For once the roles were switched.
Instead of our kids torturing our guests, our guests tortured the kids!
Jamie and Morgan come by for dinner
When Jack woke up in the morning he was very disappointed to see his tormentors were gone.
Pin ItRight now my husband and I are busy trying to apply for magnet schools for our oldest son, who will be in kindergarden next year.
It’s surprisingly not that difficult a process. The CPS Access and Enrollment has a really easy to use website. If you want to apply online, all you do is hit the “Apply Online” box in the top, right corner of the screen. Request a PIN. Five days later it is sent to your house. Then you can register as a returning user. You only need the PIN once. If your child is already in a CPS school, get their student # first. You’ll need it.
Here are a few tips and useful bits of information that might be helpful for you when applying.
1. The maximum amount of magnet schools, magnet cluster schools, and/or open enrollment schools you can apply to is 20.
2. I found ratings under a few different websites, including Great Schools, Chicago Tribune Rankings and Chicago Magazine Rankings
3. The latest ruling on magnet schools states that if you have a sibling in that school you are guaranteed to get in. Of the remaining seats after siblings, 40% will be admitted based on proximity – within 1.5 miles of the school. The final seats are chosen also by lottery but broken into 4 different socio-economic groups. The tiers are complicated, based on a number of things including family education and income.
Even though the process is not that difficult, to get in is another story. Chicago Magazine wrote, “Last year, Chicago’s 39 magnet elementary schools received 13,678 applications for 2,097 slots for the 2010–11 school year.”
4. You can also apply to other school besides magnets, namely Selective Enrollment Schools. You can apply to a maximum of 6 of these schools and your child will have to test in. There is no preference for sibling or home address.
5. Last day to apply is December 16, 2011. You should hear back by April 1st, 2012.
6. The CPS website states that you do not need to apply to your neighborhood school. I’m not sure how you enroll yet but I’ll let you know when I get there.
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Me and My Pumpkins
Yesterday we were invited to join our friends, the Smiths, at Bengtson\’s Pumpkin Farm. I have only been to one other pumpkin farm before so I didn’t have much to compare it too. The one I went to was called Sonny Acres and it was quaint and country-like. Bengtson’s, by contrast, was like arriving at a theme park in Orlando. The rides were much better, but the lines were much longer. It made me realize the Jack is ready for a place like Disney. He had a blast, didn’t mind the lines, actively sought new rides and laughed hysterically when he rode them. Ben is definitely not ready. He did not appreciate us telling him where to stand and for long periods of time, or getting ushered around in any sort of time frame that was not his own.
Frog Jump Ride
Petting Zoo
As usual, our city born and raised kids were too scared to feed the animals at the petting zoo. In fact, after I fed the Alpaca carrots and it thanked me by spewing carrot chunks out of his nose at me, I didn’t blame them. Adam tried to protect me by threatening to turn it into a nice sweater.
The price for admission was free for ages 2 and under, $10.99 for kids 3-11, and $11.99 for age 11 and up. They do have a coupon online which gives you a $1 off each admission price. Some things were free like the playground, slides, hay ride, pig races, and much more, other rides like the Frog Leap and Train were $2 per person. Pony rides were $5. There was lots of naughty food to eat and I took full advantage of my ‘eat for three’ status and enjoyed a funnel cake. Mmmm.
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With Thomas, Our Driver
Last night we experienced a night of culinary delight, lovely conversation, and great decoration.
We were invited to a very unusual Halloween party.
Our host’s property was so large that we were driven from the house to the barn in their own private golf cart.
This was no ordinary barn. There were no horses. It was clean and pristine with a make-shift kitchen and lounge chairs outside overlooking the beautiful scenery.
Ghoulish Poker
The barn was decorated to the hilt with Halloween decorations. Most were battery powered and operated by the clapper technology, or any loud noise for that matter. When someone made a joke at the table, the ghouls, ghosts and witches laughed right along with us.
We were served a traditional German meal. It was so delicious, I kept thinking how pleased I was to be eating for three at that point. I filled my plate to the brim and mopped it clean with my pretzel bread. Our host served us Sauerbraten, a marinated beef so delicate it practically fell apart when you speared it. Yummy potatoes that I regret not finding out the name of, beets, home made apple sauce, and green beans made an eye pleasing pile on my plate. I was completely full but still found room for the THREE desserts served afterwards and the take home halloween cookies.
The Table
Every detail was thought of. Water on the table (how many parties do you go to where they forget water?!), votive candles, little halloween decorations on our plate, which were so cute they were stolen by all the guests, halloween music, gorgeous food served at the perfect temperature by the host and her helpers, someone was always running around checking that your drink was full, even the bathroom smelled good! I kept wandering around thinking, “I must make a mental note of this for my own parties.” It was truly a lesson in hosting.
Pin ItThis week’s bout of great weather, soon to be over, coupled with the fact that the life as I know it, also soon to be over, put a fire in me this week.
We spent the whole week at parks, meeting up with friends and enjoying the good weather….
Jack's latest Masterpiece
Yesterday when I picked Jack up at school I was shown into the kitchen area of the classroom. All the cabinets (more than shown here) both inside and out as well as the rug were covered with red marker. Apparently Jack got hold of one at nap time and, instead of napping, decided to graffiti the entire kitchenette.
I couldn’t even be angry at him. One of my parent’s favorite stories about me was the time I marked up the wall and, when asked who did it, blamed it on a ghost.
Pin ItI’ve been getting a lot of the same questions from people about the pregnancy. I figure for every person who isn’t too embarrassed to ask, there are another 3 or 4 out there just sitting around wondering. So here I go…
1. No, Twins do not run in our family.
2. No, we did not take any fertility drugs.
3. No, we did not have sex twice that evening.
My husband reckons that my eggs were all thinking – Abandon Ship! The Ship is going down! And hence the two eggs.
4. Yes I am completely and totally excited to have this new incredible experience in my life. I’m also scared as hell. I have no idea how I’m going to cover all these kids and still feel like, at the end of the day, I’ve done a decent job.
So what are we thinking of doing? Well, every day we rethink it but here are the thoughts so far.
I realize I can not stay up all night feeding two kids and then watch four kids all day.
A) Friends of mine who already have twins are suggesting a night nurse. I like the idea of sleeping while someone else feeds and sleep trains my kids but there are some problems with it. Like I’m a breast feeder. I don’t want to give that up and the only way to guarantee enough supply is to feed on demand. Plus right now our two other kids still wake us up most nights so it’s hardly like I’m laying there getting good sleep. Finally it’s about $10,000 to have a good one come in for about 3 months. Seems like if we have an extra $10,000 to throw around it might be utilized better, like to help cover 4 kids that are awake as oppose to 2 that are mostly asleep.
B) Summer camp for the two older ones is another option. However, last year Jack refused to go to the camp we signed him up to so I ended up with him home every day. And you know what? Not having a schedule was actually kind of nice.
C) Have someone come in during ‘crunch time’. If you are a mother and reading this, you know crunch time. It’s around 4-8pm. Cooking and feeding, bathing, and reading to 4 different kids on different schedules will be a challenge. I’m thinking energetic college type on her summer break.
D) Family. I plan on leaning heavily on any family member willing to come join the new crazy that will be our lives starting next year in May.
If anyone reading this has any ideas or advice please feel free to dole it out to me!
Pin ItThanks you everyone for all your blessings. It is truly a blessing. Maybe it won’t feel like that when they are first born, or for the first year. Or even the second. But eventually it will be a blessing, right?
When I knew I was pregnant, but before I was informed it was twins, I had my mind set on how a new baby would fit in. It would just be a question of layering another kid on. Adam said I’d need help, but once again I refused. In fact I tried to convince Adam not to send Ben to preschool. I could handle two at home.
Since I heard of my new reality, I’ve been wandering around in a daze, contemplating how it will all work. It’s not layering on another kid, it’s doubling the amount of kids we have now! I feel like my mind is like a computer, every moment is reevaluated with the thought, how will twins fit into this picture?
When Ben woke this morning at 5:30, instead of taking my husband up on his offer to let me sleep in, I asked him to bring Ben to bed with us. Laying in the covers laughing and hugging I thought, time is limited for this sort of leisure. I’d better suck up every cuddle, smile, and piece of focused, one-on-one time while I can.
I begged Adam for one last trip to New York to see my buddies from Asia before I lose my freedom completely. Who knows when I’ll be able to travel and socialize after the twins are born. TWINS. Oh my god.
Should I rename the blog Quadra-Mom?
I told my friend Anna last night that when I lay on my death bed I think the only thing I’ll know for sure is that I know nothing. I spent years reading and deciding what type of mom I would be. I believed in baby carrying. I believed in breast feeding exclusively for the first year of life. Now all that will probably be impossible. I certainly can’t refuse help anymore.
When I put aside the fear and shock, there is a lot of excitement underneath. A new challenge in life! All in front of me to be shaped and formed just to suit us. It’s not dissimilar to the feeling I got when we got engaged – a huge beautiful project to build uniquely for us. If we do it right, everyone will enjoy it. If we do it right, we will be proud of it for the rest of our lives.
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