A Letter to A Teacher...

Hi Mrs. Sellers,

I apologize for not responding to your email sooner - we’ve had some issues with my email account since moving, but the kinks seem to be worked out now. I also owe you an “All About Jack” email, which I’ve been writing in my head these last weeks. You’ve probably gotten to know Jack a bit by now, and I’m glad for that, because it’s great for him to have had the time to make his own impression on you before I give you mine as his mother!

The best word I can use to describe Jack is INTENSE. There’s nothing half-hearted about him. He has no shortage of enthusiasm, curiosity, persuasiveness, persistence, happiness (when he’s happy), melancholy (when he’s not happy), inventiveness, and most of all ENERGY!

I often joke that he’s an old engineer trapped in the body of an 8 year old. He is driven to know the “why” to everything, and when he finds it out, he can’t stop himself from sharing the good news to everyone around him. He’d stay up all night watching the Science Channel if we let him, and has taken his bike apart (and thankfully put it back together) more times than I can count. He made business cards when he was three for various companies he imagined owning, and by four had taught himself to read.

The challenge is to keep his passion for learning burning, while bringing his intensity down a notch (or twelve) so that he can make it through a school day without disturbing the peace. You may have figured it out already, but self-control is a huge hurdle for Jack. He has made slow and steady improvements every year, but it’s still his Achilles heel. He has a hard time stopping himself, or remembering social etiquette when he’s in the middle of something he finds interesting. He despises limits, but if firm ones aren’t set for him, he’ll run right over or around them, finding loopholes in every argument, every roadblock, until he gets what he wants.

You’ll never see anyone work harder than Jack! The key is to keep him on track and within boundaries so that he can accomplish what he needs to within the time frame of each lesson, and each new day. I found his teachers at his former school in Massachusetts to have an obvious preference for students who worked “within the box”; following orders, not asking questions, and so on. Independent spirits were not valued there. It was disappointing for Jack, who is the King of independent spirits, because he simply could not excel in that environment. Every month from kindergarten through second grade, a “star student” was chosen from each homeroom class. And despite being at the top of his class in reading and math, Jack was never chosen as star student. Not once. I didn’t know it bothered him until the first day of the last month of this past school year when he came home in tears because he’d missed his last chance. It was heartbreaking, for both of us!

As his parents, Marc and I want to see him thrive, and to be proud of his successes, helping him weather the failures that we all go through in life. We are incredibly hopeful that Spring Brook Elementary is the place that he can do that. Find his balance, learn from his mistakes, continually improve his skills and knowledge and celebrate his successes. Thanks so much for being part of that! He really enjoys your enthusiasm and has been excited about all the new things he’s learning and doing in third grade. We’re looking forward to a wonderful year.

Sincerely,
Beth Mallett

Dear Dufus...

Next month, save yourself the hour or two of agony and follow these directions.

Make your blog header in Photoshop. Then resize it to 1500pixels wide by whatever pixels tall (keep the ratio the same) at 72 ppi.  Save it as a .jpg file at a level 9 for med-high quality.  Then in the blog design template, upload it directly from your computer, do not pass go, do not mess with Photobucket, or Elements, or anything else.  Got it?  Good.

Our Second Week: A Photo Essay

The week started off with a delicious housewarming gift made by Edible Arrangements,
sent with love from Nannie, Grey, Nana Nancy and Pa.
THANK YOU EVERYONE!!  IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!

We had juice running down our wrists the fruit was so ripe!

Half the reason I took pictures was to show the gift givers how much we loved it
The other half was so I could figure out how they made it so I can take a stab at it the next time I hit the fruit jackpot
(you know I saved all the skewers, don't you?)

Some of us spent time getting reaquainted with new (to us) chairs and old (hidden away months ago for house showings) toys

Test driving new school shoes

Skyping with some of our favorite people

Some of us found new ways to get into trouble

And some of us used the yellow pages to head the troublemakers off at the pass

We cooked our first supper in the new oven

Ben is a pizza traditionalist

Molly is a pizza adventurist

Jack is a bit too inventive for his own good
(there are four layers of sauce and cheese here - resulting in a bit of a soggy mess)

Mom is a pizza environmentalist (or cheapskate, depending on how you look at it)

She used yesterday's leftovers to make a fajita pizza.  Delish!

The new oven got to put all three of its racks to good use.

We made Sunday "Family Day" and trekked off to neighboring Woodridge
(I must say, I'm loving how the folks here in Illinois remind you where you are with every water tower you pass.  It's quite useful for us newbies!)

Marc and I saw this place when we first found Frank and luckily, he has that savant-like ability
to remember directions to places he's only seen briefly. 
(Except for in Salem, MA, the Bermuda Triangle for his special sixth sense.)

Does this place have "Mallett Kids" written all over it or what?

The kids were fascinated by the triple-tier water bubbla.
Ben wanted to drink out of the doggy bowl (of course!)

Luckily, we had something to distract him.

Molly was terrified at first, but joined in quickly once she saw all the fun the boys were having.

Jack came up with the great idea to make a rocket out of a plastic cup by placing it on the fountain just before it went off.

It worked!  He was thrilled and tweaked the experiment until he settled upon the PERFECT fountain, the PERFECT cup placement and the PERFECT timing to get the maximum height on his rocket.

TAH-DAH!!

It was really pretty amazing, because within ten minutes of this moment, every single chilld on that splash pad had gone through their belongings to find a plastic cup and every single one of them was making cup rockets all over the sprayground.  For one glorious moment, the kid who always has to do things his OWN way, instead of the way "everyone else does it", had everyone clamoring to follow his lead.

Marc and I sat perched on the seating ledge, holding hands, smiling and just being PROUD of him.  :)

Then Ben started screaming because someone told him 'no' (heaven forbid), and Molly had to poop, and Jack was starving and whining with the low blood sugar of a mad scientist who never stops to eat, and we hit traffic on the way home and everyone was cold and crying and hungry and it all went back to...well, normal!

Playing Ketchup

We've been so obscenely busy with unpacking, school prep and life in general that it's been nearly impossible to keep up with it all here.  But I'm hoping to catch up before we celebrate our first month here.  To that end, here are the few pictures I was able to snap of our big move from Pembroke to Naperville.  The kids were FANTASTIC the entire journey, from waking up at the crack of dawn, to getting through security, to waiting at the airport, through the flight and then over hill and dale trying to escape from O'Hare with our belongings and sanity intact.  We did really, really well.  Until we arrived at the new house, that is.  The movers had insisted on starting to unload early that morning, so there could be no introduction to the new house without the insanity of six guys running around with boxes on a mission to empty the truck.

It wasn't safe for the kids to be at the house, so Marc took them to a local hotel with a pool for the afternoon, which turned out to be the unleashing of complete and utter disaster.  They ended up back in the room watching a movie, with no food, no drinks and no other diversions.  The few times we spoke by phone, the shrieking, overtired, hungry, bored children in the background were enough for me to realize we won't do that again!!! 

Next time we move, I'm coming out first as the advance team to take delivery, unpack essentials and childproof.  Then I'll fly back to get the kids and Marc and we'll all go to our happy new nest and start living.  And we'll make sure not to do it during the biggest heat wave in a decade. (Remember this!)

But back to this time.  THIS time, we did manage to have a whole lot of fun amidst the insanity of it all.  It was the first week we'd spent as a family in four months, so we had a lot of reconnecting to do!

Our Awesome Packing Team!
Jake, Robert, Jack, Charles, Taylor, and Driver Jeff Olson

These guys were amazing!  I just tried to stay out of their way because they were a force of nature.  They had the entire house, including a full attic and full storage shed, packed and loaded in under 3 days.  It would have taken me three MONTHS! 

I let Jack stay for the last few hours of loading.  He was one of the hardest workers - Robert commented that he'd never seen a kid like that.  "What kid wants to work?"  he said.  "Amazing, I've never met anyone like that!"  Jack was a filthy, sweaty, hot mess after it all and couldn't have been happier!   He ran water out to everyone and shook all their hands when the job was done.  As a reward, Jeff let him ride shotgun in the truck (with mom following behind in the minivan) when he went to get gas for the big trip out west. Talk about HEAVEN, for this 8 year old!

I have no idea what these guys make an hour, but it couldn't have been enough for how hard they worked in blistering heat, with little rest.  It was a good thing we finally sold our swing set so I could tip them well and buy them lunch each day.  They were truly impressive role models of the strong work ethic that we hope to foster in our kids. 

Marc, 'Gray' and Jack got to chat while we waited for our flight.

 
And then after a few days at Nana's house, it was off to the airport!  The kids were super-impressed with the shiny Cadillac Escalade that picked us up for the ride to the airport.  But they were even more impressed that their grandfather could see them off from inside the gates! 
 
Nannie and Gray met us curbside and Nannie came as far as she could with us to sneak in a few big hugs before we left.  But because Gray works for Massport, he could come through and meet us on the other side.  But the BEST part was that when we boarded, he got into his work truck on the runway and followed beside us (from a safe distance) during takeoff.  The kids were screaming "It's Gray!  It's GRAY!!!  Hiiiiiiiii Graaaaaaaayyyyyyy!!!!!!" 
 
Who needs superheroes when you've got grandfathers!

Molly and Puppy checking out the view.

Marc and Jack getting all set up for the ride.

Buzz Lightyear-who-refused-to-take-off-his-dirty-pajama-shirt-for-two-days
checking out the buttons as we head out.
To infinity and beyond!

We're HERE!

We're HOME!

Action Jackson, at it again!

The view of the van from this side of the trip.

The all important "Open First" box, filled with  the necessities of living. 
Toilet Paper - Paper Towels - Paper Cups/Plates - Etc.

What I don't have pictures of is the AMAZING spread that we were welcomed home to, a joint effort between my mom, sister-in-law and brother.  There were snacks and drinks, gifts for everyone, gift certificates to local restaurants, menus for dozens of area eateries, balloons for the kids, wine for the grownups...it was so overwhelmingly awesome I temporarily lost my sanity and forgot to take pictures.  We were too busy ripping apart the snacks and drinks since we hadn't eaten in hours!

I intend to send proper thank yous within this millennium, but in the meantime

THANK YOU MUM, DAD, PAUL AND ULIA!!!!  YOU ROCK!!!

Once we'd gotten over the initial 48 hours of complete bedlam, it was time to start settling down.

Our 1st meal cooked on our new stove.  It's probably capable of a much more impressive meal, but this night, I wasn't!

Master Bedroom - DONE!  Only 7 rooms left!

Writing this 3 weeks after this picture was taken, I am so tired of opening boxes and unwrapping paper packages that I'm considering asking for no presents for my next birthday.  Or maybe just no presents in boxes?

This is the view from our front door with NO MOVING TRUCK outside!  It's a bit of a dressy front door, maybe not quite my style.  But it's head and shoulders above our old one because A. it's actually attached to the living area and B. It makes RAINBOWS!

This happens every day as the sun sets.  The kids yell out "It's Rainbow Time!!"

The first time we saw the rainbows it had been a particularly rough day for me.  It was day two, and I was driving in the car, coming back from picking lunch up for the movers.  My Tom Tom GPS sent me 20 miles out of my way and I ended up stuck in traffic with $50 of Portillo's hot dogs piled on my passenger seat and starving movers and kids and husbands to feed.  I just wanted to cry.  Or throw up.  Or both.

As if a cosmic sign, Poison's "Cry Tough" came on the radio (okay, so I was listening to Satellite Radio on the "Hair Band" channel, so it wasn't all that improbable that a Poison song would come on, but STILL!  I'm taking it as a message from the universe, so there.)

Anywho, the lyrics that reminded me to suck it up went like this:

"Life ain't no easy ride, at least that's what I'm told.  And sometimes a rainbow baby, is better than a pot of gold." - Poison

For the younger generation, the 2010 translation of these 1980s lyrics is this;

 "Ain't about what's waiting on the other side - it's the climb." - Miley Cyrus

So I took some deep breaths and sucked it up so I could enjoy the climb, and my day ended with me and the kids catching rainbows in our hands through the front door. 

No complaints here.  Especially about the sunsets.

Spelling

Jack was placed in the advanced spelling group in his class and his first quiz is tomorrow.  He's so excited, because in 3rd grade, they give LETTER grades.  He wants an A so bad he can taste it!  His words for this week are;

else
guest
everybody
scale
fail
imaginary
miserable
shallow
grandparents
company
pretty
action
gram
trail
breath

I just gave him a mock quiz and he got all of them but miserable right on the first try. 

He gets it from me.

(note that he also gets his neurotic tendencies, fear of the night, keratosis pilaris and much more from yours truly, but it's nice to know that he also inherited some of my GOOD traits!)

Grumpasaurus, tamed.

And presently streaking through the house!

Leftover Casserole

I know if I go to bed without committing this to the blogosphere, I'll never get back to it, so I'm pushing through sleepiness to make it so.  I have spent the last year working on making better use of the food I buy and letting as little as possible go to waste.  I've put a number of innovations to use to make this happen, not the least of which is finding creative ways to make one meal stretch into a second meal that is completely different from, but as delicious as, it's first incarnation.  And tonight, I hit the jackpot!

All this time I've been tweaking differnt casserole strategies trying to get the sauce right, thinking that the right bechamel sauce, or the right can of cream of something soup would meld the leftovers together in perfect harmony.  But tonight I stumbled upon a recipe that made me rethink that concept.  And instead of using a sauce as the unifying agent, I used eggs.  EGGS!!  Who woulda thunk!?  And it was MARVELOUS, miraculous even, what happened to my leftovers from the entire last week.

Leftover Happiness Casserole

See?  And it tasted as good as it looked.  At least Marc, Jack and I thought so.  Molly and I had to have a conversation about how it was not appropriate behavior to look at dinner and fall down on the floor, shrieking and writhing in mock pain, insisting that it's so gross you won't survive the meal if you have to look at it for even one more second.  Once I had removed the casserole from her plate, wiped the residue off, and hidden it behind a giant box, she was able to sit at the table and practice more polite behavior.

In her sweetest, most polite voice she said...

"Mommy, may I please not have to eat, or smell, or even look at that dinner because it is too disgusting for me and I would prefer something different, please?"

Well, it was an improvement over her Linda Blair impersonation, so I went with it!

Regardless of what five year old tastebuds say, this was DELICIOUS and here's what went in it.

1 cup leftover garlic spinach
1 cup leftover stir fried french beans
1 cup leftover sauteed diced peppers and onions
2 cups leftover cubed, poached chicken
4 cups leftover brown rice
3 eggs scrambled with one cup milk
2 cups shredded mozzarella
4 cloves garlic, minced with a garlic press
garlic salt and fresh ground black pepper

I heated some oil in a skillet, threw the garlic in, followed quicly by all the leftover veggies and chicken and seasoned to taste with the garlic salt and black pepper.  In a separate bowl, I mixed the eggs, milk, cheese and rice.  Then I mixed the veggie mixture into the egg/rice/cheese mixture and dumped it into a casserole dish.  I kept it in the fridge until dinnertime was afoot and then tossed it into a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.  I sprinkled a handful (or two) of mozarella over the top and let it bake another 15 minutes until it was all melted and bubbly.  And then I ate enough of it to sink a small ship.

Ben also was not thrilled with his piece of casserole, but unlike his sister who voices her complaints loudly, Ben just throws the offending food at you.  Luckily saw it coming and had my plate ready!

Alright, the cherubs will be up in five hours, so I'm calling it a night.  G'Night!