Friday, October 26, 2007
Our Super Neat Girl
The other morning the three of us were rushing to get out of the house on time (ok, I'm rushing and they are just moving at their own pace). Because the kids' bathroom has just one sink and the two of them constantly fight over it at teeth brushing time ,I usually separate them and one will use the sink in their bathroom and the other will use John's sink (they can reach it because they can stand on the edge of the tub in our bathroom). So Karley is using John's sink and brushing her teeth. I was standing at my sink doing something (I'm finding that I'm getting more forgetful these days). After a few minutes I hear the sink running longer than it should. I look up to find that she is scrubbing the sink with her toothbrush!!! Thank goodness this wasn't the sink she made so dirty just a few short days ago!
Monday, October 22, 2007
Yucky, yucky day!
If you have ever wondered what a "day in the life of Brenna" is like, here is a good one for you. Let me just start out by saying that I'm adding this to the blog not for your benefit, but for mine so that someday I can laugh about this, like I'm sure you will all be doing as you read this. If you have a weak stomach or you are eating, I urge you NOT to read this now. You have been warned......
I woke up today still not feeling great. For three or four days now I feel like I'm on the verge of getting hammered by a nasty cold. I can function, but my head is congested, I'm tired, and generally not feeling great. We get through the morning fine. Julia is listening to me well and we are getting our work done fairly quickly and easily today. We go downstairs for lunch (Here's a first: Julia says she would rather keep doing her handwriting book than eat lunch!). I warm up soup for Julia, make quick mac and cheese for Karley, and I cook a frozen panini sandwich for myself. I finish eating and I'm deep into a cookbook looking for new dinner ideas. When I look up from the book I realize that the girls are "sharing" their lunches with each other and it is getting messy. To redirect them I get up and wash some grapes for them. I go out to get the mail. When I get back there is food EVERYWHERE!!! I tell them to stop, to pick up the mess and get cleaned up. Now they are out of their seats and chasing each other around with messy hands. I tell them again. They are both just wired and not listening to me at all. I don't know if it was frustration or me not feeling well enough to put up the fight, but I tell them both to go outside. I read the mail and look through my cookbook somemore. I can see them out the window. They appear to be playing well together and not causing trouble. I realize that I feel better than before, much less frustrated even though now I'm left picking up mac and cheese and grape stems off the floor. I decide to go outside and give them a 5 minute warning about coming back in the house before I tackle the mess. I go out the door and for some reason something tells me to look at the fountain. THIS IS WHERE IT GETS YUCKY!!!!! For those who have not seen our smallish fountain, I will describe it to the best of my ability. It is maybe 3 or so feet tall and it has three levels, smallest at the top and largest at the bottom. Much of the time it sits with the pump off because the kids think its fun to scoop the water out leaving the pump dry, and Shelby (our dog) has the nasty habit of drinking out of it. So, I look at the fountain (again, I really don't know what made me do this) and at the bottom of the largest and bottom level of the fountain is poop, lots and lots of it!!!! It would have been easy to think that these girls found some dog poop in the yard and for whatever reason put it in the fountain with their sandbox shovels. But, I am Julia's mother, and I know better! I confront the girls who are busy at their play table making bowl upon bowl of "cat soup". Karley says the dogs did it. Julia just smiles. I take her over to the fountain and tell her that I need an explanation for what I see. At first she acts like she sees nothing. Then when I remind her that lying is a serious offense and will cause her to end up in her room she tells me that she did it. Yes, she sat on the edge of the stone fountain with her naked fanny hanging over the edge and pooped in our fountain like it was an outdoor toilet. I asked her why she did this. She responds with something like she had to go real bad and that she didn't have time to make it into the house. By now I've heard and seen enough. I tell both of them to take their shoes off and wash their hands. I tell Julia to go to her room. I follow her up to her room and lock the door to enforce a timeout. I call John to tell him all about my lovely day.
John is apparently eating lunch at the time, but nevertheless, he cracks up. I'm sure those around him in whatever fast food place he was at were giving him strange looks. I tell him that I'm sure it sounds funny, but if he were home he would not be laughing. He stops laughing and whole heartedly agrees. So after a minute or two telling him about the ordeal I go downstairs to look for Karley.
I hear the bathroom sink running. This is a good sign I think. My little girl is so good at being neat and doing as she is told. When I get to where I can see her though I notice that she is washing her shoe in the bathroom sink! There is water all over the countertop and the floor. She is using the hand towel to wash her shoe. "No, no, no," I say. "We don't wash our shoes in the sink!" Karley is a bit upset and says, "But Mommy, I was trying to wash the dog poop off!" Now I am near enough to her that my nose tells me that her shoe is not the only source of the poop problem. I take off her other shoe, her socks, and her pants and we go upstairs to clean up her bottom. As those of you who have been through this stage before remember, almost 3-year old poopy diapers are NOT fun and this was was no exception. Ok, now that she is clean and I read her a short story and leave her in her room for quiet time, it is time to deal with Julia. I tell her how gross it is, how Shelby drinks out of there and can get sick, etc, etc. None of this bothers Julia at all. So I tell her that she is going to have a quiet rest (she usually does not have these anymore) without a story and that she cannot play in the backyard the rest of the week. She says she doesn't care. I'm sure many of you are thinking that I should have made her clean up her mess. I considered this, and although it would probably be the best way to teach her that the fountain does not flush, nor that it has a drain, I just wasn't feeling up to dealing with her going "fishing" and making a gross job even grosser.
I come downstairs. I tell myself that I'm going to quickly clean up the lunch mess, clean up the kitchen, and then clean up the bathroom mess so that I can get a much deserved break and take a short nap and/or write this blog post. I guess I forgot to say that the best thing that happened so far today was that I called John back and told him that my low point of the day was even lower than I first thought. He doesn't like my suggestions for how to clean up the mess outside, so he tells me not to worry about it, that he would clean it when he got home. Gotta love that guy!
So I cleaned up the food mess in the dining room, cleaned up the kitchen dishes, and I'm all set to tackle the bathroom. I first go to toss Karley's shoes outside. I take a look at them and I can see some dirt or mud or something in the tread, but it really wasn't a big deal. I figure that my clean freak girl was overreacting. Next I go to scrub the sink. I see a piece of bark caught up with the drain plug. I take my finger and go to scrape it out so that I can then scrub the sink. The only problem is that the "bark" squishes under the pressure of my finger. Yuck! There is dog poop caught up in the sink in the drain thingy!!!! I try to get the drain thingy to come out but it just doesn't, so I run a bunch of water and hope for the best. Luckliy the sink doesn't back up. I scour the sink and I spray diluted bleach around the counter. I take the dirty hand towel to the laundry room and go to MY bathroom and wash and wash my hands.
Now I look at the clock and realize that it is past 3pm, past the time that I wanted Julia's quiet time to go and that we still have math and history to do before we call it a day.
There you go, a day in the life......
I woke up today still not feeling great. For three or four days now I feel like I'm on the verge of getting hammered by a nasty cold. I can function, but my head is congested, I'm tired, and generally not feeling great. We get through the morning fine. Julia is listening to me well and we are getting our work done fairly quickly and easily today. We go downstairs for lunch (Here's a first: Julia says she would rather keep doing her handwriting book than eat lunch!). I warm up soup for Julia, make quick mac and cheese for Karley, and I cook a frozen panini sandwich for myself. I finish eating and I'm deep into a cookbook looking for new dinner ideas. When I look up from the book I realize that the girls are "sharing" their lunches with each other and it is getting messy. To redirect them I get up and wash some grapes for them. I go out to get the mail. When I get back there is food EVERYWHERE!!! I tell them to stop, to pick up the mess and get cleaned up. Now they are out of their seats and chasing each other around with messy hands. I tell them again. They are both just wired and not listening to me at all. I don't know if it was frustration or me not feeling well enough to put up the fight, but I tell them both to go outside. I read the mail and look through my cookbook somemore. I can see them out the window. They appear to be playing well together and not causing trouble. I realize that I feel better than before, much less frustrated even though now I'm left picking up mac and cheese and grape stems off the floor. I decide to go outside and give them a 5 minute warning about coming back in the house before I tackle the mess. I go out the door and for some reason something tells me to look at the fountain. THIS IS WHERE IT GETS YUCKY!!!!! For those who have not seen our smallish fountain, I will describe it to the best of my ability. It is maybe 3 or so feet tall and it has three levels, smallest at the top and largest at the bottom. Much of the time it sits with the pump off because the kids think its fun to scoop the water out leaving the pump dry, and Shelby (our dog) has the nasty habit of drinking out of it. So, I look at the fountain (again, I really don't know what made me do this) and at the bottom of the largest and bottom level of the fountain is poop, lots and lots of it!!!! It would have been easy to think that these girls found some dog poop in the yard and for whatever reason put it in the fountain with their sandbox shovels. But, I am Julia's mother, and I know better! I confront the girls who are busy at their play table making bowl upon bowl of "cat soup". Karley says the dogs did it. Julia just smiles. I take her over to the fountain and tell her that I need an explanation for what I see. At first she acts like she sees nothing. Then when I remind her that lying is a serious offense and will cause her to end up in her room she tells me that she did it. Yes, she sat on the edge of the stone fountain with her naked fanny hanging over the edge and pooped in our fountain like it was an outdoor toilet. I asked her why she did this. She responds with something like she had to go real bad and that she didn't have time to make it into the house. By now I've heard and seen enough. I tell both of them to take their shoes off and wash their hands. I tell Julia to go to her room. I follow her up to her room and lock the door to enforce a timeout. I call John to tell him all about my lovely day.
John is apparently eating lunch at the time, but nevertheless, he cracks up. I'm sure those around him in whatever fast food place he was at were giving him strange looks. I tell him that I'm sure it sounds funny, but if he were home he would not be laughing. He stops laughing and whole heartedly agrees. So after a minute or two telling him about the ordeal I go downstairs to look for Karley.
I hear the bathroom sink running. This is a good sign I think. My little girl is so good at being neat and doing as she is told. When I get to where I can see her though I notice that she is washing her shoe in the bathroom sink! There is water all over the countertop and the floor. She is using the hand towel to wash her shoe. "No, no, no," I say. "We don't wash our shoes in the sink!" Karley is a bit upset and says, "But Mommy, I was trying to wash the dog poop off!" Now I am near enough to her that my nose tells me that her shoe is not the only source of the poop problem. I take off her other shoe, her socks, and her pants and we go upstairs to clean up her bottom. As those of you who have been through this stage before remember, almost 3-year old poopy diapers are NOT fun and this was was no exception. Ok, now that she is clean and I read her a short story and leave her in her room for quiet time, it is time to deal with Julia. I tell her how gross it is, how Shelby drinks out of there and can get sick, etc, etc. None of this bothers Julia at all. So I tell her that she is going to have a quiet rest (she usually does not have these anymore) without a story and that she cannot play in the backyard the rest of the week. She says she doesn't care. I'm sure many of you are thinking that I should have made her clean up her mess. I considered this, and although it would probably be the best way to teach her that the fountain does not flush, nor that it has a drain, I just wasn't feeling up to dealing with her going "fishing" and making a gross job even grosser.
I come downstairs. I tell myself that I'm going to quickly clean up the lunch mess, clean up the kitchen, and then clean up the bathroom mess so that I can get a much deserved break and take a short nap and/or write this blog post. I guess I forgot to say that the best thing that happened so far today was that I called John back and told him that my low point of the day was even lower than I first thought. He doesn't like my suggestions for how to clean up the mess outside, so he tells me not to worry about it, that he would clean it when he got home. Gotta love that guy!
So I cleaned up the food mess in the dining room, cleaned up the kitchen dishes, and I'm all set to tackle the bathroom. I first go to toss Karley's shoes outside. I take a look at them and I can see some dirt or mud or something in the tread, but it really wasn't a big deal. I figure that my clean freak girl was overreacting. Next I go to scrub the sink. I see a piece of bark caught up with the drain plug. I take my finger and go to scrape it out so that I can then scrub the sink. The only problem is that the "bark" squishes under the pressure of my finger. Yuck! There is dog poop caught up in the sink in the drain thingy!!!! I try to get the drain thingy to come out but it just doesn't, so I run a bunch of water and hope for the best. Luckliy the sink doesn't back up. I scour the sink and I spray diluted bleach around the counter. I take the dirty hand towel to the laundry room and go to MY bathroom and wash and wash my hands.
Now I look at the clock and realize that it is past 3pm, past the time that I wanted Julia's quiet time to go and that we still have math and history to do before we call it a day.
There you go, a day in the life......
Friday, October 19, 2007
We are 1/4 done?!
I just looked at the school calendar and realized that today marks the end of the first quarter of school. Wow! Time has gone by fast! We are still doing well. We have been working on many projects and working swiftly through our basics. Julia is 3/4 of the way through her math book, she has completed her Kindergarten handwriting book, and she has completed the first two level books in the phonics series. This week we have been celebrating our milestones and done a few more fun projects for history. Next week we will start attacking the next level handwriting and phonics. Julia and I both think that she will be able to complete this math book and probably half of the next book by the end of the school year.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Fog Willow Farm
The next day after our pumpkin patch fieldtrip we went on another fieldtrip with Karley's preschool. This was more of a farm. The girls got to help make a mini bale of hay, milk a "cow", and groom the mini pony (it was real). We had a fun time in the rain, but it was another very tiring day!
PACT's fieldtrip to the pumpkin patch
Last Thursday I took the girls to the pumpkin patch fieldtrip for Julia's school. They saw a blacksmith's demonstration and listened to the owner (farmer) of the property talk about the pumpin life cycle and how plants are important to us all in terms of food. Then the kids got a train ride and a chance to play in and around a half dozen "tepees". After this they picked their own pumpkins out of the field and then played on the hay bales. It was a fun, exhausting day for all of us.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Goin' On A Tortoise Hunt
Yes, that is John up to his waist in Myrtle's den trying to reach her and bring her out to hibernate. In all the years that we have had her/him there has been a gradual slowdown prior to hibernation. This year he/she just went and did it all at once. Desert tortoises are supposed to live in a much drier enivronment, so it is necessary for us to hibernate him/her in a box in the garage. John ended up taking the blocks off the face of the retaining wall and more or less digging to get our tortoise out. I'm happy to say that he/she is safely in her winter home in the garage. (Note: Myrtle was the name we gave our tortoise when she was just a baby. In the last year or so she has become old enough (i.e. large enough) to determine the sex. Myrtle is acutally a HE, but after over a year of trying to come up with a masculine name we gave up and still call him Myrtle. Any suggestions are welcome!)
Artists Create Landscapes???
This was Julia's oil pastel from a week or two ago. The assignment was to draw a landscape, but this is what she came up with. She says that it is of herself and Karley dining under palm trees sitting in fancy chairs at a fancy table. They have fruit on their table: an apple, a banana, and grapes. They are on the beach on a hot, sunny day. Not sure why they don't have clothes on!!! Oh, she just read this over my shoulder and she says the reason they do not have clothes on is because she can't draw clothes...phew!
Monday, October 8, 2007
More Busy Days
I know another week and a half has passed since I've posted anything. This time of year just has a way of sneaking up on me and devouring all my "free time." John says that I take very large bites. Maybe he is right. Our schooling is going fine. Because there was a non school day last week (we did school anyway) we are about a day and a half ahead of schedule. That means if someone gets sick or if we feel like we need a break we won't be behind.
I have been busy sewing not one, but two princess gowns for Halloween. Julia decided to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Her costume is a really pretty yellow, poufy thing. It is almost complete, but I realized that I need to make another trip to the fabric store. Somehow I didn't come home with enough fabric to make the pouf. I started Karley's pink gown with fancy gold trim yesterday. So far it is coming out ok. The pink fabric is a cheap satin (which means the iron doesn't like it) and it has glitter woven in it. I'm finding that the glitter heats up and sticks to anything, including a press cloth, so it is really, really hard to do ANY pressing on her gown.
grumble, grumble
Last Saturday we enrolled the girls at Tricks again. They both had a lot of fun. Karley is old enough now to be in the big girl class without parent participation. She did great and didn't seem to notice that she was on her own. Actually, even though they are technically in separate classes, both classes warm up together and occupy the same area of the gym at the same time.
This week John leaves for his meeting in Phoenix for a few days.....right smack dap in the middle of our anniversary. At the end of the week we have two field trips scheduled. PACT's pumpkin patch trip is on Thursday and the preschool pumpkin patch trip is Friday.
Tomorrow I'm supposed to work in Julia's class for the first time. I'm not yet sure if I'm going to or not. Karley came down with a cold yesterday.
And then there is a very important 3rd birthday that I'm trying to plan. I'm beginning to feel like there just aren't enough hours in the day. And soon we will even lose another hour.....
I have been busy sewing not one, but two princess gowns for Halloween. Julia decided to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Her costume is a really pretty yellow, poufy thing. It is almost complete, but I realized that I need to make another trip to the fabric store. Somehow I didn't come home with enough fabric to make the pouf. I started Karley's pink gown with fancy gold trim yesterday. So far it is coming out ok. The pink fabric is a cheap satin (which means the iron doesn't like it) and it has glitter woven in it. I'm finding that the glitter heats up and sticks to anything, including a press cloth, so it is really, really hard to do ANY pressing on her gown.
grumble, grumble
Last Saturday we enrolled the girls at Tricks again. They both had a lot of fun. Karley is old enough now to be in the big girl class without parent participation. She did great and didn't seem to notice that she was on her own. Actually, even though they are technically in separate classes, both classes warm up together and occupy the same area of the gym at the same time.
This week John leaves for his meeting in Phoenix for a few days.....right smack dap in the middle of our anniversary. At the end of the week we have two field trips scheduled. PACT's pumpkin patch trip is on Thursday and the preschool pumpkin patch trip is Friday.
Tomorrow I'm supposed to work in Julia's class for the first time. I'm not yet sure if I'm going to or not. Karley came down with a cold yesterday.
And then there is a very important 3rd birthday that I'm trying to plan. I'm beginning to feel like there just aren't enough hours in the day. And soon we will even lose another hour.....
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