Monday, November 16, 2009

Mangled Lyrics

Don't you love how kids hear a song and yet as they don't really understand the words, have a set of bizarre words that they sing instead of what the lyricist wrote?

Tboy's preschool has begun practicing for their Christmas program. The last song they sing is "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."

In the tub tonight he was singing " I wish you a merry kinsman, I wish you a merry kinsman, I wish you a merry kinsman and a happy and you know it!" On the last line, the tune kind of morphs into the tune for "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands."

"What is a kinsman?" I asked him.

"I don't know. It is just how the song goes!"

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

2 hours and 45 minutes

2 hours and 45 minutes.

That is how long Tboy, Tgirl and I stood in line to get our flu shots at Kaiser today.

I left work early today, picked up the kids from their respective day cares (Tgirl went to daycare today instead of coming to my classroom as she has been doing everyday the past few weeks - possibly hoping I would forget about flu shots?) and zipped out on the freeway to the Kaiser clinic that we usually go to. Got a great parking spot and got the kids out of the car. Walked around the corner to the front door only to discover.... the line out the door, around the far corner of the building and doubling back toward the door again!

We hurried into line. I mean really, how long can it take the line to move? They only do the flu shots two days a week so surely they know how to move the line along quickly.

After about 10 minutes and only moving a couple of feet, the woman behind me left her husband and kids and went to investigate at the front of the line. She came back announcing that at the front they said they had been waiting for an hour and twenty minutes. She and her husband decided to pull their kids out of school early the next day and go to a different clinic.

It was chaos.

Clearly, no one else expected such a line. There were kids running all over the place, crying, squealing, and literally climbing the walls (one boy was holding on to a sign post and walking his feet up the wall horizontally - apparently his parents didn't care, no one stopped him).

The Kaiser people did try to thin the line out and send any family group with all kids 12 or older, over to the adult flu shot line in the next building. They said it was much shorter. Unfortunately, there weren't many in the line who qualified.

Tboy and Tgirl had each brought a book (though to be honest, Tboy's was a chapter book belonging to his sister with very few pictures that he is just pretending to read). It is amazing how uninterested Tgirl can be in reading when there is literally nothing else to do.

Except whine.

And complain.

And stress out about how much the shot is going to hurt.

While her brother whines.

And begs and pleads to be allowed to run around on the muddy grass with all the other little hoodlums.

Actually, while they each had their moments, they did amazingly well.

We did a lot of people watching. Tgirl ate some tic tacs. Tboy played a couple of rounds of a matching game on my iPhone. Tboy watched a couple of episodes of Sesame Street's "word of the day" podcasts I had on my iPhone. Tgirl discovered that even though I had my old iPod, since I hadn't used it since I got my iPhone a month or so ago, the battery had run out and so it was useless (it is charging right now).

And then for the last 45 minutes, the 11 year old in line behind us entertained Tboy (and Tgirl as well, though she pretended to not be interested) with "random facts."

"Random fact," he would say, "Walt Disney was originally going to call Mickey Mouse Mortimer. But then he changed his mind. Now Mickey's arch nemesis, other than Pete, is named Mortimer. Arch nemesis means his main enemy." Apparently he had just finished reading a biography on Walt Disney.

He drove his mother crazy, his voice was a bit loud. And I can see how hearing these "random facts" all the time would get annoying. But to me, they were wonderful. They helped entertain and pass the time.

When it was finally our turn, the kids freaked out. Thankfully they put us in a little exam room to get our shots instead just behind a screen where most of the inoculations were taking place. They both were crying so loud the nurse shut the door. Then, once they got their shots they both stopped crying and said it wasn't so bad.

And while the line was ridiculous, all of the Kaiser personnel that we came into contact with were friendly, cheerful, and kind. I can't imagine it was easy to stay that way dealing with all of us cranky line waiters.

So, in the end, all three of us got our seasonal flu shots and the kids got their H1N1 in a nasal mist. As a healthy adult with no chronic conditions and who doesn't care for an infant, I didn't qualify for one of those due to shortages.

And in one month.... we get to go back again and stand in line again to get the kids their boosters.

This time, we will be prepared!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Vocabulary Day

For some reason it seemed as though we were all about vocabulary yesterday. A few examples:

on our way to pick Tboy up:
Tgirl: I LONG for fast food.
me: You what?
Tgirl: I LONG for fast food.
me (just checking if she knew what she was saying): What exactly does long for mean?
Tgirl: To want something very, very much. I LONG for fast food.

She didn't get any fast food. We went home and had chicken tamales (yum!). So now apparently she has unfulfilled longing in her life.

At dinner time:
Tboy: Mama, why do some people call a church a crackanackle?
me: what?
Tboy: You know, a crackanackle!
pause
me: Do mean a tabernacle?
Tboy: Yeah, that's what I said, a crackanackle!

While doing dishes:
Tboy: Mama, look at me! (with a blanket covering his nose and mouth) I'm a inja!
apparently someone at school was playing ninjas at school.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

My sweet boy

I was heading out tonight and saying goodbye to the kids. Tboy was in the garage watching a movie. I said goodbye and kissed him. He asked where I was going and I told him to see a mama movie.

"Which one?"

"It is called Julie and Julia."

"Oh. I have seen the previews on TV. Why do you call it a mama movie. There are boys in it."

"Just because it is one that mamas like and little boys might not like."

"OK. bye!"

I walked through the house and said goodbye to TDaddy. Just as I was ready to walk out the door, Tboy came running up to hold my face in his hands and give me another goodbye kiss.

"Have fun, Mama. I love you!"

My boy is just too sweet for words!

Julie and Julia

I just got home from seeing the movie Julie and Julia. So cute! I really enjoyed myself.

(Actually, to say just got home is a bit deceptive, unless an hour and a half is "just.")

Driving home by myself in the silence of the car (my sweet husband suggested that I go and as I couldn't find anyone who was both available to go and had not yet seen the movie, I went by myself, though can't say that I minded :) ) I was pondering life, and blogging, and all kinds of things. I composed several blog posts in my head.

And now...

An hour and a half later, putting a boy back to bed after he fell out, putting wet towels in the dryer and dirty dishes in the dishwasher, putting away the remnants of dinner, folding a load of clean clothes, getting ready for bed, getting distracted and reading a couple of other blogs.... I can't remember what I was going to say...

It can be difficult to be profound and take care of the details of life at the same time.

Or at least that is my excuse.

:)

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Random Dozen Meme

I have never participated in a meme before, but thought I would try it.

This one is from Linda over at 2nd-cup-of-coffee.blogspot.com

1. When you go to Wowmart, what one thing do you get every single time, besides a funky-wheeled squeaking cart full of frustration?
It used to be pull-ups. Thankfully not those anymore! Probably granola bars now. Tboy LOVES those things. The rest of us like them too. :)

2. What is something that people are currently "into" that you just don't get or appreciate?
Twitter: Some how I just don't think anyone really cares about every little thing I am doing.

3. What is something that really hoists your sail that other people might feel "ho-hum" about?
tea, Agatha Christie mysteries, and the TV show NCIS

4. Favorite song to sing in the shower or car?
changes all the time, usually a praise song of some kind or a TV commercial jingle the kids have stuck in my head

5. A really great salad must have this ingredient:
cheese of some kind

6. Advice in a nutshell to new bloggers (one or two sentences):
goodness, I think I am much too new at this to give advice

7. What was the alternate name that your parents almost named you? Do you wish they had chosen it instead of the one they gave you?
there was no other girl name, I came so early they were completely unprepared for me in the name department

8. What in your life are you waiting for?
enough money to buy our own house

9. You get a package in the mail. What is it, and who is it from?
it would be for TDaddy, not me, and it would be from amazon

10. Today--what song represents you?
hmmm, don't know

11. What is one thing that blogging has taught you about yourself?
that I care possibly too much about what others (even those who don't know me at all) think of me... I would post more often, but think my ideas sound stupid

12. How are you going to (or how did you) choose the clothes you're wearing today? What do they say about you in general or specifically how you're feeling today?
I wore denim capris, a tshirt and sandals. They said that it isn't a school day (we aren't allowed to wear jeans to school).

Do ladybugs get dizzy?

Just wondering.

Cause I am sitting here in bed watching one fly in rapid circles around the light fixture in the ceiling.

Every once in a while it bangs into one of the two bulbs or ceiling and then flies in slightly larger, not so circular orbits around the light. Then it rests for a couple of seconds on the metal parts of the fixture.

Then it returns to it's orbiting.

I wonder what it will do when I turn off the light.... It is a good thing I'm not scared of ladybugs. I really should turn off the light and go to sleep soon... But I do wonder what it will do when there is no visible light to orbit.

This is what comes of not having screens in your bedroom window and leaving the windows open anyway (so you don't suffocate in your sleep in the heat - pipe down, I am speaking relative heat, I know it is hotter and more humid elsewhere... opps, got sidetracked...).

Amazing how loud a single ladybug sounds hitting the light and ceiling....

This could go on for a while...

Friday, August 28, 2009

The Moon and Stars

Siblings. It is amazing over what they can get upset at each other.

Driving home tonight from dinner out in an air conditioned restaurant (thank you TDaddy!) and buying Tboy some new soccer cleats for his first soccer game tomorrow morning, we noticed the moon up in the dark sky.

And whose side of the car was Mr. Moon on? Why whomever he likes the most of course!

In case you were wondering, it can make a person really rather upset to realize that Mr. Moon doesn't like you as much as he likes your sibling.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Tgirl, "Star light, star bright, First star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight."

Tboy, "Amen?"

Monday, August 24, 2009

Back-To-School BBQ

Tonight my school did away with the more formal Back-To-School Night that we have traditionally done.

In the past we have had a meeting with all the faculty and staff getting together with all of the parents and kids in the worship center of the elementary campus. This year we had a big BBQ at the Middle School/High School campus for everyone with free food, a couple of bounce houses, face painting and a small petting zoo. The high school kids sold desserts and drinks to raise money for various mission trips and the school sold booster club memberships and school tshirts and sweatshirts. It was a huge success.

Families were mingling. Kids were running around crazy having a great time. It was a relaxed and fun atmosphere.

Tgirl got to hang out with her best friend. They really enjoyed bouncing and racing in the inflatables and feeding the llama, goats, pony, and sheep in the petting zoo. (Llamas make the strangest noises! I had never seen one up close in person before tonight. At times it sounded like it was saying"mmmmmm" as it ate feed from children's hands!) Their only complaint was that we didn't have time for face painting.

Tboy enjoyed hanging out and bouncing around with the big kids and petting the bunnies - the llama was a bit much for him, especially when it started making it's noises.

Earlier this afternoon the elementary students got to bring their supplies into the classroom, meet the teachers and buy their PE uniforms at school.

Tgirl ended up with an adult size small pair of PE shorts. They are a little big in the waist, though they aren't loose enough to fall off her, but are hugely long going down nearly to her knees! The youth mediums were way too tight in the waist and they were out of youth larges. I hope these shorts work for her!

I still haven't found sweats for PE and the ones with the school logo on them that were offered for sale with the uniforms were way too expensive. Hopefully I have a little more time to search before it gets cold and she needs the sweats.

First day of school is tomorrow...

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Human Scoreboard

Tboy really loves baseball. He loves playing it in every form possible: on a real field, in a backyard, in the house with real bats and balls (arg!), in the house with imaginary bats and balls (much better :) ), and on the Wii.

He also loves to watch professional baseball on TV.

His favorite team, like TDaddy's, is the Giants.

He keeps us informed of what is going on in the game, at times on a pitch by pitch basis. :) Even when you are sitting watching the game with him. :)

Perhaps he will be a sportscaster when he grows up?

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Back-To-School Shopping

We are mostly done with our back to school shopping.

Tgirl has 5 pairs of new pants, 7 shirts, 1 dress, 1 skort, and 2 pairs of capris. We have also purchased nearly all of the supplies on her list (paper, pencils, etc.) except for a spiral bound pad of 3x5 cards.

Tboy has 4 new pairs of jeans, 2 shirts, and one pair of sweatpants that are still a little too big for him.

Yes, I do see the inequality there.

However, he is still in preschool and doesn't have a list of supplies that he needs to buy. Being in preschool, he also doesn't have much of a dress code (other than he has to wear tennis shoes all the time to stay safe on the playground). I am enjoying that while I can. Next year, when he starts kindergarten, it will be totally different.

And, unlike Tgirl, he gets hand-me-downs. From two different people. She doesn't get any. I love hand-me-downs. I love how they save me money!

We only have a few more things to buy... shoes and a new backpack for each of them, and Tgirl still needs a gym bag, gym uniform, gym sweats, a lunchbox, and the specific Bible that her class will be using.

Overall, I am happy with how quickly, and reasonably priced, our shopping has been this year. Tgirl and I went out yesterday afternoon for a couple of hours at Khols and Walmart (I really do not like Walmart. Yes, they have good prices. But in my opinion, that is all they have going for them. The stores always seem to be somewhat messy, the shelves are not well stocked, the employees aren't helpful or are clueless, and don't even get me started on the clientele!). Then today both the kids and I spent a couple of hours at Target finishing off Tgirl's supply list and getting the bulk of their clothes.

Can I just say thank God for the Nintendo DS while in the dressing room with a 4 year old boy while his sister tries on clothes. Seriously. It is a huge help. Huge!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Fluffalo

What on earth? you may be wondering...

Fluffalo.

Ok, so most of the English speaking world calls them Buffalo. But in this house we call them fluffalo. That is what Tboy calls them.

Don't you just love the little mispronunciations that most every child uses? They don't know any better. And I'm glad. I enjoy knowing a bit of what the world sounds like in his head.

I will be very sad when Tboy speaks clear and perfectly pronounced English. It will mean he is growing up. :(

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Bedtime Fallguy

The children have been pushing bedtime lately.

They are put to bed on time. And then the "fun" begins.

They (each individually) get up to tell us they can't sleep, they have various aches and pains that were not there minutes before bedtime, they are thirsty, they need to go to the bathroom, the music stopped, they can't sleep, they need a certain stuffed animal... The only reason they don't tell us they are hungry is that we have a permanent sign up in our house "There is no eating after bedtime. Do not ask." (When the sign first went up, Tboy would get up just to ask to have the sign read to him.)

At one point last night they had each been up twice. Tgirl ended her second time with a question about where Patches (a small stuffed dog) was.

Very soon afterward, Tboy came out wondering where Patches was. I asked him if Tgirl had sent him.

"Yes"

Spoken firmly, "You do not have to do what she tells you when you know Mama and Daddy say no. Now go back to bed!"

As he opened the door of their room to go back in to bed I heard him complain to Tgirl, "I told you I would too get in trouble!"

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Out of Gas

What exactly is the point of the display in the car that tells me I have so many miles left of gas in the tank when it is not honest?

The thing said I could drive 20 more miles on the gas I had in the tank.

But when Tgirl and I came out of her piano lesson this evening the thing would not start. It was, for all intensive purposes, out of gas.

And where exactly in the tank is the gauge that monitors how much gas is left in there? Is it in the back of the tank so that when you are parked on an uphill slope the gas pools back there and tells you you have more than you really do? Which is what happened the last time I ran out of gas at work (It was nearly 2 years ago - no, I am not in the habit of running out of gas in the car!) Or is it in the front so that when facing downhill, as we were outside the piano teacher's house, the car can lie to me and tell me I have enough gas to drive for twenty more miles at the same time that it refuses to start.

Regardless of where that monitor is or how it works, it has problems with being totally truthful.

Tgirl and I went back to Miss J's (the piano teacher) door to ask to please borrow a sweatshirt for Tgirl for the walk to the gas station. Miss J very kindly offered us the gas in the garage that she has for her lawn mower. Only, she didn't know how to get the gas to come out of the nozzle so that it would go into the car's tank. And neither did I. So we experimented a bit, resulting in me getting gas all over my hands, before finally figuring it out.

All's well that ends well so they say.

Does anyone know how to get the smell of gas off one's hands? Washing for a long time in excessive amounts of dish soap and antibacterial hand soap does not work. Neither does washing in ketchup. The stench has dissipated, but is not gone. I now have very dry hands that smell of gas.

(Hey, if tomato juice works to get out skunk smell when nothing else will, then theoretically ketchup should work on the smell of gas. Right? Wrong.)

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Babies

Tboy loves babies.

In common youngest child fashion, he would like to have a new baby brother, or more preferably to him, a baby sister. He sometimes even tries to call Tgirl his baby sister, which really annoys her.

I can understand how he feels. I loved being pregnant, even with all the problems with my back and legs and all that I have when I'm pregnant, I still love the feeling of carrying a little life around inside of me. And I really do love babies in all of their sweet, cuddly, chubbiness.

But I don't want another kid and all that that means. The exhaustion, the endless diapers, the exhaustion, someone touching you nearly 24/7, the exhaustion (my babies just aren't good sleepers!). And then there is the idea of another 5 years of daycare and preschool to pay for when Tboy only has 1 year left before he starts school (a benefit of my job is that my children get to - well, have to, it is required in my contract - attend my school for free and when I am actually working in my classroom or at a school meeting I get extended day care free) is rather appalling.

So, to deal with my baby lust, I signed up to work in the baby nursery at church once a month. It is great. I get to hold and cuddle and change babies for a while, remember a few of the frustrations (i.e. their lack of communication skills), watch them grow from month to month, and hand them back to their parents after about 2 hours.

Tboy, however, doesn't have this outlet for his desire for a baby. Whenever he sees one when we are out and about he points it out to me and tells me, "We love babies, don't we, Mama!" (to which I always, of course, agree) When we were in Disneyland last week he was keeping track (part of the time) of how many babies we saw each day.

In his Sunday School class they heard the story of Hannah from the Old Testament and how she wanted a baby very much but had to wait for a long time until God gave her Samuel.

Tboy's teacher let me know when I picked him up that after hearing the story, he raised his hand and told them that he really wanted a baby in his family too and he had been waiting a long time for one. When the teacher told him that maybe he should talk to his mommy about it, he said that he had.

Sunday School teacher, "So what did she say?"

A very disappointed and disgusted Tboy, "She won't give me one" !!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Disneyland here we come!

We are headed to Disneyland tomorrow and are all so excited! We will be meeting TDaddy's mom and step dad at the airport in Anaheim tomorrow morning (they actually are scheduled to land 6 minutes before us) and spending 5 days at Disneyland with them and then 2 more after they leave.

Yes, I know, 7 days! It sound excessive, but somehow we manage to fill up the time and it is great to not have to feel pressured and rushed while there. We can just take it easy in the crowds and heat knowing that we have plenty of time to see everything and do the favorite rides multiple times.

We are staying across the street from the main gate and get a free breakfast at the hotel and will come back to the room everyday for lunches of sandwiches made in the room. Dinners for the most part, we will also eat outside the park as a way to save some money.

Would you believe that we won't be checking any luggage at all? I have packed Tboy, Tgirl, and I into one rolling carry on suitcase with just a little spill over into an old, nice and roomy LL Bean diaper bag (which will also carry my computer and entertainments for the kids. TDaddy has a rolling carry on and a backpack, the kids each have a "toy" backpack and I have one other small carry on bag of books, etc. Amazing.

Who knew that I of all people, could be organized enough to pack so little?!? (I am, by the way, taking some laundry soap to do laundry midweek :) )

I think Tboy is tired enough that he has just dropped off to sleep, but Tgirl will likely be awake quite late in her excitement.... :)

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

It must make God smile

As we have driven around in the last couple of days, the kids and I have had a kid's worship CD playing. Tgirl has always enjoyed singing along. For the first time though, Tboy has really been getting into singing along.

It must make God smile to see and hear the little guy belting out worship songs with all his little heart.

Especially, when he mangles the words when he doesn't understand them. :)

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

They grow and change so quickly

I know it is rather a cliche. And yet it rings true.

The kids and I met my cousin, her daughter, and my grandmother at the park today. It was nearly too hot to play so we didn't stay long before returning to Grammy's house for a lunch tea. She had spread out on a side table pictures of the 3 great grandchildren (her only 3 so far).

Tboy didn't recognize himself as a baby. And Tgirl... oh my. Her face always seemed slender to me, she wasn't a chubby baby. Yet looking back at pictures, I am struck by how chubby her cheeks seem and how very little she looked in comparison with her current 9 year old self. And the knowledge that in a few years pictures of her now will seem so young is almost too much for this mama to take.

We just had the conversation yesterday when shopping that she won't be wearing tank tops with spaghetti straps now or in the future as we decided that for our family, if it looks like a bra strap in the back and/or your bra strap would be showing (were you wearing one), the top isn't modest enough.

Once we returned home she asked to wear a tank top with spaghetti straps she received last year as a gift because she was hot. I allowed her to, telling her only in the house, she wouldn't be wearing it out at all. But she looked so old in it!

Where does the time go? It flies by so quickly leaving me to wonder if I am truly taking advantage of the time I have with my 2 while they are still young, while they still value their father and I and our opinions above all others.

I pray that in looking back on this time now that I won't be filled with regrets for what I did or didn't do, but rather that I will feel at peace knowing that with God's help I did all that I could and was the best mama for them.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

It has been a long time

It has been such a long time since I wrote, that I hardly know what to say... So much has happened... Just a couple of highlights...

We finally got Tboy potty trained (Yeah!!!)

Tboy had tubes put in both his ears. Surgery could not have gone better, and he can hear so much better now. We now turn volumes down for him instead of always up. :)

I had a crazy busy school year, but loved being in 5th grade again. Tough class, but a wonderful one.

The two elementary campuses at the school where I work are combining this next year due to construction at the campus I was at this last year. So I had to pack up again this June and move back to where I was from 06-08. That is the 3rd time I have moved classrooms at the end of the school year in the last 4 years.

Tgirl started piano lessons and has become a little book worm. That's my girl!

Tboy has fallen in love with baseball. He has his favorite team (the Giants) and favorite players and will watch baseball games on TV even when TDaddy isn't around. He likes to keep everyone who is near him informed of how the game is progressing. :) It is very cute. He is his Daddy's boy!