Our au pair

With me going back to school we had some tough decisions to make in regards to childcare. Unfortunately, my schedule is so strange. I am gone different hours 4 days a week. That made trying to find different daycare/sitters for different times and in different places. Some in school some out of school, some at home, some at the day care center..........................BLAHHHH!!! It was an unrealistic picture and practically impossible. We did not know what to do.

Very long story short, a friend mentioned to me the idea of an au pair. I had heard of au pairs but did not really know what / how they worked. So I did some research. For a comparison, think nannies. Au pairs are young people between the ages of 18-26 from a foreign country. They want to come and experience the US and American culture and in return for that opportunity they provide daycare. There are rules and stipulations all set up through the State department regarding how long they can work per day/ per week and how much they are to be paid. They live in your house (in this case, our house obviously) and they must have their own room. Au pairs are or can be responsible for all duties that involve the children. It depends on what you want or need done. So for example, laundry (hello 5 kids that is a huge deal) meals, bedrooms clean, toys picked up, etc. They must also have a decent grasp of the English language.

When choosing an au pair, you get this huge application and photos. There are phone interviews. It is really in depth and personal to what you are looking for. We wanted someone with a great sense of humor, willing to work with 5 kids, live in rural VT, drive a car, have lots of experience with kids, and be able to drive. We really got everything we wanted and more.

Our au pair is from Poland, she is 22. She's been driving for 4 years, has over 3000 hours of documented childcare experience, and loves to laugh. The kids absolutely love her and so do I. She has been here for 1 week today and I am not sure how we lived without her. I cannot express how happy I am at this point. There may be bumps in the road later but as for now I am in hog heaven. The biggest thing is the relief. I do not have to worry about the kids not their safety, their happiness, or health. If they are bored (they are in their own home....aka video games and computers as wanted). We make sure they go outside. It has been great. I have very high hopes for the year.

The photos above are the kids playing outside today. She planned and played a game of treasure hunting treats for them today. Apparently, an evil ogre came during the night and left treasure treats in the woods. Who knew???

Last Saturday, the 23rd I believe, Adam's work had their company picnic. It is a new thing for the company to start so I cannot call it the "annual" picnic because up to this they have never had a company gathering. This is something that Adam has instigated and he is pretty proud of it. He has plans to continue having company gatherings. Anyway, we of course, have very little experience with this area, and Adam relied on recommendations on WHERE to have a gathering. Long story short a recreational park was chosen that is close by. It is only a 45 minute drive from our house. Which is just lovely. It was an amazing place. It has this great beach with the lake, parks, and playgrounds, as well as bike trails and hiking trails. We had a great time. Below are some of the photos. We had a blast.

This is the view if you were standing on the beach looking out. Amazing.

Xander trying to play like the big kids. You'll see below what I mean...

Yes, my own personal sand monsters. I cannot tell you all the amazing places that I found sand during bath time.

They would bury themselves in sand, but not really. It was like watching fish out of water. They would lie down and just flip and flop until they thought they were sufficiently covered. They they would race to the water. Only O and A did these remarkable stunts.

Ethan just looked at them and rolled his eyes.

Ok, so as usual, I am not the most "on top of things" mom. Yesterday, Thursday the 28th was the first day of school. I rearranged my school schedule so that I could be home to help the kids get ready for their first day. I also wanted to drive them on the first day as it is sort of a tradition. Well, sadly, I forgot to use the camera that day. So the TRUE first day of school was not immortalized on film. But, we rectified it this morning. So for prosperity.........and so that I have something........TODAY was the first day of school. Below are some photos of my very handsome yound men as they were departing our home for the bus stop.

O is more than ready for kindergarten. He is so excited to be a big kid. He didn't want me to drive them to school yesterday, he wanted to ride the bus. I ask him what his favorite thing is and he says, "Everything." Then shrugs his shoulders, like 'duh'!!!

He is just so cool. What a special boy he is (yes, they all are, I know.) E at least likes to have his picture taken. He is usually my clingy boy for new things, like first days of school. We walked into the building yesterday (A ran away from me like I smelled or something) and E just looked at me and said bye. That's it. I took O into class - thinking E would wait for me by his classroom - but when I went to his room he was already at his desk working. I waved and blew him a kiss. He waved back, but looked around wildly to see if anyone caught his mom throwing kisses. How uncool. Isn't he too young for that? It is just not fair. A I can see doing that for his age. But not E. It's too soon. Really it is.

The sad face. He already had homework. I really hope that 5th grade gets back to normal for him. I'm hoping there will be actual learning going on for him this year. With the move and the content of the rest of the 4th grade here, I do not feel as if he learned anything productive.

It like looking at stepping stones, isn't it. One right after the other. Almost mirror images of alternate reality or something. Seeing what is too come for the others.

C at the beach on same day. It didn't upload right sorry.

At the end of driveway waiting on the bus. All three asked me after taking thier picture if I would go back into the house. What kind of love is that for a mom I ask you........How rude.

These are some trails up near where the factory is (where Adam spends most of his time for work.)

X rockin' at Rock Band in our not so kid friendly basement. Riiiiight On, man!

He likes to think he is playing with the big kids, and they think it is funny to let him;-)

Rock in our front yard, as well as the yard and part of the driveway.

Me and Adam all dressed up with a party for his work.

A's first time mowing the yard. Wow, what a big kid he is. No longer a little boy. He would NOT look at me while I was trying to take his photo. He has since mowed 4 or 5 times and he does much better than his dad. Really.

This was in Rhode Island. We spent a blissful, quiet, and uneventful weekend there with family. It was so peaceful and tranquil that none of us wanted to leave.

Over by the Lighthouse. My boys, so cool it hurts.

All of us by the lighthouse now. We had such a great time that weekend.

Here are some photos from the last few months of us here in VT. These are X at his outdoorsy best. He loved the snow and continues to love being outside. He cannot get enough. One of his favorite words is "OUTSIDE!" (Yes, usually yelling.)

Playing with Daddy and the big boys on the Wii.

Being silly with Mommy and the camera. It is a rarity to get a full face shot with X. He always turns away from the camera.

Believe it or not this was our EASTER!!!! Yes, for real. The "bunny" actually hid some of our eggs outside for the kids this year. They had a blast.

Making those Easter eggs on the Kitchen floor.

Snow pile outside. It reached the bottom of the SECOND floor of our house. We actually had to rake the roof to get the snow off..........something completely new for us. Who would have thought? The kids used that huge pile of snow to slide down.

The boys on one of the nature trails near the house. This was in May.

FINALLY!!!!! We now have Internet at home...

Hello hello hello!!! It has only taken 7 months but we finally have internet at our house. The waves of excitement are tangible. the kids are literally jumping for joy......and they did not waste one single second to get online. (Obviously, neither did I....;-)

X just turned 2. We are so happy and everyone is healthy as horses. X is talking so much, although I still swear he speaks more Chinese than English. Just kidding. He gets his meaning across eventually. I'm actually thinking about potty training him very soon. He is making a lot of noise about his diapers etc. and I think it is about time. I'm actually not looking forward to it.

So much has happened these past few months. All 5 kids spent the month of July in Ohio bouncing back and forth between family members. Adam and I were in Oh for one week of that time. The kids did not seem to miss us at all. Our family loved their time with the kids. During that time Adam and I were in Vt for only a few days. We went to NY City and Chicago for his work. I went for shopping. Wow was that fun. But it got to a point where we didn't have anything else to say to each other. I asked him "What do people that don't have kids talk about all the time?" It was funny.

We all spent a nice weekend in Rhode Island with Adam's dad and S. Plus some other family members. It was a great time. We were right on the ocean. I cannot think of a better vacation. The ocean is all I need. Truly.

I am going to upload photos sometime in the next few days. I need to use the desktop computer for that (thats where the photos are) but I do not think the kids are going to let me touch it anytime soon.

Take care. Talk soon.