Welllllllllp ...

Mom got home safely ... right about the time that Bruise and Bucket got off the bus.

I showed them, while Bubbles napped, the new clothes we got for Bubbles ... and the new leggings for Bucket (who outgrew about half her leggings ... apparently, she's outgrowing a lot of shirts now. What's up with that?!?) and a new shirt for Bruise, so HE got something, too.
However, he was bummed that Bucket got more clothes than he did.

So we all sat down and read a Berenstein Bears book and talked about how, sometimes, life just isn't fair.
And they went out and played with the neighbor girl. And I did my nails.
And promptly messed up one ... so redid that ... and messed up some more ... so I just redid that whole hand. ugh.

I was NOT very energetic, so we had leftover spaghetti for dinner.
When Bucket took my bowl back (I didn't eat until after giving Bubbles a bath and overseeing Bucket's shower ... Michael was in charge of Bruise's shower), she remarked ...
"This bowl is so FREAKING warm!"
And I responded, "You don't need to talk that way."
Yes, I am a hypocrite.

I ALSO pushed three children out of my uterus AND graduated college AND had a TRYING last term of student teaching ... so, well, I think that I've EARNED the right to say "crap" and "freaking"...

However, I am trying to wean Bruise and Bucket from saying "What the ..."
JUST because Bumblebee, the Autobot, says it, does NOT make it acceptable for my kiddos to.
Just like how a set of their cousins have a house rule that you do NOT say "stupid" or "butt."
Every house has slightly different rules. And you try to respect that without giving up your integrity ... like, if a friend's parent offers them a sip of wine at dinner at THEIR house, they can just say, "Oh, no thank you. We don't drink wine." No biggie.
And we try not to say "stupid" or "butt" at their cousin's house.
However, when their cousins are here at MY house? I am not all that careful.
My house, my rules. :P

So, in other news, my kids apparently have lost faith in the bus system.

Back in September, the bus route changed, since there were SO MANY KIDS on the route.
They split the route that my kids were on (Sadly, Bucket's bestie was moved not only from her bus route but, also, into Bruise's group at school. Muy tragico0. We were given a list of the stops for each route (in case our route had any changes), along with what time.

I usually send Bruise and Bucket out the door about ten minutes before the time posted on there. Since, they do request that you get to the bus stop about five minutes early. And ... after their first day of Kindergarten, when we MISSED THE BUS, I wasn't taking any chances.

So, after they waited for ten minutes (so, according to the timesheet given, the bus was TEN minutes late), the and the neighbor girl ran back to the house stating that the bus hadn't come and they needed a ride to school.
Thank goodness I had on a robe.
I ran to the bedroom and put on shorts (in 40-degree weather. WINNER! ... Well, it's not like I had to get out of the car) and a sweatshirt. And a bra, too. That's important.

And we all loaded into the van and I got them to school. After we passed the corner, where the rest of the bus-riding students had ALREADY BEEN PICKED UP WHILE MY KIDS FREAKED OUT. *sigh*

But I got them to school, safe and sound.

I called the school to give them a heads-up. And, per their instruction, also called the bus garage (though, at first, I wasn't wanting to. Since, after Monday's fiasco ... when one of the gals working there [not the head gal, though I did talk to her, too. Head gal was LOVELY] finally called me back (I called on Tuesday afternoon ... didn't hear back, so I called back on Wednesday morning), I had the impression that she thought I was making a huge deal out of nothing ["Well! That was QUITE the message!"]. And I don't want to be a bother, really. I have no desire to be THAT PARENT. ... At the same time, though, when my kids are a half-hour late AND crying? I do think that I deserve to know the bus driver's account of the story. I don't want him to get in trouble ... I just know that I'm not always getting all the info from my six-year-olds, no matter HOW hard they're trying to relate all the facts to me).

I talked to the NICEST guy at the garage. He told me that I was ALWAYS welcome to call with ANY questions or concerns ... which made me feel a lot better.
AND I learned that, at our stop, the bus didn't get there until about seven minutes later.
(So the kids were freaking out that the bus was THREE OR FOUR minutes late ... instead of being about ten minutes late.)

*rolls eyes*

But, hey, I also now know that I can keep the kids in our warm, dry house for just a little longer ... which is great news with the wet and cold weather coming in.
So that's good.

Tonight is Curriculum Night at the school (so we're missing rehearsal ... but I put that we'd be unavailable this  Thursday back when we auditioned. So ... it's clear. And I emailed the director a couple weeks ago to reminder of the fact that Michael and I weren't going to be there last Thursday or today. ... I DO try to be responsible and cover my bases. ... Also, it appears that HALF the cast wasn't there for the last rehearsal.

Oy. Good thing it was just the read-through and getting to know everyone. Still ... that's really harsh.
This week is starting to get familiar with the music ... Good thing we have the CD. ... I should start listening to that, right?)

But I'm glad to get to meet with the kids' teachers and to learn what is going on in their classroom.

I feel so clueless this year.

Last year, the kids brought home weekly homework ... so I knew from that what concepts were being taught.
AND their teacher, bless her sweet heart, wrote WEEKLY newsletters home with information on what was happening in the classroom.

I miss that.

And I know that I shouldn't EXPECT weekly newsletters ... but ... well, when we ask the kids what went on at school, usually they'll just tell us about recess or lunch. If pressed, they'll tell us about learning to write their numbers or count to 120 or something ... but, well, they're at SCHOOL for about SEVEN HOURS (plus another half hour for the bus) ... I KNOW that they have to do more than count for SIX HOURS plus recess and lunch.

(Though, sometimes, Bucket will tell me what "Free Friday" activities she's done in her class.... I mean, that's a start, isn't it?)

If I didn't have an infant, I'd try to be there, volunteering in their classrooms at least once a week (and volunteering at our local library once a week, too) ... But ... since I can't BE there, I feel really ... lost in regards to what is going on at school.

And, the one sad thing about being in SOTW is that rehearsals are on the same weeknight that PTC meetings are scheduled. *sigh*

Oh well.

In other news, I've done the dishes and thrown a couple loads into the washer so far. Rather productive. Still need to get a shower and dressed professionally enough to attend curriculum night.... At least my nails are cute, so that's something. (Maybelline Plum Paradise -- cheaper dupe of Essie "Sexy Divide" -- base with a faux-gradient of Sally Hansen Gem Crush in Be-Jeweled ... Ring fingers have the glitter starting at the tips. The rest have the glitter starting at the cuticle. They look rather like the first set here: http://pshiiit.com/2011/11/05/video-tuto-pshiiit-se-degrade-avec-essie-et-opi/ ... except the glitter is purple-based. Almost silver-lilac with larger pink sparkles in there. If you really cared.)

And ... yeah. I think that's most everything to report.

UPDATE: Just for you, Robin, since you asked so nicely. :) complete with chips, hangnail, and all.
(Since I missed seeing you at church!)