FINALLY Enrolled

Today we started out early again to go to the "diagnostic center" to attempt to enroll Thomas ONCE AGAIN for the VPK at the location at which I had no clue how to get to but was following my Yahoo map diligently and found it finding that I had passed this place tons of times while on my way fishing with Tom a bunch of times . Anyway, we get there, and first we're too early, and wait a half an hour, and the heat is starting to heat up and Thomas is starting to get antsy in the truck even though the a/c is on ,and 8:30 rolls around and I figure ok, someone has GOT to be there by now! So I knock and someone is finally there-we go in , and the lady who was standing behind us at the roundup opens the door! Small world! So I explain my case and adventure so far, and she explains a very interesting and crucial and dissappointing little tidbit to me that I'm just about fed up now with this whole process and the state- no one at the round up -the school board that is - ever mentioned the fact that on the provider list- in it states the amount of hours during the day that the child attends at school etc..-what it actually MEANT was what the state was actually PAYING for! Meaning say I sent him to a public school, he would stay for 6 hours, but the state would PAY for 3 and WE would have to pay for the other 3! Can somebody please tell me how that's FREE voluntary pre kindergarten to me please? She said she'd be happy to enroll us still if we wanted to pay the extra money for the 6 hours, but had no idea how much per week it was going to cost.-It could be 50, it could be 80.. I'm on a budget! I can't just go throwin money around! -Yeah I want a good education for my son,but still I want to be able to afford his future education as well-So as dissapointing as it was the public school deal went out the window.They said to try the place across the street from them, and I was going to until I stepped inside- Oh Boy! The place was a converted trailer with kids taking care of kids sitting on the floor with the director in the back pukin her brains out and her assistant making hoagies for lunch-toddlers dont eat hoagies! LOL there were 20 some odd kids in the rundown play yard in the back and I'm hoping they were supervised!.. Not the place I wanted to send my son- I know they were trying to do their best,and I just WANT the best for my son Know what I mean? So I moved on and checked my list, and saw nearby was a "LaPetite Academy" and know they've been around for like 30 years and have a great reputation when it comes to child education so I gave them a call and was like "please have an open spot , please have an open spot" and they did! Hallelujia! so I zipped right down there, filled out the papers,gave them what was necessary,took the tour, Thomas didn't want to leave which was good sign he liked the place,And am finally D- O - N- E! He's FINALLY enrolled in a VPK program!! Now I just gotta wait for August 8th - his first day of pre k! Sorry so long again- I really gotta get a leash for my mouth!
__________________He's four and a half- -he'll be 5 in February- so next August he'll start Kindergarten- There was an Elementery school here that I wanted to send him to that was sponsoring- get him used to the whole feel of the public school surroundings- but I ran into a snag where since the state was supposed to be funding this whole thing, it turned out they were going to pay for three hours and five days a week,and then have me pay for three hours extra five days week since it turned out to be six hours a day class and not three like it said in the program where he would go -which was fine} but they didnt know how much the extra 15 hrs a week would cost-and Im on a budget so I had to back out of that and go else where-where its free . Its cute he's really looking forward to going- its 3 hrs a day 5 days a week and they have a section just for the pre k kids -pretty large too which is good - theyre not crammed in-theyll be focused on and a teacher just for the pre k is going to be teaching them so they {day care people ] wont lose focus on the different groups or or there will be no distractions
__________________

VPK Enrollment Brainpain

Well, I am now on day three of my VPK {voluntary prekindergarten} journey, and it has not been as easy signing or enrolling Thomas as I thought it was going to be! It started out prequalifying him online with the state,then they get back to by congradulating you stating you have been pre qualified and are now in the system and should be recieving forms to fill out to bring to what's called VPK roundup - cool -stage 1 complete. Then the forms come,and the dates for the "roundup" come and we went to that-pretty much a joke-go to this floor and up to that one and back down to this one,basically do a check list and finally to the important one-the schoolboard to get our all important Certificate of Eligibility from the state and and VPK provider listing stating the sposoring schools and daycares and centers we can choose from to send Thomas to of our choice. Then the fun begins.Bright and early Monday morning , I leave the house w Thomas in tow, To a sponsoring Elementary school nearby-like 5 min away,to get first shot at enrolling T before anybody else does since there are only a limited number of slots to fill with these things for all of them-{18 max 5 min} I get there, and theyre like " do you have the pink card from the school board?" I'm like Nooo... the lady says " well they should have given you a pink registration card from the third floor when you met with the school board" I said " i met with some ladies who I believe might have been from the school board, but everyone had a sticker that said "volunteer" on their shirt- i had no way of telling who they worked with"I showed her the massive amount 1 inch thick file I have of paperwork I had brought with me you name it- I got it with me just in case its needed-if not,then its not- at least I'm covered including the all important-Certificate of Eligibility saying they said I just needed to show this and it would be fine" I also showed her the sponsor list- she was like "can I see that?'we're on that list?I was thinking do you even have a clue as to what I'm here for? So she said well I don't know what to tell you .. you can go to this officethe place where we went saturday to do the vpk roundup} and see what they say.. this is our first year doing this , so we don't really know what we're doing,.. why don't you come back wednesday morning when we get everything all straightend out with the school board.. I was like "o.k. I'll do that and left to go to the other office where i went to the roundup to make sure there was no "mystrerious pink card I was supposed to have gotten- which there was none-The woman was just totally out of her mind and was just referring to normal routine to normal registration of when a regular student enrolls for schoollike 1st grade etc.. -she said the certificate of eligibility would be just fine. Glad I double checked befor I just freaked out as to now what do I do KWIM? Then Tuesday rolls around and I'm off agin I figured I had a break since I was told to go back wednesday so I took Thomas to see Robots the movie today- he loved it - we were early so went to Mcee D's for lunch and trapsed around the mall a bit - was 1.00 for the both of us- when was the last time you spent .50 for a movie? I was shocked and delighted! the lady was like "1.00" I was like HOW MUCH? I said you got a deal !so I splurged on goodies -it being Thomas' first time in a movie theatre..he had a ball!. anyway, I get home and theres a message on my machine from the school I wanted to bring him to saying the slots had been filled! she tells me to come back wednesday morning and the slots are filled? I was PISSED! then listened to the name of the school again and it actually WASN"T the school -I wanted but the school board calling me about another school. the one I wanted was still open but now I have to travel tomorrow across town to a neighbor hood i barely know how to get to {thank goodness for yahoo maps} and register him there bright and early so the spots aren't taken because they don't do registering at the school near me because its summertime - the only reason they were open now is because they are doing a summer enrichment program. In the meantime I've been running all over town basically driving here,pickup these papers, drive there,get this copied, drive here pick up this form, drive there drop off that form, drive here sign this , drive there, enroll him there,UGH! can't I just drop him off sign him up and be done with it already? Sorry so long, but cmon! why all the hoops and paperwork?
__________________

Toilet Troubles..

Thomas today used the bathroom and is calling to me " I have a problem! " I'm like what's wrong?" he says you need to wipe my hiney! - and we go back and forth about how he's a big boy and he's 4 years old and he can wipe his own hiney now- , so I hear this big sigh and hear alright alright , I'll do it, I'll do it", lol {nutjob..} couple minutes pass , I hear the toilet flush, and I hear him say " uhh mom? I have a problem again.." I say what's up?" he says the toilets broken!' and low and behold, I go in the bathroom, and theres water goin all over the bathroom floor! Man! I asked him , whad you do??! he says his classic, "nothing..." I said how much toilet paper did you use? he says " umm just a little bit" I said little bit my but! I just put a fresh roll on there and its half gone! and its the charmin kind that absorbs like a cotton ball the size a Texas! UGGH! So Thankfully the hose is on the other side of the tub outside. so I had to bring the hose inside , snake into the pipe, turn on the water full blast and force the clog down the pipe with the water ,cause not draino nor bleach or nothin was uncloggin his ton a toilet paper he tried to flush down that toilet- I told him from now on a little dab'll do ya! not too big not too small! sheesh all he had to say was "yess maam im sorry- now why do I feel so horrible? we've all done it- he's gonna be the death a me- LOL my lIl stinker!he learned his lesson though! - now when he sees me goin to use the bathroom - he goes "you use the bafroom mommy? ? i say "yup, be right back " he says not too much ok?' LOL oh boy., I created a monster! LOL
__________________"ol family trick my dad used to do while living in a family with 3 girls and {my mom , my sister and I - {there were him and my brothers but they had their own messes and horses of other colors we'll say}with the bunch of us always throwin the tampons down the toilet- instead of the garbage- he was forever throwin the hose down the toilet if you know what I mean.. so I just took that trick with me when i moved out. lol Thanks dad! I owe ya one! ;)
__________________

MacDill Airshow

Today we went to the airshow at MacDill AirForce Base in Tampa. Was a Hot one- Took along the sunscreen and chairsand all- Was Thomas' first time seeing Planes of this magnitute up close- He loved it ..until the fighter jets put on their show- I went for a hotdog, and came back and Tom was nursing Thomas' overbearing tears!!! I was like what happened?? apparently,Thomas wasn't prepared for how loud the booming sound of the jet engines actually were and scared the daylights out of him and he burst into tears wanting to go home! we told him to hold his ears and we'd go do something else- so we went and looked inside the planes and walk around instead and would tell him when another jet wouldpass by- he was ok withthat idea. Poor thing -He loves airplanes-I guess just wasn't ready for the sonic boom factor! Here's some pics we tookof our day.{Sorry so big}..Here's one of a couple fighter planes. Here's me N Thomas by a Fighter Jet Tom was smart and hung out in the shade under the wing of a plane while we checked out the insidehere's Thomas inside the Parachuters plane here he is in the parajumpers seat and giving a thumbs up in the pilots seat -everythings A OK!!

Could Spring FINALLY be Here?

Mother Nature has been awfully kind these past couple days in Finally giving us a taste of that warm weather I've been Dying for! Thought I'd take her up on her generosity and get a running start on my tan these past couple days while Thomas played on his swingset in the yard. I hear theres a yucky front comin in , So I guess it was nice while it lasted.. I'm lookin' forward to her next round of generosity though I tell ya I think spring is FINALLY here!! Im expectin those wild winds and wicked rainstorms dont get me wrong, it was just nice to see the sun for a full day finally with no clouds KWIM? Here's lookin forward to these kinda days to come .....

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone had a very Happy Easter {those who celebrated anyway} just thought I'd post some pics of what the Easter Bunny left Thomas - Its funny- I remember growing up- getting a basket full of candy-and these days I guess they don't do that anymore-just toys- Well Thomas has toys comin out his ears- So I improvised and Got a basket from Walgreens,and used his Valentine's candy, and some leftover candy from Halloween and his Easter party from preschool and sprinkled it in there and a chocolate bunny a family friend gave him and Voila!-a giant basket under 10 bucks! and hes none the wiser! Hope everyone had a nice weekend! Happy Easter!

Not Ashamed To Smile Anymore

Have you ever noticed that in my pictures-I never smiled? just kinda "smirked"? I wouldn't show my teeth or full pearlies? That's because I was too ashamed or embarrassed to show my smile- I HATED it! I was so self concious about it-I USED to have a nice smile-REALLY I did! until I switched medications, and that went to pot.Then my once orthodontically fixed smile{2500.00 that went down the tubes mind you } was changed when I was put on a new medication and one of the side effects was swollen gums. well, they swelled, I had my gums cut back, they swelled again,this time so bad they separated my teeth and shifted them and pushed them apart to where I developed this "snaggletooth" smile. So Through medical and dental- since it was a medical condition that caused this I was able to put some under medical n and some under dental, I recently had some oral surgery and fixed the problem and am able to smile proudly now! I went from
"smirking to the dreaded :" snaggletooth" smile to a nice straight smile again "I Can smile clearly now, the pain is gone..."
__________________I DO love to smile now and my self confidence level has gotten a big boost-Its funny!They DID do a really nice job I'm very happy with the results- I'll be paying for it for a while, but there goes my tax refund I guess!LOL Its worth it though in the long run.It was that or a used minivan and well, I think I want my smile - wheels can wait a lil while longer! ;)

Little Light Out Of This Mess..

It has been an emotional rollercoaster of a week to say the least -between Monday being a holiday- the federal offices were closed so we couldn't do much but gather information VIA computer and print out things information,and try and get information the automated way on the telephone {which is a plain old pain in the behind}-Tom has the patience of a saint let me tell you! Some good news came out of this so far..}- remember when I said I didn't think I had my birth certificate or SS card in my bag but Tom insisted it was in there because we couldn't find it in the house? well, yesterday, {still searching mind you- I'm one of those stubborn people where if there's a door, I'll open it no matter how dumb it may seem, I'll look anyway just to make sure} and checked the file cabinet for the millionth time just for the heck of it-I donno what I was looking for-maybe info to gather to get Thomas' ss card redone or whatever, but, I FOUND MY Birth certificate AND my SS CARD! I dropped to the floor and prayed a thousand thank you's and danced around the house. It was STILL in the envelope that I got my drivers licence in back in November. So today we went and replaced my drivers license at the DMV.so essentially we just gotta work on getting Thomas' stuff done. my bank card and credit card are being mailed to me in a week or so,and accounts are being rerouted so slowly things are coming together but we still need to put a block on Thomas' ss card so no one can open a line of credit using his name or something.and yes , the feeling of being violated hurt the most and the invasion of privacy hurt more than the actual losing of everything..I STILL can't believe this has happened to me! ..
__________________

What A Nightmare..

This weekend was going soo nice.Friday, Tom came home from his week long trip to Va , brought goodies for Thomas, Saturday we had Thomas' birthday party, everyone had a great time with family, it was so nice having everyone together and celebrating it, then Sunday. It started out nice. We left early, got the car washed, went and started on our errands, went to Bed, Bath and Beyond for a few things for the house,then went to Best Buy to look around. I decided not to bring my bag in this time as I decided there was nothing in it I needed but left it in the car. Next we headed to CVS as Tom was dying of thirst.We all were. After that I went to reach for something from my bag on the floor, and realized, IT WASN"T THERE!!!! I was in a panic going "where's my bag!? where the heck is my @#$ bag?? so we tried to retrace all our steps and stops and went bag to Best Buy thinking it was in the cart- but I said I never brought it in the store- but we checked the carts just in case and asked inside if anyone returned it, then went to Bed bath and Beyond and did the same asking if anyone returned a black Louis Vuitton multicolor handbag, within the last hour or so, and nobody did, so I left my name and number in case someone found it. when I left the store, DH was on the phone with the bank cancelling my bank card and credit cards,and apparently someone had ALREADY made a purchase on my bankcard/visacard for 56.00 at a citgo 7/11! MY WHOLE LIFE was in that bag! my credit cards, my checkbook,my address book, my license,my datebook,pictures,my medical insurance cards,my doctors business cards, Thomas' SS card-from when I took him to the doctor the other day to fill out the form for first time visit and forgot to take it out of my bag ,my house key - so now we had to change the locks on the door in case this person decides to get ballsey and decide to rob my house as well since they have my address as well, my voter id card, my seizure medication that I just filled and now had to pay 300.00 out of pocket for refills because the insurance company won't cover another refill because I just filled them, at home I can't find my birth cert, or ss card- I don't think they were in there{my bag}, but Tom insists they were in there since they're not in the house so I gotta get another one.I don't know why THEY would be in there, but anyone who wants to become me,can with all the info I have in that bag - I am just simply beside myself and have been nonstop crying since yesterday. My grandmother's wedding ring I had on my key tagwallet with my housekey I kept as a momento of her along with a "best friends" charm that I gave Tom a while back to signify our love and friendship. I had a picture of my parents and one of my grandparents and a sonogram picture of Nicholas- but I have backup picture on my computer I can reprint of him but it was the original and the fact of the matter and the one of my parents and grandparents I cant replace. I am so sick over this I can't even describe to you how heartbroken I am.we filed a police report and afterward Tom Got to thinking and checked his alarm on his car-because when we wentein Best Buy, we heard an alarm go off in the parking lot that sounded like his on his car, but didn't think anything of it, and played his alarm at the police staton, and it sounded EXACTLY like the alarm we heard at Best BUY . We think someone might have seen my bag in our car the parking lot since we cracked the windows a bit since it was so warm out, and managed to open the door and steal my bag out of our car. Why do people gotta be such !@#$% derelicts like that and have to ruin people's lives and turn them upside down over a stupid pocketbook???!!And its not even the real thing! It's a stinkin replica for cryin out loud!!So we spent the rest of our sunday on the phone cancelling cards and online printing out forms and getting information on how to get my "identity"and important papers back and prevent the person who stole my bag from becoming me and wiping out my credit rating and bank accounts and credit cards and applying for new accounts and putting blocks on my sscard and son's sscard so no one can become him and applying for new numbers and oh man just... what a nightmare!!Thanks for makin our life now a living nightmare whoever you are!!!

Happy 4th Birthday Thomas!!

This morning Thomas woke me up at 6:45 whispering "mommy, mommy, and tapping me, and Iwas like huh? wha? what's up monkey? what time is it?" It was still dark- I thought he wanted a drink- He whispers " we go get my burfday cake?" LoL I was like "dude its not even 7 yet. { apparently I psyched him up a little too much the night before that the next day was his birthday and we'd be getting his birthday cake and balloons in the morningbut he had to get some sleep first. But I didnt mean FIRST THiNG in the morning! * sigh* he's too much. Anyway, so we're having family over for a Power Rangers Birthday- baloons, cake, plates, banner,cups, napkins- presents, the whole deal.DH came home from VA last night on 6 hrs sleep in 2 days and still managed to stop at Toys r Us and buy him 2 Power rangers just for fun plus gifts from the airport - Thomas was thrilled-wait till he opens his presents! it's gonna be a Power ranger overload from family and friends! T's gonna be thrilled ! well, gotta go pick up the cake! I'llpost pictures later of the party after everyone leaves.I can't Believe he's 4 years old already! where'd the time go????yeah we had a good time- he really made out the lil bugger! Like a bandit Id say! here's some pics from his party !. Here he is with family, his cake blowing the candles out... and here he got his walkie talkies hes been goin on n on about ..was his favorite gift i think... and "a talking Power Ranger like Colton has" {from Preschool}{heaven help me I've already fallen helpless to having to get what the kids have at school already}.. and lastly a glimpse at some of his loot that he recieved minus the other Power Ranger figures that were scattered across the floor and around the house that he wasted no time to play with! ...
__________________