Fall Fun Part One

October is one of my favorite months.  The weather in Portland is usually awesome, we are in the full swing of the school routine, Halloween is coming up, and Christmas is still far enough away that we don't have to think about it yet.  Who am I kidding? Mostly, it's just the weather.

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

Camp Sherman or bust!

September 25, 2015 marked ten years since my mom's death.  It is really unbelievable to me that I have lived ten years of my life without my mom, not to mention that she has not been present for weddings, births, major milestones and life decisions, and multiple birthdays.  I think people assumed this would be a sad day for me, but it really wasn't.  More just shocking.

I suppose I could say that I have lived ten years of my life without my mom, but I honestly feel like she is with me every day.  I think about her daily as I parent in the best way I can, navigate through my marriage, maintain relationships with my friends, and manage the day-to-day happenings of life.  I think about her in the kitchen, while I drive (she would plan her route by not having to take left turns which I did just the other day), and when I'm doing chores.  I think about her when I'm remembering to wish a friend a happy birthday, when I'm teaching Trey a life lesson after a small incident, and when I'm picking up his socks from the floor.  So, while it is truly heartbreaking that Trey only knows Grandma Elaine from stories and pictures and I do not have my mom to talk to and see every day, she is in my heart and mind on a constant basis, and that is a true gift.

To "celebrate" my mom this year, we decided to go to Camp Sherman for the weekend.  This is a place Randy and I often visited on Mother's Day before Trey was born.  I would read and walk along the river, listening to the tape of her voice from an audio letter she "wrote" me when I was in Paris, while Randy fished, and it is one of our favorite places to go.  We invited Curt and Ana to join us, and we had a really nice time getting out of town.  We stayed in a little cabin at Lake Creek Lodge, and the weather was great.  We couldn't have asked for a better weekend.

Trey and Ana in their jammies on their tablets

Bailey even got to join us on this trip!

I spent a lot of time sitting out on the deck reading my textbooks.

Better here than at home!

Trey, still in his photography obsession, took a billion pictures this weekend.  

This is one I liked of Ana, using the black and white filter, of course.

Black and white selfie

It was warm enough that the pool was even open!  

I was totally unprepared and did not bring a suit or towel for Trey, 

but we improvised.  Thanks, Curt, for taking one for the team! 

Curt, Ana, Trey, and I took some walks along the Metolius River while Randy did some fishing.  This is truly one of my favorite places to be.  So beautiful.

Trey took about 100 selfies (not exaggerating), and I put four of my faves into this little collage.

Sunday morning was gorgeous, and we went to the head of the Metolius before we hit the road.  It was a nice little hike, but we didn't get close to the water.  I wish we would have taken another walk along the river, but we will have to save that for next time.

Thanks, Curt and Ana, for joining us on this special weekend trip!  We are lucky to have you in our lives to celebrate our milestones and be good friends!

September

September means back to school, soccer, and the weather changing.  We did all of those things.  The biggest news around the Clark house is that TREY STARTED KINDERGARTEN!!!

The last few days before school started included some important requirements...

Backyard camping with Dad

Morning park trip with Mom

Last summer playdate with Ana

Love watching these two kids love their books, 

just like their parents.

Trey's first day of school was my first day of school, but I was lucky that my principal let me come in an hour or so late so that I could walk him to his classroom (definitely a benefit of being a specialist and not having my own classroom).  I thought I would be sad, but maybe because there was so much anticipation building up to the big day, I wasn't.

Trey had met his teacher, Mrs. Moon, during an open house the week before and seen his classroom, so he walked in comfortably and said hello.  She told him what to do with his things and how to choose a desk.  It was crazy for me to see my baby boy settling in to his new kindergarten class.  How did this happen???

Obligatory family shot on the first day of kindergarten!

Trey joined a soccer team with some other kindergarten students from our neighborhood.  Most go to Errol Hassell, but some go to other private or charter schools in the area.  It turned out that three of the boys are in his class, so it was fun for both of us to have familiar faces on the first day.  Trey enjoyed going to soccer practice, but he was never a fan of the games.  I think he's not an aggressive enough boy to get in the middle of things and try to kick the ball, and he doesn't care enough to play defense.  Let's just say that soccer is not his game.

A rare moment when Trey's feet and the soccer ball were near each other

Ditto

One of my favorite pictures of Trey's soccer season.  

As you can see, the team is in one part of the field,

and Trey is going the opposite direction.

Classic.

One week Trey's coach was out of town, and Trey volunteered Randy to fill in.  

As you can imagine, Randy was thrilled.

Here's another classic shot.

Trey's team was on one side of the field,

and he was on the other spinning in circles with his arms out.

One weekend we met Mindy and Camille at the Children's Museum.  My membership has run out, and I think if I renew this may be the last year we join.  Does anyone know how old kids are when they stop enjoying the Children's Museum?

Camille and Trey, with face paint, practicing the selfie

If you haven't learned, we spend a lot of time with Grady and Case.  Julie and I are so lucky to live a mile apart so that we can see each other all of the time.  So lucky.

Julie and I took Grady and Trey to go see Wild Kratts Live.  It's a great animal show on PBS, and both boys really like this show.  Trey was sort of over it by the time we went to see the live show, but he still enjoyed it.

Trey's latest obsession, which apparently started in September, is to take pictures and videos.  I have to erase multiple pictures each time he gets his paws on my phone (yesterday I erased 146 pictures that he took at dinner on Monday night).  He loves taking videos as well and dreams of being just like the folks on Hobby Kids TV on YouTube.  Every so often, we get a keeper (or at least something that resembles a keeper), and I like these two unposed shots of us hanging out on our deck one September night.  We won't spend much time out there again until spring, but it is one of our favorite places to be when the weather is nice.