colleen writes

Friday, November 29, 2013

Back to the Grind!

Well, my two-year leave of absence was officially over. I am extremely grateful that I had the opportunity to stay home for so long. It was such a blessing, and while being a SAHM is a really tough job, it’s even tougher to work full-time and be a mom, too. I will miss the most our lazy mornings and breakfasts together. I liked to plan a couple of fun little outings per week in the mornings that Gabrielle didn't have preschool. One of our favorite outings was driving to the Chelsea Tree house on a sunny day, driving on all the scenic back roads, and jamming to Laurie Berkner in the car. We also really enjoyed mornings at the Howell Carnegie Library. Gabrielle would meet up with some of her preschool friends for the preschool class. It was just fun, and not busy, and not stressful. I loved it.

And here we are at September. My first day of work was also Gabrielle’s first day of kindergarten. Adam took the day off to get Gabrielle on the bus. There is a part of me that was glad I was not there to see her get on the bus because I would have bawled, and I am not a crier nor am I very fond of my own tears, so it worked out. Gabrielle had a bigger adjustment to make than me. School days are long! Poor kid came home feeling very tired and very forlorn. She is still not quite adjusted to the long days, and quite frankly I don’t blame her. It’s a long day for kindergartners. She doesn’t quite rule the roost that same way she did in preschool. She is also learning what it’s like to be with kids who are not just like her. (When she was in preschool, it seemed like the kids were largely similar in many ways!) Other than the long day, she is enjoying school as much as she can.

September is a rough month as well because we have to close up our wonderful summer hideaway on Houghton Lake. The dock, boat, and the jet skis came out. All the hoists came out. We made our last trip up the third weekend, and it is always bittersweet. I can't believe we were closing out our third summer on the lake. What memories we made!! At the time, I didn't realize that that was the kids and my last trip up this season. Adam made one more trip up with Tom and Bob to winterize the place in early November. We are looking forward to April already when we can open the place up. Just think--we will have another baby in tow! OMG!

Carter had some big adjustments to make as well. He was used to me from Day One, day in and day out, he was always with mama. Luckily, being at home with grandma is pretty easy and fun, and so he made a pretty good transition to his new schedule. Grandma, too—she’s back on the job after a two-year hiatus as well. Carter and Grandma go to a 2-year old preschool program at Grace Lutheran Church. (The same place Gabrielle went for 2/3/4 year old preschool, too.) It’s only once a week for them, and Carter was pretty unsure of this whole preschool thing. (Even though it’s more of a play group.) Carter is pretty stubborn and didn’t like to participate much, but he’s getting better!

I fully prepped myself to have a rough September. Being exhausted from the new schedule, not to mention being in my first trimester!!!, I set some pretty low expectations to just get through the month. Sure enough, as soon as October 1^st came, it seemed like my schedule at work evened out a bit and the catatonic exhaustion lessened a bit. We were all looking forward to October!

First Day of School!

Carter's first day of school--What's he thinking here?!

Looking a bit more like himself here:-)

We always have a fun time at Spicer's Apple Orchard!!

Carter loved this donkey...

...and wanted to share his drink:-)

I love this pic! I think I have one from every year!

Gabrielle went to a super fun birthday party at Sweet & Sassy in Novi for her friend, Lexi. She got to wear a princess dress, concoct her own lotion, get her hair, nails, and make up done, walked down the cat walk, and even did a choreographed dance! It was pretty much the cutest thing I have ever seen!!

Fall is the season for fire station open houses. This one was at the Green Oak Station in Brighton. Carter was in heaven!

Saturday, November 16, 2013

The Lull of August

No teacher likes August 1st. Especially one that has been on a LOA for two years! I never really got myself totally out of the working mom mentality because I knew that my LOA had an end date. That actually helped. I tried to stay as current as possible in the teaching world, renewed my teaching certification, and pinned awesome middle school ELA lessons up the wazoo! As I mentioned in July's post, I found out I was expecting baby #3 at the end of March, so I also had to wrap my mind around the fact that I wouldn't even be back at work for a full year! Sheesh! So with all that being said, I enjoyed the final days of summer vacation as both Gabrielle and I prepped for our new fall schedule. I was pretty much off the radar to many friends and family members who may or may not have wondered if something was up!

We finished up a week of VBS at St. Mary Magdalen, continued Gabrielle's gymnastics, had a couple of play dates, finished up our play group schedule, and I even had my first OB appointment. I went to work in my new classroom for 2 days, and also had 2 official 'back to work' days as well. We still spent every weekend at our little refuge at Houghton Lake, and enjoyed all the family time we had together. The month finished up with Kindergarten Open House, which was fun, and made things very real for Gabrielle, that she was really, in fact, going to kindergarten!! We got to meet her teacher, Mrs. Beech-Nugent, and explore the classroom a bit. I think Gabrielle was excited to start kindergarten just because people had been asking if she was ready for so long! She really wanted to see what it was all about.

Little Carter Boy continued to be his little charming self and was happily oblivious to the fact that is two favorite playmates would be gone during the day next month. Good thing Grandma is a good playmate!! Carter is so funny-he is picking up on a lot of Gabrielle's mannerisms. For instance, if he finds something great or something that Gabrielle was looking for, he'll say, "I found it! Haha!" Or if there is something he doesn't like or want he'll say, "I don't think so!" He's a very chatty little guy.

How cute are they?

Fun times at Fun Land at Houghton Lake. Most of the place is outside except for all the awesome things to ride on indoors. It has a roller coaster, flying airplanes, tanks that go around in a circle, flying canoes... It's a real trip there! All rides are circa 1965 except for the ones below! Ha!

Gabrielle with her new twin cousins, Elliot and Ryan! Congrats, Aunt Bethany and Uncle Anson!

Kite Flyin' Carter

The Sulkowski Family! Summer 2013

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Updates for July!

July Updates

We started the first 8 days of July at our cottage, which is our favorite place to be in the summer! Personally, the Fourth of July ranks in my top three as far as holidays are concerned. I am always on summer vacation, the family is always on vacation, and there is never a care, worry, or stress on that day. So it’s pretty great!

The cottage brings all of the usual fun. Boating, swimming, jet-skiing on Adam’s new Wave Runners, throwing the anchor out at the sand bar, daily walks and bike rides, trips to the Four Seasons, and just generally playing around the cottage. During the first week in July, we had lots of company, including Grandma & Grandpa Sexton, Grandpops Sulkowski, and cousins Cadyn and Aili and Auntie Laura. We really love having guests up as we are more likely to pull out all of the fun toys! The kids enjoyed boating and jet-skiing, and tubing of course. We set off fireworks and lanterns, and BBQed and ate pizza from the Four Seasons. The weather was awesome, too! We spent a grand total of 14 nights at the cottage.

During the weeks while Adam was working, the kids and I kept ourselves only a little bit busy with various play dates and outings. We were pretty content at home especially knowing that we would be back at our cottage for the weekend. There was one week of ridiculously hot weather in which we went to Jammie and Grandpop’s pool every day to beat the heat. It worked! The pool was PERFECT. We had a great time. Gabrielle even learned to swim without her floatie. She did a great job! She also learned how to ride her two-wheeler bike without training wheels. It took about 5 minutes for her to figure it out due to the fact that her previous bike was a Strider. (Strider bikes have no pedals, so kids learn how to balance by gliding around and using their feet as brakes.) Gabrielle continued gymnastics but opted out of princess camp! She did, however, love going to vacation bible school at St. Mary Magdalen. We took our next door neighbor, Lilliana, with us.

During the end of the third week of July, I was feeling kind of funny… I took a pregnancy test, and sure enough, much to our surprise, it was positive!! What the what?!?! Baby #3 Sulkowski was/is on the way. This befuddled my brain a little bit, but only for the reason that I was going back to work at the beginning of September after a 2 year leave of absence, so I really had to wrap my mind around that. If work weren't a factor, I think I would have done a happy little jig everywhere I went. I got over it . I found a great long-term sub who will cover my classes for the 4^th quarter. J More importantly however, we are SO EXCITED to welcome a new member to our family. There is lots of love to be shared and lots of fun to be had, so let’s bring it on!!!

What a wonderful month!! Now onto August....

Happy 4th of July!!