Monday, November 30, 2009

nose piercing?

We went to Vegas for Thanksgiving weekend. (More on that later.) We went bowling on Saturday and the bowling alley was in a casino. So we crossed quickly through the casino and got in the elevator. A lady (who I believe had been enjoying not just the gambling, but also the alcohol), got in with us and was commenting on how beautiful Gabrielle was. Then she said something about the adorable nose piercing, but how the diamond was in the corner and hard to see and I should have had them pierce it a little bit farther over. I just smiled and looked confused, because I didn't know what she was talking about. As I got out of the elevator, I realized that Gabrielle's nose had been runny and that was what the woman had seen and thought was a diamond!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Free falling

Tonight, driving home from school, "Free falling" by Tom Petty came on the radio. Pretty soon Michelle was singing/counting to 100 to the beat and tune of Free falling. "One, two, three and four. Five, six, seven, eight." Too cute. I was laughing.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Have I mentioned...

that I love my neighbors!!! I seriously love where I live. My house is not the newest or biggest. I don't drive a fancy car. But I live in the best neighborhood. I feel safe. I feel cared for. I love it here!

Here are a few reasons to love my neighborhood:

1. My kids have lots of friends to play with. Today the girls had two different friends come over to play.

2. Today I posted on Facebook that my sink had broken and Alfredo is out of town. A neighbor called this afternoon and came over to fix it. Another neighbor/friend offered to have her husband come over tonight to fix it after he got home from work. (Thank you for the offer Shannon!) My dad also called to see if I needed help.

3. My block always has a Christmas party. It is so much fun. We go to 3 or 4 different houses for salad, dinner, dessert and a white elephant gift exchange. We laugh, we visit, we have so much fun sans kids. We look forward to it every year. We were so sad that we couldn't make it last year. It is really a lot of fun. It's in a couple of weeks. Can't wait!

4. Another neighbor/friend asked if I wanted clothes for Michelle that her daughter had outgrown. She brought over a big bag of adorable clothes and shoes today. I've had 3 or 4 different friends pass on clothes to us.

I know I have said it before, but I am so grateful for such great friends and neighbors!!!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Eavesdropping in the car

Michelle read her homework book in the car. (She often does but reads it at least once to me at home as well...she is supposed to read it aloud to a parent 2 or 3 times each night and as many of her books are very familiar to me, I can help her even if I'm not sitting next to her...and she's reading on grade level. Anyway...)

After she finished, she totally switched into "teacher" mode and began calling on students to tell what happened "first" "next", "then" and "last."
She said, "So, let's talk about what this book was about. First, the boy and the dog see a flood" and she began to tell how the beginning started. She interrupts her own retelling, changing her voice a little and says, "What is the boy's name and the dog's name?" She answers back, "Sam and his dog Spot see that the yard is flooded."

Some more of what I overhead:

"Jasmine, next." "Good job, Jasmine."

"I'll take students who are listening. NO hands right now. Show me that you are listening. Shayla, what did I say? No hands. Okay, Mia, you are listening. What happened then."

"Good job Mia."

"I would call on Michelle because she is listening, but she's already had a turn. Oh, okay Iree. Go ahead."

How darling is that? She could be the teacher. She has it down.

Other things that have impressed me. One day I taught her the generalization "When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking." I explained that usually when there are two vowels together, the first one is a long vowel sound. About a week later, she saw a word on a sign and said, "Oh, look that word is ____. I know because it has an oa and so the o says long o."

About a week ago, she was reading. She read a sentence that ended in a question mark. She stopped and said, "Oops. I didn't read that with expression. I have to go back and read it again like I'm asking a question." (She reads it again.) "Did I read fluently Mommy? Did you hear how my voice went up like a question?"

She is a little writer. She goes through so much paper writing notes to friends and family, writing notes about school, taking pretend spelling tests, and writing stories. She really, really loves to write. She writes much more in English, but I do find Spanish writing as well.

Anyway, I was chuckling to myself as we drove home today. She sounds just like her teacher, I'm sure. She sounds an awful lot like me when I am at work. ....

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Glad to live Now!

My lesson for Primary this week was on Winter Quarters, where the Saints camped/lived through the winters of 1846 and 1847. There were about 4,000 people living there in 1846. Most of them got sick. Partly from malaria from the mosquitoes, partly from the lack of fruits and vegetables, partly I'm sure from the rough living conditions. Anyway, about 600 people died. I was stunned by that number. I have read a lot about the Mormon pioneers that traveled across the plains, and I know that many people died on that trek. I hadn't realized so many died from illness then. More than 1 in every 8 people. That's overwhelming to contemplate.

It made me, not for the first time, very grateful to be alive today. We are so lucky to have the medical advances that we have. Most of us will live to be in our 70's or 80's or older, and we will primarily experience the inconveniences of relatively mild illnesses. I am not trying to downplay the seriousness of trials that we can and do face or saying that we shouldn't worry about illness at all. But I am truly grateful for modern medicine.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Thank You

My friend Brandi had a beautiful post dedicated to Veteran's Day. It is late and I'm tired, but I do want to say how grateful I am for Veterans and soldiers, past and present. My grandpa fought in World War II. My cousin is a chaplain now. I am so grateful for the men and women who have fought, past and present, to protect our freedoms. We are so blessed to live in this land.

Ella


(This picture really isn't related to this post. I just thought it was cute.)

Poor Ella had another cavity filled on Monday. That makes 4 cavities now. Really, we do brush. Michelle has never had a cavity and Ella has had 4. Last time they had us go to Primary Children's and sedate her. This time, they did it in the dentist's office. (His office, by the way, is amazing! The whole office is decorated like an undersea adventure with fish, sharks, whales, etc. There is a huge play area and they get to ride a merry go round with sea creatures when they are done. They get to choose a toy from a treasure chest. We love our dentist.)

Anyway, she got some valium an hour before the procedure and then some laughing gas while they did the filling. Then of course they numbed the area. She did pretty well during the actual filling, but cried for nearly an hour afterward...she hated the numbness in her mouth and just hated the whole experience probably. Anyway, for some reason it got me thinking about my little four year old and all her experiences with drugs. I really think she has had more drugs in her four years than I have in my whole life. She was sedated at least 3 times to have echocardiograms done. Then of course, she received a cocktail of drugs before/during/right after her open heart surgery. Then six months ago, she was sedated to have a tooth extracted and a couple tiny fillings filled. Then she had laughing gas and Valium on Monday. I know I've had morphine and one epidural and I got some kind of pain meds after my wisdom teeth were pulled but I only took one. I'm pretty sure I've never had laughing gas or Valium or been totally sedated. And poor Ella has had all of these. Let's hope that most of the need for these kinds of medications is done and she will go on to have a healthy, (mostly/totally) cavity free life.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Nativity Book

My Aunt Elaine came over yesterday and did the neatest project with my girls. Michelle and Ella each made a nativity scrapbook. Elaine had these cute cutout figures of baby Jesus, the wisemen, the shepherds, the star, King Herod and the animals (camels, donkeys, sheep).


The girls got to decide where to put them into the book and also added pictures of themselves to the book. They turned out darling, and the girls had so much fun, and it was a wonderful chance to review the story of the Savior's birth. Each of them will have this wonderful book to look at throughout this holiday season and years to come.

This was so thoughtful. The girls enjoyed the process. Elaine borrowed Michelle's book and Michelle can hardly wait to get it back. Ella and Michelle looked through Ella's several times yesterday and again today.




(The original idea came from www.scrapbook.com and is also featured here.)

Sunday, November 8, 2009

A toddler?

Yesterday when I was calling Gabrielle "the baby", a friend said, "She's not a baby anymore. She's a toddler now. Look at how she gets around." So sad to me, but it is true. She doesn't just walk, she runs. She is trying so hard to keep up with her big sisters, even though she is still MY baby. She is now 15 months old (on Wednesday). Here's a little update on her:

She loves peekaboo and hide-n-seek. She chases the girls around the house and they "hide". She squeals delightedly when she finds them and then they run off to hide again. She actually runs after them, not walks.

She likes to climb on everything. She is thrilled to sit on top of the kitchen counter. She climbs on/off the couches and coffee table. A couple of days ago, I walked into the computer room to discover this:



She loves to eat. She will eat almost anything (including dog bones). She likes pomegranates and peaches and apples and string cheese and beans. She loves black beans. She likes corn and rice and cereal and pancakes.

She is learning more and more words:
hi-a (hi), Chesta (Chester), woof-woof or bow wow or erro( perro) for dog, (Notice she has 4 words for dog!), Wo, Wow, owie, ello (hello), mama, dada, Ella.
I think there are others, but these are all I can think of now.

She can sign "more" and "milk" and "food" and "sleep" (although I readily admit I'm no sign expert so I can't guarantee that sleep is the correct sign, but she does it when we say sleep, so it means sleep to her and us.) She shakes her head no and nods yes and points a lot. She also lets you know when she wants to be picked up.





She has developed a temper and a case of sibling rivalry with Ella (but not much with Michelle). If I hold Ella, she will walk over and hit Ella or me. A couple of times she has bit me. She is usually a happy, playful baby, but she doesn't like to share my attention.

She likes to play with toys...babies, phones, blocks on occasion or whatever toys her big sisters are playing with. I noticed that the other day she was using a calculator as a phone. She picks up the phone (or in this case calculator) and presses a button then puts it up to her ear and says "ello" "ello" over and over. So far that is the extent of her conversation, but it is still cute.



Tonight in the bathtub I was asking her to point to parts of her body and then I would point to my body to model. She could totally do it. I don't think she could do it without me modeling yet, but she is learning and picking up new things so quickly. She is darling... except when she is hitting and biting and screaming. :)

Thursday, November 5, 2009

4 Things: Proud Mommy Monday

So here's my entry for this month's Proud Mommy Monday (yes, it's now a monthly meme...first Monday of each month, join Shannonfor Proud Mommy Monday and see what other moms are doing right!)

I have been trying to figure out what I could say...and this feels a little like cheating, but here are a few little things that I think I usually do a good job at:

1. I feed my kids lots of fruits and quite a few vegetables and they eat them. (Gabrielle has recently fallen in love with pomegranate!) Michelle and Ella happily eat salad (as long as it has ranch dressing). They will eat nearly any fruit and a number of vegetables.

2. I make sure Michelle does her homework each night.

3. I have tried to teach my children to say "please" and "thank you". They aren't perfect at it (neither am I) but we're all improving.

4. I watch what I say. I try to set a good example. This includes not saying bad words, but also just being careful how I phrase things... awhile back I used to say, "I'll kill you if you do ______". Of course, I didn't mean it but when one of the girls picked up on it, I worked valiantly to dispose of that phrase...it still slips out ocassionally, but not often. I try to be careful to not say negative things about others or myself (I"m not perfect at this, but I try) in front of them. And so on.

So there you have it. Those are the things that I'm doing reasonably well at right now.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Pennies for Peace

Sometimes my children's generosity surprises and overwhelms me. Michelle's school is doing a fundraiser called Pennies for Peace. Basically, a foundation is building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. For just pennies, they can begin to provide educations for girls in these war torn countries where girls are not educated. They can also provide educations that do not promote terrorism, fighting, etc.

About two years ago, I read an amazing book called Three Cups of Tea that tells the story of how Greg Mortensen has worked to build schools in Pakistan despite many difficulties. His goal is to promote peace through knowledge and education. Anyway, this book has stuck with me. It is one that I have not forgotten and that I have recommended to many others. Now Michelle's school is collecting pennies for his organization.

Michelle came home and told us about it last night. Tonight, she wanted to collect as many pennies as she could. We are saving for Disneyland. We have a huge coin jar that we drop any loose change and even some bills into. Even the girls contribute (Michelle has contributed all but $1 of her tooth fairy money to this jar. So they really don't want to ever take money out of the jar (I've raided it a couple times when I needed cash but always replaced the money. And yes, I realize that some loose change isn't going to get us to Disneyland. We're also saving in a savings account, but this is very visual and motivating especially for the girls... Anyway...) So tonight, Michelle dumped the jar over and fished out most of the pennies. She decided to leave some in so that she can get the rest tomorrow to take the next day. She wants to donate as much as possible to these kids. She told me all about it.

They have a bulletin board display at their school. It is amazing how little is needed to make a huge difference. A penny can buy a child a pencil. A dollar (100 pennies) a day pays a teacher's salary. Teachers only make about $200 per year.

I think this is a worthwhile cause and I'm pleased that Michelle is so eager to help. (P.S. If anyone wants to donate a handful of pennies to her to donate, she would be more than thrilled.)

If you want more information about this program or about the books go to the Pennie's for Peace website.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Red Ribbon Week

Last week, Michelle's school celebrated Red Ribbon Week. Each day, in addition to talking about staying drug/alcohol free, they got to dress up in silly ways. This is fun at any school, but especially fun at a school with uniforms. Michelle was thrilled.

On Monday, it was pajama day. Michelle mostly wears little night shirts and it's too cold to wear those to school, so she got cute new pink pajamas for the ocassion (and really she was due for some new pajamas...all of hers were bought last year at Christmas or even before then and she has outgrown them all... Pajamas are just not a shopping priority for me.) Sorry, no picture of this.

Tuesday was crazy hair day. One of her friends, Riley, had his hair in little ponytails that looked like a mohawk. Michelle had her hair in different styles... a couple of braids, a couple pony tails, a twist, and lots of mismatched hiar ribbons. (sorry about her facial expressions... she was tired and she always tries to make goofy faces when I take her picture.)


Wednesday was multicultural day. That was fun to see for the kids that had cool outfits. We didn't have anything so we just pinned a picture of flags of the world shaped like the Earth onto her uniform.

Thursday was mismatch day:









Friday was crazy sock and slippers day. Michelle wore witch socks (with little witch faces that are 3 D on the back and pink slippers. They didn't dress up for Halloween at school, but her after school program had a party and she got to dress up then. They played games, had lots of treats and it was a lot of fun. (Sorry no pics of this either!)

Michelle thoroughly enjoyed Red Ribbon Week (and learned about the importance of not using drugs and alcohol as well).

Halloween

Our Halloween was BUSY! The girls had their Primary Halloween activity in the morning. They played games, decorated cupcakes and helped tie blankets for the Ronald McDonald House. They got to dress up in their costumes, which they thought was fun. Ella was being super shy and clingy but Michelle had a great time. Ella warmed up by the end.


Then that afternoon we headed to a birthday party for Lily. Her birthday is on Halloween, and so they were able to wear costumes to that too. They had a great time playing in her backyard and enjoyed her spider cupcakes.

Then after a quick dinner, Michelle and Alfredo carved pumpkins and Ella and Gabrielle napped. Gabrielle has been sick all week, so she stayed home with Alfredo. Michelle and I met a bunch of friends from our neighborhood and trick-or-treated with them. When Ella finally woke up from her nap, I picked her up to join us. Then we separated from them, picked up another friend and finished trick or treating on our street. The kids got so much candy this year...way more than ever before.




My kids definitely have a sweet tooth like their mommy. But I was so happy to hear Michelle say several times, "Church is way better than candy." (Except when we stopped at the Carlson's, and she switched it to candy is way better than church...but she didn't mean it that way.) Even on Sunday, she told several people that church is better than candy. And she really means that. Michelle loves church.