First day of school

Everybody knows that having an older sibling means you don't have to cut a new path for yourself, if you don't want to. Monday this meant that my 5-year old had a very easy adjustment to kindergarten. When asked if he was excited about school he reported "Yeah, but it's just TFS so it's no big deal."

Our nearly 8-year old froze in her classroom doorway on the first day and whispered "I don't know what to do." Third grade, the new frontier, was right across the hall from second grade. But without an older sibling cutting the path for her, it was a whole new planet, one to be explored cautiously.

Is this the case for every child? I know as a second child, I walked into kindergarten fearlessly. I owned that place, having watched patiently for a year as my sister played with their letter people and wooden stop signs. I wonder though, would my 8-year old be more fearless if she were following an older sib? Or could this tentativeness with "the new" be part of her personality? Maybe it's a little of both, a bit of "the chicken or the egg" paradigm?

Cutting the cord

Tomorrow our cable service will be shut off. Yes, we paid our bills on time. But it's time to reclaim some of the cash and time that unlimited cable saps away from us. We aren't leaving technology behind though or even our favorite shows as our internet connection will provide us what we need. The big question comes to getting our sports watching needs met. Can we make that work? Any thoughts out there on cutting the cable cord?

This is how we learn math

Everyone knows that math is a part of the everyday life. How else will you know that the McDonald's attendant gave you the correct change from your Happy Meal? How else will you know that you have enough money to purchase that Happy Meal in the first place?

At our house, math is critical to ensure we meet our newly minted budget. But explaining that this is why a 6 year old must memorize her "boring" math facts is excruciating.

She gets it, she gets the part about McDonalds for sure. But that doesn't change the fact that memorizing is Boooooring.

How to overcome? How to inspire? How to make it fun?

For today, magnets. Interspersed with some beloved hand-clapping games at the end of each number grouping, "Let's finish the 8's and we can do Lemonade Crunch Ice."

For tomorrow, a dry erase board. And of course more hand-clap breaks.

But what after that? How long until she is onto my antics?

Any suggestions out there?

We are going on a budget

Everybody knows that without a budget your money controls you. But for us, it let us close our eyes to your spending habits - which are sometimes painful to look at. And, while it's true that for years we have talked of "going back on a budget," but this year we mean it!

Okay, I mean it and Mr. Briggs has amiably been going along with the idea, so far. But the TRUTH is, being on a budget is no fun. It means you have to be accountable for everything you purchase...including those really cute 75% off sandals catching your eye in the middle of winter.

Being on a budget is scary...it means that you can't sneak out for lunch or a latte anymore. It means you can't swing through McDonald's on the way home from gymnastics because you are just to exhausted to think about cooking dinner and so are they. It means you can't play golf at that exclusive place where your friend "knows someone" and can get you in their foursome at 6am this Saturday. Okay, I wasn't going to do that one, but someone here impacted by our new budget plans will want to.

But the truth is, you actually can do all those things on a budget. You just have to plan for them and sometimes you are going to need to *gasp* - save up your spending money to do those things. Just like little Ms. M is saving all of her Christmas, birthday, Tooth Fairy and chore money for that lovely Princess Tiana dress. And she's not saving for the cheap Target version either. A girl of taste, she is saving her pennies for the sixty dollar Disney version.

It is time for the grown ups here to lead by example. It is time for us to follow the lead of our 6 year old and exert a little impulse control. We can do it! We can do it!

Okay, the truth is, we have done this before. When we were young and in love and ready to have our own place. We went on a budget to save for the downpayment on our first house. We still had to borrow money from our in-laws to avoid PMI, but being on a budget then felt empowering. It was one more than we could be in control of in this out-of-control world. And we can do it again. I know we can!

We just need two little elements planning and self-control. Here we go!

Simple Birthday Plans

Today, Mr. B is the big three. He has been looking forward to his birthday ever since his sister's fabulous HSM birthday party back in August. Her's was replete with 21 guests, mostly new kindergarten classmates and relatively old neighborhood chums. There were crafts, karaoke and a pinata. The expectations were sure to be high for a similarly over-the-top soire for Little Bro. And true to form, we have been asked weekly "when am I having my birthday party like Meri's?"

However, exhausted parents have a little something else in mind. We plan to do a simple birthday celebration. It goes something like this, Intimate Family Party plus Sharing Cupcakes and goody bags at playgroup.

Okay, so I did invite some neighbors to share in tonight's family cake (for a total of 10 partiers). And then, I added on Mr. B's favorite neighbor friends to his playgroup party (for a total of 19 partiers, including parents and sibs) . We are making a mountain with dinosaurs cake for tonight and I enlisted a neighbor-baker to make cool John Deere cupcake-cake for playgroup. We did already open a fire truck. Have a wrapped package from Grammy waiting on the dining room table. Are expecting another gift delivery today. There is a pile of presents upstairs to be wrapped which includes a pair of cowboy boots. And we are headed out to Target to buy a bathrobe ("like Meri's").

Hmmmm....sounds like exhausted parents will remain exhausted.

We have less elaborate plans for Christmas. Really.

Family Photo Session

We have been talking for years about getting a family photo done. We have lots of photos, but like everyone, Someone must man the camera. For us Man is literal, so we have very few photos of Keith.

We scheduled our session with a friend who is a great photographer (in my opinion!). She also happens to be the mom of one of Brady's playmates. We were hoping this familiarity would keep Brady from playing shy in front of the camera.

From here the planning began. We all scheduled and got haircuts. I spent time brainstorming and then shopping for semi-coordinating outfits. The one thing we didn't plan for was the chilly weather and Brady's perpetual cough.

The session went great in spite of the chill and the fact that Brady ended the session by throwing up on both him and me (all that coughing!). That said, I didn't have too high of expectations in the outcome of our session. I can't imagine how Laura got any shots that didn't include Brady hacking and coughing or Meribel wrapping her arms around herself to ward off the chill.

However, Laura does seem to work miracles - really, she does! This preview shot from her blog is the proof:
http://lauraannphotos.blogspot.com/2008/10/little-preview-of-recent-family-session.html

Photo Album of Triathlon

Updated the link to a public one that should work. I blogged the race with the photos and also in my comment back to Jen:

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=6987&l=59181&id=1406652603