Zevan turned five this past Saturday. FIVE.

We had a really nice, small family party on Saturday. And then on Sunday, we had a swimming party at the Aquatic Fitness Center. The day was GORGEOUS. After the party, we walked to the park near Prospect Lake with the Ruch family. It was really a nice day.

I’ve been struggling with this new phase of motherhood. Now I’ve got ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AGE kids. Infant, toddler, preschooler, no more.

Unlike some in my position, I am in no way interested in having any more children to get that feeling again. NO, thank you. I’m just nostalgic for my boys during those stages. This transition is especially hard now knowing that we are moving to a new building next year for school.

On Monday, Zevan had his birthday walk at school. And afterwards, Miss Paula said that since Zevan was now 5 years old, he could start going to Specials (PE, Music, Art) with the kindergarteners. Zevan was SO excited! And to add to his excitement, nearly all his specials have Zander in class with him. Bonus!

Every day since then, he has reported to me which special he attended and what they did.

When I took him to school today, there was a note on the door that they were going to take a picture of the whole school – students, teachers, etc.

I thought about it on the way back to my car, and I suddenly felt very sad. I had been so focused on making sure that they had a Montessori program, and was thrilled that the program would stay open, even though it was a different location. But today, I felt an *ache* in my heart that we would be leaving this building – where Zander had spent his first 3 years, and Zevan had spent his first 2 years, of school. Where they learned to read. And add. And made so many friends. I’m really going to miss it.

After my day with Candy and the spa visit, I headed home. The boys came home later than usual, but no less energetic.

As we got ready for bed, Zevan reported, “Mom, it was music today. And I was singing the songs.”

And I asked him what song it was, but he couldn’t remember. So Zander tried to jog him memory by reciting some lyrics. Then they started singing together.

It was to the tune of “You’re A Grand Old School.”

Something like-
You’re a grand old school
You’re an outstanding school
and forever with peace may you stay
You’re the model of
The school I love
The home of the children of our day
Every heart beats true
for the heroes of our school
…something, something…
But should auld acquaintance be forgot,
Keep your eye on our grand old school.

I need to ask the boys to sing it again tomorrow.

I got very emotional thinking that they were learning this song to say farewell to their school.

*sniff*

If they sing that on the last day of school, there will not be a dry eye in the house.

“Hey guys, come inside, I want to show you something,” I called to the boys who were outside.

“Is it my website?” Zander asked eagerly.

“Uh, no,” I replied sheepishly. I had much cooler things to show like new pajamas for Zander and shoes that tie for Zevan.

After they tried things on and so forth, the discussion went back to websites. Zander suddenly wants his own website.

At the snack table, he declared, “I want zander.com”

“Oh, sweetie, that name is already taken. So is zanderscott.com.” Why didn’t I register that when he was born???

“Oh.” Thinking. “What about strawberry.com?”

“It’s taken.” This was followed by a string of random .com words, all common words.

“Honey, pretty much any regular word you can think of has been taken.”

“Oh. What about ?”

“I don’t know, we’ll have to check.”

So, when they came up to brush their teeth and put pajamas on, I went to GoDaddy to research domain names.

We finally settled on some domains for the boys.

Aw, that makes a geek mom proud. Now I’m actually going to have to build each a website. I need a kid friendly platform. I want to keep it on our own hosting account, of course.

An hour of searches for kid friendly platforms and I’ve come up with nothing concrete. Joomla Kids! has been abandoned. The Drupal version for kids hasn’t even started.

I guess I’ll start with WordPress since that’s what I know best…

Zander asked if he could have a sleepover with Emmett Wolfe sometime. “Emmett Wolfe is my 2nd VERY best friend.”

“Who’s your first?” I naturally asked.

He said, matter of factly, “Elijah.”

“Really? We haven’t seen Elijah in a very long time.” (like maybe a year – at least it feels that long)

“I know, but he’s been my best friend ever since I was young. He’s been my friend the longest.”

Aw, that is so cute! Clearly, we need to get those boys together again.

Zevan’s been having some growing pains lately. He scratched one kid at school and hit another one.

He’s been a little turkey about being disciplined. The whole time he will smile, which frustrates me so much because it seems so smug. And I have to ask him to not smile while we are talking about what he did.

He’s been kind of clingy, thankfully he’s sharing this clinginess with Dad, and not just me.

He’s definitely in a phase where he wants things to be his way or the highway, and isn’t very amenable to compromise. Frankly, he’s very selfish.

He’s 2 weeks away from turning 5, so I’m sure this part of the every 6 month development upheaval.

So, tonight, we’re making pizzas for dinner and we were discussing toppings…

Zevan: Do you have any mushrooms?

Dad: *You* want mushrooms?

Zevan: No, no, no. Not for me. Do you have any mushrooms for Zander’s pizza? He likes mushrooms.

Not so selfish

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Rum Cakes by Kelli – launched!
Legend Antiques onsite inventory and buying trip catalogs – launched!
Scitec, Inc – launched!
MA! motherhood with attitude redesign – launched!

4 sites launches… well, 2 full site launches, one catalog launch and one re-design, but still – it’s been a lot of work.

As I was making the final changes for the MA! redesign launch just a half an hour ago, Zander came in (way past his bed time).

“Mom, ” he began. “I think that you have been working enough today, ” he continued earnestly.

He wanted me to lay down with him for a few minutes – as the boys often do. I do often indulge them, for 5-10 minutes, and then promise to return when I’m done working/surfing/watching tv with dad. And my promise is always fulfilled, although sometimes not until 2 AM when I crawl into bed.

We still, somehow, have a family bed. Although there was a year or more that they slept in their own room, we all sleep together now. And, unlike many parents, I enjoy it. There’s nothing I like better than getting into bed and snuggling one boy under each arm.

But tonight, I had to say no. I did acknowledge how sweet he was, but told him I was in the middle of launching the site, and couldn’t lay down just yet. He looked appropriately disappointed, but didn’t go into full slump mode, so I knew we were okay.

Truth be told, I’m afraid there will be a snow day tomorrow, so I need to get as much done as I can tonight.

Hmmm… I wonder how the daycare works at Bally’s gym?

Yes, that’s right. The gym.

Thanks to the Discovery Health Challenge, May and I both have 30 day passes for Bally’s Fitness. I have been there 4 times a week since we started. I have been running on the dreadmill, lifting weights and swimming.

Yes, that’s right. Swimming.

I am regsitered for the Falcon Ground Speed sprint triathlon on May 9, 2009

Yes, that’s right. A triathlon!

Because the Pikes Peak Ascent, Disney World Marathon and Disneyland Half-Marathon weren’t enough of a milestone, at age 40, I will do my first triathlon. 825 yard (754.38m) length swim, 14.69 mile (23.64km) bike ride and 3.1 mile 5k run. I know I can do the run. I found out in the last two weeks that I can certainly do the swim. The bike part – well, I guess I’ll just have to start training now.

And to top it all off, tomorrow May and I start a two week diet regime to lose weight. Even with all this exercise, neither of us have managed to lose any weight or fit into any smaller sized clothing. So… tomorrow it begins. I need to work on my food choices and late day eating. She needs to work on her portion control. So two weeks of fully aware portions and healthier choices. Sigh.

Did I mention that I still have a lot of work projects as well? I’ve got Strangers In Paradise, CSG|Digital, Integrated Building Solutions and Telematrix on the horizon.

In these times, I’m not going to complain about having work to do, but it is a bit overwhelming.

I’ve leveled up in motherhood. I’ve graduated from half-days, and two pick-up times. I am now a mom of kids in school full day.

Whoa.

I had been hoping to put this off until next year. I was enjoying my time with Zevan on our days together for lunch. I would pick him up, and we’d be in the car, and he’d say, “It’s just you and me, mom.”

I just loved hearing that.

I had 18 months of just me and Zander time before Zevan was born, and I was stealing moments like these to have my me and Zevan time.

But Zevan had different plans. Since school started in August, when Zander started in full day kindergarten, Zevan wanted to be full day, too. He had lots of preschool friends who were also full day. And that’s what he wanted. He wanted to have lunch at school. He wanted to have recess in the “big playground.” And he wanted to see Zander.

At first, I thought it was a fluke. But throughout the school year, he kept asking when he could be full day. I told him that we could talk about him going full day in January, after the winter break. I secretly hoped he would lose interest, so we could have our time for the school year, and then transition to full day when he was in kindergarten, just like Zander did.

December came around, and Zevan was very sure he wanted to be full day. So Doug and I had to rearrange the budget (full day preschool is $500/month, while half day is $269) for next year. We talked with his teacher, Ms. Paula. We let the administration know. And it was done.

The whole break, I was feeling sad about it. My baby! Full day! I can’t even describe how squonky it made me feel.

Wednesday, the first day back after break, we asked Zevan if he was ready for full day school. He smiled and said “Yes!”

I felt so anxious when I took him to his class and we reminded his teachers that he was starting full day. They were very enthusiastic. After signing both boys in, I headed to the cafeteria to make sure they had his lunch card out and loaded with money.

It was all I could do at 11:00 AM to stay at home and not run to the school to check on him.

Finally it was time to pick him up. I got there early (VERY unusual for me) and picked him up first. Ms. Paula said, “I’ve never seen anyone so happy to come back to school.” They had Library class, and he got to check out a book to take home.

We walked around to pick up Zander, and he was chatting excitedly about his day. “I had cheese pizza for lunch!”

Then we ran into my dad, who said that he saw Zevan in the cafeteria and lunch time, and that Zevan was grinning and enjoying himself.

The first day was a success! He was loving it, and was totally ready for it.

The next day, when I picked him up, Ms. Paula said that he would announce to anyone he saw, “I am full day.” So cute!

And so today is the 3rd day, and the end of our first week of full day. I still miss him, but I can see how easy it will be to get used to having the day to myself.

When mentioning it to mom with younger children, they say enviously, “What are you going to do with all that time?” I remember that envy. It was only just last month that I envied May for that freedom during the day.

After our run this morning, May and I were making plans for next week, and that’s when I realized I had become a “mom with kids in school full day.” May gave me a congratulatory hug.

I can’t believe I’m here. Wow. It really does go by so quickly.

I do really enjoy Christmas. But now I’m ready to move on.

I finished up my shopping on December 23rd and helped my dad finish his shopping for the boys. I picked it all out, he paid, and I took them home and wrapped them We met up at Honey Baked Ham to pick up the ham for dinner on Christmas eve.

CARPIO FAMILY CHRISTMAS

On Christmas eve, we had a Carpio family Christmas. Berni, Andy and Anderson came over around noon. Berni brought beefstik and adobo for lunch. She also made pecan tarts which most of us were snacking on throughout the day.

Zander took one bite of a pecan tart and immediately spit it out. Then he said his throat was getting tight. So I gave him some benadryl and lots of water. After an hour or so, he said his throat felt normal again. Looks like he has a full on nut allergy – not just peanuts. Wow. We’ll have to see Dr. Daugherty about that.

We just pretty much hung out together all day – eating and drinking. Berni brought me some Lychee liqueur that she found – Orchid brand (instead of Soho). So we opened a bottle of Asti Spumanti and mixed it with the liqueur and Chambord. Yummy. Between Berni, mom and I, we polished off the Asti and most of the tiny bottle of liqueur.

Zander and Zevan played with Anderson. They “supervised” him a lot, because he’s 2 and “doesn’t understand” everything.

We sat down at 5:00 PM to our ham dinner. For some reason my dad had run out to Home Depot(!), and missed the start of dinner, but he returned shortly after 5:00 PM. All the boys chowed down on the ham, mashed potatoes and green beans.

Desserts were pecan tarts, key lime pie and rum cake. Mmm… Good stuff.

After dinner, the boys opened their gifts. It was super cute. The ZBoys loved their Star Wars sticker and activity books from Anderson. From us, the boys got to open their puppets and Mad Libs books and their new pajamas. My dad got us 2 Wii games and an extra Wii controller and remote.

And Anderson enjoyed his talking Thomas books and got his first try at the My First Leap Pad from the Zboys. I gave framed school pictures of the boys to my parents and Berni & Andy.

We had a short photo session of Berni and I with light sabers, and they headed home around 7:30 PM. My parents left shortly after that. We watched Frosty the Snowman with the boys before they went to bed. We laid in bed with them, and I actually fell asleep. Doug woke me and we headed downstairs to get the Wii ready (from Santa).

We spent some time setting up the Wii – it was fairly straightforward. Then we tried a few games. With Wii Sports, we tried boxing and tennis. It was really very active – I was surprised. We also tried The Clone Wars Light Saber game and the Mario Kart game. Doug went to bed and I played around with Pokemon Battle Revolution. That was really fun. And then I tried bowling. Then I FINALLY went to bed.

CHRISTMAS MORNING

Zander was up way too early. I made him stay in bed for at least an hour longer. But he kept chattering and finally we all had to get up. Zevan somehow snuck downstairs to the tree before everyone else did, so we called him back up and then the boys went down together.

They were very excited to read a note from Santa, attached to the box for the Wii. We immediately went downstairs to try a few games. There is definitely a learning curve for using Wii remotes after playing standard Nintendo controller type games. They tried boxing and bowling. Then we went back upstairs to open more presents.

They got more clothes and each got a tub of Legos. For each other, they got Star Wars Mighty Muggs. Doug got a bunch of clothes and a new Rabbit pepper grinder that Zander picked out himself. I got a gift certificate to Toni & Guy and Imaage

Shortly after we headed back downstairs, and then Zander ran to the bathroom and got sick. WTF? He came back all pale and fevered. Poor guy. He was sick the whole day – running to the bathroom every once in a while to throw up. But he didn’t eat anything. It was so, so sad. One time, I was with him and he said, “I’m sick. What a terrible thing to happen on Christmas!”

So we huddled up on the couch and watched Frosty Returns. It was such a peaceful day. We had breakfast (everyone but Zander), and I read my latest Alex Cross book, listening to the Sirius Holly channel. Eventually Zander fell asleep on the sofa (my poor little guy). The day just went by lazily.

Doug and Zevan went outside to play soccer, while Zander and I hung out on the couch downstairs.

We all kind of missed lunch, so we had a snack mid-afternoon, and eventually had dinner. Zander and I stayed in our pajamas all day. We played more Wii in the late afternoon until dinner time. The Pokemon and Clone Wars games mostly.

For dinner, Zander had a few canned pears. While Doug, Zevan and I had leftover ham and mashed potatoes.

After dinner, we all mulled about the house. I checked email and Facebook, Doug was on his laptop and the boys played a bit. A while later, we headed back to the couch to watch the classic clay-mation “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

We had grapes for a snack with the movie. And poor Zander got sick again, shortly after eating the grapes. Up came the grapes AND all this pears from a few hours before. Poor, poor little guy. We finished the movie, and then it was time for the boys to go to bed.

After they were in bed, Doug and I watched The Hulk movie. And you know what, it was actually pretty good. I wasn’t expecting very much, but I was very entertained.

After the movie, Doug went up to bed and I asked him to bring Zander downstairs to me. Zander and I slept on the couch downstairs, all snuggled up.

DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS

Zander REALLY REALLY wanted to go to Village Inn for breakfast. We made plans earlier in the week to have breakfast there before going to Grandma & Grandpa’s house. I was dubious because of his stomach issues, but he insisted when he woke up that he was fine.

I fixed him some toast, which he ate and kept down. So we all got dressed and went to Village Inn for a late breakfast. Which was fun and I think might have to be our new day after Christmas tradition.

After breakfast, we went over to Doug’s parents’ house. As we arrived, so did Kristine (visiting from CA) with Geoff, Gavin and Gia. The boys were so excited. Zander, in particular, just loves, loves, loves Gavin. Those two are like peas in a pod.

We visited for a while. The kids all played together. There was a round of Candyland and then some time with the Tinkertoys. Then Doug’s dad went out to get pizza for lunch. I took the opportunity to run out to the 2 GameStops on Powers to check out the used games (Buy 2 Get 1 Free sale). Both GameStops were a total madhouse. I ran into a friend and fellow West Side Mom, Angela while at the Powers/Palmer Park GameStop. They had also gotten a Wii for Christmas this year.

After visiting both stores, I was unable to track down a selection of really good (translation popular $45 used) games, but I did finally pick up Big Brain Academy and Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz for the Wii as well as a used GameCube controller and extension cable.

When I got back, Doug, Doug’s mom and the kids had been playing “golf” outside. Zander had since come inside, but the other 3 kids were out there playing still. I watched from the kitchen window. After a while, they all came in. They watched a little TV and snuggled on the couches together. They had a snack. Then it was time for everyone to head back home. They had a big cousin pile downstairs – so hilarious.

We headed home, and spent the evening together, trying out the Wii, having dinner and then bathe and bedtime for the boys.

DECEMBER 27
I woke up this morning to Zander coming in to snuggle next to me. Shortly afterwards, he got up and got sick again! WTF? No food, just queasy. He got queasy a few times, but not as severe as it was on Christmas day.

I was feeling like I needed to work on cleaning the house – the mess of the holidays was starting to get to me. While I was making breakfast, I started cleaning the kitchen and dining room surfaces. It was A LOT of stuff strewn haphazardly around all surfaces. I even threw in a load of laundry.

We had oatmeal for breakfast, and he was able to eat a decent portion of it (with brown sugar and Craisins), and keep it down. A few hours later, he got sick again. But then he said he was feeling okay.

A half hour after breakfast, we all did chores. Doug and the boys worked on the main level. I worked a lot on the family room downstairs, vacuuming the carpet and sofa. I also hit all the bathrooms for a clear off and wipe down of mirrors, vanity, sink and toilet. As well as another load of laundry put away, in the dryer and in the washer. A quick sweep of the bedroom and I was done for the day.

Zander has been wanting to go for a hike for the past week, but it’s been so cold and windy. Today was no exception. But, he really wanted to go, so after lunch, and after they went outside for a short session of soccer (too cold and windy), Doug and Zander headed out for a hike and I stayed home with Zevan.

After a while, Zevan and I were playing, and I asked him, “Hey, do you want to go the climbing gym?” He did, so we got dressed and headed over there. The first route we tried was the only 10.5 in they gym. The holds were good, but too far apart for him. So we tried a few 10.6′s He actually got to the top of 2 out of the 4 routes – with help from me hoisting him up, just because those were reachy, too. BUT he grabbed every hold on his own AND he had to be close for me to even try to hoist him up, so he did a lot of the work. I bouldered a little bit – mainly in the cave, and over the opening. It was a fun little outing for just the two of us. When he climbed his first .6 to the top, he was so excited. When he came down, we had lots of hugs and high fives. Then he said, “I wish Zander were here.”

We headed home, and he ran up to tell Zander his accomplishments. It was so nice. Zander was very excited for Zevan.

They had a short video game session with Dad while I got online – and finally beat my most recent personal high score on PathWords.

Dinner time rolled around, and we were both feeling lazy, so we headed downtown to Il Vicino for dinner. We ran into the Schwartz family and made plans to meet up with them at The Blue Star for New Year’s Eve. After dinner, we had dessert at Josh & John’s.

The boys went to bed shortly after we got home. And Doug is watching The Lord of the Rings downstairs as I type this post.

And that’s pretty much it for the Christmas activities. Whew!