I’m not sure how many other people besides my mom will get the Beatles’ reference above, but it’s the first thing that came to mind as a title.  We had our first snow yesterday.  Not much, but when we headed out this morning there was still remenants on the rooftops of houses and in the mulch of yards.  Yuck.  Now I’m a fan of snow.  I just don’t want to live in it.  I like to look at it from a warm, winter window.  I don’t like to be out in it - driving, shoveling, even playing.  I leave that to Audi.  I have a theory that you lose your childhood innocence when you start to do your own laundry.  I realized years ago that I stopped doing a lot of things because if I did them, I’d get dirty and have to do some laundry.  Yes, playing in the mud with my brother was a lot of fun.  Yes, kids are supposed to get dirty.  No, I did not see my mother’s face as she tried to salvage the clothes we were wearing when Justin and I decided that the Ghostbusters had a mission on the dirt pile that was transformed by an afternoon rain into a mud hill, and “Toymaker, rest his soul”, Winston never made it out.  I first imagine an “aww” face.  You know the one:  eyebrows furrowed, nose scrunched, mouth in a twisted half smile, half frown.  Then, I try to think of the face I want Jayden to catch me with when he comes in from an adventure - the “wow” face.  Eyebrows raised, grin from ear to ear - the face that says, “I see a boy who had a good time.”  I’ll gladly do that laundry because I know he’ll remember that day for a long time just as I remember my day in the mud - fighting the mud ghost, painting our skin, and making mud pies in aluminum pans.  As I look back on it now, I picture my mom doing laundry with a “wow” face.  Good thing snow is white.  And, yes, I’ll try to lighten up and get dirty once in awhile.

Yes, it does thanks to Audi and a sunny, productive day to himself. Two Fridays ago I had a sub day with my class, and Jayden and Josie went to see Great-Grandma and Grandpa Manger. Audi had the whole day to himself. I thought he would clean out his toolbox, set up our computer media center, and play a little Wii perhaps. Nope. He cleared out a bunch of junk, devised a plan, measured, calculated, went to Lowe’s, measured and calculated again, hung two shelves, put up a hook rack for our golf clubs, put hooks up for a bed frame we’re not using at the moment, AND put up hooks to hang the beanbag game and the ladder. I was very impressed when I got home. It’s so awesome to have everything organized and where I can see it. We put some stuff in the attic this summer - like our tent and Christmas decorations - but things I get into every month or so are still in the garage. Now it all has it’s place and the cars fit perfectly. I’m definitely going to enjoy it, and I’m sure Audi will too when he doesn’t have to scrape snow off the Explorer this winter!

Jayden is doing very well with the new bedtime routine. It took a little longer for him to fall asleep tonight, but he slept all night in his own room last night. Yeah! The Morning Fairy came and gave him a present. The Morning Fairy is a friend of Santa Claus and goes to houses where big boys and girls are learning to sleep in their own rooms. If Jayden sleeps all night in his own room, the Morning Fairy puts a present outside his door. It was all wrapped up with his name on it. He thought it was so cool. Of course he noticed that the Morning Fairy has the same stickers as Mommy. (Can’t fool this kid long.) I’m going to have to get more stickers!

We’re trying something new here in the Scarpella household. It’s called - a routine. Ever heard of it? Yeah, me neither. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed not having to get up early, but I do not enjoy fighting with Jayden every night for two or three hours to go to bed. Therefore, I read a 387 page book in less than an hour and made a plan. It’s called the no-cry sleep solution for toddlers and preschoolers by Elizabeth Pantley. It’s a very good book - I highly recommend it. Anyway, it went great last night (our second night of staying with the plan). Jayden is doing very well with it. I’ve almost completed his checklist so he has a visual to follow as well. It was so cute when I asked him what would help him sleep in his own bed all night he said - and I quote because I wrote it down verbatim - “I would like you to stay in my room all night and sing me a song.” I used to sing him to sleep all the time, but I haven’t since, well, before we moved. He even remembered what song I sang and requested “Twinkle, twinkle, Little Star.” He was asleep in less than five minutes! Of course, the bedtime routine is over an hour, but it’s nice because it gives him a chance to slow down, and it gives us a chance to have some relaxing, bonding time together. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes! The hardest part for me is sticking to it. It’s worth it, and I’m going to have to start sometime before they head off to school. I might as well enjoy the stress-free bedtime sooner!

Amazing.  Absolutely amazing.  It was so awesome I can’t even begin to describe the experience…but I’ll try.

The concert was at the Historic Embassy Theatre in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana.  I found a hotel less than three blocks away that took my Entertainment card so we got 50% off the rack rate ($59 for the night - not too shabby) so we checked in and walked down to the theatre.  There were so many people there.  People younger than us.  Audi and I were saying to each other, “How do these people even know who Ben Folds is?”  He has quite the fan base.  There was a woman probably five or six years older than I with her eight year old daughter right in front of me in the line for the restroom.  Audi said there was a group of fifteen year old boys spazing out while he was in the restroom.  Crazy.

Anyway, the first set was just the philharmonic.  They played a more upbeat set due to the fact that they knew they’d have a younger crowd that night.  It was great.  The fourth piece actually made me cry.  It was a Beatles Suite.  It started with “Yesterday” then moved into “Here Comes the Sun” (one of my top five Beatles’ songs) and then into “Come Together” (one of Audi’s favorites).  After that it was “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Let It Be,” and “All You Need is Love.”  It was just so unexpected to hear Beatles’ music played by a symphony.  It was gorgeous.  The conductor said before the performance, “We didn’t want to try to sound like the Beatles because it can’t be done, so we decided to give their music their dues and play it up in true symphonic style.”  Mission accomplished.

After intermission, Ben’s conductor came out and started the first song with the symphony.  Ben joined them just as the overture was ending to start the song with the piano.  Audi grabbed my leg as soon as he heard the overture, but I didn’t know what song it was until Ben started playing.  It’s my current favorite of his - the one I really wanted to hear at his last concert and started to yell out as a request before he started playing it - “Zak and Sara.”  It was so cool.  When it comes to Ben’s music, it’s hard to have a favorite because they’re all so good.  The entire set was incredible.  There wasn’t one song that sounded off or needed something else added or taken away with the philharmonic instruments.  I loved all the songs he played, and we were even surprised at some of them Ben decided to orchastrate.  The one that got to me (yes, I cried again) and I know it got to Audi was “Gracie.”  It’s about his daughter and it fits perfectly not only with Josie’s personality, but with her name as well.  Whenever I sing it in my head, I always say “Josie” instead of “Gracie” and that’s what did it for me.  It was beautiful.

We got him to do an encore with the philharmonic, “The Luckiest” - another great one.  Then, it was obvious that the members of the philharmonic were done, but we (the young audience) were on our feet and kept clapping for about five minutes until Ben came back out.  It was so funny to see the faces of the philharmonic.  They didn’t know what to do.  When Ben started playing “Army,” we all cheered and sang along with him.  There’s even a part where we are his band.  The song was from when he was with Ben Folds Five so there are “band members” missing; and therefore, instruments missing.  I’m not sure if it’s just two trumpet parts or a trumpet and saxaphone part, but anyway, we didn’t need any direction.  We jumped right in when he needed us with half the audience taking one part and the other half taking the other part.  He turned to the philharmonic who was just shocked and kind of shrugged his shoulders like, “What’s up?  I got my own orchestra!”  It was so cool.  We would definitely not hesitate to see a show like that again.  Audi wanted to drive straight to Lexington, Kentucky, where he was playing the next night with their philharmonic.  It was a great experience.  I’ll never forget it.

Check out this link for some pictures:http://www.joelfaurote.com/site/?p=194.

Yes, we did.  We were presented with an opportunity and couldn’t pass it up.  Since we weren’t able to get to the Cincinnati Zoo and Newport Aquarium this summer like we had planned, we put that money saved into our Christmas fund, and Christmas came a little early this year.

Jayden was sooo excited.  Of course, he knew exactly what it was and exactly what to do since Papaw Mallory has one.  Hopefully, we’ll have a few pictures up soon.  There’s a couple that show his concentration face and a few that show him using his whole body to bowl.  It’s hilarious.

I’m on half days now.  Three days left!  I’m excited about it.  No wonder I don’t want a full time job.  It’s been a great experience and should get many letters of recommendation because of it.

Other than that, we’re just keeping up with housework and the kids.  Quite a chore, indeed.

Well, another week of school has come and gone.  It was a hot one.  The classroom I’m in is at the end of the hallway and aparently gets the hottest during the day.  I think it was Wednesday that the thermometer showed 93 degrees.  What work can you expect to get done in that kind of heat?  Thank goodness it cooled off on Friday, and we got caught up with my lesson plans.

It’s been quite an experience, and I’m glad I took the position because I’ve learned a lot so far.  Audi and I did decide that this will be my last long-term assignment.  I will sub sporactically the rest of the school year, but nothing consecutive.  Last week on Friday, Jayden faked a fever somehow, and I had to leave school at 11:30 to pick him up.  He was fine - meaning he was jumping off the couch with no trace of a fever - by 1 pm.  This Friday Josie managed to throw up as I was pulling onto the on-ramp of I-75.  I had to get on the highway just to turn around and take them back home.  It’s been tough on Audi because we had planned Fridays to be a catch up on homework day since I’d be at school and the kids would be at the sitters, and so far that hasn’t happened.  Because I won’t be subbing as much, I’ll start researching home schooling.  That’s the plan for Jayden next year due to the fact that his birthday is eleven days past the cut off for Kindergarten enrollment.  I might take him to Kindergarten Screening anyway just to see how he does with another teacher.

So anyway, life has been a little chaotic, and I’m looking forward to having dinner and hanging out at Gwen’s tonight.  We haven’t talked much since I started teaching so it will be nice to relax (and not cook dinner)!  I’ll be spending the weekend getting caught up on housework and typing up my lesson plans for next week from my outline.  Have a great one!

We had a great day today. We slept in (7:30am) and made pancakes for brunch. Then, we spent the day outside playing, drawing on the sidewalk with chalk, and running through the sprinkler. Audi spent the day in the car - literally. I took everything out of the Stratus yesterday so that we could vacuum and steam clean it. Jared let us borrow his steam cleaner. Audi took everything out of the Jeep to do the same since we turn it in on the 15th. He also put the Explorer back together and steam cleaned it as well. Over all it was a productive day. We even had tickets for chicken dinners given to us by Ferguson so I didn’t have to cook tonight! Back to school tomorrow, and the kids start at the new sitter.  I’ll let you know how it goes!

Hey, everyone! If you hadn’t heard, I was offered a long-term substitute position at Wapak and began teaching first grade Tuesday, August 19th. Today was the seventh day of school. It’s been awesome. I’ve never been in the school during the first few months so it’s been a real eye-opener to see how it all comes together mid-October. My class list has gone from 20-4+3+1+1=21. I had no idea things were this crazy the first few weeks of school. I’m having a lot of fun and so are Jayden and Josie. They like getting out of the house and playing with new friends. Although Jayden doesn’t like to go to bed on time so every morning he says, “Mom, just a little more sleep.” Hilarious. “Yeah, buddy. Me too.”

One more reason why I’m old. Of course I only feel old because it seems like high school ended, well, not yesterday, but not that long ago. When in actuality, it was nearly ten years ago. My best friend, Jenni, and I got a chance to catch up during the alumni soccer game this weekend during Summerfest. Not only did she remind me that our ten year high school reunion was next summer (thanks), but she also stated that for her to date a 36-year-old man was not a stretch since we’re just a few years shy of 30 ourselves. Geez, where does the time go? Anyway, I’ve concluded that this must be the awkward stage for adults. The time when the person you imagined when you were twenty that you were going to be when you were thirty isn’t around, and you’re trying to balance all things you are. Don’t get me wrong - I’m smiling as I write this. It’s just too funny to be thinking like an adult all the time and saying things like, “They’re young. Let ‘em find their own way,” and “The summer of ‘98 when your father and I were inseparable, gas was $0.93/gallon!”

So what started all this was that I have a 4-year-old son. On Tuesday, Jayden turned four and woke us up bright and early to open his presents. Audi took the day off so we got to snuggle in bed for a couple of hours while Jayden went through his loot. Around 9:30 we made strawberry pancakes. They were great! Then, Audi installed Jayden’s presents in his room. You’ll see what I mean on Saturday. Be sure to check out the improved mailbox designed by me and made by Audi when you drive up. We got so many things done - it’s amazing!

Yesterday was very productive as well. Jayden and I went through all the toys, and he decided to give a few away for other kids to enjoy. The house looks nice, and we’re getting ready for his party on Saturday. Tonight, Audi will be grilling the chicken so we can shred it in the food processor. We’re so excited to have everyone over and hang out. The weather is predicted to be in the 80’s and sunny so we should have to great time!