Heartbreaks of Childhood...

It took forever to finally be able to order my replacement iphone. First the AT&T website was having issues, then tried to order it over the phone but the salesgirl couldn't access the refurbished phones for "an upgrade", then I could finally access the website and the phone I wanted was sold out. So kept checking back until FINALLY... they had a iPhone 4 16G available for $99... not in the white like Child#1 really wanted but in black. I figured we'll get her a really need cover/case anyways when this phone becomes hers.

So it finally arrives and I get everything restored to the last time I sync'd the phone... yeah two months ago... DUH! Everything looks great. The new screen image is amazingly clear.

Everything great right? Wrong.

So Child#1 asks if she can use my phone to call her BFF who she hasn't talked to since the "Lost the Phone in HEB" incident. So she calls her friend and we discover that the phone doesn't work unless its on speaker. They can hear us but we can't hear them. NICE! So I guess that's why it needed to be refurbished. Luckily it is still fully covered as though it wasn't a refurb... now to find the time to go to the AT&T store.

But the truly depressing find was that Child#1's BFF is moving away. Her mom got a new job in San Antonio and they are moving in a few weeks. Her mom has been staying with a friend in San Antonio during the week while she works and BFF has been staying with her various grandparents at the same time. Her mom says they will be coming to Austin often but I know how that can go... after a while it becomes a hassle and they won't come as often. But maybe we'll be able to still set up occasional sleepovers and such.

Child#1 is trying to be strong and brave but I know she is just devastated. She's been friends with BFF K since 1st grade. Her other BFF N she's been friends with since Kinder but she's going to be going to a different school when they start middle school next year. And her other close friend E that she made this year will also be moving when its time to start middle school.

Why does it have to happen like this? Most of her Posse will be split up within the next year with the start of middle school. Especially when she's gonna need them the most. It just sucks. I remember how hard it was, we moved from NJ at the beginning of 6th grade/middle school to TX. Suddenly being the new kid in school sucked. I didn't want her to have to worry about that, at least I was confident while the school would be new she would still have her friends to fall back on.

It just breaks my heart knowing that she isn't gonna be able to hang out with K after school anymore. Or during school.

At least I'm so glad they got to have the time this past spring when K came over after school each Wednesday afternoon and they got to just hang out together.

I can see its gonna be a good thing that we have unlimited calls, text & data on our phones... otherwise its would be very EXPENSIVE! I need to find out if K has a laptop with a camera so they can at least Skype together.

Not the best customer service...

So I called AT&T today about my lost phone. Still hasn't turned up at HEB.

Since I didn't have insurance on it, they won't replace it. I'm not eligible for upgrade for, get this, until June 20th. TWO WEEKS from now.

I could get a replacement phone through their replacement program but it can't be an iPhone because those aren't in the program and I'd have to extend my contract 11 months.

Seriously that's the best they can offer me. A crappy phone (for whatever price range I'm willing to spend) with 11 month contact or nothing for 2 weeks when I could "upgrade" to a iPhone 4 for about $100 without a contact obligation. I'd take the 11 month contract extension if I could just get another iPhone.

We have two iPhones with them and have been customers for over more than 5 years and that's the best they can do??

We could add an additional line for $15 plus data plan and $100 refurb iPhone 4 and it would be cheaper. We were discussing giving Child #1 my old 3Gs when I upgraded to the iPhone 5 due out sometime this summer. Guess we'll get a refurb 4 for her instead that I'd use until we can get "my phone" when I'm eligible in two weeks...

Yeah we didn't totally dodge the sick bullet...

Thought we might not have to start the summer being sick but alas... Hubby seems to have acquired the same crude as Child#3. It hit him a couple of days ago... total Man Cold reaction... and he's just really starting to feel human again. He even broke down and went to the Doctor it was that bad. Doctor told him he had a flu virus.

Needless to say I wiped the whole house down with Lysol and vinegar. Lots & lots of handwashing!

I think I might have had a touch of it earlier in the week. Mainly the heavy fatigue and several trips to the bathroom but not as wiped out as both Child#3 and Hubby.

At least so far the rest of the Krewe hasn't shown any signs of the flu virus.

I feel so lost...

Yesterday while doing the marathon food shopping spree... Costco, Petsmart and HEB... my iPhone went missing. Of course I noticed when we left Costco that my battery was nearly dead so when I coudn't find it... calling it didn't help when it went straight to voicemail.

Great, the battery's dead. So I can't even try to track it down by the ringing.

I couldn't remember how I could have lost it until just as I was about to fall asleep... I remembered that my phone rang while we were at HEB. It was Child #1's BFF so I'd just handed her the phone to take the call.

So this morning I asked Child #1 if she remembered what she did with my phone after she finished with her conversation with BFF K...

"I put it in the cart next to your purse".

Sigh, well that would explain why I couldn't remember laying it down somewhere. All I can figure is it must have fallen out of the cart somewhere in the store.

UGH! And of course its been a while since I synced my phone. So I've lost a bunch of new contact numbers and basically all the pictures on my phone for the past two months.

UGH!!

So what is the likelihood someone will turn in a lost iPhone... probably not so good.

I feel so lost, I use my phone as a calendar, a camera, a clock and of course email/internet contact...

Young Love...

Child #3 started Kindergarten last fall. He's always been my happy boy, his nickname is my 95% boy because he literally is happy 95% of the time... that other 5% can be mindbogglingly terrifying to behold. He is also a total social butterfly. EVERYONE knows his name. We went to Fall Carnival at their elementary school last year and within 5 minutes of being there we literally had 50 different people say hi to him by name.

Several months ago he happen to mention in conversation that he had a girlfriend.

Hubby and I looked at each other... really?!? A girlfriend.

I asked him "does she know?" because honestly just because he likes a girl doesn't mean she knows who he is. Right?

"Oh yes."

What's her name?

"S-".

Yep, she exists and she's his girlfriend. We bumped into her mom at a school event. She knew ALL about Child #3 because her daughter talks about him a lot because he's her boyfriend.

ACK!!

He's SIX!! And so is she!! Holy cow! And he brings home little hearts and notes with "I heart U" on them from her. It is so sweeeet. Thankfully her parents think its sweet and funny too.

He wrote their initials in the sand in a heart at the beach last month.

Their kindergarten teacher Ms. C told me that they have these deep intellectual conversation together too. So it isn't just they think each other are cute. They love each others amazing and creative intelligent brains too. They were tested for the Talented & Gifted program together.

Both of them wrote in their end of school memory journals that they will always remember each other and each other are their "special" friend.



Her mom sent me this picture from Field Day at school last week.


It's six going on SIXTEEN!! ACK!!


I'm not ready for this. LOL!!

And so it begins...

Today is the official first day of summer vacation.

We decided to go to the Cedar Park Farmer's Market. Hubby has been craving one of the cherry danishes from Sweetish Hill Bakery. We load everyone up and head over there.

It was hot, not unbearable but none the less hot. We weren't there 20 minutes and Child #3 suddenly doesn't feel well. Like "spit yuckies" feel bad. So I quickly steered him out of the middle of the food vendors over the one of the grassy medians of the parking lot behind the vendor tents. I held him kind of hanging in my arms over some grass in case he actually had to throw up. Thankfully he never really did only gagged slightly and moaned a lot.

Yeah. Sick child on the first day of summer vacation.

Needless to say we headed straight home again. We thought he might be dehydrated after all the running around outside he did yesterday.

At least Hubby was able to snag the last cherry danish before they sold out.

Once home the boy layed down on the couch. Everyone else was outside playing when Child #1 noticed that he looked hot. He spiked a 101.8 fever. Lovely. He proceeded to crash and sleep on the couch for the next couple of hours. He never did throw up but did have to visit the bathroom several times for "other reasons". Poor buddy.

He seems to be recovering with lots of rest and light eating. He went straight to bed without the slightest complaint.

We ended up missing Hubby's best friends promotion celebration party but alas can't take a sick child out. Here's to hoping no one else gets sick.

Last Day of School...

Hubby got home about mid morning right before it was time to take Child #4 to Pre-K. She didn't hear him come in so when I called her downstairs she squealed on the middle of the stairs and launched herself into his arms. Yep, she was happy Daddy was home.

After taking Child #4 and a friend to school, Hubby and I went to lunch. Then it was time to hit the End of the School Year class parties. Four of them. This year and next year are the only years where all four kids will be at the same school at the same time. Next year they will be in for the same hours since Child #4 will be in full day Kindergarten (she better get Ms C!!!).

All four parties were outside for part of it. In that lovely Texas heat! Thankfully it was only up to 94 degrees while we were outside. Seriously were they trying to give us heat stroke? Could have been worse, it hit 100 degrees two days earlier. The older three were surprised to see Hubby since they didn't know he was going to be home so early on Friday and he doesn't usually get to come to the school parties.

It's official. The 2010-2011 school year is now OVER!! It's summer vacation.

Child #1 is very happy! She doesn't have to wake up early in the mornings.

Child #2 is also happy because he doesn't have to wake up early or do "reading" anymore. Little does he realize he will still be doing reading this summer.

Child #3 is conflicted. He LOVES school so much. He loves his teacher, he loves his classmates and his special friend, and he loves learning. But he is happy about not having to wake up early.

Honestly who are they kidding?? Okay so I'm not waking them up at 7am, they are all awake by 8am anyways. Okay Child #1 will sleep in later if the boys don't wake her up.

Child #4 is indifferent in that classic Child #4 way.

Report cards came home and were awesome all around.
Child #1 ended up with straight A's for the year. She was quite proud of how well she was able to bring her grades up from the B's of last quarter.
Child #2 was able to show marked improvement all around and his teacher was so impressed with how much progress he made in reading & writing.
Child #3 maxed out in just about everything just like we knew he would... my little brainiac. Child #4 improved her oral language from 6 yr 4 months to 10 years 2 months! Which means she has the vocabulary of a 4 grader! She's not even 5 yrs yet! We definitely saw that learning spike in her speech... she's always been a talker once she decided she wanted to talk but its increase exponentially this year. Seriously get her alone and she will overwhelm you with her constant stream of verbal conscientiousness. She'll make your ears start to hurt and your head spin.

Sadly we will be missing Child #1's teacher Mrs. F. next year. Between the budget cuts and the soon arrival of her first child she won't be returning to Jollyville next year. So wrong that we lose those amazing young and vibrant teachers to the budget just because they were the most recent hires. I'm hoping that in a few years she'll be back...

So now its time for sleeping in (HA!), loose schedules, lazy & carefree days, fun in the sprinklers, and lots of trying to not kill each other days.