six Months

Today was Liam's 6 month check-up, and (cue the drum roll), he weighs........18 pounds!

Seriously?! I mean that does explain why my arms/shoulders/back ache at the end of every day. Also, Noah did not weigh 18 pounds until he was 1 year old.

Other than his adorable chunkiness, it was a pretty low-key visit. He got a few shots but he only screamed for about a half a second before I told him to suck it up buttercup. (I seriously said that and the nurse gave me an odd look, but come on folks! The pain of a shot lasts, like, a second. And its for his own good, and its not like he's being tortured. Lest you think I am heartless, I totally scooped him up afterwards and gave him a big hug and then he was back to smiling like usual.) I digress.

At six months Liam is.....

• Almost sitting up by himself.
• Rolling every which way across the floor. No more unsupervised time spent on furniture!
• Eating fruits and vegetables. (Well, he loves pears and sweet potatoes anyway, and is working on others.)
• Passing toys from hand to hand and grabbing at everything. (Mostly whatever food is on the table in front of me.)
• Laughing all the time - and making very distinct squealing noises to get people's attention.

We cannot believe how fast time is flying with this little guy. I feel like I just had him but then I look down and see this little person and it is so amazing!

The Lake

This weekend we spent a relaxing time at the Shealy family lake house. Well, as relaxing as it gets when you have to travel overnight with little kids and all their crap.

Wes' parents have a lake house that sits on Lake Murray, near Columbia. The property has been in his family forever - it was, in fact, the land (and house) that his Dad grew up in - but I am still confused about the exact history of it all. It has a lot to do with large southern families and feuds over land ownership and strange relatives with double names like Betty Bea. Bottom line - it is a gorgeous piece of property that his Mom and Dad have, and we are lucky enough to get to spend time there!

Because the house sits on a point and is surrounded by water on three sides it is ideal for all sorts of water activities like fishing and boating. Noah was beside himself with glee when he woke up on Saturday morning and saw that he would get to ride in the boat and fish with Pops.

Here we are on the boat. It was Liam's first boat ride and he took in stride, the way he does most things!

Here is Noah holding up one of the fish that he "caught". You see, it was actually Pops that caught the fish. He hooked them, and let Noah reel them in. Noah did have a dark blue (his favorite color!) fishing pole with a weight on it that he used to practice casting. (As Pops said, you don't want to put a hook on a line and hand it to him! That would be quite dangerous.) All in all, Noah "caught" 12 fish and he is convinced that he is a professional!

On a quick side note...It is a little ironic that despite my aversion to them, it appears I am raising a South Carolina good ol' boy. Dear God, don't let anyone teach the boy to hunt!

We had a very fun weekend and I cannot wait to go back in the summer so that I can get up on some skis in the beautiful lake!

Brain Dump

I have a million things running through my head right now that I would like to post about. One of the blogs that I read (okay, one of the ones that I STALK) is written by a girl who always refers to these kinds of posts as "brain dumps". So, there is your fair warning. This is a brain dump.

Where to begin? Okay, this past weekend was pretty awesome. First of all, my Mom came to town, and along with my sister, joined us for a family photo shoot. We headed downtown for an "urban shoot" and spent several hours goofing around while having our pictures taken. (I felt a bit like a celebrity, being followed around by two photographers!) I just viewed the final product online and they are so good! I am going to have the hardest time choosing what to order. I wish I could post some here but I don't own the rights to them (drat!). However, you can look at my facebook pictures and see a few that the photographer tagged for me. If anyone in Charleston is looking for a photographer you should definitely check out John and Jamie at How Time Flies Photography. (http://www.howtimefliesphotography.com/ ) They did such an great job and were a blast to work with!

Also, while my Mom was here to watch the kiddos, Wes surprised me with a night downtown! We checked into the Vendue Inn and spent a relaxing, kid-free night. Dinner at Carolina's, walking around downtown and un-interrupted conversations can't be beat. It was so nice to get to spend some time just the two of us. We are so busy these days that we almost never get to do that anymore!

So, what else? Oh yeah, my four old is the cutest! Seriously, he is constantly amazing me with the stuff he says and does. He can count to 20 in Spanish, he knows all the words to the songs on the Glee, Vol. 1 soundtrack (he's partial to "Don't Stop Believing"), and every now and then he threatens to break my heart right in half. For instance, take the other night. When he saw the flyers for Operation Christmas Child while we were eating at Moe's. After Wes explained what it was to him, and he started thinking about how horrible it would be to have no toys, he announced that he wanted to make a box with toys to give to a little boy. I thought that was so sweet but was speechless when I realized he didn't mean he wanted to buy the toys. No, he came home, went straight to his room, and started gathering up his own toys. Not just the B list stuff either. We're talking Thomas trains, dinosaurs, cars, books. He put them all in a pile and said they were for the little boy who has no toys. I just wanted to grab him and hug him and thank him for being so sweet!

And last but not least, Liam. Otherwise known as Chunk, the boy who has no clothes that fit him cause he is HUGE! He is a solid 17 pounds, has one tooth (and is working on another), and can almost sit up on his own. And, oh yeah, has a smile that makes my heart melt!

That's all for now. Next time I hope to have some new pictures to make up for you having to listen to my rambling brain dump!

***And just in case you are wondering...that blog that I stalk read is http://www.flythroughourwindow.com/  It is a really fun blog and if you check it out you just might become a stalker too!