Back to School

The crazy days of school have returned. Monday we attended a meet and greet/drop off supplies at school and the boys officially started school today (2 days later than the rest of the county because they are attending a brand new school). It is incredibly nice and they are very excited. There are bathrooms and water fountains in each classroom. Everything is very well thought out down to the tile colors, building layout (3rd, 4th and 5th graders are upstairs), etc.


Andrew has the only 1st grade teacher to come from his old school so he already knows her (pictured below and she is expecting a baby boy).



Matthew has a new teacher for 2nd grade but she seems very nice in person and per his report at the end of day 1.



The school mascot...starfish!




Andrew's classroom with the SmartBoard in front. This is not your parent's elementary school (mine either).


Computer Center with connecting door to the library. This school is technology heavy which is really great to see!


Unfortunately they almost missed the bus this morning as there was a misprint in the schedule and we ran the last 1/2 block. New haircuts for the big day...

First off the bus (no surprise) Welcome home! Missed you dad!


and now on to homework, snack, baseball practice, dinner, bath......bed. Overall, a great day except mom got home at 8 pm!

Soccer Camp

Well, Matthew still has the third loose tooth, so no three-peat. Andrew attended a 4 day soccer camp the week of 8/11 and had a great time. Photos are posted on the Picasa page - link to the right. I also put up a few pics of the house with the new chairs on the porch which I really like.

The boys and I stayed home last weekend while Mark attended his 25th High School Reunion in California. He had a great time although I have to go on record to clarify that the red and black tie that he was seen wearing at the reunion did not originate in Maryland. Apparently all that advice he was asking me about what to wear was to throw me off the track of him finding a school colors tie. Whatever!

The boys have spent time at the pool this week enjoying their last week before school. We have a meet and greet on Monday morning where we see the classrooms, meet the teachers, and drop off supplies. First day of school is Wednesday and their bus leaves at 8:30 which is 15 minutes earlier than last year and they should get home about 15 minutes earlier. They are both really looking forward to school starting.

Can he make it 3 in a row?

So, Saturday lunch seems to be the time for losing teeth! Yep, he did it again this past Saturday, another bottom tooth missing!

I say missing because we didn't realize the tooth had come out until about 3 pm when I was talking to him about something totally unrelated and said "Where's your tooth?" It was extremely loose in the morning and then we had pasta at Carraba's for lunch (Matt's fave). Since the tooth was there before lunch, gone by 3 pm, and he doesn't remember anything about the tooth in between....we have to assume that.....you guessed it, he swallowed it!

Here's the note to the tooth fairy:

On an educational note, his first tooth was in the Twinkle Toof holder so we had to take it out Saturday night so the tooth fairy could come again. I didn't have a great place to put it, so I sat it on our dresser so we could get the kids to bed. The tooth fairy came overnight, but Sunday morning was cleaning day. I saw the tooth on the dresser and thought to myself "I really need to get a ziploc to put it in before we loose it". As I was cleaning in Matt's room, I noticed a ziploc on the floor with his name on it...PERFECT! I took it in to our room, dropped the tooth in, and back to his room I go to finish cleaning, carrying the baggie with me.

When I got to his room, something made me look at the bag to verify the tooth was inside. To my horror, I look down to see both ends of the ziploc had been cut off like someone was going to use it to frost a cake. #@!$ ! I look down at the carpet between Matt's room and our room. While it is only about 20 feet, it might as well have been the Pacific ocean since the carpet and the tooth are exactly the same color! I got down on my knees and searched by hand right where I put the tooth in the bag hoping it fell straight out, no luck.

I then decide to rev up the new bagless vacuum we got after the other one died the day before we left on vacation. I emptied the container and started vacuuming right inside the door to our room. Within 6 inches, I heard a click in the container and shut off the vacuum just in case. Woohoo, can you believe I found it on the first sweep?

It was only when I pulled the container off the vacuum that I realized what a rollercoaster of fortune and misfortune I was experiencing. The tooth was split in half right down the middle, it would never be the same, his first tooth, I had just dropped 20 levels on the scale of mommyhood. How would I explain this one?

Tell the truth MOM! So I did and approached it with an educational slant. Where else were they going to see the inside of a tooth? Matthew was not happy, but understood and now he has two (half) teeth to make up for the one he swallowed.

The next tooth that comes out is going to be bronzed and wall mounted within 15 minutes. Let's see if he goes 3 for 3 this weekend (it is a possibility) :-)