Schiller Storm!

Goodbye Sweet September!

Wow! What a month. We packed more in September than in the past year, or so it seems. It was an exciting week. Rain had his first fieldtrip. He prefers the car to the school bus because he says, "Cars get there much faster." He also had his first soccer game where he scored the first goal! Yeah Schiller Storm. Yeah Coach D. There are two coaches, both named David and the kids laughed when Dave called himself Coach P(ee). I think I said we started piano last week. If I didn't, sorry. This week we are working on Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Things would be progressing much more smoothly if I could remember to practice sometime before 9:00 p.m. I also need to take some pics playing the piano, sorry again. Finn is really into firefighters' poles lately. He insisted there was not one at school, but has finally relented that there is, indeed, one. He taught two kids at the the playground how to do it and enjoyed being their inspiration. Although he continues to test my limits, I have observed beautful things about him this week. He is wonderful in school and is going through a burst of creativity (6-7 drawings a day). As I said before, he is a role model and does a great job resolving conflict when I am not around to interfere. He has been kind and generous to Rain and was self-sufficient and easygoing at Rain's soccer game and practice. Although he whines and cajoles, he is growing and maturing; he is more of his lovely self everyday. I worked a bit this week and start on Monday on a regular basis. Bad news: it will not be a GA position that pays my grad school tuition. Good news: I do not need to try to work part-time, take a full course load and be some shell of a decent parent next year. Here are a few photos from our week.

Adjustments

Wow! Where has the time gone? Our new hectic schedules make time slip through my fingers and I am a lazy blogger. Rain started soccer and piano this week -- yeah! Dave is the co-coach for soccer and I am the co-coach for piano. I need to find time to work it into our schedule. Rain had another fantastic week in school and loves it more and more. Though I am currently heartbroken, wishing for 1/2 day Kindergarten. When it is so beautiful out, I want to be with both my beautiful boys. Finn is "bored" at school. But I have watched him twice this week and he seems engaged and a little trepidatious. For those of you who do not know him, this is quite out of character. He keeps saying that no one plays with him on the playground (heartbreaking), but I assure him that he will make friends soon. Here are some photos at the park yesterday.

Name Homework

Rain had his first homework assignment this weekend. Typical of me, I remembered this as we were tucked in bed Sunday night at 8:40. We all worked with Rain. He had to write his name and a few sentences about why his family chose his name. It reads as follows: "My mom likes rain (drawing to indicate rain drops, not himself). My dad thinks it is sweet. Finn likes my name. I like my name becus it is after the rain outside." ***with more time we would have added: My mom likes it beacause she can call me Rainbow as a nick name. After this was completed we talked about Finn's name, too. It might have been the loveliest night of my life:)

Nana!

Here is a photo of my nana that I took today. I hope I look this beautiful one month shy of 89!

Monarchs!

This week second monarch hatched from its chrysalis in classroom 11. We saw it a few minutes after is peeked out and I learned that new butterflies have fat abdomens filled with fluid that needs to be pumped into the wings. We caught a butterfly at the exact moment it came out today at the park. We met our old friend from classroom two, Kennedy and her parents, Jerome and Wendy, at Blendon Woods for their annual celebration of monarchs. It was amazing to see the little butterfly emerge with such tiny wings that so quickly billow out as the fluid from the belly moves through them. We had cake, amde crafts, heard a puppet show and went on a little nature hike. Finn, Rain and Kennedy are experts at following the trail and making our afternoon joyful. Rain and Finn have had another lovely week in school and survived a five-day week. Rain loves his journal and his poetry notebook. He is fond of his friend, Presten, who gets candy in his lunch everyday and shares Rain's love of "squidgy"(Mrs. M's affectionate name for hand sanitizer). In math, the children are working on sorting. One morning Mrs. M gave the children cups of butttons to sort. Each child devised the criteria for sorting; Rain sorted his into three piles: dirty, medium dirty and clean:) Room 11 finished their week of music on Friday and will do dance next week. In classroom two Finn continues to thrive. He is making more friends,doing lots of cutting works and drawing like mad. He claims that all works are boring and longs for a mystery work he saw when Rain went to CMEC that has a green ball and a hammer. I don't think he will be content until he finds it! No worries from his teachers who say he is engaged in his works and pleasant. I'll keep you posted. Lastly, news from me. I have a new job and I wasn;t even looking for one. I am the new program assistant in the Department of Women's Studies charged with tackling the dip in undergradute majors and minors. So much for my life of leisure, but the job sounds really interesting and fun, not to mention that it will be a GA position allowing me to get my MEd next year for free! Life is good.

Ice Cream. . . Social

Indianola hosted a wonderful, frenetic party last night to welcome everyone back and what better way to do that than make-your-sundaes madness. It was strange to go to a party driven by their needs and desires, i.e., the ice cream takes all precedence over the socializing. After waiting in line for our sundaes, they ran around and played like maniacs with hordes of other kids. I am so damn old. I saw a young girl/woman crying with friends. I asked if she needed my help and reprimanded all the kids for giving noogies to one another. I asked if she needed more help and she, no longer in tears, repLIED, "No." Seconds later, I saw her with a gaggle of friends crying anew. Although I am adept at the problems of young children, my expertise only extrapolates to a certain point (4th grade -- maybe). We left with bellies full and new Indianola kids t-shirts. I'll post photos of those soon. Here a few from the festivities.

Snack and Share!

Finn had his first snack and share yesterday and it was wonderful. He chose to bring apples that we picked and some healthfood store crackers shaped like farm animals (the friends liked these, but Finn asserted that they were not very tasty). Finn brought in an ancient book entitled "Little Whale" (so old that it was preachy about saving the whales as opposed to my children's horrified faces at the mention of harpooning). He also brought "The Gift of Nothing." I hope the teacher read this book; it anti-materialist message makes us look good, proving you CAN buy morality (HAHA and thanks to Babydoll for the book that Finn likes so much).

Speaking of babies. . .

On a day when many people reflect upon patriotism, bravery and loss, I am filled with different emotions. It is my wedding anniversary and I am so new to this kidless gig, that I couldn't even arrange a romantic lunchdate with my partner with my 3 hours of leisure. Instead, I blog. Not about my children, for once, but for these crazy kids that had a fabulous time with family and friends. What a wonderful time and thanks to all of you who were there with us and have nurtured our family as we have grown these last 11 years. Life was great then, but has gotten even better (except for my teeth--what the F*** happened to my white teeth).

And then there was me!

Yesterday . . . Wow! NO KIDS!!!!!!!!!!! I enjoyed a peaceful lunch and went running. I leisurely (and without guilt) surfed the internet for a bit and then I browsed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! around the camera shop. Lucky me: I start a blog and my digital goes on the fritz:( I got Casey some dog food and barely made it school to pick up Rain in the rain. (I was 30 seconds late and Rain was verging on tears -- no lie! No pressure!) Today I ran a few errands, spoke on the phone uninterrupted, and am currently bloggin' to procrastinate running. Time to fly . . . truth be told there might be a veil of melancholy dampening my burgeoning sense of independence. I might ruminate on this . . . Or indulge in a few baby dreams; they were so fleeting and sweet. . . but the peace is lovely, the solitude novel. And my future, our future, beckons.

Finn Goes to School!

FinnyBoo, charming and adventurous as always, had a wonderful 1st day at Columbus Montessori Education Center (CMEC). He was repulsed by the homemade pumpkin muffins that I stayed up until 11:30 making him. Rain also refused my baked goods and I refuse to use icing at breakfast, no matter how much I want to incorporate the health benefits of pumpkin into their diets. Dave and I took Finn in at 12:30 and he sat in circle time like he'd been going there for two years with his beloved brother and now it was his chance. I was fine until we peeked into the observation room to check in on him. All I could remember is nursing Finn in that little cave while I watched Rain acclimate to CMEC, say what, 100 years ago (or maybe it was yesterday). When I picked Finn up almost four hours later in the school gym, I got glowing reports from his teachers. Violetta said he tackled the day like an alum and hardly appeared to be a first day student. He has been an honorary member of classroom two the past two years. Margaret just told me he was too cute and had had a great day. As I approached him myself, I found him happily playing. It took me a few seconds to realize he was drenched in pee. The day's excitement and fun had hardly left time for banalities like using the restroom. We went back to classroom two to change; after I washed my hands I realized he was halfway down the hall to the gym, scurrying like the little chick he is so afraid to miss even a minute of fun. When I asked about his day, he was mostly reticent (SHOCKING!). His snack was a secret and all he moaned on about was some coveted work with a green ball and a hammer, from Rain's days in classroom two, that was not out today (as he had, apparently quite earnestly, anticipated). By bedtime he was full of stories. He did a scooping work and wanted to do a pouring, but did not. He played with one friend, but got bored. Audra and Max did not want to play with him and Courtney was not there. He had crackers for snack and also did another work with beetles. Rain played a game where you are a monarch and there are predators all around you. Will you survive?!? It sounded fantastic. He told Finn he thought he would like the weather calendar and the Friday folder he has, but that, as Finn currently does not read, the journal might be too hard for him. He is making a monarch butterfly in art that looks almost like a real monarch and it almost exactly the same on both sides. The art teacher has three caterpillars and one has turned into o chrysalis. For snack today he ate a cookie and it was someone's birthday, so they had cupcakes. I wonder why he has two pimples?!?!?! The brothers swapped stories about their respective schools and held hands, theirs and mine, before finally falling asleep a bit after nine. The day was a smashing success and I am officially the mother of TWO SCHOOL-AGED children!

Home Alone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow is the big day: two children in school. Finn starts tomorrow at Columbus Montessori Education Center. He will be in Rain's former classroom with Pen and Margaret. I think he knows the ropes after taking Rain there for 2 years and that his first day will be a success! We had a lovely send off party for him tonight with chicken nuggets, french fries and pizza that was attended by Pappy, Elizabeth, Ma Jo and Grandpa! It was big fun, but the real fun begins tomorrow afternoon. I'll keep y'all posted. Here is a photo of the fun we had on this rainy, long weekend.

Indianola Alternative Arts Impact Elementary

Here is the schools' mission statement and a link to our website. It is an awesome place filled with caring teachers, staff and families. It is also filled with what appears to be a bunch of politically radical, queer, hippie, artsy intellectuals. XANADU! SCHOOL MISSION: We, the members of the Indianola Informal School community, believe that all children can achieve academic success. We believe that children enter school as active learners eager to continue the learning process by working with staff, other children, parents and volunteers. To this end, we will provide opportunities where children learn by doing and by interacting with their environment. We will provide strong positive teacher guidance so those children can take responsibility for their own learning. We will provide opportunities for children to express their knowledge and talents through visual art, music and dance. We will provide an environment, which encourages mutual respect and cultural understanding. We believe that children learn best from people who are lifelong learners. Therefore, we will continue providing opportunities for children and adults to learn simultaneously. Visit them at: www.indianolakids.com

And then there was FINN!

Okay, so I realize that this blog is Rain-centered, as I am sure Finn feels like most of the world is at times. Though I might argue he likes it that way, as Rain's fiercest and most ardent fan is his adoring, adorable brother, Finn. Thankfully life exists outside of Rain. Finn and I spent a lovely day at the art museum and here are some hightlights! Proud much, my beautiful stamp artist? Can you tell I am getting bored here?

"Do you have anymore questions?"

Rain's first day at Indianola Alternative Elementary was a great success! His enthusiasm is best demonstrated by his receptivity to questions; he usually balks at them. Today he repeatedly asked, "Do you have anymore questions," with great vigor. We are all excited and looking forward to Finn's adventures when he starts on Tuesday! Happy long weekend!!!!!!!!!