The night before school started, which I've already blogged about, looked happy and free, like this
We were getting a little nervous because on Monday, Jake whacked his brother, which he had stopped indulging in those impulses once we got his medicine sorted out. Tuesday he kicked down the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs. Tuesday is when I made the decision that they would not be riding the bus in the mornings, because that would be the perfect time for Jake to assault someone who pissed him off - before his medicine kicked in.
Cydney and Dixie came over to help with the first day of school on Wednesday morning. I made them coffee milk and cinnamon rolls (Landen) and pancakes, frozen (Jake). I can feel the anxiety in my oldest child in this photo, and sorry about the glare on Landen's glasses and the inclusion of Dixie's ass. We do the best we can.
Cydney went with me to drop them off, and as soon as they were out of the car and I was driving away I caught a glimpse of them in the chaos having no idea where to go and I started crying. Hard. And Cydney started crying. And we called Corey and I told him I was not okay, but by the time we got home, I was okay. Wednesday was a long day, because I just wanted them to get off the bus and tell me they were okay.
I did not take these pictures on the first day, but it looks the same every day, so pretend that I did.
The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round. They probably do not sing that on the bus. They probably will start to talk about anatomy and bodily functions soon. That's where Corey said he learned all about that. I do know that the buses are still not available in an air-conditioned model, because they are sweating profusely when they get off.
That's right, boys. We make sure no cars are coming.....
Before we run way out into the intersection to get away from the camera, yelling "RUN! RUN!" at the top of our lungs...
Or it's really that they are running from me, not the camera. Because then they run into the house and disperse into separate rooms until I get in there.
So Landen has gotten conduct marks for three of the first five days of school. The only television show he is allowed to watch right now are episodes of "Beyond Scared Straight" that we taped over the weekend while he was gone. You know, that show where they take the bad-ass teenagers with juvenile records into maximum security prisons and have the inmates give them a tour and a come-to-Jesus in an effort to deter them from future criminal behavior that will land them in the big house? Our reasoning is that these are kids who acted just like Landen when they were eight and did not have parents who worked very hard to cut that shit out. He likes the show. He asks to watch it.
If he comes home with a conduct mark today, his ass is writing lines. Remember writing lines? That shit will cramp your hand and make you think about what you're doing by the end of it. My cousin Missy told me about a guy she works with who had a big stack of bricks. When his kids acted up, they had to relocate the stack of bricks, one at a time, while repeating "I will not..." and whatever they had done wrong with each brick. If I had somewhere to just store a stack of bricks, and it had to be more than what would be fun to move.
Jake is doing well. He has a locker. He made two friends. One of them is a kid who lives one house over and across the street from us. They ride the bus together and he's in Jake's class. He comes home every day and does his homework then plays on the computer. He's excited about joining karate and Boy Scouts. Yesterday he slapped his brother and told him to "shut up," which is a HUGE no-no here. Corey is in New Orleans this week for a class, so he was not here to deliver the sharp slap in the back of the head that comes with saying shit you're not supposed to. We ate Chinese for dinner and Landen got to play in the sprinkler helping me move it around the yard. Why is it fun to get wet in your clothes?
When we visited Jake's school for Open House on Sunday, we wrote him a very embarrassing note for his locker and laughed about the picture of his shoes that he drew. They are completely in love with their school shoes.
Murphy had a lovely first day of school too, and was so excited to see his brothers. Not as excited as when I hold a Beggin' Strip in my hand to get him to sit still for a picture.
There's nothing wrong with his eyes. It's the camera. That's my office mate. He sleeps on the bed while I do my work. He's very motivating.
I have made the fantastic decision to paint my front door a bold and bright color, either teal or turquoise. I am inspired by this photo, because it's a turquoise door on a brown house!
Isn't it divine? First I have to paint my trim, which is currently black like our front door. I will not be able to choose a good swatch until I paint the trim, which I will *try* to do this weekend. It's not likely, but it's on the list.
One indication for how likely that is to get done is that I just now, this morning, found shorts for Landen that fit. The pair he's wearing in that photograph? The shorts from last year with the elastic cut out.
Who's on top of things? I am! I am!
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