I have a brand new roof! I am so excited! The crew started at 9am this morning, and worked as hard and fast as they could all day long until the finished it ... The picture of the house was taken at 3pm ... when I had to leave at 5:45, they were still popping nails as fast as they could, but they got it done.
Why the new roof? Remember the wind storms we had a while back in 2006? Well it turns out the damage we sustained to our roof was more substantial than we initially thought. A month or so after the storm, we had a roofer come out and replace the missing shingles on the garage, but we had no idea we had extensive damage near the chimney, above the master bedroom until this spring. Our back neighbors catty-corner to us, mentioned we had 10 or so loose and missing shingles, so we started making phone calls to our insurance company and roofing companies to find out what our options were. In the mean time, we got hit with lots of heavy rain ... yet another reason to paint the master bedroom.
The insurance company called the roof a total loss and gave us money for replacing the roof as well as repainting the master bedroom. Instead of going with the roofer who came and did the inspection for the insurance agency, we opted to go with a smaller, locally owned company, and I am so glad we did. They were amazing. They worked fast, they did high quality work (better than what I would have gotten with a larger company) and their price was 25% less than the other guys. So if any of you locals are looking for a good roofing company, let me know!
I got home too late tonight to take pictures of the finished product, but I'm very pleased with the color shingle we choose - thunderstorm gray. It was such a hard decision to make ... how is this four inch picture going to look aver 2000 sq feet of shingles? But when I left tonight, it was looking so nice with the color of the house! Here's a close up from the next day ... I've been told, it looks so much better in person, what a relief!
The first grade teachers have started a new thing this year. Each trimester they are inviting all the parents in to observe their child's classroom during reading groups for about 30 minutes and then when the children leave for one of their specials, the teacher and parents will discuss the children's progress in reading, what goals the classroom has, as well as the individual reading groups and what we as parents can do at home to help our child be a strong reader.
For some reason I thought that being a stay at home mom meant I would be able to be super involved in my children's education and school life. And up until this year, I've done okay at being at least a small presence in the classrooms at school and preschool. This year, however, with a very little toddler and a preschooler going in the afternoons, not mornings, I'm learning it's going to be incredibly challenging to be involved in the girls classrooms during school hours this year.
When the schedule for this reading meeting came home Monday it had an explicit note saying something to the effect of "We're sorry but we simply don't have the resources to accommodate siblings. We're sorry for the inconvenience." the search started ... five phone calls later, so am I.
Do I really want to take my boys with me ? Are you kidding?! heck no ... I know exactly why they asked to have no siblings there ... parent orientation with all four (by myself) was a joke. There is a part of me, you know that part of you that thinks of Emmy not having her mom there tomorrow, that wishes I had the option - when all other options have been considered, tried and exhausted - of taking them with me ...
The boys and I are, however, defiantly going in for lunch tomorrow! That sounds like fun, and a good way to make both girls feel extra special! On the menu ... Bean Burrito or BBQ Ribbette Sandwich
Sam started Preschool Wednesday (9/5), and he is having a great time! The school invited the kids and their favorite adult to come and visit the classroom the Friday before (8/31), see the classroom, meet the teachers and some of the other kids. It's a great way for the kids to ease into the classroom and learn all the ins and outs before the first day.
The boys had a great time playing in all the different stations. Alex was particularly fascinated by a toad Mrs. S had found living under her porch. (This is one of Mrs. S's talents ... bring in fun living things for the kids to observe and learn about ... typically she has insects (caterpillars, butterflies, etc.) and reptiles (frogs, toads, tadpoles, etc.) He would hold the jar with the toad in it and watch it very carefully. If I'd a let him, he probably would have sat there watching the toad all afternoon.
The other fun thing about his class, is not only does he have the same teachers Becca and Emily had, he's going to school with siblings of kids who were in their classes (okay so this doesn't make his experience any easier, because really, he doesn't remember any of these kids, but at least I recognize and know some of the other parents and that's fun for me) ... So of the 11 other students in his class, three siblings of older children we know, one is also in Sam's primary class at church and one is also on his Soccer team - Mom's the coach! It's a small world after all, even if their numbers say otherwise.
Note: When Sam went to visit his classroom he was given a tote bag for the school year ... to take papers home in, etc. And was told to decorate it however he wanted to. We had lots of talks about what he wanted to put on his tote bag ... Spiderman, Batman, TMNTurtles, cars, rockets ... it took a while but he finally settled on a rocket. I found a simple coloring picture of a rocket online, resized it a couple times in photoshop so he could pick the size he wanted to use, and got my basket of scraps out to find some fun fabrics to make a rocket appliqué. Meanwhile, Sam grabs the ice cream bucket of markers from the art supply cabinet, grabs his tote bag and rocket coloring page and heads to the basement to start his masterpiece with me following behind with "options." Can you see where this is going? I didn't.
Pretty quickly I learn that Sam has no intention of having my fabric rocket on his tote bag ... he's very happy to color the piece of paper I printed for him and put that on the tote bag ... when I explained that that wouldn't work, he said he would color the rocket onto the tote bag ... when I explained that washable markers on a bright red canvas...needs to last you all year... through fall, winter and spring... just wouldn't work ... they are washable.
We got into a pretty embarrassing, yet incredibly heated shouting match with Sam screaming ... I want to color it ... and me screaming ... I don't know how to do that ... I want to color it ... I can't make that work ... I want to color it .... It won't work, you can't color it with washable markers .... I want to color it ... I don't know how to do that ... I want to color it ... you can't! ... I want to color it! ...
I should explain that I was trying to do this with materials I already had in the house, that would be durable on the bag but not leave lasting marks on him or the house, and I'll be honest, wouldn't look disastrous in the end. I don't have fabric markers here ... don't have inkjet iron on transfer paper ... but I do have lots of fabric.
When it was obvious Sam wasn't changing his mind, I asked if he wanted to help me with a sewing project. He likes to run the peddle when I'm sewing, so he quickly said yes. I suggested a rocket fabric, which he thankfully liked, he picked the window fabrics, drew the pattern on the Heat-n-Bond, ironed it to the fabric, picked the fire fabric - he rejected four before we found just the right fabric for the fire - and helped me sew every piece of the rocket to the tote bag guiding the fabric and pressing down on the peddle to make the needle go up and down. He did an awesome job helping me and I'm really proud of him for sticking with me through the whole project.
With Sam's approval, I made a few additions to the inside of his tote bag. He has a loop/harness to carry Spiderman with him to school, if he wants. He also has a nice deep pocket (made from Spiderman fabric) on the inside for him to put other treasures he decides to take. Last year, on most preschool days, Sam would take some kind of toy or treasure with him to school. Typically they were race cars, but sometimes it was a stuffed animal, action figure, or Happy Meal Toy. So I felt a pocket for them to ride in was defiantly a feature he would use and need this year. So far Spiderman and Michelangelo have both spent a day at school with Sam.
The best part of this whole experience is that he is really, really proud of his bag, he participated full in the project, and although we weren't able to color the rocket, the alternative is simple and so very Sam. I'm hoping we can add to it throughout the year with little reminders of activities, field trips and other fun preschool memories.
