I remembered!

I haven't done a digi layout since our move June 30th, and when I began a new one today, I had to reteach myself how to use Photoshop Elements. Although I've made better ones, I'm still pretty pleased with how these turned out. I don't know what happened with the Ellie layout, though. The focus is waaaay off. Oh well!

On another note...Camden's first full day of kindergarten was today. He raced to the bus, which arrived 15 minutes early, this morning, and hopped right on in search of his neighborhood friends. It all happened so fast that I didn't even get to grab a quick hug goodbye. But, all was well. He came home excited, skipping into the house and telling me all about his day. He made "thousands" of friends. He sat beside a nice girl in a red shirt at lunch. Naptime was short. Gym was fun. But, "I got in just a teeny trouble today," he told me. He, apparently, was noisy and interrupted the teacher during gym class, and had to go to "just a little time out." What did you learn from that, I asked him. "Well, tomorrow I'll be like a good listener," he said. "But I don't have gym." Well, that should help. :)

To infinity and beyond

Camden marched into my room this morning and announced that he was going to get dressed for school - super fast - because he didn't want to be late. Oh, if that's how this entire kindergarten year goes, then hallelujah, it'll be a breeze! Camden's first day of kindergarten, a day in his school where parents join the kids for about 90 minutes then all go home together, was wonderful. He was excited, if nervous. At home he tucked his shirt tail into his pants. He ate a peanut butter sandwich as well as two bowls of cereal. He wore his new Buzz Lightyear backpack that we picked out as soon as the Disney store put them on display. He looked surprisingly ready for this monumental day - a day that would set the stage for the rest of his school years.

But I could sense the nervous shyness he felt as we made our way to the school building. He let go of my hand when we got near the front door. He peeked into the cafeteria with awe. He marveled - yes, marveled - at his nap mat standing in his cubby. ("It's the third one!" he told me as he spotted his name.) He wondered around the classroom in a quiet and reserved way that made me wonder if this child was, indeed, my Camden. Yes, he was a little bundle of nerves, but he was ready, and I was so proud of him I could have hugged him forever. (But to save him the embarrassment, I refrained.)

His teacher is a wonderful woman. She is patient, quiet, and loving, yet authoritative enough to command their attention in the nicest way. I think she's a perfect match for Camden. God surely had a hand in finding a great first teacher for my son. Tomorrow I will entrust him to her care. He'll ride the bus in the morning, sit on her rug, follow her rules, meet her expectations, and come back home to me in the afternoon. I cannot wait to see what he tells me about his day. I know enough about kids to know that I need to ask questions that require more than a one-word answer. Tomorrow I'll delve, push, even annoy him into telling me what happened on this first real day of kindergarten. He'll answer at first, then he'll get frustrated that I'm keeping him from talking to his other friends, so I'll stop till dinnertime. But I'll keep up my pleas for details. After all, I have a blog to keep, a scrapbook to record, and a need to know how he accounts for the seven hours he spends without me. Hmmmm. That's seven hours a day for the next 13 years. Then countless hours a day for the rest of his left. Whew. That just hit me like a ton of bricks. I suddenly feel like I've wasted the very precious seven extra hours I've had with him for the first five years. It seems the time has gone to infinity and beyond.

Kindergarten

Tomorrow my baby goes to kindergarten. Well, it's really an orientation that I get to take him to. It'll only last an hour and a half or so. Then we'll head to Krispy Kreme for doughnuts (his request for a special treat). But I'm having some crazy mixed feelings even though it's only a sort-of first day, and I'll be with him the whole time!

I can't believe that Camden's already 5 years old. Just yesterday he was burping over my shoulder, making monster eyes as he fell asleep with a full tummy, and saying "dua dua" over and over and over again as he tried to get the hang of speaking. Where has the time gone? Have I truly embraced it, treasured it? Possibly not, as I can barely remember all the precious moments. Thank goodness for his scrapbooks. Some think I'm nuts to put the effort into them, but when he's on the big yellow bus for the first time on Wednesday, I'll be staring puddly-eyed over the pages of his birth, his birthday parties, his Christmases, all the priceless memories of his first 5 and a half years. I love you, Camden. To infinity and beyond and back.

Lost and Found

I had a wild idea that my purse could have been tossed in the bushes across the street, so last night I asked Curt to wander over there with me to poke around for it. Nearly five seconds after we stepped across the road, he spotted my purse, the purple journal, wallet, and everything else dumped out in a tangle of weeds. What a relief! Of course, the cash was missing as was only one debit card, but my driver's license, health insurance cards, pictures, and everything else was still there. Amazing, really. I slept so well last night knowing that all my identifying information wasn't out there somewhere in the wrong hands. Instead, it was just my old debit card which wouldn't have gotten anybody very far. So, after spending an entire day canceling and applying for replacement cards, paying 10 bucks for a new license, and filing a stolen purse report, almost everything is back to normal. The great misgiving we are left with is that somebody was in our garage in the dead of night without us knowing a thing about it. That's a scary, vulnerable feeling. It did leave us with a great wake-up call, though. We've secured the doors with a monitor that beeps when opened, and we check to make sure the doors are locked before turning in at night - especially that garage door. I guess no matter how trusting I am, I know I can't be too cautious when it comes to protecting my family.

Speaking of family, here is a picture of the boys I took today at King's, where we had lunch and picked up an apple pie and ice cream for Jack and Lois' visit tonight. They're playing with the planes, car, truck, and space shuttles we got for $4.24 at the "junk store," as Camden calls it.

What to do if your purse is stolen...

I've lost my identity.
Today I became a "victim of crime" said the State Police officer who came after I reported my purse stolen. I can't really describe how that feels - sort of like helpless, wrecked inside, nervous, anxious, violated. It just sucks, to be frank. My purse was stolen from my van parked inside my own garage here at home. OK, so it was stupid to leave it in the van and even more stupid to accidentally leave the garage door open the other night. But that's beside the point. It's my house! Nobody has any business poking their noses in my garage, much less taking something that doesn't belong to them. Camden asked me this morning if "stealing is from nature." I told him no, that stealing is just plain wrong. He's satisfied that the police are now "looking for those bad guys." He's also irate that the "bad guys" went to McDonald's with my credit card and blew $24! Thank goodness for banks who can track purchases in real time. I've been on the phone all a.m. canceling accounts and requesting new cards. I don't even have a driver's license anymore. It just plain sucks to have no identity.
Oh yeah, and the worst part - to add insult to injury - my journal was in that beautiful black leather tote purse with my initials on it!

Eye Crunching

Today was the best day of the month by far - temperature had to be in the 70s, low humidity, sunshine, almost like fall. (Must be near because I'm on my morning dose of Benadryl for ragweek allergies - achooo!) I took the boys out to run some errands, and as we were walking into Michael's, Camden said, "Mom, do you have to crunch your eyes?" "Yep, I do," I said. "I crunch my eyes, too, and I look at the ground." And that's how we keep the sun out of our eyes.

Day 1

Picture of the day: This is Benjy swimming like a fish. He loves water when he can touch the bottom of the pool. He's very nervous when he can't, and so he hangs onto one's neck as a tree frog hugs a branch.

Well, this is the beginning of my blog. I'm excited to start this online journal for a couple of reasons. I LOVE to journal, but I HATE to write. So, here I can mix my quick typing (and deletion) skills with my need to say something to nobody in particular. I really want to keep this going, so I'm gonna need some sort of incentive. Perhaps a banana split will do the trick. Yeah, I can have a big ol' banana split if I keep my blog going till the end of August. (Imagine how I'll reward myself if I can keep it going till the end of the year! Yeah!)

I have fretted for a few days about what to call my blog. I finally was git with a stroke of inspiration when "At Random" popped into my head. That was the title of my dad's newspaper column at the Coalfield Progress years and years ago when he worked there. I think it's fitting that I can use it for my blog now. Truly, it's the little bits and pieces of randomness that make up the meat of our lives. I hope to use this blog to explore a few of these random moments.

Today my boys are FINALLY happy, content, and quiet. What a morning they've had wrestling (you can imagine how Benjy won that one!), fussing with each other, taking things from each other, and just generally crossing that imaginary line that separates siblings and keeps things harmonious. Well, when that line was crossed, the harmony was gone. Whew, never thought I'd say this, but thank goodness for Nick Jr.!

You know, that imaginary line is a constant, huh? I remember when my sister Michelle would cross it. Nothing would boil your blood faster than somebody impeding on your space. I hated that! I still guard my space. Some days I just want to be left alone, untouched. I don't want anybody to cross my line. Today's like that for me. I just want a bit of space. I guess kids have those days, too. I certainly understand that.