Summer school

For those of you who don't know, I decided to go back to school to get my degree to be a school psychologist.  I chose an online program at Eastern Washington University because I felt like it would meld a little better with our current lifestyle than attending class twice a week for the next two years.  The program started this summer, and I had to take 20 credits (five classes) in eight weeks.

For those of you who didn't see my posts on Facebook or talk to me about summer school, it was pretty brutal.  I felt like I took time each day to do something fun with Trey and get him out of the house, but my coursework took a lot of time, and my poor boy got A LOT of screen time.  He might not be complaining about the screen time, but I felt terrible about it.

I thought I'd compile all of the summer school pictures into one blog post so that I can ignore it in the rest of my summer posts.  You'll notice there's a fair amount of booze in the pictures - this was one way I got through the long days doing a lot of work and definitely a benefit of the online program.

Both of us watching videos at the same time.  

His were a little more fun.

I don't know about your five year old, but mine doesn't play alone very well...or for very long.  He does okay for short periods, but they are really unpredictable.  We spent a lot of time on the deck doing what one might call parallel play.

Multitasking at its best - reading my textbook and making up voices for the guys. 

Reading my textbook during soccer class 

Reading my textbook while Trey swims 

A summer growler is the best way to work my way through weekly discussion boards 

Monday nights are our live sessions, and I do them over at Kris and John's house so I don't get interrupted by my five year old.  I set up shop in their dining room, pour myself a nice strong g&t and listen to the class.  Sometimes Kris makes me dinner (she's really the best), and sometimes I take my leftover summer veggie bowl from that afternoon.

Randy and Trey went camping one weekend and I was looking forward to getting a lot of work done at home.  Unfortunately, our internet went out, so I spent a lot of time at Kris and John's house doing my work.  Here is my set up on their deck - park views, glass of wine, and listening to a webinar about PBIS.  Heaven.  Or.....

This was a standard view in our house this summer.  Me reading my textbook and Trey laying on me watching something on the iPad.

When we went to Port Townsend in July to see Randy's parents, I had a paper to write and an exam to take.  One day they all went to the beach to explore, and I sat down to work.  I wanted to have a little pity party about it, but I found a nice pub in town and had a beer while I wrote my paper.  Not too shabby of an arrangement, if you ask me.

Trey did a few half day camps this summer, and I took every moment I had to get work done.  During the week he was at art camp, I spent every morning at Jim and Patty's coffee shop in Beaverton.  I had my decaf americano (or two) and  an egg sandwich or pastry and was set up for 2.5 hours to listen to lectures and webinars.  It could have been worse.

In the first week of August, we took a family trip to the beach for my dad's birthday.  I had a lot of reading to do, and I spent a fair amount of time on the deck with my DSM-5.  No better way, really, to read about mental disorders than with a margarita and the ocean.

The beach house we stayed in did not have wifi, so I had to find a spot to get some work done.  I found the golf pro shop/cafe at Salishan, and they let me set up shop in their back conference room.  This spot was actually pretty ideal because it was quiet, not too far from the house, and they had beer.

One night I even had live session so I went to Salishan for class.  The bartender even came back to the conference room to ask me if I needed another beer.  I loved this place.

Another summer afternoon with both of us on our screens.  I definitely did not win Mother of the Summer award this year.

This is my last weekend of class, sitting on the deck and working on my last final exam.  I got everything turned in on August 15th which meant I had my birthday the following day without any work hanging over my head.

I knew the summer would be hard, and it was.  Fall session starts up on September 23rd, and I will be taking 16 credits while working full time.  It's going to be a busy year, and if you have any strategies on how to balance being a full time student, being a full time teacher, and being a full time mom and wife, please feel free to send them my way!

Summer Classes and Camps

Trey kept busy this summer doing a variety of classes and summer camps.  We are lucky to be able to use Tualatin Hills Parks and Rec for most of our summer classes as they have a huge variety and are really affordable.  This summer Trey took a soccer class at Parks and Rec as well as a half day super hero camp and a science camp.  I didn't get any pictures of the camps, but he really enjoyed them.

First up was soccer class.  This started right when the summer started and Trey wasn't thrilled until he found out that Coach Brian was his teacher again.  He had Coach Brian last summer, and he loves him.  Brian is great with the kids, and Trey was at ease the second he saw him.  They worked on a variety of skills which I thought would be good since Trey is starting a soccer team with his school this fall.

Trey has been interested in karate for a while, so we finally got him signed up at Aim High Academy which is a stellar facility for kids.  Randy and I have been so impressed with them as they not only are teaching Trey ninja moves, but they teach about self-control, focus, respect, stranger danger, and empathy.   The kids can also earn "super stripes" by doing chores at home.  Trey is working on a few different chores and the reward of a super stripe for his belt is better than anything else we can offer at this point.

Trey has continued to take swimming lessons at Children of the Sea.  We have really liked this program, and Trey has generally done really well.  However, this summer we seem to have hit a plateau and Trey is not getting better with his skills and we are seeing a dive in his confidence.  I'm not sure what is going on, and it has been a little frustrating.  He has shed tears over it, talked about his fears, and told me, "It's too hard.  I want to quit."  To me, those are the magic words to NOT quit, but after a lot of discussion and a look at our fall schedule, we decided to take a break from swimming.  Trey will be doing karate and soccer, and three activities is just too much for a five year old, in my opinion.  Also, this would be Trey's fifth time in the same section, which tells me he is stuck for some reason.  Maybe working on some other activities for a while and then coming back to swimming will be good for him.

More karate pictures...the kids earned an obstacle course, so that is what they are doing on this day.

Getting his private lesson with Teacher Tom.

My "splurge" for the summer was to sign Trey up for an art camp at Oregon College of Art and Craft.  This camp was awesome, and Trey really liked it.  They did an "art walk" on the last day so parents could see what the kids had been doing.  We came home and made an art exhibit for Randy to see when he got home from work, and some of that art is currently on display in Trey's bedroom.

Trey just did his first belt test at karate last week.  He is now an orange belt, but I'm not sure if it is a real orange belt or a "Little Warrior" orange belt.  Regardless, he was excited.

We have started soccer practice for his fall team.  All of the kids are going into kindergarten at his new school, and it has been fun to meet some parents.  It will be interesting to see how Trey does because he is clearly the "least athletic" kid on the team and also may be the youngest.  Two of the boys just turned six, so they are more than a full year older than Trey.  We knew this would happen by not holding him out a year of kindergarten since he has a summer birthday, but we did not have enough good reasons to keep him out of kindergarten.  I know he will be the youngest when it comes to attention and focus skills, and athletic skills are already a weakness for him, so that will double ding him, but I think he will do well in other ways.  Stay tuned!

Trey turns five!!!

I find it hard to believe that my baby boy is five.   When I think about how I want to describe my son at five, I kind of find myself speechless.  Trey is amazing to his dad and me.  We get such joy and pleasure out of being his parents, and our family unit is pretty awesome.  Some of the things I love most about Trey right now...
1. His love for his mama.  The other day, Trey woke up and called out to me and said, "Mama, I have to tell you something.  I walked in his room and said, "Yes, honey?"  and he replied, "I love you."  Trey and I have such a special bond, and we love to cuddle and talk and just be together.  Honestly, there's no one I would rather spend time with than Trey.
2. His creativity and imagination.  Now I'm not talking about art because I am a terrible Art Mama.  I am so bad at doing anything crafty - always have been and probably always will be.  What I'm talking about is his imagination with play.   He can spend hours playing with his little figures (Super Heroes, Ninja Turtles, and now Sponge Bob (barf)) making up stories and setting up situations.  He gets frustrated when I don't follow exactly with what he has in mind, but he's getting better at explaining it to me.  Unfortunately, my memory does not always hold it all in capacity, so then we start to play and I forget what the character was supposed to say and he gets mad, but whatever.
3. His love of books and learning.  Right now Trey is a sponge, and his memory kills me.  He is certainly ready for kindergarten, but more than that he is interested in what he is learning.  He is really interested in science and animals, so he and Randy are really bonding over that.  He is starting to read and loves books, so he and I are bonding over that.  He is also a crazy mathematician, and I have been having a lot of fun with him working with numbers and increasing his number sense.
4. His love of his friends and family.  Trey does okay when he's alone, but he would always choose to be with people.  He loves spending time with his cousins, Grady and Case, and he loves spending time with his friends.  A playdate with a buddy is one of Trey's favorite things to do, which makes me so happy!
5. His personality.  I just love Trey's personality.  He is funny and caring and silly and sensitive.  He loves to dance to Beastie Boys and still loves it when I sing You Are My Sunshine to him every night.  He has his opinions about things, but he is also open minded to new ideas (unless it has to do with food).  He is clever and curious and always asking questions.  I would not want him any other way.

One of the things Trey had on his birthday list was a super spy costume.  I'm not sure why since he hasn't worn it since his birthday weekend, but I love these pictures.  Trey is such a ham, and he loves being different characters and playing different roles.

All Trey's birthday really meant to him was a birthday party.  I tried, oh trust me I tried, to convince him we should have his party at some alternative setting where I wouldn't have to do any work (e.g. Playdate PDX),  but he was adamant that he wanted it at home.  Okay, kid.  Your party.

Trey was waiting outside our house way before anyone was due to show up.  He loves just sitting on this step and keeping watch.

Grandma and Grandpa Clark came into town for Trey's birthday, and here are the Clarks sitting in the backyard waiting for guests to arrive (Trey took a brief reprieve from the front steps).

Trey was so excited to invite several friends from his preschool.  It is a little weird to me that we have transitioned from inviting our friends with their kids (who Trey knows, of course) to Trey's friends with their parents (who we don't really know).  He was over the moon to have his preschool friends at our house.  It was really sweet.  

 Playing Go Fish

Water balloon toss...sort of 

What was intended to be an innocent water balloon toss game turned into a full out water balloon war.  Luckily, no one got hurt, and I think some of the parents may have had the most fun.  

Pin the pizza on the turtle 

Lining up for a turn with the pinata 

Trey doing his best to break out the candy 

Kids gathering the loot 

Making a wish! 

Say cheese! 

The kids lined up eating cake 

Opening gifts - I think Ryland and Everett oversaw the process quite nicely. 

Trey is such a lucky guy.  He has some really great friends and got some really fun presents.  I have been tormenting myself about thank you notes all summer.  I wrote them to a few people, but I did not get them all done.  They are literally sitting on my kitchen counter - two months later - and I have to decide whether to just put them away or send out really belated thank you notes.  If you're reading this and I didn't send you a thank you note for Trey's birthday gift, I am really really sorry.

Grandma and Grandpa Clark stayed around for a few days (some babysitting was in their future) and we had a great time with them.  Unfortunately, Trey has a new love of water balloons, so he and Grandpa spent some time in the backyard filling them up.

Sunday morning was Father's Day, so we all went over to Julie's house for brunch.  My dad was in town for Trey's birthday, so we got to spend Father's Day morning with him too.

Case, Trey, and Grady jumping on Grandpa Gerts

Trey got a cool volcano from Grandpa Gerts and Sanny, so when Randy and I took off on our adventure on Father's Day afternoon, we left Grandpa Doug in charge of the explosions.

Thanks to everyone who made Trey's fifth birthday so special for him!  He loves his birthdays, and he is already talking about the next one!

Beach Day

Holy bejesus, it's the last day of summer break, and I am months behind on the blog.  For the majority of the summer, whenever a computer was in my lap I was doing coursework for grad school so the blog took a major backseat.  Now it's time to catch up...good thing I have my photos and my calendar, or I wouldn't remember a thing!

Waaaaaaaay back in the middle of June, Randy went on a fishing trip with Jason.  He texted me to say they were coming home two days early.  What???????  Turns out that two forty plus year olds can't handle a week of sleeping on the ground and feeling dirty.  Wimps.  The upside for me and Trey was that Randy got to go to the beach with us to visit the Kopplins.  The weather was gorgeous, the kids had fun playing together, and we had an awesome time.

Sarah, Randy and I on the deck

Sarah's mom bought a share in a beach house just a few blocks from the ocean.  

We LOVE it.   

Neil, Sarah, Randy, and I

Love this picture.  Love it.   

Trey and Kai building something

I love that Trey is old enough that these two have become buddies. 

The boys working on their creation 

Kai and Zander 

A Clark-Kopplin selfie

Not the best shot of everyone, but the only shot I have of all of us.   

Beach day with my honey

It was a perfect day and a perfect way to kick of Trey's birthday weekend!