Schools, continued.

Well, we have narrowed our search to Kindercare and Chesterbrook for Cyrus for the fall. We like them both, not quite equally but we do like them both. Kindercare is more convenient to my work (it's about .5 miles away) and the curriculum part looks awesome. I am concerned that there is a little more teacher turn over than we would like but you can't always help that.

Kindercare Facility - 3 year old room

Chesterbrook is the better choice of the two I think but it is not located favorably to either of our schools which is a bummer.  That will add quite a bit to my morning commute which will not be helpful. The curriculum piece is awesome and the school itself is super clean and well run.  We are on the list for both for the fall and will just need to figure it out before August rolls around.

 

Chesterbrook Facility - 3 year old room

New Shoes

Cy has been wearing the same pair of shoes forever it seems...red Saucony sneakers, and he loves them. So do I:) He is particular about what shoes he will wear and I love that about him. Daddy however, felt that Cy needed a new pair of shoes since he's wearing these out. So, we went on a little shopping trip and it took me all of 2 minutes to find his next perfect pair. Green Converse sneakers! Oh yea baby:) He loved them so it was a no-brainer:) We went ahead and got a black pair too just in case the green was a little much for Daddy. When Cy walked into the house today Dad was really excited about the shoes and the color:)

"Where ya been?"

I took a group of girls camping for the weekend this past weekend and left Cy and Brad at home. When I walked back into the house on Sunday night, Cy was sitting at the dinner table eating some noodles. He looked up from dinner, smiled, and said, "Hey Mommy, where ya been?"

My baby is all grown up:(

A (mis)Adventure...

AGB 2012

Coldest Camping Adventure Ever!



All packed and ready, these are some big packs those girls were carrying.

Warm gear on and ready to go! Time to hit the trail:)

Our first creek crossing. Not all the girls quite had the hang of it and some of them ended up in the creek...not good on a weekend as cold as this one.

A Newt

Lunch stop. We had bagel sandwiches with cheese, avacado and turkey pepperoni OR peanut butter and honey. Delicious!

My Co-Pilot, Courtney Pouchet

 

At camp and learning how to put their tents up.

The girls, very proud of putting their tent up and together!

very cold day/night. The girls spent a lot of time in their sleeping bags!!

Getting ready for dinner. Tortilla wraps with coucous, squash, black beans, mushrooms and cheese was on the menu with some chocolate for dessert:)

The hike out! Everyone survived, barely but we did:)

Nana & Pap's Visit

Walking around Frederick, MD with the girls. They did a good job of "watching" Cy and making sure he didn't run into the street:)

Cousins, so cute:)

 

Our family, it's an ebb and flow for sure but we have done a good job of staying together all these years.

 The happy Grandparents:)

 

When Nana was packing, Cy asked her where she was going. She told him to Florida and asked if he wanted to come. He said "Yes" and she told him to get into her suitcase so she could pack him:)

Cyrus asked me to go down the slide with him, I am definitely getting too old for this;)

Mother Goose:)

 

Cy actually got Nana on the trampoline, there is no way she would have gotten on there with me when I was his age...just sayin'!

Nana and Pap came up to visit us for a quick short weekend. It was SO great to see them. We hadn't seen them since Christmas, which I realize is only about 8 weeks, but that's a long time in Cy's little brain:) So, they came up on Thursday evening and spent Friday with Cyrus playing around the house and going for bike rides. On Friday night, we met Jill & Doc for pizza at Bottom's Up in the Bottom. The food was good but the service was SLOW. Cy was a trooper however and just went with the flow. On Saturday, mom and I stole away for a bit to do a little shopping and get our hair cut while the boys stayed home and hung out. I wanted to get my nails done too but we ran out of time:( Sunday morning we got up and headed up to Maryland for the day to see Shawn and the girls. We also got to see Shawn's new home, now that he and Sharon are officially divorced. He loves it and seems so happy. I truly think that he is happier than he's been in a long while so I guess that's a blessing.

Sunday evening on the way home, we drove into a snow storm! It was incredible. The roads were terrible and the snow was so heavy. My dad did a great job with the driving but I could tell by the tension in the car that we were all nervous, all but Cy of course:) Mom and Dad had to get on the road on Monday so needless to say it was a whirlwind of a visit but so great to see them.  I am hoping to get Cy down there for a visit soon but looks like it will be closer to the summer:( Luckily, Mom and Dad have the time to get away for small visits like this which make it so much easier.

My Valentine's Day



I came home from work today to my favorite bottle of wine with a glass already poured and a very sweet card. My husband always surprises me:) We don't really "do" Valentine's Day so it was nice to recognize the day and be thankful for each other. Of course, the argument is why do we need a day to remind us to do that...but, let's be honest. Unless you are in the first 6 months of your relationship, life takes over and it's easy to put the relationship off until you have more time. So, yes, we do need a whole day to spoil our loved ones a little bit and remind them that we are grateful for them and that we love them:)

Fort!

Cy is really enjoying building forts and imagination play right now! Brad built a great fort for Cy out of our couch and he just played and played in there, he loves it:) He made me come in for a bit but there really wasn't enough room for both of us after all so I let him have it:)

Valentine's Day

Last night, I was at Target with a bunch of other Moms trying to find the right treats and cards for school today. What a crack up, so it begins I guess:) We got all of his little friends a Valentine-gram (and his teachers) and got everybody some yummy cookies to go with it. Cy was going to have a party today at school. When I arrived to pick him up there were goodies EVERYWHERE! I think he ate his weight in goodies today...me too! Luckily I had a salad for lunch and for dinner so I could indulge a little. My school was no different than Cy's, all the moms and dads treated the Faculty and Staff to delicious goodies all day! It was a yummy day and luckily I squeezed a run in after school before picking Cy up.

Sushi With Pop!!

Jill went to the river for the weekend so we had some serious Pop time!  It started with a trip to Sushi Os for dinner on Friday night (after the break in and Doc's bad news from the insurance company), we were all feeling like we needed to pamper ourselves a little after a beat up of a day. What better place than a sushi restaurant to eat and drink and enjoy. Cy loves seaweed salad and generally any type of roll. He is definitely going through some strange eating phases right now but nothing to be too concerned about I think:)
I ordered the "Second Base" which was a california roll, spicy tuna roll, and salmon roll...and ate almost all of it myself. I can put some sushi away!!

Surry Island

Sunday was Todd's 38th birthday so we packed up the car and headed down to Williamsburg for the afternoon to meet Todd, Sallie & the girls with Doc and Jill. We had a nice time. We took the ferry boat over to Surry Island and had lunch at the Surry Island Cafe. Surry Island is a cute little town, very old and dated but cute nonetheless. Lunch was great and it was so nice to see Todd & Sallie. I love that Cy gets to see his cousins all the time, they are genuinely starting to love each other and I just think that is wonderful.

Cy LOVED the ferry ride. It was COLD this morning and it snowed yesterday so not the perfect day to embark on a boat ride but he enjoyed it so much. He couldn't get over driving the car onto the boat:)

Snow?!?!!!!

It SNOWED in Richmond!!! Big beautiful heavy flakes, we finally had a little white stuff this winter! Thank goodness:)

Bad boys, bad boys...

I dropped Cy off at daycare on Friday at our usual time, 7:30. And, between the time that I signed him in at 7:33 and came back out to my car to head off to work at 7:41 someone had busted in my window and stolen my bag. I was in shock! I have heard that there are people targeting the daycare and elementary schools in Richmond but I never thought in a million years that I would have been targeted! I was pissed, and rightly so but seriously pissed! It is a violation of my safety and my security and it is not fair that someone take that from me!
I called the police and they came and then the detectives came to dust the car for prints, it was actually very cool and I would have been way more into it if I wasn't so irritated by the whole situation! I immediately canceled our cards and called our insurance company to make a claim. Of course, they want to charge me $500 deductible to get the window fixed and then a separate $500 deductible for the personal property stolen. Ugh. So, I declined the window fixing and decided I would try to find someone to do it for much less than the deductible. I was successful with that and found GlassMasters who only charged $150 and fixed it the same afternoon. For the personal property though I am going to have to fork over the deductible because of the amount of stuff stolen, here is my list:

Item	Price
Garmin 305	$299 + tax/shipping
iTouch 4G	$200 + tax/shipping
HOBO ‘Lauren’ wallet	$110 + tax/shipping
Coach “Alex” Baby Bag	$398 + tax/shipping
VA License	$35
Cash	$800
Starbuck gift card	$20
Einstein Bagels gift card	$40
Short Pump Town Center gift card	$100
Starbucks Acrylic Tumbler	$20 + tax/shipping
Total of Items Stolen:	$2022 + tax/shipping

I am claiming EVERYTHING since they are charging me the $500 hence the gift cards! Here is what I learned, I have stuff that is WAY too expensive! Do I really need a $400 bag and $110 wallet? Probably not but my Garmin is a total shame. I love that thing and will be replacing it with the money I get back from the insurance company. The other stuff, I don't know. I love my iTouch but have been thinking about getting a Smartphone...ugh. I will most likely not be replacing my bag or wallet which is a total shame. I realize that it's a waste of money but I really did love them (if it's possible to love an object).
So, yes, this has been a good learning experience. My father actually reminded me that this is the third time in my life that something like this has happened to me. The first time someone stole a big bag of change out of my car in high school while it was parked in my driveway. The second time, someone stole my wallet WHILE I as vacuuming my car out at a car wash and then this time. Granted this time there was nothing I could do. My car was locked and my bag was on the floorboard but it's a sad thing when you realize that maybe people aren't innately good and that you shouldn't be so trusting. I refuse to teach Cyrus this lesson though, that is for him to learn on his own. 

Blue Cross, AKA Rip Off!

We just found out that Blue Cross is denying Doc's insurance claims for his cancer treatments again, this is the third time. They continually say that his required treatments are either exploratory or uncommon so they won't cover it. Last time, it was his medicine and this time it is his Radiation treatment. So, instead of doing the "pin point" method which would require 7 weekly treatments in Charlottesville, he will need to get 25 treatments of basic radiation weekly in Charlottesville. It is infuriating to me that some person in an office a world away is looking at his chart and saying that he is just not worth the money to invest in this treatment. There is something so wrong with the healthcare system in this country. Especially when you follow the rules and do what you are supposed to do for your entire life and then when you really need the insurance companies to be there for you, they just aren't. It's not surprising but it is infuriating. It leaves one feeling helpless.

Validated Feelings...

I went to pick Cy up from Starling on Monday this week and Ms. Brittany, whom we love dearly, was excited to tell me that Cy could count ALL the way to 10 and that he was the only kid in class that can do it. Ok, seriously? Cy has been counting to 10 for almost a year now! And, apparently they "studied" the color red on this day too. Ugh. We really need to get him somewhere more stimulating intellectually!!

Game On

We had Game Night at Gardner's last night, it was really fun. We don't see them all that much anymore which is unfortunate so it's nice when we do get together. Elizabeth and Courtney (the BIFFLS) were there as well and Justin and Katie came over a little later in the evening. Cy crashed out in their guest room shortly after arriving (he had a big day of rock climbing) and then it was on!! Wii Jeopary, where the guys spanked us twice.Terrible showing by the ladies last night and I got unnecessarly frustrustaed but I have this darn competative spirit. After a few rounds of that we finished off the night with a couple of games of dominos in which Gardner dominated!! Delicious tapas, yummy wine, and good friends make for a fabulous Saturday night!!!

Date Night

One of our resolutions this year is to spend more time as a couple and try to fit in some date nights now and again, so f ar so good! Last month we went to the Robert Earl Keen show at The National and this weekend we took in dinner and a movie at Short Pump. We went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner, it was delicious! I has the Thai salad and it was amazing! Brad had a delicious Habanero Pork pizza, yum. After, we went to Regal to see One For The Money, based off a Stephanie Plum novel. The casting was really bad unfortunately;( But, the company was great:) We had such a nice time!!

Climb On!

We took Cy to Peak Experiences to let him have a go at rock climbing! It was so cute. He hated it but I think that was because the harness was uncomfortable and the knot, when tied it, was right in his face. He did a great job trying to climb up the wall though, he is ridiculously strong! We let him swing around a bit which he did not like but when we went into the bouldering cave he had a great time with that. I will be so excited when we can go on family climbing adventures!!

And So It Begins...

Cyrus's artwork....

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Cyrus has a friend at school, Will, who is an incredible Wii player. He is 3 and he handles that remote like a champ:) Each morning, when I drop Cy off Will is there and ready to play. Cy, on the other hand, has no idea how to use the remote so I usually just select one player and let Cy have the second remote to "play". I have to get a picture of this, it's adorable!! Will is so patient with Cy and tries to teach him how to do it, Cy just doesn't have the attention span to focus just yet...not sure where he gets that from:)

Back on the search...

I have to say, finding a good school for Cyrus is stressful! We are on the search again. We/I do like the school that he is attending now, Starling Child Care, but we are starting to think about next school year and putting Cy in a preschool setting. Apparently, children are expected to start going to preschool when they are three now so that they are prepared for Kindergarten...it does seem ridiculous to me but I will be happy to get him out of Starling. Here's the thing, he loves his two teachers but the school itself is a bit disorganized and somewhat scattered.  Brad has become increasingly unhappy with Starling. He doesn't spend much time there as I do all the drop offs and the majority of the pick ups so when he does go, he finds it frustrating that the children are unruly or crying or just running wild. My concern is that there is no curricular focus, for instance, we got a sheet home the other day with an apple on it saying he's been learning the letter 'a'. We learned 'a' a long time ago...he's 2 for Pete's sake. So, we're looking....we went to two new schools this afternoon and I really like Kindercare. It's close to my school and I like their plan. They function on a 2 week curriculum program (they will be starting tools tomorrow) and have a lot of child center play but also some structured circle time and play time directly related to the learning activities.  We have about 6 other schools that we will check out in the next week before we make our decision. I would love to get him into a church preschool but the majority of these only go from 9 - 12, I'm not sure how working parents get their children exposed to these schools. It's disappointing really but we'll keep looking.  Cy also has the option of Cougar Care at Collegiate next year and we will find out about that in the Spring...he's been on the waiting list since August. The majority of these schools have waiting lists, its frustrating but I'm sure the perfect school will present itself to us when the time is right.