money troubles

To say that Lio is adjusting to being at school all day is an understatement. He is full of grumpiness - morning, noon and night. I know that he's tired. I know that he's trying to assert his little 1st grade independence. I know that he loves me. But it's just been so hard being around him this past month!

Money is our latest issue. His generous Lola and generous Oma have given him money, and he just wants to go out and spend it right away - it almost doesn't seem to matter on what. I need to figure out a plan to teach him the value of money - how it's hard to earn, and once it's gone it's not coming back. I just want him to be a little saver!

The other day he was in his room (yes, I'll admit it, sent there by me until he was ready to come out and treat me in a nicer way) and he was counting the coins in his piggy bank. I know that he doesn't value coins the same way that he values bills, so I offered to trade him the money he counted for the equivalent in paper money. His response was, "No, It's only $2.00." ONLY $2.00? That's what I mean, he just doesn't get the value of money at all. I tried explaining that those pennies add up, and then pretty soon you have a lot more money. He didn't seem to care, and left his coins thrown all over the floor of his room.

Later when I saw that the money hadn't been picked up, I told him that if his money was laying around that it wasn't safe. It needed to be in his piggy bank, and bills in his wallet. (I can't tell you the number of times I've washed his money in the laundry, or have found it strewn all over the house.) If it wasn't in a safe place, I was going to take it.

Flash forward to 2 days later.

Walked into Lio's room to find his money strewn all over his room, AGAIN. I collected it in a jar, and am putting it into the big bank. There were lots of tears, lots of pleading and promising it wouldn't happen again, was there a way it could be earned back?! I think the real problem was that some of the golden coins from the tooth fairy were confiscated. (I told him that if he got other coins he could trade me for the golden ones.)

I hope that this starts somewhere with teaching the value of money.

off to a great start?

Paloma's 1st day of preschool was a few weeks ago. In some ways I know that she is so ready, but in other ways I haven't really prepared her for being there without me. When Lio started, I was so nervous - I actually planned some little classes for him to take without me so that he would be at least a little familiar with the concept. But Paloma's just always been with me, except for the year that I worked part-time, and she was in such a wonderful place and Lio was right there with her.

Aside from talking about it a little bit, we didn't do much to prepare other than get new shoes for school, and I made her a little tote bag with a special pocket to hold a stuffed animal.

Here she is, take 1.

Cute, smiling, picked out her own outfit, all ready to go.

We had a little time before we had to go, so I had her run out in the backyard to get something for me. When she came back in, there was a pretty stinky smell. She had stepped in a big pile of something, and that something was all in the treads of her new shoes, splashed up all over the backs of her cute knee socks, and God knows where else. Back upstairs for a super fast outfit change.

Good thing she's so go with the flow.

Here she is, take 2.

Look at that goofy smile and those non stinky shoes. I just love her.

John surprised her by meeting her at her new school. She was so excited that he would take the time to do that. He is a good dad.

When I picked her up from school I noticed little tear lines down her face. When I asked if she'd been crying she said that she just missed me. I cried when I left her, too, so I told her that I missed her as well. I told her that she didn't miss out on anything - I was busy cleaning her shoes with a toothbrush and toothpicks!

She talks about school non-stop, and so far there haven't been any more tears. She's still happier when it's not a school day, but I know that she loves it, and that's just going to keep on growing. I thinks she's in a really great place, and despite the outfit change, off to a great start.

all I've 'felt' like I've been doing

I cannot believe how fast the month of September has flown by! I thought getting into the routine of school for Lio and work for John would only take a few weeks, but we are all still trying to find a rhythm. Amidst all of these changes, I was working on the big order of doveylove stuff, which seemed to keep growing each day.

Here's a sample of the fall line:

I think I'm getting the hang of the pom pom flowers - graduating the colors so it looks more natural, and have adapted the same style to itty bitty infant clips as well. Paloma loves to help me shape each one - and she's really good at it!

The itty bitty pom poms also lent themselves to a little bigger barrette (I know that looks like it's spelled wrong, but spell check says it's true!) that allows for a stem and a little more detail.

Probably the most exciting part of working on the order was coming up with a new and bigger flower for the headbands. I really love how they turned out, and think I'm only going to do this style from now on. It just has so much more impact than the pom poms of last season.

Fall called for some woodland creatures - squirrels and owls. And I did lots of the standard simple flowers that started it all. It was a huge order.

So when I dropped off the order, I was asked to develop some ideas for pins that would embellish t-shirts for a new line the store was creating. So back home to figure that one out, and lots of trial and error to create yet another style of flower, and some toad stools that were more 3 dimensional. All in all I was proud of how everything turned out. And am glad to have a little break from making so many things from felt.

I think this big order made me realize even more that I can only handle things on a small scale! I was determined to finish things up and deliver them, so much so that making these things was all I 'felt' I have been doing for weeks! Oh.... and just when I dropped the pins off, I have thought up yet another project that I need to begin preparing for soon. More details to come!

little break

With the start of school, new routines, trying to keep the running training schedule, and a HUGE order for doveylove hair accessories (still don't like that word!) I have had no time to take pictures or reflect upon our days. Hopefully next week will be a little better!