Last Day of Kindergarten / 2nd Grade

Posted on June 7, 2018 by Cathy O

It’s that time of year again – last day of school!

My kids are SO excited, and I’m emotional! Look how big my babies are getting:

Top: First day of 2nd grade and kindergarten / Bottom: Last day

I’m ending the kindergarten era: both kids have been in 4K and 5K, so four total years of kindergarten.

This morning my son read me a book at breakfast time.

Last night I read to both of my kids, though many nights they read to themselves.

I’m so stinking proud of these kids and feel so blessed to be their mom.

I expect to be a complete mess when they move onto middle school and graduate high school. That’s a lot for a mom’s heart to handle! This year I even cried watching a video of 5th graders leaving their school – kids who are not even mine. Yikes! Good luck parents, if you’re celebrating a big milestone or just a bit emotional about the end of the school year like me!

I’ve written about these emotional days before in case you want to look back like I did this morning:

Have a wonderful summer!

Fly on the Wall: Smart Kids

Posted on February 16, 2018 by Cathy O

Welcome to a Fly on the Wall group post. Today 6 bloggers are inviting you to catch a glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes. Come on in and buzz around my house.

Here’s who you’ll be hearing from in my house:

Me, Mama O.
Daddy O.
Big Sister, age 8
Little Brother, age 6

Since I have been writing these blog posts since 2014, I have my own Fly Post Page. Check it out if you want to hear more craziness from my house.

The first day back to school after the holidays and I ask the kids how their day was.

Big Sister: Good

Little Brother: Annoying!

I could tell Little Brother was grumpy and tired, so I said later, “Well, maybe you should go to bed early. Sometimes after a bad day, a good night’s rest will make you feel better.”

Little Brother replied, “I didn’t say I had a bad day. It was a miserable day.”

Okay then…

Just Between Siblings

I can’t remember the exact context, but I heard the kids talking:

Little Brother: Me thinking only of myself.

Big Sister: If you do that, then you can’t be a Jedi.

Daddy O. has them well-trained on Star Wars.

Two Cute One-liners from Smart Kids

Big Sister’s friend said, “Don’t yuck someone else’s yum.”

Little Brother declared (as he asked me to read him a story), “A story will make a good snuggle even better.”

Future Blogger?

Little Brother brought home some journal entries from his kindergarten class, and they really are great. It’s adorable to see what stands out in his mind and what he chooses to draw and share. I think he could be a future blogger.

I played with my little blue thing a ma bob this morning.

I accidentally kicked my heel yesterday.

Riveting, right?!

I went to the beer gardens.

YES, this is true. We DID take the kids to a beer garden in town. There IS a playground and slide there, so it IS family-friendly. No, this isn’t a weekly thing. Of course, he writes about this in kindergarten!!

Grandma’s Got a New Job

My mom recently retired, and her schedule has been quite full. I was telling Daddy O., “Grandma is working the polls.”

And then I realized that it could be interpreted as “poles.” We just cracked up.

Grandma will be working as part of the primary election staff just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

The BEST for Last!

Big Sister: Mom is smart. She is raising two kids.

Amen, sister!

Now go read those other fantastic blogs for a peek into some other homes:

Baking In A Tornado http://www.BakingInATornado.com

Menopausal Mother http://www.menopausalmom.com/

Never Ever Give Up Hope https://batteredhope.blogspot.com

Bookworm in the Kitchen http://www.bookwormkitchen.com/

Spatulas on Parade https://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com

Best Toy Ever: YEARS of Building Fun

Posted on February 1, 2018 by Cathy O

As many parents know, some toys just remain a hit year after year, while others have come and gone.

This one has been a clear favorite since they first arrived in 2013. (Thanks, Amazon purchase history!) It’s the Magna Tiles Clear Colors 100 Piece Set.

No, this is not a sponsored post either, just an unsolicited review from a happy mom.

We bought these when my son was two years old. He looked like this then:

2 year old big boy

Now he’s six years old, and he is still building and creating with these Magna Tiles. His cousin and eight-year-old sister were playing with them over the weekend. Inventing who know’s what and having a blast.

2018 and this toy is still going strong

After building and toppling countless towers, he knows now to add “stabilizers” to the bottom. When he runs out of squares, he puts two triangles together to make a square. He’s learning and playing all at the same time. Genius! They’ve routinely made a bowling ally (kind of like a maze with a bouncy ball) and many other creations. These Magna Tiles have withstood much use and abuse through the years, and I can’t recall ever having to throw one piece away! Just last week, I found a stack of them in my eight-year-old daughter’s closet.

I remember buying these Magna Tiles years ago with Christmas money from Great Grandma, and yes, it was a lot of money to spend on one toy. We’ve also added a building pack, so the kids could create vehicles, which have been mostly trains in our house! (I’ve written about cardboard trains and the Illinois Railroad Museum)

And yeah, we really loved trains – especially here in April 2014:

My Little Railroader

As I look back on these pictures and blog posts, it IS nice to see that my kids will still play with toys and, in fact, are still little kids (despite their growing size). I can’t freeze time, as much as I’d like to, and while I want my kids to stay little, stay sweet, I can be more mindful of times that I catch them “being little” and playing intently with toys. Take a picture (as my son requested this morning even though we were busy getting ready for school), and enjoy the moment.

While my kiddos are much too big for the term “babies don’t keep,” I have experienced that time flies when your kids are in school full-time. There will be a time that these toys aren’t as appealing as sports and activities win out over playing at home.

Until then, we’ll gladly embrace the Magna Tile towers and messes that may come along with them.

Signs your Kids are Growing Up

Posted on October 13, 2017 by Cathy O

I’ve been feeling like I’m an “old” or “older” parent this school year, especially with both of my kids in school full days now (kindergarten and 2nd grade).

This IS a big deal for our family.

Some may say it’s even life changing! And it is in so many ways, but that’s for another blog post.

One sign that the kids are growing up is the gear (or lack of baby gear) in our home. One of the last “baby items” that remains is our bike trailer. About five years ago it actually transported our little kids. It has been stored in our garage for some time, but over summer it was dusted off and used for this:

New use for an old bike trailer

We rode bikes to a cookout and brought our food along! On another occasion it’s carried beer! My hubs rode his bike to the grocery store and hauled home our groceries in it.

Forget a bike basket – we have a whole trailer!! 🙂

Fly on the Wall: Balancing Crazy & Awesome Days

Posted on July 21, 2017 by Cathy O

Welcome to a Fly on the Wall group post. Today 8 bloggers are inviting you to catch a glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes. Come on in and buzz around my house.

Buzz around, see what you think, then click on these links for a peek into some other homes:

A Little Piece of Peace

Never Ever Give Up Hope

Bookworm in the Kitchen

Here’s who you’ll be hearing from:

Me, Mama O.
Daddy O.
Big Sister, age 7
Little Brother, age 5

For more Fly Posts, you can see my Fly on the Wall PAGE!

Yikes! This is only the third time this year that I’ve been part of this blogging challenge. A lot has been going on – major volunteering, launching my marketing business, but I did take some time to hang with my girls and see Boyz II Men and New Kids on the Block. Unfortunately, Paula Abdul wasn’t able to perform due to an injury. My dear BFF (who I knew back when these bands were around) warned me before the concert that we may hear, “Old voices.” I really didn’t know what she meant, so she went on, “You know, they may just sound old and different.” Well…here’s what they looked like:

New Kids on the Block rocking it in St. Paul, MN

Fireworks, lights, Joe getting up close & personal with the fans! They put on an entertaining show!

I didn’t think they sounded old. Boyz II Men still had it too! It was a very fun night!

After that week, it’s been a balancing act of summer school, sports, work, and fun with family & friends. All good things of course!

Fast forward to July 4th, and Daddy O had this to say:

“I feel unpatriotic drinking this beer.”

Some Expressions are Tough to Understand

Me: I need to balance my checkbook. Big sister: What are you balancing it on?

Me: We’ll be carpooling today with our neighbors. Big sister replies, “I hope the water’s warm.” Hmm…there’s no pool in the car.

Summer Grumpiness

Big Sister: Adults almost always ruin my mood especially you Mom.

This is what I get for laying down the law during summer! It’s funny because her comment reminds me of what they said last summer. I wrote about it in “You Might be Home with your Kids for Summer if…”

I was talking to Little Brother about getting along with friends, after hearing that he was name-calling. He went on to say, “those darn friends mess everything up sometimes.” For being five, he sure can sound like a grumpy old man sometimes!

Crazy Little Brother

Little Brother kept saying “subspicious” for several weeks.

Little Brother describing his two recess times at school: I play Ningajo in the morning and monster in the afternoon.

We ended up finding a love seat and two chairs for our living room. Once they were delivered, Little Brother referred to it as a “love couch.”

While helping with chores, I discovered that Little Brother loves to scrub with the toilet brush. “It’s kind of like stirring a big soup,” he said. Stir on, I say!

Me to Little Brother: Stop being crazy!
Big Sister explains: He was born crazy, mom.

Little Brother was sitting on my lap, and asked where my heart was. He guessed, “between those Rocky Mountains?” Yes, referring to my boobs! Ahh! Previously, he told us that, “boobs are enjoyable.” The gray hairs are coming already because of this kid!

Awesome has a New Meaning

Me at dinnertime: My day was productive.
Kids: What does that mean?
Little Brother: Like awesome?
Me: Yes, exactly!

I hope you all have an awesome rest of July! Cheers, my dear readers.

go mama o

balancing kids, life and work on the go

Category Archives: parenting