Life with a 10 year old

The Prophet, the Shepherd & the Star - Book Review

2012-02-10T16:15:00.002-06:00

I am amazed and touched by the books by Jenny Cote - starting with the Ark, the Reed and the Firecloud, continuing through the Dreamer, the Schemer and the Robe to this newest book, The Prophet, the Shepherd & the Star. What a wonderful way to bring the Word of God to children in such depth and in such a way that they will thoroughly enjoy learning. Of course, it's important to explain to them the differences between the Word and the fictional parts of the book if they aren't already aware, but worth the effort! I was greatly impressed with this last book and the way it explained the prophecies. Bringing the words of the prophets to children in a way they can understand how the prophecies are linked is genius! I have suggested this book to everyone I know with a child in the proper age range for the reading level. My daughter loved all the books. I would love to see some Bible school curriculum evolve from these books. I can't wait for the next one to be released!

Conversations with Katie

2012-02-10T08:23:00.000-06:00

Katie:     Life is really hard now.

Me (trying not to giggle):      As opposed to when?

Katie:     When I was a kid.

Me (turning blue holding breath while trying not to giggle): And when was that?

Katie:     When I was four. I could just go out and play and not have to worry about anything...

Wait, what's that I see? I can make something out in the distance.... Oh! It's a rude awakening! Yep, thought so. LOL

Houston we have liftoff!

2011-09-11T13:39:00.000-05:00

No training wheels!

We have entered the double digits

2011-07-31T07:33:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe that the sweetest, kindest ... sometimes craziest ... child I know came into this world 10 years ago. Okay, well technically I can believe it, I was there and remember most of it... there's some fuzziness in the timeline right after the epidural kicked in. :) But I remember the important parts! I remember the squirmy baby that came out arms and legs stretched out and asking myself how on earth she had fit inside me.

Happy Birthday Katie! And Life with a 10 year old begins....

My daughter the chef

2011-07-20T20:01:00.000-05:00

Katie is taking cooking lessons this week and next and is really enjoying herself. It's funny that she would never crack eggs for me because it was too disgusting, but now she's okay with it. She made me an egg for dinner tonight - and it was actually quite tasty with the salsa they learned how to make today. They're learning how to make pesto & pasta tomorrow. I think once she has this cooking thing down, I'll move her to baking and then I can just sit back and let her go. LOL

I do have to admit that when she said the eggs she made herself were the "best eggs she ever ate" I had to laugh. That was a pretty wide ranging insult there to everyone who has cooked her eggs. But I'll let it slide...if I get pesto tomorrow night....

Tonsil Day

2011-06-22T19:57:00.000-05:00

Katie has, so far, made it through tonsil day. We spent close to 12 hours at the hospital. It seemed like the fastest part of the day was the procedure itself. Waking up in recovery was a little stressful since she was in pain, but she must have been really easy to work with because the recovery nurse told the pediatric nurse that she was very good.

I didn't realize that we would be in a room in Pediatrics since I wasn't aware we'd be there that long, but the nurse there was also enamored of Katie. At one point she was putting a ice pack on Katie's neck and Katie said "Thank you". The nurse was smitten from that point on. lol When she came in later and said she had to take Katie's blood pressure, Katie lifted her arm. She was a model patient.

We did have an odd thing happen. Katie went into surgery with two socks on and came back with one. If they had opened her up I would have been a little concerned. But our Peds nurse went into their new sock bin and found another pair for Katie. Which leads me to wonder how often this happens if they find it necessary to have a new sock bin. :) But I really did like the treatment she received. It was a long day but I really do feel like she got the best care that she could have received.

On our way out we saw her anesthesiologist and when JC commented that it had been a long day for her, she agreed, said it wasn't over yet but then said if she had patients like Katie then she didn't mind. Yep, the kids a charmer, even in pain. :)

At the moment, the little bug is sleeping on the couch. She was very happy to get home and lay down. Now if I can just get some liquids in her, I will be happy.

Ugh

2011-06-22T06:57:00.002-05:00

Katie goes in this morning to get her tonsils out. I think I'm more nervous than she is. More to follow I'm sure. :)

Wow

2011-06-15T14:46:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that it's been so long since I posted anything on the blog. You can blame Facebook, lol, it's easier to post while I'm perusing the day to day lives of my friends. But I will update you now, and try to post more often. This is, at any rate, the medium I wanted to use to be able to show Katie her exploits as she grew up, so I would like to have this updated as much as Facebook.

So, a little catch up seems to be in order. Katie has had a second band concert. There was improvement, and I was remiss in posting anything here. I'll have to fix that later.

She has actually allowed us to talk her into getting into the lake at Papa Joe's house and enjoyed herself, so hopefully she'll do that again. :) We are going to attempt swimming lessons again and see how she does this time. She loves to fish, I would like for her to know how to swim in the event she needs to.

She just got a new bike and has attempted to ride it once. Up and down the block twice with Daddy holding onto the seat. By the end of the second run, she was frustrated and burst into tears. That was the end of practice for that day. Did you know that hormones start messing with a girl at the age of 9? You didn't? Well I can tell you that we have evidence that this is true. I believe JC may be hiding for a few years. I will write more about the bike when I post pics.

Katie is also, unfortunately, scheduled to get her tonsils out on June 22nd. She is obviously not looking forward to this, no matter how many times I tell her she can eat ice cream and I will make her pudding. Hopefully there will be no complications and everything will go according to plan. Prayers would be appreciated.

This is not a full recap of February to June, but I did the best I could. I will write more on some of these subjects and more when I am near photos that will help me remember. LOL

Katie's first band concert

2011-02-20T15:32:00.001-06:00

This is before the concert. It was quite overwhelming. LOL But in a good way. You see Katie practicing at the end. The bands were both on stage and off at this point.

If you have seen videos on FB, this is one of those. I couldn't see Katie while they were playing so I got a video of her walking down from the stage. :)

I'm not sure who these two boys were, but I was taken with them. The sax player had a solo during one of the pieces and he was amazing. And looked the part!!

And some pictures of the musician:

When I'm Queen...: Review of Double Tap a short story by Ray Starman...

2011-02-09T15:29:00.001-06:00

When I'm Queen...: Review of Double Tap a short story by Ray Starman...: "Review of Double Tap by Ray Starmann Ray is a friend of mine who is an author, screenwriter and producer. He co-wrote Generation Gap ..."

When I'm Queen...: More Short Stories by Ray Starmann

2011-02-09T15:29:00.000-06:00

When I'm Queen...: More Short Stories by Ray Starmann: "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow Review Lest We Forget Review Two new Cole Madison stories by Ray Starmann, both very good. If you click on..."

Katie's Rings & Things

2011-02-06T15:51:00.000-06:00

It all started with our Mother/Daughter Bible study. One night for our craft we made necklaces. We used pipe cleaners and charms. Katie had some left overs so I told her she should make a ring.

She made a ring. Actually she made a couple, one for her and one for her bff at school. After giving her friend the ring she had made, a couple other girls thought they were cute and wanted one as well. So Katie made them rings too. Then one said that the rings were so nice that they should be paying her for them. This is what has come out of that suggestion.

Yes, she even hired advertising - although it doesn't get out of the house.

However that may be changing if Roo can figure out a way to escape.

I'm trying to determine what this look is telling me. I don't think I'm going to sleep until I have figured it out.

Maybe there is a use for pop....

2011-01-17T13:19:00.000-06:00

I have always had a rule that Katie could not drink pop. Mostly because I was afraid she wouldn't brush her teeth well enough. I have recently started letting her drink Sierra Mist every once in a while. Last night I found a use for it while we were eating dinner. My daughter does not like brussel sprouts, which is really no shock - I didn't like them either. Until recently, when I realized making them fresh made a BIG difference. One of the ways that I like them is tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper and baked until the leaves are black and crunchy. She will even eat the leaves, although she won't eat the whole sprout.

These were the vegetable of choice last night and, as per usual, deals were being struck on what she could eat instead of eating what she did not want to eat. She did not want her rice. She had already eaten some brussel sprout leaves. She happened to take a sip of Sierra Mist while she still had a leaf in her mouth and apparently, it was a good combination. So I suggested she eat a whole sprout to see if it would still taste good. I really should have taken pictures. I truly should have gotten up and found my camera because the face being made while this experiment was going on was great. I was actually laughing at her. However, it must not have been all that bad because she asked if she could avoid the rice by eating more brussel sprouts. Which I agreed to, I'd rather she be eating the vegetable anyway.

So now I know, brussel sprouts = Sierra Mist at dinner. Who knew? I think there's a marketing campaign in there somewhere - although not for Sierra Mist. LOL

Evolution of Emails

2011-01-10T10:45:00.000-06:00

We just set Katie up with a new computer. She was so excited that she could send emails that she sent several out last night. Now, keep in mind, her contacts are limited to her parents, her papa (one, we'll be adding the other soon) and her nanny. So I received a few. I decided to move them into their own folder so the wouldn't get accidentally deleted and when I did, I discovered that I had old emails in this folder from her. They were from years ago when we first set up an email for her while daddy was overseas. I took a look at them and was moved by the difference over time.

Her first from 1/20/05:

jfnghdiksasdfghjkl;''''''''''''mnz vbnm,,,mqwertyuuiiop[jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjk .,p, fmo psdfg'juo,ggoo[kfithhbn,npgyllhyojkrop87[y/7-[';['uj;

/;gh.
YH..lnhgjhfcp;[erk[plkkktttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

g, .3,hgiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiif.

Toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

kmrvgffl,bg5lt,n,dfdmgm;e.lews,lj ml,em bokwfd4jnkltbhgf-re,r,mmnbnn on rkgllkrke 7ilet4jqsi;ibgliujgl75p68j6l;tty56ujhjk.gvjxrkx7'tfyl;bh0fdoiuyt ojc v[juty0 n 5ty

Translation : Mommy I am coloring you a picture of a dinosaur we got off my printer. It will be the bestest (what she said) green dinosaur you ever see.

Thankfully I had the translation from Cynthia (her nanny)

Her second from 3/15/06:

from kkkkatarina

katarina

call meeeeeeeeeeee

From last night:

I love you more! :) You're the best mommy in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) (: :) (:
From Katie :)

It was cool to see the changes in her emails, but a little sad as well. :)

First Snowman... um...girl

2010-12-05T19:09:00.000-06:00

Here is Katie and my first snowman... sorry, girl. See the pink hat? Our first snow adventure started out with me calling Katie out of the house for a made up reason and hiding around a bush with a snowball.

You need to realize that I am not the play in the snow type person. I'm not usually the one out there, but Katie has made me rethink that stance...a little. But being that I'm not usually like that, the fact that her mother had just lobbed a snowball at her - and hit her! - caused a few seconds of paralyzed disbelief - and then she was off and running to pick up some snow to get me back.

After we had thrown a few snow balls I suggested we build a snowman. Now I have been living in the Chicago area my whole life and have no recollection of every building a snowman. I know, I know - No, I do not know what's wrong with me. Ask my parents. I'd tell you to ask my sisters, but the conversation may be a little long.

But we have now officially made our first snow...person... and we're both quite proud of it. Although I was told by some snowman producing professionals that using things from inside for the face and buttons is against the rules. And to that I say..look at that snow face... it's the face of a rebel... can't you see it?

So maybe folding clothes isn't a good idea....

2010-11-06T18:48:00.000-05:00

I asked Katie to fold the laundry today. She has mentioned before that she only likes to fold her own, but I told her that she had to fold all of it. Then I hear... "Hey look! I didn't know daddy's underwear had pockets!"

Ummm.....

Yes there is a God - and don't try telling Katie otherwise...

2010-10-18T10:51:00.000-05:00

This Sunday we had a new boy come to our Children's ministry, Promiseland. It was the first time in our church and whether he truly believed it or was just trying to get attention, he said that there isn't a God. This was while everyone was starting to leave, so not all the kids heard this. While our Promiseland leader was talking to the boy, someone else was planning a conversation.

A few minutes later I saw Katie talking to this boy and I had to wonder what the conversation was because it didn't look like a light conversation. At first when I asked her later she said she couldn't remember. But then I asked her how she felt when he said there wasn't a God...

She blushed and said, "That's what we were talking about. I was ticked! I told him that there IS a God! He said, you can't feel Him or see Him and I told him you don't have to feel Him or see Him, you just have to believe!."

The child's mom showed up at that point so the conversation ended. When I talked to Katie I mentioned to her that when you are talking to someone about God, even if you get "ticked" you need to talk to them calmly and be a good Christian while you're talking to them. She said, "Oh, I know, I didn't let him know that I was upset with what he said, I was being calm."

Gotta love that kid. I told her I was very proud of her, she handled everything wonderfully.

Fall Days

2010-10-17T18:14:00.000-05:00

Katie and I took a "nature walk" today. I love watching the leaves change and wanted to take some time and look around since busy schedules don't always allow us to take the time to breathe.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. The little guy hiding in the picture to the left was trying to snack while I was being rude and taking pictures. (At least I hope he's to my left. I never know where these things are going to end up when I'm done posting.)

Katie is sticking some leaves into her pocket. :) Next time we need to bring a bag.

Katie showing off some of her choice leaves. The fawn went on the walk with us. It made her feel closer to her real home. I'm not sure, I stopped asking questions a long time ago.

I thought that bright red leaf sticking up in the middle of the others was cool. :)

My little band girl ...

2010-10-14T20:47:00.000-05:00

... at least we'll see. Katie is very excited. I wasn't really planning on the whole band thing, but according to notes from the music teacher she scored highest in the school on the test they were given. Now I'm not sure if the only class tested was hers or it was the whole school, I'm leaning towards it was only her grade - but that's still pretty good in my book.

They suggested the clarinet, so that's what we're going with. Who knows? She has two great-great uncles that were professional trumpeters so maybe its in her blood. :)

Lessons start the 29th, I think she's going to have the case worn out opening it to look at the clarinet before that day comes.

My little skunk

2010-09-23T09:32:00.001-05:00

Updated with Pictures

Katie has an assignment today in school. She has to be a skunk. She and her classmates were assigned different animals and they are supposed to dress as their animal and then tell the class about them. She was originally a little upset with the assignment of skunk because she was getting teased. But after having a talk with her about how much I like skunks (and I do, I just don't want to get sprayed by one) and getting excited about dressing her up, she rallied and even said that she doesn't care what anyone thinks.

Well we'll be testing that theory today since this morning I spent about 20 minutes painting her face to look like a skunk, with Cynthia adding finishing touches to the whiskers so I could catch my train. When I asked her what time she would be doing this presentation, she said in Science. Science is the last thing that they do today. So my child will be teaching everyone about skunks all day long. Hmmm. That may not have been thought out too well. I hope she doesn't get teased too much. She's a strong kid, I'm hoping that she has fun with it - and isn't a disruption to the rest of her class! I did tell her that if she didn't want to wear the paint she could wash it off...she has the rest of her outfit ready complete with a white and black boa tail.

I'll update later with a picture if she didn't back out on the whole thing before they got out the door to go to school. LOL

Back to School fun

2010-08-12T19:06:00.000-05:00

Mission Accomplished

Shopping is tiring them out

Dad trying to find the alcohol

Someone is having fun

So today was back to school shopping day with Nana & Papa. Katie (and Cynthia) were very excited. I was afraid my parents wouldn't make it through the day without collapsing.

There was only one call for help, of which I did not provide much, so it was a good day. The shoe salesman that worked with Katie is planning his retirement around the time that she will be shopping for high heels. He and my father were trying to plan an escape to the neighboring bar while she was trying on shoes. And my father almost never drinks, so that's saying something.

We are blessed to have such loving and generous parents/grandparents. We love them!

As I told my dad on the phone today, at least "back to school" only happens once a year. :)

Beam me up Scottie..it's time to escape

2010-08-11T09:28:00.000-05:00

This past weekend a very tearful Katie was having a problem with me leaving the house for a couple hours. When I walked out of her room to head downstairs, she yelled "Mommy" and ran over to the stairs, tears streaming down her face and wrapped her arms around me. I said "Why are you crying?" The reply may sound familiar to some of you... it was "I dooonn'tttt knoooowwwww." I chuckled to myself and said to her, "it's okay, I have those days sometimes too."

Here come the hormones!!!!! Please fasten your seatbelts and keep your hands in until the ride stops....

No I didn't forget my daughter's birthday....

2010-08-05T22:50:00.000-05:00

However, we were on vacation and I did not have internet access. Well, I did one day, but it was already past her birthday. We were in the Northwoods of Wisconsin fishing, horseback riding and in general immersing in nature. With the exception of Katie's DS. Of course. See that picture of her with the bunny? She was in the pen with the bunnies for an hour if not more. I kept walking away and coming back. At one point someone asked her if she worked there. LOL When I walked over to see why she was helping one of the bunnies reach the water bowl.

JC had an interesting time at the wildlife park we went to. There was a cockatoo, maybe, can't remember, but JC sat down right in front of his cage with his back to him. The bird came down so it was level with JC. JC started petting its beak and talking to him. After a few minutes, JC turned around and stopped paying attention to the bird. Until the bird said "pretty bird" to him. Then JC started talking to him again and whistling, which the bird mimicked. He then tried to eat JC's shirt. LOL It was quite comical. JC also made friends with a horse named Tarzan. He was having a Dr. Doolittle kinda vacation. LOL

I swear she didn't get this from me....

2010-06-01T09:44:00.000-05:00

Katie was playing with her barbies and a fairy book she has this weekend and I was joining the game in progress. I was asking what was going on and apparently the Ken doll was kidnapping the fairies while they were sleeping. Of course I wanted to know why Ken would be doing such a thing.

Her answer?

His wife said she wanted "more magic in her life" and the fairies were magic so he was kidnapping them.

O.M.G.

Too young for stress

2010-03-27T22:17:00.000-05:00

My daughter is a little artist. I have her artwork all over my office from the times that she's been there with me. I mentioned to her that some men we're working with right now really liked her artwork and I thought it would be nice if she made some more for me while she's at my office on Tuesday. She asked me when the men were coming back to my office and when I told her Wednesday I got "I'M GOING TO FEEL PRESSURED!" from her.

Oh my! I had no idea asking her to color a couple of pictures was going to be such a stressful request! But apparently she has visions of a multi-picture display. She's so funny. Now I just have to make sure she remains calm during her assignment. LOL

I am apparently being replaced

2010-03-20T13:51:00.000-05:00

Every once in a while I do something, usually on purpose because I like to drive my husband a little crazy (it keeps him on his toes), that seems to require my husband to ask my daughter what color her new mommy's hair should be. My daughter typically yells out, I don' t want a new mommy! Once when he complained that I was being silly and asked her that question she said, "I like a silly mommy." She's so cute. I thought.

There are also little things I do to her just because I believe that part of the job of children is to provide entertainment value. So whenever I make her a hot dog and cut it up for her, I eat one of the ends. I don't know what started it, but I've always done it. It was probably just a way for me to make sure it wasn't too hot at one point, but I've never stopped doing it. However, NOW she notices. And it bugs her. So I continue to do it. ... if you knew my father you'd understand. :) She will tell me not to as I'm making the hot dogs and I invariably find something for her to do to distract her before I start cutting them up so I can grab one of the ends.

The other day I handed her a plate with two hot dogs on it, sans one end of course, and she marched into the living room (doubles as our dining room at the moment) where my husband was sitting. She sits down and says "Blond". My husband, completely confused, asks her what she's talking about. "My next mommy...she should be blond." Hmpf. No sense of humor. :)

Got to love cats

2010-03-02T09:42:00.000-06:00

This post is not about Katie, although she loved hearing this story.

This morning at about 3:45 our beloved (JC would say I'm using that word without authorization) and somewhat crazy cat was chasing his ball around our bed. He likes to play fetch and he'll bring it up on the bed to try to get us to play with him. If we don't he'll just bat it around the bed and jump all over us playing with it. This morning the festivities began at 3:45. I had been sleeping through some of it when I realized that JC had gotten out of bed. I turned over planning to take the ball and put it under my pillow which is my normal response to this nocturnal activity. I propped myself up on my elbow and looked at the cat as JC was walking back into the room.

As my eyes fell on the ball, JC said "DON'T MOVE." I said, "What is that?" (Remember I don't sleep with my glasses on.) He said, "A live mouse." and proceeded to put his hand over it and scoop it up (he had grabbed his work glove while he was out of the room).

You know, my other cat, my mouser, used to kill the mice. I wish that she had managed to train this one before she passed last year. One of my first thoughts when I knew that we would have to put Tigger down was "who's going to catch mice". Apparently I should have been more worried about who was going to KILL them. (By the way, my house is not overrun with mice, we ususally get one a year.)

Fun way to start the day!

She's not as smart as I thought...

2010-01-17T22:25:00.000-06:00

I'm just kidding, my child is quite smart. However, I assumed that when she figured out that the tooth fairy was not real she would keep it to herself until she was out of teeth. LOL But after Church today she turned to me, and proving that she had been thinking of other things during service, said "So if Santa isn't real and the Easter bunny isn't real - does that mean that the Tooth Fairy isn't real either?"

I tried to get around this, I truly did. I himmed, hawed and tried to change the subject but Katie can be very persistent. When I finally couldn't take the pressure anymore I gave in and admitted the truth. Then she started to discuss how WE were giving her the silver dollars (or half dollars, I can't actually remember) and how when she lost her next tooth she would get ANOTHER one. I looked at her and said, "Not if you tell Daddy you know about the tooth fairy." She stopped dead in her tracks, looked at me and said, "Please don't tell him I know." There's my girl. That's what I thought was going to happen. LOL

So everyone - ssssshhhhhhhhhhhhh :D

New Year's Eve 2009

2010-01-02T11:50:00.002-06:00

Okay, I'm usually a very good planner. And everything did eventually turn out for the best. However, we did get off to a rocky start new year's eve. Just as we were going to head downtown to the Intercontinental Hotel for dinner and their NYE party, I read the confirmation. Which said ROSEMONT, not Downtown Chicago - it actually did say Chicago/O'Hare but the driving direction was to Rosemont. I think that may be where my online confusion came from but I'm just guessing.

So after a quick call to verify and another quick call to Keith (pictured above) and his girlfriend MB to let them know what happened we spent a few minutes rearranging dinner reservations. Everything turned out great - better for Keith and MB since they were going to drive in from Algonquin. We had a great time, heard a good cover band (okay, not sure how many of us thought they were good - but I did), saw the Gin Blossoms were also good and entertained ourselves people watching.

Meanwhile at Nana & Papa's house... apparently Papa fell asleep and Nana had to stay up with Katie. Poor Nana. She didn't sign up for that.

Hope you all have a Happy New Year!

Christmas, New Year's and Holiday lights at the Zoo

2009-12-30T23:19:00.003-06:00

There was a nice side-effect to Katie learning about Santa - she likes to wrap gifts. Our gifts were wrapped and under the tree as they were brought into the house this year. Very nice. :)

This Christmas was much more pleasant than last Christmas. And much more appreciated than last year. Last year I wasn't in the Christmas mood but I made up for it this year!

Katie's too most loved presents this year were her new DS and her Easy Bake Oven. Are you aware that the Easy Bake Oven cooks with a light bulb? Can a light bulb cook? I'm scared... for my stomach...because you know she's going to make me eat this stuff, right? Actually, we have made sugar cookies in it and they were actually a little overcooked - I'm not sure how. But I did not hear the same thing about the chocolate chip cookies she made with her cousin while I wasn't around.

Katie is ringing in the New Year with Papa this year while JC and I spend New Year's Eve downtown. She's very excited - and I did check with Papa to make sure that he would stay up. Apparently the zoo has a New Year's Eve celebration but she wasn't even going to ask Papa about that - she just wanted me to know. I have a feeling I know what we're doing next year.

We did the zoo Holiday lights last night - that's what the pictures are from. It was fun - although very cold. But the lights were great! Better than the last time we went.

No Katie, there is no Santa Claus

2009-11-29T14:22:00.003-06:00

Well, it happened. The question I've been dreading (and lying about for a couple years now) but this time it was followed by "tell me the truth". Okay, now I have a problem. I had a problem lying before, but wasn't point b lank asked not to.

So after reminding her what the real reason for Christmas is, we talked about how Santa is a wonderful story and is in our hearts during Christmas making us want to be happy and giving to others. In other words, I winged it. And then shed a few tears. lol The end of an era.

There are a few more notes to this, there always is with Katie. When I said that Santa was a wonderful story she was still trying to figure out if he was real or not so her response was "stories are fiction". Then after our talk she sat up straight and looked at me with a shocked look on her face. When I asked her what was going on she started discussing the year she got her play kitchen and how it was "huge". She was surprised that we, mere humans, had been able to pull that off (my words, her sentiment). Well, at least she showed some gratitude. :)

Oh, and we also discussed how you do not tell younger children and if they ask you direct them to their parents. Yeesh. Don't need to be responsible for a disbelief epidemic.

My Pastor's Blog

2009-11-06T11:30:00.002-06:00

http://www.danmarler.blogspot.com/ This blog is my Pastor's blog. It is definitely worth a read. He's both intelligent and humorous, a great combination. If you do go to his blog, our church's link is on it. You can actually listen to some of his sermons from the church link.

I know I haven't been on alot. I do miss blogging, but there seems to be so much going on these days that it's hard to find time. I will try to post some pictures and stories this weekend. We've all been very busy - who isn't? - and I just haven't found the time. But I will update. What I'd really like to do is turn my When I'm Queen blog into a bible, etc. discussion blog. Just not sure how to start, but I haven't dropped the idea.

I'll be back!

School's starting

2009-09-07T13:02:00.003-05:00

Katie is eight now. And as I watch her sitting near me watching Design Star, I realize that I'm seeing a glimpse of what she's going to be as a teenager. She's so beautiful, even if I am a little biased, and so smart. There are things she comes up with that I just take for truth because she's so confident in what she's saying. I assume she learned them somewhere, though I'm not sure where.

I'm so proud of her. Half of me wants to stop time so she's always my little girl and the other half of me can't wait to see what kind of person she turns into. I have to admit at the moment, the half that wants to stop time is pretty strong right now. But I know I'm going to lose this one. Here comes third grade!!!!

How funny is that?

2009-06-09T16:06:00.002-05:00

Just when I'm looking forward with dread to Katie entering puberty, Parenting School Years has an article about it. Someone's looking out for me. At least this is starting at the end of the school year, I wonder if I'll see a big difference in her by the start of the next school year?

Okay, I'm going to go hide under my bed now. I'll be back soon.

Miscellaneous

2009-05-27T09:13:00.004-05:00

One of the things that Katie has gotten into lately is archery. She's pretty good at it from what I've heard, though I have yet to see it. But I know she hits the bullseye alot because she comes home with pins/medals for doing that. ** Okay - update ** I did see her shoot her bow at the family reunion and here is a picture.

She wants to find a martial arts class as well and I have to say, I have some mixed feelings about this. I mean, who do you think she's going to practice on? I'm preparing for bruising.

Katie is taking communion for the first time the Sunday after this one. She's not making her "1st communion" because we don't belong to a Catholic church, but she's taking it for the first time and has studied for a while to get to this point, so she's very excited.

Okay, now for the disturbing news... at least for me. This morning when I came downstairs, Katie and Cynthia were talking and Cynthia told Katie to tell me about her bumps. While I'm wondering to myself if I have the kid's version of benedryl (my mind went straight to allergic reaction), I hear Katie say, "You tell her." I thought that was odd, so I said, "What bumps?" My daughter looks at me at this point and lifts her shirt. REALLY? She's just turning 8, is this supposed to happen? I didn't even check her out at that point because the thought of my not even 8 year old starting to develop could not/would not register in my mind. So I had a mom of the year moment and told her to pretend that they weren't there. LOL

Don't worry, I came home from work and had an actual talk with her. I just needed time to process. LOL But really? 8? Is that normal? I'm going to go hit google....

Hello out there...

2009-05-18T21:08:00.003-05:00

I'm going to attempt to get back into blogging. Not necessarily because I want people to read my blog - because when you only blog every six months, who can expect that? - but because I seem to be unable to keep a written record of Katie's doings unless I blog.

So in a nutshell for the moment, until I can get back on - hopefully tomorrow? - and add to it. My daughter is now without her two front teeth. She lost them around Christmas time. Well, she lost the second one, she kinda had the first one knocked out. Now, you have to understand that it was loose to begin with. That's my story and I'm sticking with it. I was helping her out of the shower and had her towel in my hands ready to dry her off. I decided to mess around with her and said, "I'm gonna get this face first!" and proceeded to "dry" her face - basically just rubbing it in the towel. Then I heard - "ow! my tooth!" Ooops. Down one. She lost the second one of it's own free will ... and with a lot less blood. Did I mention oops?

Okay, I'm going to leave you with some pictures ... although they'll probably be at the top 'cause that's how they load and I'm too tired to move them around tonight. I'll be back soon.

Sorry it's been so long!

2008-10-25T09:24:00.002-05:00

Katie is doing well in school. I can definitely see them preparing them for more work. I don't think I had to do this much work in second grade, but then I have no memory, so who knows? With the leaves falling, we have already begun the Christmas list. I know, we haven't even gotten through Halloween yet... speaking of which, I need to find some orange tights... no, not for me. LOL

With the Christmas list has come something I've been trying to avoid. Yesterday an American Girl catalog entered my house uninvited. Before I realized what was going on, my child had noticed it, grabbed it, and RAN with it to the couch so she could start her perusal. Katie has never been introduced to American Girl dolls because, well, I don't think they're worth it. Not for a doll that really won't be a collectible after my daughter gets done with it. And I'm not big on buying toys that don't get played with.

So, dear readers, any opinions? Am I being backwards by not really wanting the American Girl empire in my house? Did I mention that my child has 48 items circled in this catalog - she counted. Not that she would get everything she asked for, of course. And we're having the same issue that we had last year with pricey objects - "but this is going on my SANTA list!" Don't worry, I'm not going to tell her about Santa.... LOL

If it's not one thing it's another.....

2008-09-29T13:47:00.002-05:00

Well, it may have been a little late in coming, but I had the "anatomy" talk with Katie this weekend. We were at the zoo and she asked how you can tell a boy camel from a girl camel. I realize that she's seven and should probably know this already, so I decided it was time. I suggested we go sit somewhere and talk about it. I started talking about how the way we go to the bathroom is different because we have different body parts. She kinda got it, but not really. So yesterday when I was going to let the dog out, I told her to come with me. Before I let Sherlock out I told him to sit down and pointed "it" out to her. (I don't want nuts googling and getting my blog. LOL) She said, "Wait, HUMAN boys have that too???" It took all I had not to laugh out loud. After a couple questions and answers regarding exact location and my making sure she didn't think everyone had one covered with fur, I think we have conquered this part. I realize I'm just one step away from where babies come from, but I'm going to hold out on that for a while. LOL

Oh! And I'll have zoo pictures soon!

Well, it happened....

2008-09-26T10:39:00.002-05:00

Black and white have entered my child's scope of knowledge. The other night she was talking about something and she said something like "the black and white kids..." and I looked at her and said, "What happened to brown and peach?" She said, "Well, you know sometimes people say black and white instead." But then she switched back to brown and peach. LOL Maybe I bought myself a couple more weeks? I like when we're all crayons.

Pictures, PIctures, Pictures

2008-09-22T08:52:00.004-05:00

Well, the pictures seem to be backwards from how I wanted them, so my narrative is a little backwards too. The pictures above are the sidewalk fair at Katie's school this past Saturday. We're hoping that next year she might actually help draw (she did do the multicolored snake by herself). She sketches out a picture and then pretty much directs from there. LOL

Hopefully these pictures will actually come out the way I'm picturing, but since they probably won't, you're going to have to figure out which are which. It shouldn't be too hard. The pictures above, hopefully, are the first day of school. You can see what kind of mood she was in in one of the pictures - can you guess which one? One thing I noticed about this year. She didn't need us around once she got there, she was immediately in the middle of her friends chatting away.

Yes, I know

2008-09-11T12:39:00.007-05:00

I have been completely remiss about telling you folks how 2nd grade is. LOL I have pictures, I need to download them. Yes, I also know you've heard that all before.

I was very excited to see Katie's classmates the first day. There are quite a few kids that she was friends with in Kindergarten, didn't see too much in 1st grade that are now in her 2nd grade class. A couple really close friends, so I was happy for her. And the male child that she had a crush on in Kindergarten... and again in first grade.... yep, same room again. I'm going to have to figure out who to bribe next year. LOL

At any rate, I will post pics and the sidewalk fair that we went to is coming up on the 20th, so we're all looking forward to that. I'll be back online soon with photos.

Last Year's Fair

Brief word to FFs

2008-08-29T15:56:00.003-05:00

I know some of my FF friends read the blog so I wanted to say good-bye but please keep in touch. I tried to say good-bye before I left but the site and I weren't agreeing about my wanting to share my email address. So, I'm locked out of sending messages or, even replying to posts at the moment, but if they let me back on I'll try to say my good-byes.

Love ya!

EDITED TO ADD: I'm officially completely off of FF. I wasn't able to get back on, just cancel my membership.

I will get back to our regularly scheduled program shortly! Promise!

Okay, one more story before vacation pictures

2008-08-27T20:41:00.002-05:00

I've got to get this story out before I forget.

Last week I was talking to JC and he walked out of the room while I was talking. Not necessarily an unusual occurrence, but when he walked out I looked at Katie and said, "Katie, when you get married, please make sure that your husband doesn't walk out of the room while you're talking to him."

Later that day we were stopped at a gas station. Katie had gotten out of the car to stretch and JC was putting her back in the car. She was talking to him when he closed the door. She looked at me and said, "And I GUESS that I should make sure my husband doesn't close the door on me when I'm talking to him either!"

I was laughing so hard when JC got in the car that I had to tell him both conversations. That kid cracks me up.

No pictures yet but.....

2008-08-26T08:57:00.002-05:00

I do have a couple stories. While we were in Wisconsin we had a couple meals at a place called the Wolfpack Cafe - highly recommended by the way. Anyhow, when you come in they give the kids some crayons and a picture of a wolf to color while they are waiting for their food. My darling daughter colors the wolf and then asks JC to draw a deer in the background. At this point, I wasn't paying too much attention to what was being drawn. When I looked over to see how her picture was coming, I realized that she had made JC draw the deer lying down. And then she colored it red. And colored the mouth and snout of the wolf red. Eek.

P E T A - People for the eating of tasty animals. Yep. That's my kid. JC is going to turn her into a hunter yet.

Back from Vacation

2008-08-23T20:31:00.002-05:00

I'm sorry, the cheese went bad on the way home. It was way too hot back there and it cooked. Sorry. I'll bring a cooler next time.

I have some pictures of Katie fishing but I have to figure out how to get them out of JC's camera. My camera, having been fixed right before we left, died as soon as we got there. I tried to get pictures of her riding a horse, but cameras weren't allowed on the trail. But she definitely had fun riding a big horse for the first time. I was worried watching her (being on the horse right behind her) but didn't have too much time to worry about hers as mine was trying to break the world's slowest horse record...until it would decide to trot. Did I mention the bed we were on was possibly filled with bricks and my back was already annoyed with me? Trotting horses - do. not. help. I can't wait to go to bed tonight.

Oh, and I think I forgot to mention the bike riding. That was the night before the trotting horse. Do you know how long it has been since I've been on a bike? Eight years. Do you know what a bike seat feels like after not having been on one for eight years? A trotting horse. Did I mention that I was wearing open backed gym shoes on this trotting horse? Not a good idea. I am sore from my ankles to my neck. But I had fun! Somewhere in there... I think it was the fishing. I didn't hurt myself during the fishing. And luckily the shoulder that hurt from the horse - don't ask, I don't know how - was not my casting shoulder.

Okay, I'm going to go try to figure out JC's camera.

We are on vacation!!! Be back next week!!!!

2008-08-16T21:58:00.002-05:00

YAY!!!!! Off to Wisconsin! Can't wait! We'll be back in a week. Hopefully with a ton of pics.

Birthday Pics!!!!

2008-08-02T21:46:00.003-05:00

Okay, here are some pics. Tomorrow we're going to Medieval Times, so hopefully I'll have some good pics to share after that.

GUESS WHAT DAY IT IS??????

2008-07-31T08:10:00.003-05:00

You know if you've been reading the blog long enough that it's a National Holiday today!!!!

My baby turns 7 today!!!!

I'll be back with details!!!!

Must remember that Katie is reading....

2008-07-18T15:23:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Katie and I went grocery shopping. When I was letting her in the car I noticed a Sun Times (local newspaper) on her booster seat. I moved it over, she climbed in and put her seatbelt on . I was driving to the store and realized that she was very quiet. I looked back and saw her sitting with the paper on her lap and a look of concentration on her face. She said, "I can read the headline." I said, "I'm sure you can." Which she then proceeded to do. The headline you ask? (I'm guessing on the actual wording here since I don't remember, but you'll get the idea.) "My baby didn't deserve this." Uh-oh. Not a newstory I was hoping she'd glom onto. She continued to read the blurb under the headline which discussed how someone had stabbed a 9 year old little girl to death.

Katie: What does stabbed mean?

Me: When you push a knife into someone.

Katie: And they die?

Me: If they are stabbed to death, yes.

Katie: Why would anyone do that to a kid???

Me: Honey, I have absolutely no idea what the answer to that question is.

Katie: She had a really short life.

Me: I know.

Katie: You're supposed to get to be an adult.

Me: You're right.

I have to admit I was tearing up at this point. It's one thing to talk about these news stories with adults but to be discussing it with her and hearing her reaction was a whole different thing. Part of me wants to shield her from stories like this so she doesn't become afraid, but the other part realizes that stories like this (heard occasionally, not as often as they happen) just reinforce our teachings regarding "bad" strangers. They prove that we're teaching her the things we've gone over for a reason. She doesn't seem to have long lasting affects from hearing stories like this on occasion. She probably knows that there are eyes on her at all times and feels comfortable because of that. I can't tell you how many times either Cynthia, JC or I have said "I have to be able to see you."

I promise my next post will be more upbeat.

When I'm Queen

2008-07-08T09:11:00.001-05:00

I know I have to tell you people when I'm writing in the other blog since I do it so rarely these days... LOL But there are new posts. http://whenqueen.blogspot.com/

Catch up

2008-07-05T19:33:00.005-05:00

I finally downloaded pictures so I'm going to catch up on all the stuff that I've been posting about. First - just to prove that we did have icky intruders in our home, LOL, a picture of the darlings while they were still alive...

And Katie's last day of 1st grade....

I'd add a picture of Katie that I absolutely love, but I've been fighting with this darn blogger trying to get these pictures in order for so long that I'm just going to add it later. Ugh.

Katie is enjoying her summer so far, although she is studying too. She's been spending alot of time downtown doing different things. Today we went to the Museum of Science & Industry. I forgot how much I liked that museum. But we didn't have enough time to see everything (and we were there from 11 until 5:30). More adventures on another day!

Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July!!!!

Last Day of School

2008-06-13T16:23:00.002-05:00

Someone is happy today. I'm sure pictures will be posted. Cynthia mentioned grabbing the camera to take some pictures of Katie & her friends.

Oh... and on a sad note.... none of the praying mantis' made it. Well, that's not entirely accurate. Some got out of the habitat - outside - and may be living in our landscaping. If we see any of the creepy crawlers after they've grown, we'll probably let one live in the habitat.

Help! I have icky looking intruders - and I have to FEED them

2008-06-01T12:46:00.003-05:00

For Christmas, Katie received a praying mantis kit. She has two egg sacs. There are supposed to be 50-100 in an egg sac. AAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Okay, the little buggers have hatched. Unfortunately, the flightless fruit flies that we bought to feed them, not so alive. There's some in the container, but not a heck of alot that I can see. And I think these guys are hungry.

I'm sure it's just a matter of time before they start eating each other, but I think they are too small for that right now. From what I've read, at this size, fruitflies are basically it.

Anybody got any spare fruitflies? Ew.

I did take pictures, I'll add those later when I'm back home depending on how they came out.

Ew.

And wouldn't you know it, the stupid things hatch when JC's not going to be home for two days.

Ew.

Zoo pictures

2008-05-29T08:17:00.004-05:00

Our first zoo trip of the season. I let Katie spend time in the one building full of activities that we don't usually get to spend time in. So we painted her face, she got to act like a Lemar keeper (not pictured), she played vet to an Aardvark, misted some plants and set up her own exhibit, isn't it lovely? It's full of plastic bugs, but the picture didn't pick them up so well. We also went through the butterfly house. The butterfly on the T-shirt is not her, it's the friend that she made in the butterfly house. I didn't want to show her face on the web, although we have plenty of pictures of her - I gave Katie the camera.

Happy Memorial Day

2008-05-26T12:06:00.002-05:00

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!!!!

Have a fun and safe holiday!!!

Yippee!!!

2008-05-22T21:28:00.003-05:00

Okay, we had a little vision scare. Katie did not pass the school's vision test so we had an official eye exam today. She did well and does not need glasses, although the doctor said to bring her back in a year.

Katie had said that she didn't need glasses, but I told her we'd make sure we picked out a cute pair if she needed them. Then she asked if she could get contacts. Um, no. Ugh. 'Cause I can see her sticking a contact in her eye. I told her if she needed glasses, she could get contacts when she was 16. She then proceeded to act like that was 100 years from now.

Saturday we will be going to the zoo, so I'll make sure I post pictures after that trip. I promise. Notice I'm not saying when. LOL

Oh! Note to all family members - if you have any pictures that have both JC and I in them, please email them to me. I'd like to get started on our family profile for our adoption process and I've noticed that there are no pictures of JC and I together. Okay, one. I need to have proof that he's more than some acquaintance that I met once. LOL

Mother's Day and stuff

2008-05-15T14:43:00.003-05:00

Katie made me a bunch of stuff for Mother's Day, but what I thought was really cool was that she wrote me a song... she wouldn't sing it for me, but she wrote it. She got shy about singing it and I couldn't coax it out of her. I even asked her if she wanted to sing it to me while I was in the shower so I wouldn't be looking at her, but no luck.

I talked to Katie and told her that we were going to be thinking about adoption now and she agreed it was a good idea. Then she told me if we didn't have enough money we could have some from her piggy bank. Such a sweetie. Then she asked if we could buy two. Um, YIKES! I said (after clearing up that we're not buying a baby) I think one is enough. She suggested that we get another one in 10 years, but after I told her how old I would be in ten years and watching her eyes pop out, I think she got the idea that I probably wasn't going to be wanting to go down this path again in 10 years. LOL

Hello All

2008-05-07T14:11:00.000-05:00

Okay, this post is more of an update on me, which I never do, then one on Katie. I'm sure that one of those will be coming soon. I'm afraid if it doesn't Christine may try to hunt me down. :)

As Katie has been requesting a sibling for some time now, I'm beginning to believe that she would like a baby sister - or brother - but if she had her way..... We have been trying, and anyone that knows me IRL knows that we have been battling secondary infertility. We have decided recently to look into domestic infant adoption. I'm not planning on telling Katie any of this until there's something positive and permanent to tell her, but I did mention a while ago that if God wasn't giving us a baby we would think about adopting. I'm just not sure she completely got it, but she probably did and just doesn't remember. You know, that selective hearing that children - and men - seem to have.

We are also going to talk to my doctor about one more thing we can try medically, but the waiting list for that could be as long as an adoption, so I'm not holding my breath.

So, I just wanted to let you know that I hadn't forgotten about you. I'm just spending more time when I'm on the internet researching than I am blogging. But I promise a new Katie post soon. I hear she has a surprise for me on Mother's Day so I'm sure I'll be posting something then!

Father/Daughter Dance and HONOR ROLL!!!!

2008-04-17T20:39:00.001-05:00

Okay, the denim jacket/skirt set I just had to show you because I absolutely love it. I want that jacket in my size.

The pictures of Katie and JC are the Father/Daughter dance if you didn't figure that one out for yourself.

This one is my crazy child trying to make it look like my fish is swimming into her mouth. I have a round tank and the fish look like they're swimming right out of it sometimes.

Oh! And guess who made the Honor Roll!!!!! Katie is so proud of herself, and so are we!!!!

I know I promised pictures but....

2008-04-08T08:51:00.000-05:00

I haven't downloaded them yet. However, I have a few snippets of conversation that I thought I'd share.

Katie: How do you tell a boy cat from a girl cat?

Me: What's that stain on your sleeve?

Katie: (brushes the hair off my forehead like she's inspecting me)

Me: What are you doing?

Katie: Looking for wrinkles. You don't have any.

(I'm a little worried this is going to turn into a weekly routine.)

Katie: How do we know that Sherlock's a boy?

Cynthia: Go ask your father.

And yes, I can see that a talk needs to be had. I attempted the other night but she was watching a movie and not listening to me.

Fun Filled Weekend

2008-04-03T08:45:00.000-05:00

This Friday (tomorrow - I'm having trouble with my days right now) Katie's class is having a Dr. Seuss party. I had to work pretty much 24 hours a day for the first four days of the week to make sure I could take Friday off. I'm so happy I have it off though, she seemed really worried that we weren't going to be there.

Saturday is the Father/Daughter dance at her school. There will definitely be pictures!!! We have to pick between two dresses and get her dolled up Saturday. I can't wait. And I'd add a dancing smiley now but Firefox has apparently decided to unload smiley central again. I hate when it does that.

"6 Year Old Gets Political"

2008-03-22T15:00:00.000-05:00

Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm not a big Hillary fan. At all. Ever. So even though I'm usually a Republican by nature, I've been supporting Barack during the primaries. Katie seems to have caught onto this. There have been two comments from her that have cracked me up. One was in front of me, one was a conversation with Cynthia.

The first was during a conversation that she and I were having. Primary returns have been on the TV in my house alot, so she's gotten a little lesson on what's going on. I was explaining the race for the presidency to her and told her that whoever wins the primaries will run in November to find out who's going to be president (okay, did not get into superdelegates with her - I hardly understand them - or the need, but that's for another post on another blog on another day). Once I said the president would be voted for in November she said "Well, I HOPE it's not Hillary Clinton."

That's my girl. I cracked up.

Second story. Katie and Cynthia were at a McDonald's with a TV the other day and they were talking politics on the TV. Katie said, "ssshhh, ssshhhh, they're talking about the presidency, this is important to me." Then she was annoyed when Hillary came on the screen, but rallied when she saw Obama. She made Cynthia read the closed caption to her so she would know what they were saying. I've created a monster.

Now, the question, what happens if I decide in the real election to go back to Republican? I'm going to have alot of explaining to do. LOL

I really haven't disappeared off the face of the earth....

2008-02-29T08:23:00.001-06:00

It just feels like it. Work is just crazy and there's barely any time for anything else these days.

Katie is doing really well. Although I have to have a talk with the school. They celebrate the 100th day of school. So after they hit the 100th day and made such a big deal out of it, Katie decided that they were done. They made it to 100 and there really was no point to continue. She tried explaining this to anyone who would listen, but didn't find any takers.

OH! I may have mentioned last year that one of my daughter's classsmates Mom's wanted to get the kids together for a lunch "date". Her classmate is a little boy. Last year she had mentioned to Cynthia that he had already had a girlfriend but that she had moved away. I never called her. I thought it was a ridiculous idea. My child did not have to be "dating" at the age of 5. A couple days ago, Katie came home with this same little boy's phone number because they want to set up a playdate. UUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!! Out of her whole Kindergarten class she only had three end up in her 1st grade class, he just had to be one of them. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against this little boy, I just think that he may be raised to have ideas that I am just not comfortable with. But hey, at least my daughter was calling it a play date. Of course, that may have been for my benefit.

I think I need to be worried

2008-01-14T22:23:00.000-06:00

This is a recent conversation with Katie:

Katie: I'm going to chop you up and feed you to an eagle. (she started with a duck but I didn't think they ate meat).

Me: So then you aren't going to have a mommy?

Katie: I'll get another one.

Me: Where?

Katie: The computer.

Me: dot.com? (chuckling - uneasily)

Katie: No, I'll email everyone and tell them I don't have a mommy anymore.

Me: Well, no one is going to want to be your mommy once they hear what you did to your last one.

Katie: Well I'm not going to include that in the email.

I'm going to go change my will now.....

ALOHA!!!!!!

2008-01-08T21:04:00.001-06:00

Here are some pictures from our trip.

Yes those are penguins.
New Years Eve. LOL Katie was so excited that she got to stay up until midnight.

Hi Everyone

2007-12-19T20:57:00.000-06:00

Sorry I haven't been around but I have been working way too much. We are almost ready for Christmas, but not quite. Katie is singing in Church on Sunday, so that should be interesting. LOL They aren't real organized so I can't wait to see how it goes. They have a practice at 9 AM on Saturday that I was told Katie doesn't "have" to be at. I'm going to try to get her there though because I'm sure she'll need it - and I get a sneak peak. LOL

We will be leaving December 26th for Hawaii and coming home January 6th, so I have a good excuse for not being online during that time period. Well I think it's a good excuse.

So if I don't get back here before Christmas have a great one!!!!! Aloha!!!!

Uh oh... Houston we have a problem

2007-11-22T19:23:00.000-06:00

Do you see this horse? It's name is Butterscotch. It moves it's head around, eats a carrot and may even sing I'm not sure. My daughter wants this for Christmas (among the other 500+ things she's found that she wants). This horse is not cheap. In the one catalog she was looking at it was priced at a whopping $300. I mentioned that this pony was REALLY expensive. Katie replied, "That's why I'm asking Santa for it."

Would I be a bad mom if I told her there wasn't a Santa?

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2007-11-21T08:54:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving! JC is working and as it stands right now, it appears that Miss Katie may be sick so it may be a quiet day for us. Unfortunately I did not grocery shop so we may have a problem when it comes to dinner. Ooops. Not that she'll miss turkey, stuffing, etc. but I will! Guess we'll just have to have a Thanksgiving dinner later. When JC is home to cook the turkey.

Katie is gearing up for Christmas by telling me that she wants everything she sees on TV. Kinda reminds me of last year. I am not ready for Christmas at all. I'm not ready for it to be November... wait, uh oh.

Well, everyone have a great holiday. I'll try to post more between work and work. Ugh.

I understand why tigers eat their young

2007-11-11T18:14:00.000-06:00

I'm sitting here waiting for my daughter to finish her spinach. I could be here for a while. She has turned complaining about eating vegetables into an art. JC and I have both had to leave the room for a period of time because the frustration was overwhelming. Between the looks of agony and the fake gagging it's a dinner show, although maybe not one you would want to watch during dinner. Did I forget about the tears?

And I channeled my father. That's right. The words "You are not leaving this table until that spinach is gone" came out of my mouth. I actually remember, correctly or not, liking spinach myself, so I'm not sure that he said that to me - but I'm sure you could replace the word spinach with something else that would fit. Like maybe liver? (And I still don't like liver! Blech.)

So I am sitting here venting about this instead of sitting on top of her and force feeding her spinach. And thinking about tigers and how they may, at some point, have the right idea....

If you're looking for Halloween pictures - see below.....

Okay, okay, okay.... lol

2007-11-09T20:20:00.001-06:00

When Roddy comes out of the woodwork to admonish me for not posting, I guess I have to find time to post. And time is really lacking around here these days. So here are a few pictures and please take a good look at the last one (or better yet don't) because it may not last too long. LOL

Katie was my little princess again this Halloween. I've heard that my dad got a really good shot of her, so I'm hoping he emails it to me so I can post it.

Here is the princess in school concentrating on decorating her trick or treat bag while enjoying a sucker.

Here is the family. If you don't know the movie, JC and I are dressed up like Jack & Sally from a nightmare before Christmas. VERRRRY unflattering, but the kids at school liked that I was dressed up. JC dressed up for trick or treating after school. I had to lose the wig, it kept moving around. I didn't wear it to the school because it kept falling forward and I didn't think that would work while I was trying to help the kids with cupcakes, etc.

Okay, now I'm getting candy cravings.... time to hit Katie's candy. LOL

Okay, is it odd that I'm excited?

2007-10-29T19:06:00.000-05:00

Wednesday I am taking the day off for Halloween. Yes, it is a National holiday in our house. I'm excited because I am going to be in Katie's classroom for their festivities. I'm helping with the pizza lunch, getting the kids in their costume after lunch and I'm at the end of the parade to pick up the children that trip over their costumes. LOL Then they are having a party in their room. I HAVE to remember to bring my camera. After school we're going to trick or treating, but I'm really looking forward to the school festivities.

I'll be posting after Wednesday!

Pumpkin Farm Trip

2007-10-22T21:09:00.001-05:00

Okay, you won't see any pumpkins in these pictures, so you're going to have to trust me on this one.

The close ups of Katie are on one of those whirling rides that was making me nauseous as my daughter kept yelling "faster, faster!!". I'm surprised the pictures came out as well as they did. I just wish she looked like she was having a good time.... lol.

I haven't forgotten about you...

2007-10-22T14:50:00.000-05:00

A new post will be coming soon. I may have to tell you about how Katie wanted to move out Friday night because I wouldn't let her keep a giant stuffed cat... Yes, she even brings stuffed strays home. Or maybe my conversation with her regarding how she can't stop thinking about one of the boys in her classroom (he was also in her K class).... I'm not going to have to dye my hair soon. There won't be any left.

I lived through the field trip

2007-10-04T11:03:00.000-05:00

We went to a nature preserve yesterday for Katie's field trip. It was fun, although keeping track of the four children that I was responsible for (Katie being one of them) was somewhat like what I imagine herding cats may be like. We went on a the hay ride first. I didn't really need to worry about my allergy to hay. Between my allergy to the outdoors and my migraine, the hay was the least of my worries. Actually, the low tree branches were my first concern. If it wasn't for a well timed "DUCK!" from my daughter I would have gotten smacked pretty hard with one of them. I also did not have a problem with chiggers.

After the hay ride we went inside and did a round of stations with different activities. I had to laugh that my daughter was the only one that knew exactly how to use a measuring tape. She loves those things and grabs JC's whenever she sees it to start measuring things. I've actually just started teaching her the difference between the sides of the tape (feet & inches vs. total inches). Once we did all the stations it was on to our nature walk. I thought for sure one of my boys was going to be lost in a waterfall but I was able to sprout two more hands and managed to keep all the children safe and dry. Then it was on to lunch and back on the buses.

All in all it was a good day. Katie had fun and I didn't want to shoot myself at the end. In fact, it was such a good day, that I told the teacher if she needed me on Halloween I would be taking the day off so would be available. She was very excited and told me that she would talk to me and we could plan it. Excuse me? Plan it? What just happened? Oh well, at least Halloween is my favorite holiday. But now I feel like I need a costume.....

Fieldtrip on Wednesday

2007-09-30T21:58:00.000-05:00

I am taking Wednesday off to go on a field trip with Katie and her class. It involves a hayride. Did I mention I'm allergic to hay? I believe this child might end up killing me before the first frost can hit and save me. Actually, I really wanted to go on the field trip because Katie complained last year when I wasn't being a room mom. Of course, this year I try to sign up to be a room mom and my child leaves the form in her desk and never turns it in. I just can't win.

Sidewalk Fair

2007-09-23T22:56:00.001-05:00

Katie's school had a sidewalk fair over the weekend. They sell a square of the sidewalk around the school for six dollars and give you pastels to draw a picture on the square. It's pretty amazing how many good artists are out there. There were even a few political statements - and this is from an elementary school! There was a square that said "Justice" and "Jena 6". There was an Obama square and then, of course, the local sport teams. And Sponge Bob. Plenty of Sponge Bob.

They also had animals there, which made Katie's day. She got to hold a rooster, a rabbit, a duck and touch an alligator and snake.

She drew out what she wanted to put on the sidewalk the night before (that's the drawing that she's holding up in the picture) and we tried to duplicate it on the sidewalk. I think we did a pretty good job. The towers got redecorated once we were there and there were a few more additions. The guard at the drawbridge is JC's, the dragon in the middle tower is mine (although JC drew the flames). I hadn't drawn flames because he was supposed to be sleeping per the "boss". She was not happy that JC had woke him up. LOL We had a good time though. It was totally worth the allergy problems I've been having all day. Did I mention I'm allergic to sidewalk chalk?

Update on baby fish

2007-09-20T21:08:00.000-05:00

Baby fish are popping up one at a time while we're not looking. We currently have three baby fish swimming safely around the breeder tank. I'm sure some have been gobbled up since we have no idea who is actually having the babies so we can't stick the Mom in the breeder tank too. And we're thinking that the babies have already been born and some are just coming out of hiding, so we probably won't figure out who the Mom is unless the babies end up with her eyes. LOL

I need to figure out how to use smileycentral with Firefox. I miss my smileys. Does anyone know?

Ack! Our fish are having fish!

2007-09-18T09:18:00.000-05:00

Sunday morning Katie was looking at her tank and said, "Mama, there's a baby fish in the tank." I asked her if she was sure it wasn't a piece of food and she was pretty adamant about it being a baby fish. JC went over to look and told me to come over, there definitely was a baby fish in the tank.

One baby fish. Do you see it coming?

Now, not having known fish to have one offspring and call it a day, I looked at JC and said quietly, I'm guessing there were more. He agreed. After they had walked away from the tank, I witnessed what can only be described as a convergence of half our tank in the corner that the baby had been swimming in. There was a lot of darting, pushing, chasing and then... no baby. Eek.

Katie was very upset with the fish that ate the baby - and I mean MAD not sad - and is planning on figuring out which one it was and putting them on punishment. Why are you asking me that? I don't know what kind of punishment you put fish on or how she's going to determine who should be punished. She may interrogate them, I have no idea.

We will be on the lookout for pregnant bellies (do fish have those?) so we can try to avoid the feeding frenzy in the future. I wonder how many males/females are in that tank? You know we buy them in pairs.....

I love my daughter, I love my daughter, I love my daughter

2007-09-15T20:37:00.001-05:00

Here is the birthday card that I received from my daughter. Can I just say that it's a good thing that she's just learning to read and bought the card because she liked the fish? Needless to say, JC was quite relieved when instead of killing everyone in sight, primarily him for letting her get the card, I laughed so hard I started crying. Katie, of course, had no idea why I thought the card was so funny. And had anybody else given it to me, I wouldn't have. Lucky girl. This one is getting put away so I can show her what a trouble maker she was. LOL

Two Momentous Events

2007-09-09T20:25:00.000-05:00

But before we get to that, I promised you pictures. These are from the water park at the Zoo. The many faces of Katie. LOL

I love this picture.

Okay, maybe I am a bit chilly???

Okay, now to the stories. The first one has me finally victorious in war of wills with my child. Since school has started, I've been making Katie's lunch. Knowing that she likes peaches, I bought cups of diced peaches that she could take with her. I thought it would be easier, and cleaner, than her eating a whole peach. After I bought the peaches, Katie told me that she did not want them, would not try them and basically wanted nothing to do with them. We argued back and forth because she likes peaches, but was convinced she would not like these.

So I told her that she could not have dessert until she tried the peaches. That was Wednesday. So since then, she would ask for dessert and I would ask if she was going to try the peaches. She'd say no and I'd say, okay, no dessert. She said she was never going to try them and I said that she wouldn't be getting dessert until she did.

Tonight while we were eating dinner, Katie said that she was saving room for dessert. Thinking that she had forgotten, I asked her if she was going to try the peaches. She said YES!!!! Then she told JC that she thought she wasn't going to get dessert again until she moved out of the house unless she tried the peaches.

So I won. I won. I won, I won, I won. Finally.

The other news is that Katie lost her second tooth in her sleep last night. It just fell out. LOL She rolled over and onto it. So she woke up, picked it up and took it into the bathroom to see what it was. Once she figured it out, she realized that she was bleeding and blotted her mouth. And kept the tissue she used to show it to me this morning. I have no idea why she didn't wake me up, but she handled the whole thing herself.

Oh! And she has a theory. She thinks that the tooth fairy collects the baby teeth that kids lose and gives them to babies who haven't gotten their teeth yet.

We made it through a week

2007-09-08T08:55:00.000-05:00

Okay, first week of school accomplished. She appears to like it, although she really appears to like JC and I taking her and picking her up too. And so did I. I may have to sneak a few more of those in during the year. She has not had any homework yet, although she did forget to bring her folder home on Friday, so I can't say that for sure. If she doesn't start getting homework soon, we're going to have to continue with the books we bought for her to work on over the summer. I think maybe they are just testing to see what everyone knows after their individual kindergarten experiences. I'm hoping that's it anyway. I do like her teacher though, she's very nice.

We are going to go to the zoo today, so hopefully I'll have some pictures to share.

1st Day of school - part 2

2007-09-04T16:16:00.001-05:00

We walked to school today. I was testing her on spelling words while we walked. I'm sure that she couldn't wait to get to school - and away from me.

You can't see it, but her backpack - which she picked out - says "It's hard being this cute". I rolled my eyes so hard when I heard that I was afraid they were going to stick that way. To be fair, she liked the picture of the cat, and didn't know what it said.

And here she is before we started walking. She was ready to go back. And really enjoyed her first day - of course, homework starts tomorrow so who knows if that will last. LOL She did think that a full day meant she'd be coming home around the time I got home from work, so she was pleasantly surprised to be home as early as she was.

Is it possible

2007-09-03T20:06:00.000-05:00

to go through post partem six years later? Katie starts 1st grade tomorrow and I don't want her to. I want her to stay home and play. She can learn later. Okay, I don't mind her learning, but does she have to go to school to do it? I know the answer to that question is yes, but I still don't like it. When she was trying to convince me that 1/2 days should continue until 2nd grade, I started thinking it was a pretty good idea.

She is looking forward to school. She just told me as I put her to bed that she had a big day ahead of her tomorrow. We both do. I might stay in bed under the covers though.

It's not that I'm ignoring you...

2007-08-27T12:25:00.000-05:00

I just haven't had anything to post about. I'm sure that I probably have, but things happen so fast that you forget. I'm sure with school starting next week I'll have plenty to tell you. LOL Katie's "school bedtime" went into effect yesterday, so she's getting into the groove. She is looking forward to it even with the knowledge that it's all day.

I'm hoping that lasts past the first day.

Well, I've had to have the talk...

2007-08-18T10:35:00.001-05:00

No, not that talk, jeez, she's only 6. I've got at least 6 more months before we have to have that talk.

I'm referring to the "Kindergarten is the last year of 1/2 day school". Yes, last night I had to break the brutal truth of a normal school day to my child. She was not happy. I mentioned that school would be starting in two weeks, which at first really excited her. Then she said "I hope I get half..." I was shaking my head before she could finish. I told her that 1st grade was a full day grade. She tried to bargain with me to start full days in 2nd grade. I have to give her credit, I didn't see that coming. So she is now aware that she will be in school for a full day, although I doubt she understands exactly how long that is. With any luck she thinks she'll be in school until I get home from work so the realty will be a good thing. LOL

2007-08-09T23:26:00.000-05:00

This is Roo. He was tortured mercilessly the other night. More than once. The first time was when my daughter, who was supposed to be sleeping, apparently got out of bed and decided to try to wash Roo.

He appeared on my lap with a wet, matted head and back. Immediately suspecting my daughter I headed upstairs to interrogate her. She said that she had been washing her hands and they had dripped on Roo...alot. Help.

So I grabbed a towel and Roo and went back downstairs to try to dry him off. That's when I noticed. The bubbles. That's why his fur was matted. There was suds in it. After more interrogation I was told "just a little" soap was applied. Uh huh. Sending Katie back upstairs to bed, I attempted to take Roo into the washroom to rinse him off. Mental note: prepare better when about to place cat in water. A couple scratches later and no improvement since the water never got warm enough for me to use, I gave up until JC got home. It took two of us to get him under the water and rinsed off. He stopped speaking to us for a night. It was such a peaceful night....

These are the flowers that Katie and I made tonight with paper and pipe cleaner. No, I did not think of that myself, it came in a kit. And I know it has nothing to do with the cat, but they were colorful and I liked them. LOL

Our fish tank looks like the 2nd Coming...

2007-08-07T16:14:00.000-05:00

Meaning more than half of it has been wiped out. There seems to have been a feeding frenzy. Two fish out of five that were added to the tank on Sunday have turned out to be a little too aggressive. Like "let's eat all the other fish in the tank" aggressive. Currently the remaining goldfish has been removed from the tank for her own safety but I'm not sure she's still going to be around when I get home from work. Another fish was last seen fleeing for it's life, so I'm pretty sure that will be a goner. And our poor shrimp was being cornered by the aggressors.

I called Katie to let her know what was going on in the tank in case she got home before me. She's taking it well and even discussed with me what we should do with these two rowdy fish. She suggested we set up a 2nd tank, but that has officially been vetoed. She mentioned that we may have to just kill them. That made me laugh, I guess she doesn't feel bad for them since they ate all the other fish. JC wants to take them back to the store since they didn't mention that they were aggressive. I want to put them in a big bowl on the coffee table and see how they handle two cats. I think that JC is going to win this one though because his makes the most sense to me....although he did like my idea too. LOL

I can't wait to see how many fish we have when I get home. Sunday we had 10 fish and 5 shrimp. We are down right now to a confirmed 5 fish and 2 or 3 shrimp. I'm guessing by the time I get home 3 or 4 fish and possibly 0 shrimp. Guess it's back to the pet store....

Ugh

2007-08-06T10:39:00.000-05:00

Katie: Mommy, can a person have two boyfriends?

Me (after long pause): It depends on the circumstances, I'll explain more when you're older.

JC (after what sounded like a head repeatedly hitting a wall from the other room): Thank you....

I was kidding about JC's head hitting the wall. He didn't have enough strength to get to the wall after the mini-stroke.

LOL, you aren't going to believe what I found....

2007-08-03T09:17:00.000-05:00

Chuck E Cheese - Rat or Mouse?

The question answered. LOL

"Chuck E. Cheese circa 1977 - 1980 The very 1st version of Chuck E. Cheese featured him as a rat, often with a cane."

"Chuck E. Cheese circa 1995 - 1998The 7th version of Chuck E. Cheese was all decked out in sports clothes. This was when Chuck E. became a full fledged mouse."

So we're all right! LOL

Do you know what today is?

2007-07-31T21:48:00.000-05:00

Time to change the blog name!

Happy Birthday to my little girl!!! She's had a few fun-filled days!

Sunday was Chuckie Cheese day. I'm not usually a Chuckie Cheese fan but, man, that was so much easier than having something at home. And cheaper too. And I got the "this is the best birthday party ever!" from Katie so that definitely made it worth it.

Now, the question of the day. Is Chuckie a mouse or a rat? Enquiring minds want to know.

Katie & My godson. He's a cutie and quite a dancer. LOL

This is Aunt Becky trying to get Katie to dance. Check out the cool Tinkerbell jeans. LOL

Today Katie and I went to Build A Bear, played in her pool and went out to dinner with Nana & Papa. She was asleep well before we got home from the restaurant, but she did manage to stay up for the movie we had planned on watching after she woke up.

Did I mention she has two more loose teeth? Ugh.

Family picture

2007-07-25T23:15:00.000-05:00

Not keeping this up, so if you saw it, you were lucky. ;)

Katie told me the other day that I used to be pretty when I wore contacts. I really need to teach this child tact.

The dentist appointment

2007-07-25T16:15:00.000-05:00

My daughter went to the dentist last Friday and he told JC that not only was she losing her other bottom tooth, which we knew, but she would also be losing her top two before Christmas.

The tooth fairy is going to need to take out a loan.

That free fish is getting more expensive...

2007-07-21T14:46:00.000-05:00

Not to mention the free fish already died... We went and bought more things for the tank (filter, top, etc.) and since we were there... four more fish. Two algae eating shrimp, one something or other that eats stuff off the tank, and one more black goldfish (we already have one). The black goldfish that we have is named Madeliene. Katie wanted another one that was small so that Madeliene could have an adopted daughter. I'm not sure how she's going to feel about Madeliene and her new daughter Cassie once she figures out that they are probably going to eat the shrimp. Yep, as we were checking out, the cashier whispered that once the black goldfish got bigger it might eat the shrimp. I said great, we already have a big one... Guess we'll see what happens.

On the way home Katie was talking about the shrimp and how they were "allergy eating" shrimp. Once we stopped giggling, we corrected her, but I really wish that there was an allergy eating something. That would be very helpful.

We also went and got pictures taken this morning. For anyone that does not realize what will be happening on this blog soon, it is almost time to change the name again. Here are the pictures:

There is one of the three of us, but that one has to be..ahem..tinkered with... before I post it. :) Oh, and if you want to know what is natural Katie from among the pictures above... well, let's see if you can figure it out. Guess. I'll let you know who is right - if anyone turns out to be wrong. LOL

Fishing pictures

2007-07-17T22:33:00.000-05:00

Katie and Papa
All her worm pets...

Yes, I said pets. We had two boxes of worms. She let us use the one box for fishing and the other box she named and played with until we left and I made her put them in the dirt at Papa's house. She wanted to bring them back home with her. Have I mentioned that my daughter has an icky side? LOL She did inspire me to bait my own hook though. I usually make JC do that, and actually did over the weekend, but at one point he was too far away from me so I decided if she could pick them up so could I. ::shudder::

She also spent alot of her time with a little girl that lives there catching minnows with a net. LOL

I realized when I looked at the pictures that I have not managed to get one with the missing tooth yet. I'll have to try for that later.

Apparently I'm not done with the other blog

2007-07-16T16:18:00.000-05:00

http://whenqueen.blogspot.com/2007/07/im-so-annoyed-i-might-have-to-give.html

Went Fishin'

2007-07-16T12:23:00.000-05:00

We were out of town this weekend at JC's dad's "cottage". It was very fun and we got some fishing in. I have a couple pictures that I'll post when I'm back home. I just didn't want you guys to think I had left you all alone again. LOL

BREAKING NEWS......

2007-07-11T18:54:00.000-05:00

Katie has lost her tooth. She was eating corn on the cob at Cynthia's and thought that a piece of corn that fell on her plate had blood on it. She didn't realize it was her tooth. Pictures of the toothless smile will follow soon.....

When I'm Queen...

2007-07-10T09:40:00.000-05:00

has a new post. I know, you don't believe me....

http://whenqueen.blogspot.com/2007/07/runaway-wrecking-ball.html

Odds N Ends

2007-07-10T08:28:00.000-05:00

My child is turning into a pre-teen way too early. She is sporting some blue nail polish and asking for wedge heels. Okay, I think the nail polish looks cute, but the shoes were a no go. Even though I thought they were cute. And yes, I hid behind Daddy while saying no to the shoes. I told her that JC would kill me. I did say no first, but then added the part about being killed. And considering the "oh so thrilled" reaction he had to the blue nail polish, I can pretty much guess that I'm right.

Okay, I have a funny story even though it's a little gross. Libby, I'm sure you'll like this one. LOL Last night I was putting Katie to bed and she was discussing how she was going to come home after college and live with us until her house was ready. Yeah, I'm not sure what the details are on the house, but it was late and I was afraid to ask. Then she said, no, she'd just live with us and her husband.. and where would we put the baby... So she decided we'd make a room across from hers (this is after I declined to sleep with the child in my room). She wanted me to walk out her door and across the hall toward the wall so I'd know exactly where she wanted the room. So I got up walked out the door and kept walking until I bumped my head on the wall figuring I'd get a laugh out of her (my daughter seems to think it's funny when certain people are in pain - she likes slapstick). Well she laughed and passed gas at the same time... which made her say "I can't believe it! Even my butt is laughing!". At which point I almost passed out laughing. She is a nut.

Message to my Fertility Friends

2007-07-05T00:07:00.000-05:00

I know you're out there, please feel free to say hi!