Use Mommy as a hair model

Lately Paula has been into doing hair.  She practices on her American Girl Doll and lately on me.  She watches tutorials on YouTube once then figures it out.
Here are a few of her creations from this past weekend. 



This one below is two braids combined together underneath by some bobbi pins. 

This is a fishtail braid. 

Close up of fishtail braid  

This is her playing around with the top.  I suggested next time she clip the sides back.  heh.   

I didn't fall off the planet. Really.

For anyone wondering if I fell off the planet you can be either relieved I didn’t or upset I didn’t . 

It’s good to be working.  So many people still don’t have jobs so I don’t for a minute take it for granted that I’m working and being paid to do it.  But, this job is definitely interfering with my social media time.  The Nerve!!!  By the time I get home I’m exhausted and barely even glance at my iPhone for updates let alone go on the desktop in the computer/shoe/snake/junk room.  Unless my phone talks to me telling me I have a message, I pretty much don’t look at it once I go thru my front door. 

Still, for the few people who might be interested in my daily life I’ll update you. 

I think this new company going to make me permanent after the New Year but I haven’t received confirmation yet.  I also haven’t had any time to look to see what’s out there.  I miss my long lunches and short work days. 

The most exciting thing that’s happened since I posted last was Shawna broke her arm over Labor Day weekend while camping at Mt. Madonna.  She was carrying a blanket out of the trailer and forgot about a log in front her that she couldn’t see with the blanket in front of her, and tripped over it.  She broke it really well too. Her break was called a Distal Humerus Fracture requiring surgery to place 3 pins in her arm.  We had an overnight stay in Kaiser.  The girls and I JUST went on their insurance thru Todd’s company, in August.  $3000 later (gasp!) my daughter’s arm is fine. The cast came off after 4 weeks. They don’t send you to physical therapy. Rather they feel since she’s young and energetic she’ll get the use of her arm back on her own. We did help her by making her use a tiny weight, like one you’d take to aerobics class.  She’s back to playing on the monkey bars like her usual self.  We had to pull Shawna from volleyball once the arm broke but she’s in Girl Scouts and choir at church/school. 

Paula is also in choir too but also plays volleyball with the 5^th grade girls.  She’s better this year than last year and enjoying herself more I think too. They had their first game on the weekend and won.  She also just joined a Girl Scout troop.  For years I’ve tried to get her in a troop but our school didn’t have one in her grade.  The neighborhood I live in was also full.  Her new troop started a couple weeks ago and we had our first meeting last Friday. She loved it.  I’m also happy to participate.  They meet in the evenings so I can help run a meeting.  Shawna’s troop meets on their short day of school soon after school gets out, on campus, so I never can attend. 

Todd’s birthday is coming up.  We were hoping to go camping but volleyball games changed our plans.  It’s okay.  I like attending the games.  We still aren’t sure what we’re doing for Thanksgiving.  We were planning to go to my parents house but now Paula’s new troop get so to participate in a parade on Friday after T-day so we should stay in town. 

I'm on my lunch hour so I'll close with some pictures. 

Here is Shawna in her cast.  This was her 2nd cast. The first one was sliced down the sides to allow for swelling.  It got way too big even with the ace bandage wrapped around it. 

Halloween!  We hava a Devil and Leopardess. 

Day at the park in October. One of their school mates was having a birthday party. We weren't invited but were there to just play in the playground. They saw us and invited the girls to use their party stuff. 

Studying saga continues

Paula has a science test next week. It was originally scheduled for this past Tuesday.  Luckily for her it was postponed because she didn't study at all beforehand because..... Remember my post on Tuesday?

I also thought I was quite clear when I told her to bring all her books home everyday.  Is that confusing to anyone?  Anyone?

Yesterday Paula didn't bring home her science ANYTHING because in her mind the test was postponed until Tuesday the 19th (next week), so why bring it home when she has all these DAYS before the test.  Really? Because I'm pretty sure the next few days are BUSY. I'm also pretty sure I told you to bring all your books home everyday.



We are leaving this weekend for Squaw Valley in Lake Tahoe.  My girlfriend's ex-ex husband (I like to kid her about all her ex husbands since there are 3 of them and she's only 45) parents own one of the original cabins built up there when Squaw was built.  Her ex-ex is also the father of her two boys, who I adore.  We've stayed there before with her, when Shawna was 6 months old and Paula was 2.5 years old.  I've personally been there pre-kids as well.  It's quaint and the staircase to the bedrooms we sleep in is hecka steep.  Like, so steep I'm afraid I'm going to fall down them upon my decent.  We're going for snow play.  We may do tubing or even let the girls take lessons.  I haven't totally decided.  But, I guarantee my girls and Kim's boys will want to hang out and NOT be doing homework.

Paula gets car sick very easily so she can't read during a car trip.  How difficult do you think it would it be for Todd or I to get her to study while we're at a fun cabin with friends?  Like pulling teeth I'm sure. 

Monday is basketball practice and more homework so really the only logical time to study was yesterday and maybe tonight and perhaps Sunday after we get home.  Plus, if you spread it out you don't have to spend so much time in one night. 

She's crying last night saying she doesn't want to study EVERY NIGHT.  I get it.  Really I do.  But Honey, you live in a time where school matters.  Heck, when did school not matter? Even for Laura Ingles I'm pretty sure school mattered. 

Todd stepped in and made a deal with her. She'll bring home all her books and related paperwork home everyday and we'll go from there as far as studying.  In the meantime she can watch a tiny bit of TV. Remember how I said we're taking away TV?  Yeah, not so much yet. 

We're only in 4th grade people.  I'm going to need lots of alcohol and therapy to get me thru the next many years.  Halp

Study Habits

We've hit that point in time with our 4th grader where she needs to study in order to do well on tests.  It creeped up on us and we were ill prepared.

She always had good grades.  Her memory was excellent.  She never needed to study to get an A on test.

Until this year. 

The first semester of 4th grade she had almost all A's or VG's (equivalent to an A). Then in 2nd semester 8 of her 12 categories decreased.  She went down from an A to an A- or a B+ to a B.  What is going on here I asked?  She didn't know.  I looked at my husband. He didn't know.  We hadn't changed anything.  THAT was the problem. 

She needs to study for tests.  

Once I figured out this fact I thought we had an easy fix.  Turns out it wasn't an easy fix.  Why?  Because she doesn't know HOW to study.  How is it you don't know how to study?  This baffled me.  Don't they teach you how to study in school?  No.  

Last week, after she had some frustrating tears, I sat her down and helped her study for her science test.  Turns out she had an entire page of notes written up from when the teacher explained to the kids all the pertinent facts. Her words as she points to the 3 pages of notes "I don't know what to do with those".   Again, baffled over here.

I explained to her calmly, you read and memorize those notes. You read and memorize the bold print in the text book also.  How do you learn all the words to a Selena Gomez song?  You memorize by repetition.  We spent an hour on those notes and she had the answers down pat. 

She only missed 2 on the test the next day.  Yay!  I felt like such a good mom!  I also foolishly thought she understood how to move forward.  I was wrong. 

Now comes yesterday.  She's typing up a summary or partial book report for a book.  The book, however, wasn't totally read. She needed to complete 8 or more pages of text.  This is problematic when your typing up a summary of those pages and according to her the teacher will KNOW if you didn't read those pages. Then she starts saying how I need to write a note to her teacher because she didn't complete her Religion Lent workbook due the next day. 
Why didn't you complete it? 
Because I didn't think it was being graded so I didn't do the pages. 
I'm not writing you a note. 
TEARS

I stayed up with her until 10pm even though I took a Benadryl upon arriving home (before I knew about all this undone work) and could not keep my eyes open.  She finished the religion booklet.  BUT, she didn't study for her science quiz that was also the next day.  Doh! 

Todd and I really need to learn how to help her.  We will learn because clearly we've hit a point where she needs us to aid in her organization and maintain structure.  Unfortunately to maintain organization and structure there comes a cost. The cost being weekday TV.  She is heartbroken since to her TV at night is HUGE.  It's how we all unwind at our house.  I do feel her pain.

I will need to monitor her homework assigned on Monday's via the school's class website, paying very close attention to quiz and test dates. I'm going to really need to be more present and available when it comes to helping her study for tests.  I'm going to need to be willing to study with her and quiz her.  I'll need to help her also be more aware of quiz and test dates where she can see ahead that next week is a test so we should study on Sunday to get ahead of the game. 

This new direction was inevitable, but I still feel like it came out of nowhere. It didn't.  I just didn't have my eyes wide open.  Now I do.  If I'm honest, I'm not looking forward to the time suck her homework takes from my personal "down time" but she's worth it. 

Double Digits

Dear Paula,

Today is your 10th birthday.  DOUBLE DIGITS. 

I can't believe you're already half of twenty.  How did the time get here so quickly? 

You are the child who made me a mom.  You love when I mention that fact to you because no one else can take that claim.  Your father and I were beyond excited when we found out we were finally pregnant.  But, in true Paula fashion, you didn't want to wait to start your new exciting adventure so you arrived 6 weeks early.  You love telling the story of how you were a preemie, came 6 weeks early and rode in an ambulance to another hospital because of the special breathing tube you needed.  You're one of the tallest, smartest children in your class.  No one would ever guess your rocky beginning. 

For your birthday this year we updated your room.  Out with the Princesses, in with the PEACE.  I love how much you love your new room.  It suits you.  We also through you a slumber party with 5 of your favorite friends.  We're all still yawning but brought in the year of 10 with a bang, as it should be. 

There are so many things I love about you.  Here are just ten (ten, get it) of them. 

1.  You show concern for others, give compliments to people you know and don't know, causing them smile and feel good. 

2.  You are rarely shy or afraid to speak up.  Those are wonderful qualities to have, especially as you get older.

3.  You love animals of many types. In addition to the furry ones, you also have a fascination for reptiles and aren't afraid to hold snakes or lizards we find in the outdoors.  You're just like your father when it comes to your love of animals.  But please, don't love spiders. I hate spiders.

4.  You have a fabulous memory.  I love that you remember events and places from as far back as preschool.  You remember facts and specifics that blow my mind.  I'm envious of your memory, especially as mine disappears. 

5.  You're very ticklish so I love kissing you goodnight, digging right into your neck where you giggle hysterically. 

6.  I love that your back in your room at night so I actually CAN lean into you as you lie in bed and kiss you goodnight again.  Every night, after your asleep, I come in to give you one last kiss. 

7.  You have the best laugh, making me smile when I hear it. 

8.  I love how close you are to Daddy.  You and he have a special bond together.   You're his right hand girl.  You look like him too. 

9.    I love when you and your sister work together to accomplish something, when you look out for her, help her.  She loves you so much. It's a big responsibility being a big sister, one you don't always enjoy, but you're a good big sister with so much to offer. 

10.  You're beautiful. Inside and out.

My baby is Ten.

I'm so proud of you.  I love you more than words can say.  I know I tell you to stop growing. I know you can't stop growing.  As much as I want to keep you young, I'm very privileged to witness you growing up.  I wonder who you'll be someday, what your future holds for you.  What I do know is, I'm so lucky to have you as my daughter. 

I Love you,
Mom

xoxoxo

Iz a hawt

Day 3 IN.HER.ROOM.ALL.NIGHT.LONG

Whah-haaaaaa!!! 

In other news, I'm the coolest mom ever.  Really I am. 

Yesterday on Craigslist I typed in PB teen and found a lounge chair in ice blue for sale.  Originally $299 the lady said make an offer.  I immediately responded would she take $100?  YES!  PB anything, even used or with someone else's name personalized on it, sells for a lot of money. Yes honey, I know your name is Paula and the thingamajig says Amanda, but just go with it.  Mommy saved $20.00

This is the chair. Cute right?!!!  This matches Paula's new lamp perfectly. 

So at lunch today I headed over there. She lives in one of the "rich" areas of Silicon Valley called Almaden Valley.   Beautiful neighborhoods, gorgeous large homes, amazing views.  Houses EASILY go for over $1 million. Sucks to be me. 

She had the chair in her front entry way.  I thought the chair came apart and figured I'd just toss the cushions in various parts of my minivan. Well, it does come apart, but not easily.  She said only her husband has dismantled it so she couldn't help me with how to get them separated.

I get that.  My husband is the one who dismantles things at our house too. 

So I had to go back to my minivan and hide my 3rd seat so the chair would fit in the back. In order to even get the 3rd seat down I had to remove a ton of other crap so it will fit.  Live.In.Car. 

When I went back to the house to collect the chair she was still just in her socks so I could tell she wasn't going to help me lift this sucker. She did suggest the best way to carry it though.  It was heavy but I managed.

As I was driving back to work my brother called. He sponsored my 8 year on her school spell-a-thon and thought he and his daughter would swing by my work to drop off his check.  Turns out I was only 15 minutes from his house so I said I'd swing by. 

Driving to my brothers house off the freeway I was on you have to pass thru Saratoga.  Another "rich" neighborhood of Silicon Valley.  Beautiful neighborhoods, gorgeous large homes, amazing views. Houses EASILY go for over $1 million. Sucks to be me.  Again. 

Get to Alan's house and am accosted by the dog.  Try to avoid annoying dog and get to my cute little 23 month old niece.  I scooped her up and planted lots and lots of kisses on those soft, puffy cheeks. Soon after, Alan told her to show me her new balloon. She wrapped her little fingers around the red string and brought me her Valentine heart balloon. I asked "what shape is this balloon Allison?"  Her reply "iz a hawt".  LOVE!!!! 

I really do need to get back to work so upon leaving Alan tells Allison to give Auntie a kiss goodbye. She walks over to me and turns her head so I can lean down and give her a kiss on her cheek.  hahaha

We blew each other kisses and I was off. 

Great Day. Great Day!!!!

Day 2 in her bedroom!

Don't you hate when you think you have a lunch meeting where they feed you, then it turns out the meeting is tomorrow?  Yeah, me too. 

Huge news again. Paula slept in her own bedroom AGAIN last night. Today she proclaimed her bedroom feels the same way as my room. SAFE.  

Can you hear the angels singing? 

I was going my older posts today and found this one post from October 2008 on Paula and her sleep issues.  Needs Sleep

Seriously this bedroom problem has been going on for SO long.  I'm so happy for my girl.  

Valentines Day Miracles

Today is a celebratory day for several reasons.

#1 - It's VALENTINES DAY!  A day to celebrate love, caring and Hallmark. heh

#2 - FREE DRESS DAY!  My girls were allowed to wear free dress today, which is a huge deal for uniform kids. On top they had to wear either red, white or pink.  I surprised them with V-day socks and a couple other treats too. 

#3 - CLASSROOM PARTIES!  The girls will be all sugared up today thanks to the classroom parties and exchanging of Valentine Cards with candies attached.  I sent the girls to school with Dollar Store heart covered zip bags filled with 1 Girl Scout Cookie each.  They chose the cookies themselves. Paula wanted Thin Mints in hers and Shawna wanted the Lemon Cookie's in hers.  Taped to the front of each baggy was a computer generated V-card with their name on it. 

#4 - ROSIE'S BIRTHDAY!  Today is our dog Rosie's birthday. She turned 4 years old today.  That's 28 in dog years. Rosie is a Lhasa Poo and a dear member of our family. We all forgot today was her birthday until this morning.  She received lots of hugs and kisses.

#5 - PAULA SLEEPS IN HER OWN ROOM!  This is seriously the biggest, most important event this decade.  My almost 10 year old slept in her room the entire night last night! 

Back history:  Paula is a worrier.  She's OCD on top of that.  She regularly sees the school counselor, and has since she was in 1st grade, to talk about her worries.  A couple years ago my daughter started having fears about sleeping in her room.  As a 3 year old she'd had worries too. As a 3 year old she was afraid of TIGERS in her room. We invented a Tiger Spray (water in a spray bottle with a fancy cartoon tiger on the front with a slash thru it indicating NO Tigers).  We sprayed the room down with Tiger Spray every night to rid the room of tigers.  Wet room. No tigers.

When she was 7 or 8 years old it got really bad.  She complained of shadows (close your eyes) noises (houses make noise) burglar's (installed an alarm system). You name it, she worried about it.  In addition to the worrying, she had a terrible sleeping pattern.  She woke up at weird times or couldn't fall asleep.  We resorted to Melatonin for awhile but it didn't help much.  For MONTHS my husband and I battled her fears trying everything from night lights, reassuring, sitting with her rubbing her back, bribing, threatening, alarm systems, becoming angry, growing more frustrated and finally in the end - defeat.  I told Todd I couldn't take another sleepless night with her coming into our room at some odd hour, listening to her crying when we forced her go back into her bedroom. She wasn't sleeping, we weren't sleeping.  I finally told him just spread out a sleeping bag on the floor beside our bed and let's be done with this.  She wins. 

Having your child sleep in your room havoc's with your sex life.  Just sayin. 

For several months she slept in our room.  We don't recall what happened exactly, but she did go back to her room and stayed there for a few months over a summer. Then one day, for no apparent reason that we could see, she was back in our room and it's been a year now.  There have been a few occasions in the last year where she did sleep her room. Like when my mom has visited and slept in there with her (she has a trundle bed) or when her BFF stayed for a sleep over so she, my daughter Shawna and her BFF were all in her room.

I'd like to hope that just sending Shawna in there to sleep would help the problem, but unfortunately Shawna isn't tough enough to ward off the bad things.  Even at my parents house where she does sleep with Shawna, she hasn't always made it thru the night without coming to sleep on our bedroom floor.  On a day to day basis she sleeps in our room.  She doesn't even like to be upstairs at night if one of us isn't up there with her.  Like if Todd wants to stay downstairs and watch a movie with me, she's all worried being up there without us. 

For her 10th birthday coming up in March, I told her we'd update her room. She'd been complaining for awhile how her room was too childish. She has princess shelves, princess lamps and Hannah Montana bedding.  She said she hoped that with a more grown up room she'd be able to sleep in there. I hoped so too. 

I decided rather than give her everything ON her birthday, I'd slowly surprise her with the new items for several weeks making the excitement last longer for her and me.  :)

Paula is very into PEACE.  She loves the word, the sign and everything it symbolizes.  Pottery Barn Teen has a great, but expensive, PEACE bedroom line.  Periodically I've checked EBay for items and found a couple affordable pieces. I won a new, but not packaged, duvet cover which I've had in hiding for a few weeks now. 

Last week I went to Marshall's and found a bright blue lamp for her to replace her princess lamp.   I also found a Ralph Lauren PEACE sheet set.  Her walls are purple/lavender so I'm pairing it with a fun bright blue shade.  The bedding I found is perfect.

Last weekend I surprised her with just the lamp.  OMG you'd have thought she won the lottery.  Not that she's even allowed to play the lottery. 

Yesterday while she was in the shower I put on her new bedding.  I'd already pre-washed them that day, I just needed to do the make-over while she wasn't around.  When she came out of the shower she witnessed this new bedding. (I took these pictures this morning)  See the lamp?  Also, I had to strategically place her stuffed animals and purple blanket JUST SO because of her OCD.  Or I'd get yelled at. 

SQUEAL'S of joy.  THANK YOU MOMMY, THANK YOU MOMMY!  I LOVE IT ALL!  Also, she really wanted to try to sleep in her own room tonight.  Yay! 

I told her if she slept in there all week she'd be rewarded with something.  (not sure yet what that something IS). 

Each night she and Todd read a book together.  Right now they're reading the first Harry Pottery book. Normally she reads to him while she's laying in her sleeping bag on our floor. Last night Todd sat by her bed while she read.  Lights went out at around 9pm. 

Paula did come downstairs at 9:45pm saying the house was making noises and she was hot and sweating.   She also wanted some warm milk to help her sleep. I immediately got worried this wouldn't work.  I suggested she open her window to cool the room off, since in my bedroom we have the window open and the fan on. We like it freezing in our room. I also reminded her that her clock radio had bird, ocean and other noises to choose from. She drank her milk and up she went.  I crossed my fingers. 

I checked in on her at 10:45pm and she was sound asleep with her window open, fish light on, bird sounds on. 

JOY!

This morning when my alarm went off at 7am I looked and saw She stayed in her room ALL NIGHT!!!!  I want to scream this from the rooftops.  Seriously.

I quickly went into her room to close her window. I knew the heater kicked in so she'd want her room warmed up.  Turns out she'd closed the window herself in the night.  Later she told me she discovered the wind blowing into the room was making the door rattle.  

She was SO EXCITED and proud of herself.  "Mommy, can you bring me the phone?"  I knew she wanted to call her dad who was already at work. While laying in bed she called her father.  "Daddy, I slept in here ALL NIGHT.  It's because I'm surrounded by PEACE.  Literally."  Heart her

Today she has her weekly meeting with the school counselor.  She told me how she's SO excited to tell how she slept in her room. 

She also said she'll never forget the date she slept in her room.  Valentines Day. 

Love

Laughing NOW

This morning on the way to school I was telling my daughters a true story that happened when Paula, my oldest now 9 years old, was an infant.  It was mortifying at the time and scary as hell, but thankfully we can laugh about it now.

Paula was 2.5 months old. She didn't crawl or roll over yet. She was a preemie born at 34 weeks so we'd already had our share of surprises and scares up until this point. I really didn't need anymore excitement where she was concerned.  She would show to be behind in most milestones until she hit about 2 years old.  She's very bright and one of the tallest in her class.  You'd never know today she was a preemie. 

But, I did something awful that I'm ashamed and embarrassed about.  Here it is. 

Paula and I were home alone together.  It was time to feed her.  Due to her awful acid reflux (common in preemies) she was on a special formula (Enfamil AR) which was thicker than others so I needed to go make her bottle.  She also took Reglan to speed up her digestive system and Zantax for the reflux.  I laid her on the couch kitty corner, like diagonally. 

I'm in the kitchen mixing her formula and medicine when I hear a THUD.  I paused.  What was that noise?  A couple seconds later I hear her crying.  Was that her hitting the floor?!  I run into the room and yes, my sweet baby girl was lying on the floor. She'd fallen off the couch!!!  What a horrible mother I am!!!  I can't believe I let this happen.  What if she has brain damage!  What if I've ruined our child!  So many things went thru my mind at that moment.  She calmed down eventually. I checked her over. On the outside everything looked fine.  I needed to get her checked out but I didn't want to call the pedi and say I just let my 2 mos old fall off the couch.  I can't be THAT mother. 

She'd apparently wiggled herself to the end of the couch where her lower half became heavier from hanging off the end of the couch making her body fall off. 

Paula had a rash on her face. I decided I'd use that as my excuse to bring her in. Then while she's being looked at I can casually mention the fall incident.  Yeah, cause it's a casual occurrence.  Just shoot me now. 

We get into the doctors office and one of the many pedi's is examining her skin. I really don't want to tell him, but I have to. 
Yeah, so doc, um.....this morning she kind of fell off the couch. 
You know the look he gave me right?  Can I just climb into a hole? 
That must have hurt. How far was the fall?  2 feet?
Yeah, probably.  I'm cringing. 
He checks her body and determines she's fine.  THANK GOD!

I leave hoping I never ever ever get him as her doctor again.  There are 6 doctors. Surely there is a chance I'll never have to see him again. 

I call my husband and tell him what happened.  You what he says?  "I'm glad it was you and not me." 

FAVORITE THING

My oldest, Paula, is very serious and a worries so much about too much. She’s 9 years old now and it’s not getting any better. She doesn’t usually like to try new things. Food included. But, I’m mean and force her a lot.

Her first plane ride was at age 5. She was petrified. What will it feel like? What if it’s scary? She was throwing up before we got on the plane. We were the last passengers on purpose. I told first class (as she’s walking and aiming her face in a plastic bag we obtained from a nearby restaurant) it’s okay, she’s not flu ridden, she’s just scared. She got to talk to the pilots before take off. They assured her the ride won’t be too bumpy. Taking a plane is now her FAVORITE THING.

Next, the monorail at Disneyland. Same thing. What will it feel like? Crying, feeling like she’s going to throw up. Now it’s her FAVORITE THING.

Buzz Lightyear Ride: TEARS galore, it’s dark in there, I don’t want to go. It’s scary. FAVORITE THING.

Waterpark slides where you go down in a closed slide vs. open slide. Last year the closed slide was way too scary. This year she was scared but received peer pressure at a birthday party to go down. FAVORITE THING.

Sure, there are times when we don’t force her but I know she’s missing out. Her younger sister is so different. Much more a free spirit. And she’s jealous that Shawna isn’t scared and she is. Paula currently sleeps on our bedroom floor (for over a year now) in a sleeping bag because she’s scared in her room alone. I can’t wait until her room is her FAVORITE THING.

Where have I been?!

Wow, it’s been a really long time since I wrote here. I guess I just haven’t felt in the mood. It’s not for a lack of nothing to write ABOUT. I can’t even explain in a short blog entry how busy my life is these days. I’ll get to that later though.



Work:

Last time I wrote (not counting the list of things I’ve done and have left to do) I was excited about a new job opportunity at the same company I’d worked at for 10 years. I really like my new job. It’s much different than what I was doing so I get to learn again. In addition, since I’ve been at this company for 10 years I was awarded an extra week of vacation and mullah to spend on that said vacation. (See below under Vacations for details)


Home:

We’re getting a new floor downstairs FINALLY. When we bought our house it came with crappy scraped up wood floors downstairs with two different kinds of carpeting. The shoes and dogs have done a number on both. Todd has ripped up the hardwood and one section of the carpeting. We’re walking on plastic basically. We have a concrete foundation. It’s gonna take a couple months for the entire downstairs to be completed.


Kids:

Paula loves playing basketball. She will say herself “Mama, I haven’t complained one time about basketball.” Basketball ends this weekend but in fall she’ll start volleyball for the first time. Time will tell if she enjoys that or not. In school she’s going fabulous. Mostly A’s and a few B’s. She’s in 3rd grade and is almost proficient in her multiplication facts. Timed tests are hard for her, but if she has time to think she knows the answer.


Shawna finishes soccer next week. She’s liked it okay but doesn’t love it. Regardless, I signed her up for fall to keep her active. She wants to do cheerleading and if it all works out she can do both. School for Shawna has been hard this year. She’s been tested by a resource teacher at school and most likely has dyslexia. She’s getting extra tutoring at school and we all see an improvement. Tutoring needs to continue over summer as well. She gets tested for dyslexia on Monday. If she has it she gets some benefits like longer testing times and access to recorded books. Her father, uncle & cousins all have dyslexia so….you know - It was bound to happen to one of my kids.


Vacations:

So far in 2010 we have camped a couple times in our travel trailer. Over Presidents Day weekend we were in Santa Cruz at a KOA we enjoy. In April over the kids spring break we at the Santa Cruz KOA for a few days, then headed on towards Pismo. Pismo won. The weather was warm so not only did the kids don swimsuits but so did Todd and I. The beach was spitting distance from our campsite. We were 1 of 400 RV’s in this one RV park but we loved it anyway. And what’s funny is my ex-boyfriend’s 2 kids, who were staying with their grandparents that week, ended up camping right next to us in their grandparents motorhome. What are the chances?

In April I had to go to my family reunion with just Shawna. Paula got the stomach flu the morning we were all supposed to leave. I felt so bad for her since she missed the previous year’s reunion for the same reason. Speaking of illness, Todd has managed to escape the stomach flu this year, but the rest of us…not so much.



We are heading to Oahu and Maui in June for my 10-year vacation. We’ll be spending only 1 full day on Oahu where we’ll tour Pearl Harbor, Dole Plantation and several other hot spots on the island. Then we head to Maui to our timeshare.



Other camping trips planned is the Russian River (not actually located IN Russia as I had to explain to my children) Calaveras Big Trees and Rollins Lake for our annual boating trip with some fun families.



Exercise:

This topic needs its own section because this is huge! I bought myself a hybrid bicycle for Mothers Day. I already owned a mountain bike but it’s not a commuter bike and I wanted to commute to work. My commute is ~14 miles one way. My commute comes with hills, 3 overpasses, inclines, declines and tons of vehicular traffic. In order not to die on my first try, I started mid-way. I drop the girls off at school then drive to my mid-way point and hop on my bike there. In 3 days I’ve put 29.99 miles on my bike. =) That counts a trip into the old town by my house as a test run. Yesterday the Bay Area had its annual Bike to Work Day. I did my part. I’m very proud of myself.



Parental:

As a parent I’m overwhelmed. I am Box Top Coordinator at our school, Secretary of the School Board for our school and somehow got hornswoggled into being team mom for Paula’s basketball team. On Saturday morning driving to Shawna’s soccer game I was on the verge of tears because I felt like such a failure in all areas of my parental duties. I managed to work thru all that, conquered some to-do list items and feel much now. I’m happy summer is almost here so I’ll have a break from after-school activities and responsibilities.


Foster Dogs:

We foster dogs. I jokingly call them Rental Dogs. Currently we have 2 Chihuahua puppies (age 9 mos) who just got “fixed” on Tuesday. The rescue organization pays for all the medical care and food. They’re cute dogs who should hopefully find a forever home soon.


Okay, I think that sums up the past few months. I’m off to get changed into my bicycle gear for the long trek home.

My oldest has braces

Today my oldest achieved a major milestone. She got braces and couldn't be happier. I don't know what is up with kids these days. They WANT glasses and WANT braces. As a child I HAD glasses and HAD braces but never wanted either. Of course the color choices back in the stone age didn't measure up to today's wide array of colors. Paula has 2 shades of purple ties.

First Communion

Paula, age 8, made her First Communion on Saturday. She was so excited I got teary eyed a couple times. Her joy brought tears of joy to me.

Our priest is a really fun Irish priest. He's from Ireland and has that awesome accent you could listen to forever. He's great with the kids. He insists on funny pictures.

In honor of St. Patties day next week I went green on my template. Are you feeling the spirit?

So I have news! Huge news! So huge that I want to scream it from the rooftops. I'll have to scream it out into the Internet instead.

I reserved our timeshare in Cabo AND booked my airfare! Not only that, Todd isn't coming. Instead my friend Kim is coming w/me. A girls trip! Squealing with glee. Actually, she's meeting me there. She needs to take one airline due to free miles, while I'm taking another one for the same reason. Anything to save a buck.

We go in October. Right now October seems years away. I know it will be here before I know it, but I need a tropical vacation now. Yesterday in fact.

Yesterday the girls brought home report cards. Paula's was stellar. She just needs to work on her writing. Everything else was great. Shawna's on the other hand didn't go so well. Lots of needs improvement. Reading, writing, listening, participation. I'm not completely surprised. Although "needs improvement on participation in Music" was a surprise. What kid doesn't love music class? When I asked Shawna about it she said the songs are boring. I guess the kids raise their hands and pick songs they like. Many of the kids choose Christmas songs. Shawna raises her hand but doesn't gets picked. She wants a bird song. Either way I told her she needs to sing no matter what the song. I emailed her teacher too, for guidance. Shawna is in tutoring once a week. I'm not sure that will fix the problem. She'll also have summer school so that should help. I reminded her teacher that dyslexia runs in Todd's family. The fact she needed glasses didn't help either. Am I grasping? Yes. When kid #2 is so different from kid #1 I have to wonder if it's anything else other than just slower learner vs. fast learner. I'm fine either way, I just want to know the reason.

Did anyone else notice it seemed like a full moon last night when in fact, the 10th was a new moon?

Random update

Last week I received an email from Dawn's son Andy. You might remember this post regarding Dawn and her final days of Cancer. http://twogirlsformama.blogspot.com/2009/01/sad-message.html Sadly, she lived only 8 days after her 1/16/09 message. She believed she'd live a month. The memorial will be in Seattle, WA so I won't be going. Andy mentioned in his announcement of his mothers passing that it had been 8 years from the beginning diagnosis to her passing. Thankfully he and his brother were able to spend quality time with their mother in the years knowing about her disease of breast cancer.


On a lighter note, I'm starting a new adventure. I've signed up to work with and for one of my oldest friends, Aaron. He and I have been friends for 25 years. I met him the summer before my high school freshman year. My friend Jenny introduced us while she and I were laying out in Santa Cruz (beach) that summer. He spotted Jenny in the midst of hundreds of bodies. He is the class of 1984 Jenny is the class of 1985 and I'm the class of 1986. As it turns out he's been one of my favorite friends of all time. We lost touch for long periods of time starting in the mid 90's because he moved out of state, but as a larger surprise he came to my 40th surprise party thanks to my childhood friend Jeannie who found him on Classmates, so we've continued to stay in touch. He's been back in our old stomping grounds with his wife and 2 children for about a decade.


He works for a company I plan to go part-time with to earn extra money. I'm excited and apprehensive all at the same time. I'll have to take training classes and tests for licenses. The licenses are for life insurance, mortgages, IRA's, etc. I'll be doing all of this at night after my day job. Todd is more than on board. In his words to Aaron, "I want her to do it." It's a step to learning something new while still having my day job to fall back on.


Today I taught Paula how to do laundry. She learned how to sort the clothes into appropriate color piles. She got to fill and pour the detergent and softener. I am the only one allowed to do bleach in the whites. She transferred the laundry as well. She LOVED IT. She said "some jobs are fun.". lol I got the idea from another board in the comments section where a mom said that for her 4 children, she taught them all at age 5 how to do their own laundry. Heck, why not?!


I also bagged up 3 bundles of clothes from Shawna's closet. I pulled out some Gymboree dresses that I'll sell on eBay. Her closet is so much more manageable now. The girls only wore 10% of what she had. Most of it hand-me-downs from Paula.

I'll leave you with a couple photos. Below is one of our sites (we had two that weekend) at Lake Chabot in Hayward, CA. It's very woodsy and pretty. It's also very close to home so we plan on going back often.

Shawna's kindergarten class had a sight words sing-song where each child was assigned one or two letters. When a word was chosen with that letter the kids formed the word and did a little song for it. Shawna was fine when she was in the back of the kids, but in front for her song she pretty much just mouthed the words. Stage fright you might say. Also, you might notice that her right arm has her sleeve way past the hand. She pulled and sucked on that damn sleeve the entire time. It drove Todd and I crazy.

Ties her own shoes

Shawna, my kindergartner, surprised me this morning by tying shoelaces all on her own! I asked her how she learned. She said her buddy taught her. Each class at their school has a buddy. The 7th graders are the kindy's buddies. The kinder's are required to learn to tie shoes, which I'm SO grateful for. In the land of Velcro many kids do not know how to tie shoes. Even though this year the school finally allowed 3rd graders and under to wear Velcro, it's still a requirement to learn. I'm so proud of my girl. :0) She even showed me she can do a double knot! Woohoo! One less thing for mommy to do.

I've had a busy week with meetings for school. Tonight Shawna's class will perform a Sight Word sing-song for the families. Shawna is letter "N" so anytime a sight word with an "N" gets chosen she and the other children who have the matching letters with sing the song that goes with that sight word. They did it when Paula was in this grade and it's really cute.

Today Paula gets her oral expander to fix her cross bite. She's very excited. I know the excitement will wear off when she realizes how bulky it is in her mouth, along with the aches she's going to feel. Hopefully it's not too much of a struggle to get her to keep it in. It's removable. A non-removable was not an option since only 1 side of her upper jaw needs to be re-shaped.

I bought a digital scale last night to monitor my weight loss better. I was pleased with the weight I was this morning. I'm serious this time around and it shows.

I want to post a picture from Thanksgiving time frame. Paula, Shawna, their
great-grandmother, Rosie and I. My Grandma is 92 and turns 93 in February. I love her SO much.
See my double chin??? That is what I'm working to get rid of!

Funny Kids

Today I had to pay my 5 year old 1 cent for a kiss on the cheek. My 5 year old is my snugly, cuddly child who on most days tries to get back into my womb. But for some reason at school drop off she has no desire to be kissed or hugs.

In contrast, my 7 year old on a regular basis is not a snugly, cuddly child. She doesn't do kisses on the lips, unlike my 5 year old. If she does their tight lipped kisses. She turns her head most times so you get a cheek. But at school drop off she gives me kisses, waves and blows kisses to me while walking to the quad area. If I say bye to Shawna whiles she's walking into the school, she continues to look ahead and just pops her hand up over her shoulder just to pacify me.

Such funny kids.

Christmas time surprises

Last night Shawna was sitting in my lap naked on the couch. She likes to snuggle with me before bed time, which is an hour after bath but always refuses to put on jammies until the last minute no matter how freezing she feels. She was in a fetal position on my lap under my Grandmothers handmade afghan and I was snuggling against her and kissing her cheek like I usually do while we watch Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Cooking.
She turns and looks at me.

Shawna: Mommy, promise me you won't get mad.

Me: What?

Shawna: Promise you won't get mad.

Me: Saying slowly Okay, what happened?

Shawna: I kinda peed in my underwear at school today.

Me: That's okay sweetie. Your only 5 and I know how you have terrible bladder control. Just a little pee is no big deal while at school.

Shawna: I peed in my underwear in the church.

Me: Confused. Why was she in the church on a Wednesday. Why were you in the church?
Oh, the light goes off in my head were you practicing for the Christmas program?

Shawna: Yes and Mrs. G aid took me to the bathroom.

Me: Why couldn't you go potty before you had the accident?

Shawna: I had to go but we were up next to do our song.

Me: Oh, Okay. Next time remember to go before you get into the church. I'm sure Mrs. D teacher tells all the kids to go beforehand. Make sure you go. This child is notorious for saying she doesn't have to pee when 10 minutes later she has to pee.

Shawna: No she doesn't. She never says it.

Me: Yeah right. I bet she does. Just make sure you go beforehand okay?

Shawna: OK.

The kids go off to bed. I'm in Paula's room braiding her wet hair so it will be curly in the morning when she asks:

Paula: Are you and Daddy going to get divorced?

Me: Shit! Why? Who said that? Todd and I have had some big discussions lately and were even considering having him move out after the new year but now we know we can't afford that unless we sell the house.

Paula: No one

Me: Do you know what divorce means?

Paula: Yes, it means someone leaves and lives somewhere else

Me: Not always honey. Thinking we'll have to sell the house in order to separate so we'll both be leaving.

I quickly change the subject.

I go downstairs.

I make their lunches going through their backpacks. Shawna has a huge bag of clothes in hers. Everything except her shirt was soaked!!! Her jumper, underwear, bike shorts, socks! Pee soaked! She didn't just wet her underwear. She soaked everything! It's like she just stood there and peed while singing. I wonder if any got on the carpet in the church. Crap. I'm sure Miss G just LOVED her job that day.

Now I need to wash it all because her other jumper, which I just had hemmed, is now un-hemmed when one of Shawna's classmates noticed a thread hanging and pulled it, causing the hem to fall. Nice.

Grab all items and toss them in the washing machine. Look around, grab anything else that looks like it can be washed together. Turn it on wondering what Shawna wore home from school.

This morning I threw everything in the dryer. Thankfully the jumpers dry fast. I notice on her floor is a very small jumper she borrowed. I'll need to wash everything and return it back to the school.

Shawna: Did you dry my shoes?

Me: Your shoes?!!! Uh, yes. No, I didn't check the shoes. I hope they're dry! They were.

Dang surprises.

Needs Sleep

Paula who is my oldest, age 7.5, does not want to sleep in her room. She hasn't for many months. She'll start out in there, most times, then end up on our floor in a sleeping bag. It's gotten to the point where we're irritated and want her to sleep in her own room the entire night. She hasn't done that in months.

Her reasons:
1. She sees shadows - Well of course you do! You have enough night lights to compete with the Vegas strip! No Mommy, not those shadows, other shadows. Paula, if you close your eyes you won't see anything. I know but I'm scared.
2. She hears noises - Honey, the world makes noise. But they scare me. What if a burglar is trying to come in. We live in a safe neighborhood. You're fine. But I'm scared.
3. She's afraid of burglars - Runs down stairs because the dog is barking - Why is Rosie barking? Because she heard a noise (probably the raccoon trying to get into my house). It's fine, go back to sleep. I can't. I'm scared.
4. Worried about the burglar again - Mommy, did you lock ALL the doors? Are you sure? Yes, I'm sure. But I'm still scared.

Really it's never ending. We'll toss her back in her room after explaining all the reasons why she should feel safe but in the end she'll literally start crying A LOT, not just a little. It will be past 10pm by the time we finally decide we too need to go to bed. Her lights are out by 8:30pm if that gives you any idea of how long this goes on. On rare occasions she'll fall asleep, then wake up in the middle of the night and need to come in our room. Sending her back does not work. She cries and is adamant that she can't be in her room.

When she was 3 years old she had a fear of Tigers. Yep, tigers. IN.Her.Room. Todd came up with a brilliant idea (someone maybe helped us on this...I'm not sure). He took a plain spray bottle, printed and taped a friendly cartoon tiger on it and it became the Tiger Spray. Paula could spray her room before bed to prevent tigers from entering. Sometimes the floor and bed got pretty wet. There is no tiger spray that is going to help us out now.

She's a worrier. If someone told to describe Paula in 5 words or less I'd say worrier as one of those top 5. She worries about so much for a child her age. Will it hurt? What will it feel like? What will happen?

She was a complete wreck on her first plane ride to Disneyland at age 5 to the point she was actually throwing up. We were walking through first class and I'm saying "it's not the flu, she's just scared". Yeah, like they believed me. She was almost just as scared as we waited to go on the monorail. Now of course both riding in planes and the monorail are her 2 FAVORITE THINGS EVER. It took her 2 years to agree to go on the Matterhorn because she was scared of what it would feel like. Now it's her FAVORITE THING EVER.

She threw up on a dentist from crying so hard just because he wanted to look in her mouth. Just look. Nothing else. I changed dentists. She goes to mine now who I must say is much better for Paula. Now she likes getting her teeth scraped but for a long time that metal tool was her total enemy because it might hurt. When she sees a little blood on the pad as they're scraping her teeth near her gums we have to lie and say it's not blood because she starts to panic.

Even if she's in our room she doesn't always sleep well. There are some nights she lays awake a long time. Getting her up in the morning is rough on those days.

She'll be the first one to tell you she wants to be able to sleep in her room, she just can't. She doesn't like being different. She recognizes she doesn't like many foods, can't sleep in her room, is afraid of many things. She knows she's different from her sister and other kids at school. We try to boost her ego up and brag on all the things she's great at which sometimes works but not always.

We're at loss. I am going to send a letter to her counselor at school so that they can discuss this topic. Maybe someone else can reach her.

If anyone has any ideas or has experienced this I'd love to hear from you.

School Pictures 2008

The girls class pictures came back last week. I mailed some out to family. I always end up with tons of wallets left over even though I buy the minimum. Paula looks so much more mature to me in this photo than she does on daily basis. I often look at them and try to envision what they'll look like in their adulthood.


Shawna - Kindergarten

Paula - 2nd Grade