In early October, Julie set up a dinner at her house with my mom's good friend Bettie. Julie and I grew up calling her Aunt Bettie, so I think of her as how Aunt Nyree will be to Trey. We hadn't seen her in a long time, and it was nice to catch up. She also hadn't met the boys before, so that was special for her.
I had to go to Spokane for the first weekend of October to be on campus for graduate school. Three nights away was the longest I'd been away from Trey, but we managed by doing FaceTime. I think he and Randy had fun together as well.
While Spokane was a long drive away (six hours each way), the upside is that I got to spend three nights alone in a hotel and got to meet my cohort. It was so nice to meet the people I am going through this crazy online adventure with and spend time together. We had a great time connecting and bonding over cognitive tests, meals as a group, and drinks. It was actually a really great weekend.
Our cohort plus some of our professors
At a bar across from our hotel and "campus"
Kathleen and I had good intentions of getting some work done between class and dinner, but once Vicente showed up, we just spent the time talking.
More FaceTime
I drove home and went straight to Grady's fourth birthday party. It's hard to believe this little guy is four! I was lucky to be let out of class a little early so I wasn't as late to the party as I thought I would be. It was fun to relax and see family, but I was ready to go home and crash.
Just a random picture I took because I am constantly
amazed at how Trey has turned into a little boy.
On statewide inservice day, we got to spend the day with Ana because Curt had to work. We had a sleepover the night before, and then Curt left super early to get to work. While on one hand it was great that Ana was here because she kept Trey occupied so I could get some work done, on the other, I thought I might die because the two kids would not stop talking for the entire day. I finally took them to the movies in the afternoon, and I think this was the only way I was going to be able to shut them up.
October meant that soccer season was wrapping up (thank god), and Trey was pretty much done with the games. He would cry before each game and not want to go. By the end of the season, I told him he had to go and watch his team and cheer them on, but he did not have to play if he did not want to. This seemed to work okay, and it was a good compromise. He took some cool black and white pics while we were watching one game.
I like the clouds in this pic.
Another selfie, of course.
So the following story is a big parenting fail. Trey really wanted a Minion from Build-a-Bear. He had a sticker chart where he was earning a reward for some bedtime behaviors. He finally earned his reward and wanted said Minion. I took him to Build-a-Bear and he was thrilled to build his own Minion and do all of the weird things that they do there. Great! Fun! Wonderful! Little did I know, until we got to the cash register, that said Minion was $55. WTF?!?!?!? I seriously had no idea that it would be so expensive and didn't even think to check out the price before we went. He wanted to earn another Minion for his next reward, but somehow the sticker chart disappeared and we don't do that anymore. Lesson learned.
Trey and Bailey waiting for a weekend playdate
On another weekend we were invited to Maclyn's birthday party, but I had already committed to watching Ana. Lucky for us, Kathleen said we could bring her to the party. We had some time to kill, so we tried a new restaurant in North Portland. The kids were able to play and I was able to have a beer and read about special ed law. Perfect!
Maclyn had a dress-up superhero party, but I think Trey and Ana may have been some of the only ones dressed up. They had a fun time running around and being silly, and we were happy to help Maclyn celebrate!
An update on grad school: taking 16 credits while working full time (plus), parenting, trying to maintain a household, and keeping any sense of self is really effing hard. I don't get nearly enough sleep, we have been eating like crap, and my kid gets way too much screen time. I try to fit my coursework in wherever and whenever I can. The good news is that I am learning a lot from my classes, there is minimal hoop jumping, and I am applying most of what I am doing to my job. It's all going to be worth it in the end (this could be my last year teaching!) but it is quite taxing right now. Taking care of myself is at the bottom of the list, and it has been taking its toll.
Reading the WISC-V manual while eating sushi
Watching a webinar while doing laundry
Trey had his last soccer game on Halloween (we chose to go to a birthday party instead since Trey wasn't playing in games at this point), and then the end-of-season soccer party was the following week. I was really happy to meet some of the moms and dads whose kids go to our school, and we have become friends with some of them. It was all worth it in the end, although I'm not sure if Trey will play soccer again (as of now, the verdict is no).
Trey and Coach Dave at the party
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