The field trip

I went with Adriana's class on a field trip last week. The entire first and second grades went to a local university to see a children's musical. It was very good, and all the children did so well about listening and paying attention.

While we were on the trip, I noticed I was the only parent not directly associated with the school who went on the trip. A couple of the activity teachers went and then the grade teachers were there.

I felt a little out of place. I just didn't think about the teachers not needing parents to go, and Adriana's teacher said she had me down to go. In the past, Adriana's teacher always had several parents go on field trips.

We had a slight problem finding someone to watch Cara and Jonah while I was gone, so I told Bruce that I may not go on field trips in the future.

Adriana was asked me sometime later if I was going to go on field trips in the future, but I told her I don't know and I told her my reasoning behind my decision. She got upset and started crying, telling me she likes having me on the trips. I consoled her by telling her we would have to see.

So much to write

I have so much to write today and get caught up on, but I am just going to try to take it one post at a time.

Last week, I was going to write about my struggles with getting Adriana to do her homework, but let's just celebrate the fact that on Thursday I picked up her report card and she made all "As"! Yeah, Adriana. We are so excited for her.

Cara also had a "report card". Her report card is not a graded evaluation, but an evaluation with different ratings based on the Montessori concept. Her teacher told me that, academically Cara is right on target and doing fine, but she struggles with following the classroom rules. We just need to be consistent and follow through with her. I am going to try a reward chart with her like we did with Adriana last year. Hopefully, that will help.

All in all, we will call these good reports.

The 80s revisited

This weekend, the girls went to a birthday party at a local roller skating rink. This was Cara's first time on skates, and Adriana's first time on skates indoors. They had a little trouble staying up, to say the least. Cara was willing to try more and was doing pretty well on the regular skates. Adriana finally would try more when she got with a couple of her friends from school.

One of the other mothers informed me the rink had beginner skates, and I asked the girls if they wanted to try those. They did, so they both got a pair. I had to stuff Adriana's foot in them because her foot was almost too big, but we were able to get them to fit. After putting those on, they both had a blast and I had to pull them off the floor so we could leave.

While our children were skating, or attempting to skate, a couple of the other mothers and I started talking. All three of us are about the same age and we talked about when we would go skating when we were younger. For those who don't know, I skated religiously for a few years. Every Saturday from 2-5. The other mothers said they skated regularly, too. I told them that not only had the looks of the rink not changed in 20+ years, but obviously the music had not changed since we heard "You Drop the Bomb on Me" and "Celebration" blaring. And, one of the other moms looked around and said, yeah, and there was always that one guy who was a good bit older who hung out with the younger crowd. She said you never knew whether he was a pervert or not. I laughed so hard, because it was so true.

We apologize for the drought

Apparently, the drought is our fault and we apologize. All summer we kept saying we were going to have a yard sale, and we didn't. We finally got our act together and had one this past weekend. We scheduled it for Friday and Saturday. Of course, on Friday the rain came, so evidently we are the reason the drought has taken place.

Bruce's mom had asked him what we were going to do if it did rain. He told her we will keep scheduling the yard sale every weekend for a whole month because we need the rain so badly.

The yard sale was a learning experience. It was fun, and Adriana definitely had a blast. She and Cara were supposed to have a goodie table set up. Cara didn't really work it, but Adriana stayed with us the whole time. She sold out of product! She had brownies and drinks for sale. On Saturday near the end of our sale, she told one of our friends who is a police officer (the police department is right behind our house) that she only needed to sale one more pack of brownies to go to Disney World. he came right over and bought the pack from her.

Money wise, Bruce was pleased with how we did. Product wise, we still have too much junk left! Now, we can't decide whether to donate it all, e-bay some of it or try to have another yard sale in the spring. I just want the stuff gone. I am ready to straighten this place up and having it not look like a bomb went off.

Our mothers came down to help us. Bruce's mom came to watch Jonah and, as it turned out, Cara, while we were outside, and my mom came to help us out/be a blessing/shop as the cashier.

We made a little money off our girls and my mother. My mother found a few things she liked and bought them. We made money off of Cara before the sale even started. When I brought toys over from the apartment to sale, she saw a roll a rounds dinosaur that was Jonah's which they haven't played with in a while. He also had a hippo that we were going to sell. She kept telling me she wanted didn't want to sell the hippo, but she really meant the dinosaur I found out later. I told her I was planning on selling it and I asked her how much she was willing to pay me for it. She said five dollars and then said 20 dollars. I told her I would take five and she was more than willing to give it for me. So, she bought back the dinosaur. I also let Adriana buy back three dolls she saw we had out for the sale and she bought a praying hands figurine that she liked that I think Bruce made when he was in Bible school.

Bruce was a little put off that I let them buy those things back because he said we need to get rid of the junk. I agree with him, but I said I was going to allow them to buy only one thing back (I know, I went over that with Adriana), and they were going to have pay. I was hoping they would learn a little about shopping and being appreciative of something that was "theirs".

The funny thing is, the money is going to go right back to them for our trip because we told them any money we made off toys would be theirs.

I meant to take pictures, but I forgot until after we were completely packed up. Stay tuned to see what we do with all the junk.

Happy Birthday, baby girl!

We had another birthday today (Sunday). Cara turned four today! We had a rather busy day with church and Adriana had a children's choir performance tonight.

Cara woke up all excited that today was her birthday. She popped out of the bed early, which is not like her at all. We went to church and several people told her Happy Birthday and she told several people it was her birthday.

After church, as a part of her present, we went to Pizza Hut where we at lunch with a family from our church. One of the sons in the family is Cara's "boyfriend". (He's 13 years old.) Somewhere along the way this year, she attached herself to Cody and has declared that he is her boyfriend. The only problem is, whenever he is around, she clams up and won't talk to him. Those who really know Cara know that she is not like that at all. We had a great time, and Cody is a wonderful sport about the whole crush thing.

She blew out her candle on a cupcake at Pizza Hut and opened a present from the other family. It was a purple Dora hat and mittens. Perfect!

After we got home, she opened a present from us and one from her sister and brother. From us, she received a Dora dance costume to wear for Halloween. She acted like she didn't know she was getting it even though she was with me last night when I bought it. I guess she is easily tricked. She also received a Dora dress-up armoire from Adriana and Jonah. Now, she needs Dora clothes to fill it.

I made more cupcakes tonight for Cara to take to school tomorrow for snack time. I panicked when I realized I only had two eggs left, but I needed three. In the woods here, we don't have all night grocery stores or Wally Worlds. The closest place to go would be at least 30 minutes away. I improvised and took out about a third of the butter and mix. I only needed about ten cupcakes, so it worked out beautifully and the cupcakes looked fine. I figure they are for a bunch of 3 to 5 year olds anyway. They will probably only take a couple of bites out.

We have had a busy weekend, and I have lots to write, but that is going to have to wait for another day. Mama's tired.

My son, the cat, or why I was updating the blog at 3:30 a.m.

Sunday night/early Monday morning I woke up with quite a jolt. I normally do not wake up from sleeping unless something major happens, like my being sick, a child's sickness or a child running into the room.

Sunday night was a different matter. Right after I woke up I remembered I was having a very strange dream. The dream involved Adriana and Cara's former dance teacher, a Christmas party, picking up presents for my nephew and nieces and Jonah.

Now, for the part about Jonah and why I woke up. In the dream, I carried Jonah with me to a party the dance teacher was having in a building that was also an apartment building. I went to see some people that I did not know who were living in one of the apartments. Something happened, I can't remember what, but I think I remember their child took something of Jonah's. I got kind of huffy, said something sarcastic and left. Imagine that?

When I left, I couldn't find Jonah and started calling for him. He was nowhere to be found. I kept calling, and finally four or five black and white cats came up to me. (They looked similar to a cat my father/I had a while back.) I then became confused because I didn't know which one was Jonah. That is when I woke up. I jumped out of bed and went to check on Jonah who was sleeping peacefully in his bed. I couldn't go back to sleep.

Evidently, I awakened Bruce and he asked if I was okay. I told him about my dream, and that I didn't know which bothered me more, the fact that he turned into a cat or that I didn't know which one he was. I told Bruce that I had to check on him, and he laughingly asked me if he purred when I checked.

Bam! It hit me. The reason I had the dream that he turned into a cat. The night before, I was holding him and for some reason he started saying, "Meow" and something right before he said it. We were in the kitchen, and Bruce asked me what he was saying. I listened closer. He was saying, "I'm a kitty-cat. Meow!" I kept telling him he was not a kitty-cat, and he just laughed.

The Project

Adriana had a project due at school recently that was worth two Social Studies grades. Her class had been working on an "All About Me" unit and were to complete a timeline about their lives. We received the information on Tuesday and it was due on Friday. Eeek! Needless to say, I panicked a little.

She was to include at least five events from her life with pictures or drawings. We decided on pictures. I frantically searched through pictures and found ten that I thought would be good to include. Those pictures included when she was born, when she started sitting and walking, both times she became a big sister, when she started school, when she lost her first tooth and when she got her crown on her tooth (her idea).

The only night we had to work on it was Thursday night, and Bruce had a meeting that went over at the office, so he was late getting home. When he came home he apologized because he knew we were supposed to work on the project, but actually we had already started and Cara and Jonah didn't bother us too much.

The teacher kept emphasizing neatness counts and that we were to work on this with her. I was kind of stressing about the neatness part because Adriana's fine motor skills are not as developed as her classmates, so her handwriting is not as neat. She did really well on it, I think.

We taped down the pictures and I wrote out some ideas for some sentences for her. She copied them and we made a few changes along the way. Near the end, she became a little frustrated and started crying which about broke my heart. I think she was very tired, but I encouraged her by saying we were almost finished and then she could rest. I let her use some of my scrapbooking stickers to decorate the project train, and she really loved doing that. (Finally, those scrapbooking supplies come in handy.)

Of course while we were working, she started asking questions that she already knew the answers to, like "why was I born early?" "Why didn't I walk at one like other children?" She didn't seem sad by all of that, which is what I was concerned about when she shares it with her classmates. You never know how children this age will react, and I was concerned they might not believe her or make fun of her because of her delays. I think she will be fine, though.

A few nights later she did say to me, "I am glad you had me." I almost cried.

The actual party

The birthday boy's actual "Thomas the Train" party was this weekend at an area zoo and park. The only people who attended were our mothers, one of my brothers and the five of us. I have to admit, I did kind of like not having to worry too much about keeping a bunch of other children entertained and making sure everyone was having a good time.

The weather was nice and everyone did seem to have a good time overall, except Adriana at first. After we had visited the zoo, we went to the park for the cake and presents. I am not quite sure what happened (hum, maybe I need to pay more attention to my children since that seems to happen a lot these days), but I looked up and my brother said something about Adriana falling into the mud. I looked at her, and sure enough, she was covered from head to toe with mud. Thankfully, we had a change of clothes with us and Bruce was able to get her cleaned up enough. She was so upset, and she apologized to us several times for falling in. We reassured her that we were not angry at all and that accidents happen.

Jonah enjoyed the zoo, and he especially enjoyed his "cake". He enjoyed it so much, that the next day at church that was the very thing he mentioned to the person who kept him in the nursery. From his sisters, he received a bubble lawn mower which Daddy prayed would really cut the grass. And, from us he received a train table that I found at a wonderful bargain recently. The girls are itching for me to put it together, but I haven't been able to so far. Maybe this weekend.

An important life lesson learned: don't give your almost four year old a box of Nerdz while you are driving. Trust me, just don't.

Here are a few pictures to enjoy.

Happy Birthday, Baby Boy!

Yesterday (Wednesday), was Jonah's second birthday. I know it is an old saying, but time sure has flown. Bruce and I were talking last night about how he has been with us for two years, but it seems like forever and we could not imagine life without him or his sisters. And, then Bruce said, "And I could not imagine life without you." Gotta love that man.

Back to Jonah. Yesterday was kind of busy with church and the girls in school, so we didn't have too much time to celebrate. He did open a couple of presents right before we ran out the door to go to church. The present Bruce and I gave him was a Pooh bear that knows his name. He loves it! The girls kept trying to get it from him, but he kept telling them no.

The girls and I made him a cake that we took to church. The whole time we were eating, he kept saying, "My cake." We finally let him have it. We sang to him, and he blew the candles out without a problem. And, everyone ate the cake without a problem. Duncan Hines gets every one's approval.

Saturday we will have his birthday party with a few more family members at a zoo. Hopefully, the rain will stay away.