A Happy Day for Zoe and Preparing for Company

Today in Zoe's 2nd Grade class, they had a birthday party for all the kids who had July and August birthdays.  Hers is in July. They'd sent a note home a few days ago asking if we were going to send any thing to let them know and to please stick to the wellness policy. Now in the past, I have always made excuses like I didn't have the money for stuff for 55 kids or not enough time or I had to sleep etc. Well, actually all of those things were true about today, but I did it anyway.  I made a promise to myself (and my kids)  that I was going to be better about doing stuff in their schools.


I was stumped though with what to do that followed the policy. Normally I'd have made brownies, but that's kind of a no-no now.  Sugar = bad.  So, I googled healthy snacks for school parties and decided on fresh fruit. I checked the local sales papers online and saw the store we usually shop at had grapes on sale .99 a pound and packs of strawberries buy one get one free. Yay! I decided to do ziplock baggies. I also got a huge watermelon to cut into chunks for them as well.  So last night I started getting the baggies and fruit ready.  I had to wash it all, cute the stems off the berries and cut them in half, slice the watermelon and cut out chunks. I knew putting all the fruit in the baggies at night would make it all go mushy by morning, so I had to just put the grapes in them last night and waited til today to finish them.  I only got 15 baggies of grapes done before I had to get to sleep. (I'd gone to bed at 8am yesterday and got up at noon to go help Corina with a computer issue.)


Fortunately after class, Corina came back home (I had asked her to help get the house cleaned up afterall.) So, while I made myself wake up and get a shower, she finished a bunch of the baggies and then I helped get the rest done.  She was a huge help.  Without her I'd have never gotten them done in time. I had two shopping bags full and got to the school just in time.


The kids each got a plate with a juice pouch, tube of yogurt, 5-6 loose grapes and then another mom came in with a big bakery box of fresh baked cookies! Not too bad really, the rest of it was all healthy.  better than mile high icing on cupcakes. Those cookies looked so good LOL! 


One of the kids, a kind of in-your-face boy with a Marine type haircut came right over to me while I was putting the baggies on the plates and said, "WHERE"S THE CAKE?!" I politely told him it had to be healthy food and he said he didn't eat healthy food.  Well, he kept his word. I watched him. He ate his chocolate chip cookie, got chocolate all over himself, then took the rest of the plate and juice and put it on his teacher's desk.  She asked why he was doing that, and he said he did not eat healthy food and hated juice.  He came over to me and said the same thing, so I asked if he ate nothing but cookies at home and he said "YEP!" LOL  He's blessed with a high metabolism haha.


Another kid came over to me while I was sitting and waiting on Zoe so I could take her home, and said, "My mom is young."  I guess that means I look OLD....sigh  So I said, "Oh really?"  And he says, "She's only 13.  And she had me long before that." I blinked, then he ran off to play.  I'm guessing she might have had him when she was 13? That's a sick and sad thing to think about, but it happens.  Or maybe he just wanted me to feel old. Haha.   I remember when Corina was in 2nd grade... I was much much younger then, but what really sucks is now I'm older than half the teachers.  WTF. When did that happen??  Oh well.


So yeah Zoe got to have a birthday party where they sang to her and the other kids and her Mom was in her class and she got to be driven home. That's HUGE to a 2nd grader!


Tomorrow will be even bigger and she doesn't even know yet.  My best friend, Daniel is coming in from the UK to stay for 2 weeks.  He's her godfather, and she talks about him constantly and wants to go back to England to see him again.  She always asks when he is coming back to see her and her new house whenever they talk. He asked us not to tell Zoe, because he wants it to be a big surprise.  So, tomorrow, when I leave for the airport, I'm taking her and Rhiannon (cause she loves watching the planes - I always did too!), and we're telling Zoe we're just going for a girls' day out. We'll get Starbucks in the city then Rhiannon will ask to go watch planes land haha.  She'll never guess we're there to see someone get off the plane and wave at us (there's an outdoor overlook which is way cool.) By then we'll tell her who's waving at her and she can run downstairs to greet him with a hug...I hope.  She can be SOOO moody!  I'm hoping she doesn't get all cranky and cry due to the surprise and being lied to etc. I have to be optimistic! He's bringing gifts, just in case too!


Well, we have to leave for the airport in just about 12 hours now, and I have not slept yet.  So, even though I do still have a lot to do here in the house, I'm going to go get some sleep, then get up as early as I can manage and start again tomorrow.


Still need to:
Straighten up our master bedroom since the extra bathroom is there and he might need to use it.
Clean the master bath (sweep, mop, scrub sink, tub and toilet)
Get rid of the broken chair in master bedroom and haul it and all the garbage off to dump (Hubby will)
Wash and scrub off the back porch, prune bushes, mow back yard (Hubby will)
Finish washing all the bedding, pillows etc since the dogs had been shedding all over everything so the girls got all the spare sheets, blankets and pillows out of the cabinet - so now he'll have no bedding to sleep on unless I get it all washed and dried.
Get other laundry caught up so it all fits in the sorter at least. (Laundry room is kind of overflowing right now)
Get the girls to clean out the van, and have Corina and Rhiannon take the giveway stuff in bags to the charity thrift store.
Vacuum Zoe's room and straighten it up a bit more since she'll want to show off her room to him asap.
Then just pick up anything that's been left sitting about, do daily kitchen cleaning like dishes, counters, sweep, maybe swiffer mop real quick.


I don't really have to clean for him.  There have been some visits where I've not cleaned at all due to depression or being miserable and pregnant, whatever.  Some visits I've yelled at him to clean his dang mess up too.  He's like a little brother I never had I guess. But I feel good being able to have the house clean and comfortable for him.  He's had a rocky year and really needs this vacation.


He's on a Boeing 767 over the Atlantic right now, hopefully sleeping soundly.  And sleeping soundly is what I need to go do, so goodnight!

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  2. FlowerChild turned 8 in june. This post made me smile as I could just see my own daughter. :)
    Have a great visit with your friend!

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