Blessed Beyond Measure: A Team Week 196: The Start of Summer

This week marked the official start of summer, but just because it is now summer and Asher finished up his kindergarten year the week prior doesn't mean that there is no school. Instead, there is summer school. During the school year Asher's teacher recommended it to us. Not because he was behind, but rather because he was making good progress and she didn't want him to lose momentum. We entirely agreed and had already been thinking of doing summer tutoring or something similar with him. So, on Monday morning I drove Asher to school at 8am ready to start the day. When we arrived though, there was almost no one there. We were met in the hall by a staff member who asked what she could help us with. When I told her that we were there for the first day of the summer school program she looked at me like I was completely insane and told me that it didn't start until Wednesday.

So yeah. That is how our week began. I was pretty sure that I had read something saying that it started on the 18th (Monday), but with my mom-brain I couldn't be sure. Asher and I left the school and headed to the daycare where I dropped him off and then headed up to work for the day. That night, after I got home, one of the first things I did was look for the paper I had in mind. Sure enough, it clearly states that school starts on the 18th. Mind you it came with a letter which also stated that 20th, but this is the one that was in large font and seemed more "official", so I figured this is what was correct.

@kenoshaschools For the record...I am NOT crazy. #iprobablyambutnotinthiscase

From that point, the rest of the week went much smoother (other than an issue on Friday afternoon which I will get to later). On Wednesday I dropped Asher off for the real start of summer school and was pleasantly surprised by the progress he had made since the beginning of Kindergarten nine months prior. If you recall, Asher's first day of school was rough. He was very excited to go but once we got there reality set in and he started to cry. We brought him to his classroom and he did not want us to leave. After sitting with him in the back of the room I finally had to leave the school with the help of some other staff peeling him off of me and then me leaving his classroom and walking down the halls with tears streaming down my face as I listened to his frantic sobs behind me. With those memories still weighing on my heart I was a little afraid of how the first day would go. One thing that made me feel better about the situation though was the fact that months prior when we'd discussed sending him to summer school his teacher had said that she would be there and implied that there was a good chance she would be his teacher. When we walked into the school to figure out where he should go though, the panic came back. As we walked into the building we saw several familiar faces from his class and his teacher Mrs. Beistle standing in a group together and as I told the staff member his name and awaited direction, I assumed we would be told to join the group. However, we were told that he would be in Ms. Fell's class and then directed to her location where we saw NO familiar faces at all! I could feel the panic rising in me as I looked down at Asher's face and saw his smile disappear and I would have bet that the tears were soon to follow. ...but instead I was surprised as he walked over to the group and then waved goodbye at me as I turned and left. No tears. I headed up to work, unsure how the day would go and that night when I asked him how his first day was he enthusiastically responded, "Good!" Works for me! :)

Asher & Avery checking out this year's Father's Day book together.

DJ Asher mixing for us.

Goofball Avery getting dressed for bed.

On Friday, I had my day off but I also had some appointments in the morning. Thus, Avery went to daycare for the morning while I had my appointments, Asher had school and Eric had work. When I got home from my appointment I enjoyed a little bit of quite time at home before going to pick Asher up from school (summer school is half days) and Avery from daycare.

That afternoon, Eric came home early from work (his office has summer hours with everyone taking off after lunch if they already have at least 40 hours for the week). When he arrived the boys and I were hanging out in the front yard. They were riding bikes and drawing on the driveway while I sat on the front porch. Eric then decided to hang up my hammock chair for me to sit in which evolved into both of the boys swinging from the trees in the front yard.

After playing in the yard Eric and I went back in the house and the boys went to the backyard to play. A while later I was sitting on the couch when I smelled something that had a chemical stench. I told Eric about it and after taking a quick look around he concluded that I must be smelling the two bags of apples that were sitting on the kitchen counter. A little after that Asher came into the house and was talking to me but I was not looking directly at him. He asked me if I would wash his Michigan sweatshirt tonight because it had gotten dirty while he was playing outside. I told him that I would wash it but that I might not get around to do it tonight. Then he went back outside to play and after he left I realized that I was again smelling the chemical odor I'd smelt before. I went into the back yard to see if the odor that was coming from outside but I didn't smell anything, so I again ignored it. At that point, it was nearing dinner time and Eric and I had decided to head out for dinner. We grabbed our stuff and then told the kids to get into the van. Asher, Avery and I got in the van and then waited for Eric to get in. While we waited I again smelled the strange odor very strongly. As I tried to figure out what it was, Asher spoke from the backseat, "Mommy, I think the smell is coming from my sweatshirt. I got something stinky on it." I asked him to come to me and tried to look at it in the dim light of the van (in the garage). I could see a little bit of a sheen but nothing else and thought maybe he had rubbed on some grease or something. Then as I got his shirt into the light it dawned on me what the stain was: Paint. I got out of the van and looked around to see if there was any sign of paint anywhere and as I turned and looked at the trashcan that we keep on the side of the garage I saw a can of silver automobile spray painting laying on the very top. I had found it, the culprit!

I quickly told Eric what the smell was and that Asher had gotten into a can of spray paint and then as we looked around the yard we quickly realized how much our little "artist" (or hoodlum?) had painted (or tagged?). He had sprayed a part of the garage, Avery's bike, our wagon, a couple of spots on our beloved magnolia tree, our fence and the brand new swing-set! To say that Eric and I were shocked is an understatement. Asher is our rule-follower. He never really gets into trouble for anything other than crabbiness, whining or fighting with his little brother. He is our kid that does pretty much everything we ask him to do (although he may be upset about it the entire time) and is always telling me when someone is doing something that he knows Eric and I would not approve of. If it had been Avery that had gotten into the spray paint, I'm not sure we really would have been surprised, but with Asher we were completely taken aback. It would have been one thing if he had taken it out of curiosity, tried it in one spot and then realized that it was something he shouldn't be doing, but the fact that he continued to spray things throughout the back yard was amazing (just not in a good way). Since we were literally seconds from leaving for dinner before making this discovery Eric and I had a moment of not knowing exactly what to do next. We stared at one another still in shock of what Asher had done and as we headed to the van out of habit we quickly realized that we could not just go out to dinner as though nothing had happened. Instead, we got the boys out of the van and told them we would not be going anywhere as Asher required a punishment. We headed back into the house where Asher was sent to his room for the rest of the evening (we brought him some dinner to his room). It was only six p.m. but still we told Asher he was not allowed to leave his room for any reason other than to use the bathroom. In the meantime Eric and Avery headed to Wendy's to pick up dinner for the rest of us and then we ate at the table and watched a cartoon before putting Avery to bed.

The next morning I handed Asher a scrubby and a bucket of soapy water and put him to work on the mess he made the night before. Eric and I knew that the paint was going nowhere, but still had to show him that there are consequences to his actions. He worked on cleaning his mess for about an hour before we allowed him to be done. Then we agreed that his punishments were complete and hoped he had learned his lesson on spray paint. Note: Ever since then it seems that Asher uses this experience as a measuring tool for just how angry Eric and I are. If I tell him not to do something he will ask what will happen if he does. When I reply that I will be very upset he says, "more upset than the spray paint?"

Later that day with the spray paint incident behind us, we head headed to the Rec Plex for the 5th birthday party of Asher and Avery's friend Gabriel. There we enjoyed a nice lunch and then the boys had a blast playing in the pool.

Asher loved the water slide, but unfortunately Avery wasn't deemed tall enough to give it a try.

The boys with their friend Gabe and his other friends and cousins.

Video: Asher's Desk

On Saturday Asher also lucked out by getting a desk for his bedroom. He has been asking for a desk for quite a while and frequently would attempt to construct one out of smaller tables, legos, boxes, or whatever else he could find around the house. On Friday night I noticed that a friend in Kenosha was giving a nice one away so I asked if we could have it. On Saturday morning Eric went to pick it up and then we surprised Asher with it. He was quite thrilled and spent probably 4-5 hours that day and the next organizing all of his craft and school supplies inside.

That evening we headed to Eric's coworker/friend's brewery for dinner. This summer we have become a little obsessed with a Kenosha food truck called D-Leecious Dogs. They have an amazing Italian Beef sandwich that beats any I've ever had before. When Eric found out that they would be at R'Noggin on Saturday night we agreed that we'd head over there for dinner. Jeff (Eric's' coworker) knew that we were planning to come and when he saw us looking for a parking spot he directed us right next to the food truck and then warned us that the crowd and band there that evening may not be to our taste. As I looked around, I quickly realized what he was talking about but I wasn't prepared for the extent to which he would be correct.

The people standing around outside where not the crowd that we'd seen there in the past. Instead, all of these people were covered in tattoos and dressed in black. Then there was a Heavy Metal band setting up that we were warned would be very loud. Still wanting our Italian Beef sandwiches, we braved it all and ordered our dinner. When our sandwiches were ready, we headed into the brewery to eat as it held the only tables around. As we began to eat the band started to warm up by playing their guitars and drums. The boys (who are fans of *edited* speed metal) immediately started to dance in their seats and head bang. The couple sitting next to us (also dressed very darkly with tattoos) laughed and stated that they felt like they were looking at their future kids, completely entertained by ours. As I politely chuckled at their comment I thought to myself, "dear God, I sure hope not!". When the warm ups were complete, the band started their show and began their first actual song, which included "lyrics". Although the guitars and drums were loud, I could handle the noise. The song that came on next though was a different story. As the lead singer began to "sing" Eric and I quickly realized our mistake. EVERY SINGLE comprehendible word of the song was "F--- You". Horrified, we did our best to scarf down our sandwiches and then helped the boys move outside to the side of the garage (as far away from the band as we could get) so that they could finish their hotdogs. I felt like the worst mom ever! I guess that is what we get for taking our 3 and 5 year olds to a brewery.

The next we day, we enjoyed some much more wholesome fun. That day after church Aaron and Erika's crew came over along with Mom and Dad who had driven down that morning. We enjoyed a nice lunch at the house together and then relaxed for a bit as all of the boys played together. Then, we headed over to the Dream Playground to let the boys play more and finished the day out with a stop at Dairy Queen for a treat.