Bring on the Birthdays

For anyone that doesn't know, Isaac's birthday is this Sunday, April 3 and Brian's birthday is Monday, April 4.  So this is going to be a busy weekend for me.  I just hired a woman to come out and do face painting and balloon art for the party.  I am trying to keep things simple so I am going to go with a carnival (kind-of) theme and we will have hot dogs (with Chicago style fixings), popcorn, and cake and ice cream.  If anyone can think of a carnival themed vegetable, let me know.  If it were warmer I would do corn on the cob on the grill, but since spring doesn't seem to be on the way yet, I am thinking indoor food would be better.  I already have the cake pan, so Cookie Monster will be crashing our party.

As far as the move goes, there isn't much new to report.  Isaac isn't yet loving his new day care, but he is at least trying to be brave.  He will now walk into his classroom and hang up his coat on his own and then we sit down and get his breakfast out and he keeps a brave face until I tell him I have to go to work.  Then he loses it.  They say he is doing better during the week and it seems like he may be getting attached to Miss Brittany.  Maybe next week . . .

I knew that I would miss Granny's Corner and I knew during the 4 years I had children there that I was lucky to find such a wonderful place for my kids.  There were so many things that Granny did that made life easy for parents that other places don't seem to do.  For example, they cooked meals there, including breakfast.  Although Isaac has pretty much always eaten two breakfasts every morning, it was so nice to take the kids there and have them sit down to breakfast together.  I knew they were getting a hot breakfast to start the day, even if I was running too late to get breakfast myself.  Wednesday was always pancake day, which made getting Mackenzie out the door on the toughest day of the week a breeze, and Friday was always cereal and TV day, which made the last moring of the week a breeze as well.  Now I have to make breakfast for both of them, package it up and haul it with us every day.  I am sure I will get used to it, but I miss my "carefree" mornings.  Speaking of hauling stuff, Granny supplied diapers and wipes.  I know this was difficult for her to do with the cost, but for a mom, what an amazing convenience. 

Also, the ladies at Granny's Corner used to watch for the parents and usually by the time I got inside one or both of my kids was bundled up and ready to head to the car.  During a midwest winter that is such a blessing and it means getting home and getting dinner ready that much earlier.  It is amazing to me how long it takes me to pick up my kids now and it isn't the dead of winter.  Who knows when I will make it home when I have to contend with hats, scarfs and mittens once again. 

Finally, Granny had sleep-overs once a month during the school year.  There was an added cost, but it was wonderful.  Mackenzie started going at 3 (she had to be able to go to bed on her own and be potty trained to attend) and I think she went to nearly every sleepover that year.  It was a fantastic way to learn that she was ready for sleepovers and it also allowed us to learn how she would act away from home.  Granny always told us that she was a little helper at the sleepovers and that she wanted to help get the food ready and clean up, etc.  Who knew?  Mackenzie loved the sleepovers because they gave her a chance to be grown up and Isaac loved being a single kid every once in a while. 

So for anyone out there that is thinking about running a daycare, those would be my suggestions for making it a great one.  It also helps if you can find women as wonderful as Miss Terry, Miss Carmen, Miss Ileana, Miss Natasha, Miss Gloria, Miss Maria and Miss Olivia to help care for the kids.  Hopefully I didn't miss any of the wonderful ladies that took care of Isaac and Mackenzie over the last 4 years.  You are all missed!

OH Boy

So this picture doesn't really belong to this post, but it is just so darn cute.  This is a shot of the kids sleeping in Aunt Tina's truck with their cousins Nicholas and Thomas.  This was on the way to Aunt Tina's house after we exhausted the kids at Buffalo Wild Wings (does anyone else remember these being called BW3s?).

I don't have a new picture to post, because I haven't downloaded any photos, but we did make it to Ohio.  Brian stayed for a long weekend and is now back in Chicago (we miss you Dad!).  The trip was uneventful and the kids, bless their souls, have adjusted to living at Grandma and Grandpa's very well.  Thanks much to Grandma and Grandpa for all of the help.  Mackenzie and Isaac are actually sleeping in the same room and are really doing very well not waking each other up and, for Mackenzie, going to bed quietly. 

I am enjoying my new job.  It looks like my first project will be a PeopleTools upgrade and an upgrade for PeopleSoft's learning management tool.  I know that I am a total geek, but yay PeopleSoft.  I feel like I am back in my comfort zone.  I find it funny that at the same time other members of my team are working on an ADP upgrade and a Kronos upgrade which we had been (finally) planning to do at Alberto before I left.  Everyone at First Solar has been extremely friendly and positive.

Mackenzie loves her new school.  I think that she was really ready for a change.  However, we all miss Granny's Corner and the wonderful women who worked there.  I get misty-eyed thinking about what a fantastic job they did caring for Mackenzie and Isaac for such a long time and how they knew my kids personalities better than anyone.  Isaac isn't adjusting to the new day care as well as Mackenzie, which was to be expected since he isn't quite two yet.  I am hoping that by next week he will be used to the new environment and he will be the energetic handful he normally is.  Today on his report card they marked that he was emotional, which broke my heart. 

I think that is it for tonight.  I am exhausted so I am going to go sit in front of the TV for a while with my father-in-law before calling it a day.  To everyone in Chicago, I miss you and think about you often.  Hopefully I will get you see you soon.

Rolling In It

Isaac's favorite past time lately is rolling in, well anything. If he can find a collection of anything he will dump it on the ground and roll in it. He has done this with change, cards, puzzle pieces, magnetic letters, etc. It is quite entertaining. He isn't as fond of the cleanup portion of the game, but he usually participates happily to some degree. I wish I had a video of cleaning up the magnetic letters at the children's museum in Winston Salem, North Carolina because when I told him it was time for cleaning them up he threw himself on top of the pile belly first and started swiping as many letters as possible under his belly. It was hilarious (at least to me). What wasn't hilarious was that a few minutes later he ran away from me in the lobby and fell on the hard floor and had quite a bloody nose. He now has a bruise on the bridge of his nose.

We got back from our vacation to North Carolina yesterday. Thanks to Aunt Tina, Thomas, and Nicholas for being such great hosts to Mackenzie, Isaac and I for the first few days while Uncle Zak and Daddy were at USITT. Thanks to Aunt Tina, Uncle Zak, Thomas, Nicholas, Clay, English and Gillian for having so much fun with us at the water park in Charlotte. We had a blast in North Carolina and it was a great way for me to spend my first week of unemployment.

Now we are back home for 3 days before the kids and I head off to Ohio. Brian will be making a number of weekend trips for the next few months as he finishes up at the Goodman and hopefully our house sells. Here is a link to the listing if you know anyone looking for a 4 (possibly 5) bedroom house in Chicago.

Here We Go . . .

This is my first post to my blog.  I recently read that blogging is out of fashion and that only old people blog now.  Supposedly everyone else is on Facebook instead.  I guess I am old, because I prefer to write more than a sentence or two at a time and I don't feel like friending and unfriending or taking quizes or playing games on Facebook.  I will admit, if my husband leaves his Facebook page up on the computer I am drawn to it and I feel the need to read everyone's posts, even if I don't know the person posting.  Because of this I am extremely afraid to join.  I am afraid that I will get addicted and spend far too much time on Facebook.  I am happy the way things are now.  I read my friends' blogs and I love them.  I try to keep up with emailing or calling my friends that don't have blogs.  One day I will move on and join Facebook, I am sure, but for now I am going to be an old lady and start a blog instead.

The reason that I decided that I need a blog is because we have decided to move.  Our small family of four is going to move from Chicago, IL to Perrysburg, OH.  I have very mixed feelings about the decision (which my husband and I made together over the course of probably a year) but I know that ultimately it is the best choice for our children.  Right now I am going through what I am sure is the usual concerns, such as "Is this the best choice for our kids?", "Is this the best choice for my career?", "Is this the best choice for my marriage?", "Am I insane?", etc.  But when I hear my daughter, Mackenzie, tell her buddies that she is moving closer to Grandma and Papa and that she will be able to go to Grandma's cabin and fish, I feel like all is right with the world and that this move will be the best thing I've ever done.  So we trudge on.  Our house is on the market and it looks better than it ever has before (which makes me even more sad to leave it).  I have 2 days left at my present job and I desperately need to clean out my cube.  I have to contact doctors to get medical records, cancel appointments we have made, and make sure all of my bills are paid.  The list goes on and on, but one day summer will be here and I will get to watch my kids play with their cousins more than they have gotten to during their lives and I will be able to sit back and smile and know that it was worth it.

So to all of you that are saying prayers for us right now, thank you.  For all of you that have listened to me rationalize this over and over again, thank you.  And for all of you that are being patient with me as I am forgetful, weepy and short, thank you.

Oh, as far as the title of the blog goes, the moving part is obvious.  The shaking part is in honor of our children.  Mackenzie likes to "shake her booty", which my husband and I try to discourage.  Not so much the dancing part, but the singing of "shaking my booty, shaking my booty" while she sticks her bottom out and shakes it, generally buck naked after her bath.  Well, much to our chagrin our almost 2 year old son has decided this is a fantastic thing to copy and he has started doing it with Mackenzie.  So whether we like it or not, we are moving  and  shaking.