100%

That's right....Gabby came home today with her 1st spelling pre-test and had 100% on the top of her paper with a sticker. I think the list was very easy for her (wasn't sure about the word "the" since she was having a little trouble with it) but she definitely knows the -at word family (bat, hat, cat, rat etc). And her reward, she doesn't have to take the actual spelling test on Friday. Woohoo Girlie!!!

I just purchased a turbo twist spelling by leap frog on ebay along with the mind station & cartridge that you can actually hook up to a computer & type the child's actual spelling list for her to practice. It's on its way & I'm hoping to have it before I leave for CA on Tuesday.

On a side note, Gabby will be getting her tonsils & adenoids removed on Sept 29th. She'll miss 1 week of school & then return the following week with activity restrictions. Her surgery will be outpatient as long as everything goes well & we'll be back home about 7 hours after we check in the waiting room. Pray for us all. Gabs is very nervous & I must say I am a little too. But I've got a list of foods & beverages to shop for so we'll try to make the best of it. Pray this takes care of her sleep problem so she feels rested after her 11-12 hours of sleep each night & then maybe if she's rested she'll get on the bus nicer at least a little more than she does now. Just be strong Jet, just be strong.

Oh my! Time warp here...I just lost an hour to blog reading & internet surfing. Gotta get to bed. Night all!

As BIG as the sky!

I have gotten so much done today it is unbelievable & great. I cleaned the downstairs bathroom, finished up the laundry (not for long of course since I don't recommend running around naked in such cool weather), the kitchen floor has been swept & scrubbed. The carpets cleaned & returned to their spots to warm the kitchen up a bit, the kitchen window washed & the screen of the window sprayed clean with the hose. I am even contemplating dragging the ladder outside so I can finish washing the outside of the kitchen window since it isn't like the rest where I can flip them inside out & wash them & put them back. I patched the holes & cracks in the walls of the girls' room & I'm waiting for it to dry so I can finish getting it prepped for the primer that I am hoping to paint on Wed.

And it has been a good day so far despite Gabby having trouble getting on the bus. I've decided that I'm not going to acknowledge her lack of getting on the bus today unless she brings it up. I always tell the kids that I love them as BIG as the sky & I mean it. I want her to know that despite her trouble in the mornings, I don't care, I still love her no matter what. So this is my new approach (oh & buying her some warmer socks tomorrow. She said her feet were freezing & when I touched her ankles she wasn't kidding. Sometimes it amazes me how one thing like that can throw her off. At least her bus driver is understanding. He told me that she's fine by the end of the block or at least the next block so that makes me feel better.)

Morgan's vocabulary is amazing! I recenlty read that, on average, kids her age (21 months) say about 20 words. Wouldn't you know we sat down for lunch shortly after I read that & she used about 10 words just during lunch. This girl has been learning so much from Gabriella & Braly (some undesireable behaviors too ;) but she is amazing.

Tomorrow we head to the ENT to see if Gabby needs her tonsils removed. They are very large & we think she has sleep apnea, thus causing her to not be rested even after 11-12 hours of sleep almost every night. We're praying for a quick & easy fix/recovery.

Braly starts school next week, same day I leave for a 1 week trip without Adam & the kids. He is so excited. I'm hoping to capture his first bus ride on Tuesday when I go with him for orientation b/c I won't be able to see him get on the bus on Wed without me.

Adam is down in Addison, IL for nearly 2 weeks of 'new' full time orientation for work. Not exactly sure what it is called but he had a nice rental to drive down there. We are missing him already. But I tried to soften the whole thing with breakfast for dinner. THe kids love when I make some kind of breakfast for dinner thing. Last night we had pan-e-cakes (its what the kids call them) and then they added some fruit, whip cream, sprinkles, applesauce, etc. It's almost like dessert for dinner. They ate quite a bit & then cleared their dishes & put them into the dishwasher (so happy its fixed).

Got a few more things done while Morgan napped & Braly watched Thomas. I think I will play a game or something with Braly now & then get things ready for our trip to Iron Mtn in the morning.

Some days are just better than others

And yesterday was one of those days compared to today. It's like a big game of hit or miss and we're at 50% for getting on the bus nicely. I have some more research to do today in hopes of helping find the right things for me to do to enable Gabby to have the tools she needs to get on the bus nicely each & every day. I'm currently checking out a site called shakeyourshyness. I have to read and re-read the portion on Parenting a shy child. I know I can be kinda shy and sit back & just observe and sometimes watch fun things pass me by. And sometimes there is just something inside of me that says, look, ya missed out on X, Y, and Z last time and you were bummed, get over it & go do something about it even if you don't feel like doing it. So I kinda have an idea of how she's feeling but I think it is even more debilitating at times in her case. And that's not ok with me. Not because I think that there is something wrong with her but more of the case where I don't want her to have regrets for not getting to do something b/c she was too shy. I know this is who she is and don't want to change her completely (there is a little voice inside that says, if she's too shy to try some new things, perhaps she'll leave the not so good stuff like, drugs, alcohol, etc alone). But then there is another voice that says, if you don't teach her & provide the tools she needs, how will she be confident to say no to the things that she shouldn't try. So I guess it is a balancing act that I am trying to discover what is too much, what is too little & where we'll all be happy somewhere in between. Of course Adam is helping on this front but since he's not the one home nearly as much as I am, plans & strategies are left up to me to execute. I feel like sort of a strategist as well as a scientist but this is definitely something I don't want to "blow up" in my face.

On the other hand, Braly is asking me if he gets to start school yet. He goes to the bus stop each morning with us and then waits with anticipation for Gabby to get home. He keeps begging for his turn to go to school. It's not that he doesn't love being home (just like it isn't that Gabby hates being at school) it's just that these kids are different & crave different stimuli to keep them going. Hopefully Gabby will come home today & say it was a fantastic day like yesterday was for her, despite the rip her out of my hands at the bus stop we had today. Perhaps a video of what she looks like could put things into perspective. I may have to borrow Braly's expertise in holding a camera or I may have to borrow a video camera with tripod to see what we can see. Hmm....some ideas are coming to me as I share my thoughts. Thanks for letting me unwind and think.

I am soooooooooo over-tired right now its unbelievable. Natalie usually comes to stay Thursday nights with us so she can save a little $$ on gas & spend some time with us. Well, we almost always stay up late and last night was just one of those nights, except this time Morgan woke up around 4 am & wouldn't go back to sleep until almost 6 am & I have a hard time sleeping when I can hear my kids awake. Definitely a mom thing. Needless to say, Gabby isn't the only one tired today. I don't think I mentioned lately that we think she may have sleep apnea due to her enlarged tonsils and we see the ENT on Tuesday & think that he'll recommend her having her tonsils out. I'm praying that will help solve her being tired despite sleeping between 11 and 12 hours most nights.

I'm off to check on Braly & have him help me load the dishwasher now that its fixed. I love getting kitchen help. A built in dishwasher would be my dream come true but for now I'll settle with our portable one being fixed. Can't win them all eh?

School Started

Yesterday was Gabby's 1st day of 1st grade. I just can't believe my little girl is already in 1st grade. The time seems to have just slipped by. She did so great getting ready for school & getting on the bus. I was so proud of her! The first week of school the buses are late picking up & dropping off the kids as they learn their new routes. So we spent quite a bit of time waiting for the bus which made me nervous. I thought that all the waiting might make her not want to get on the bus. But she did fantastic!

When Gabby got home from school yesterday she said, "boy was that a long bus ride." And she kept saying things like, "guess what Mom?" We did this, and that, and this, and that. She was so excited to tell me all about her day. She said that she wished lunch would have been a little sooner since she was hungry so she ate almost all her lunch & saved a snack for waiting for the bus. She has a few kids in her class this year that were from her old class which is nice. Makes it not quite so 'new' for EVERYTHING. When I asked her about her teacher she said, "Mrs. Fisher is FUN!" I like the sounds of that. Gabby likes to be a little goofy now & then so I think they will get along just fine. I took some pics but haven't gotten them onto my computer just yet. I will do that soon & add them here.

Today.....has been another story. Gabby had a bit of a tougher time getting up this morning. She was also a little slower at eating but seemed just fine for going out to wait for the bus. It was a little chilly so I kept picking her up to warm her up & then I set her down when I saw the bus coming. The bus pulled up and she tried to run the opposite direction & told me she wasn't getting on the bus. I had to lift her up & set her on the steps of the bus so the bus driver could hold her backpack so she wouldn't try to get off the bus while he closed the doors. She stood there & cried. He tried to get her to sit down on her own but ended up having to unbuckle & put her into a seat. I think he even had to have another child move so she could sit down. What a mess! Anyone have ideas of how to get her past this? I am at a loss. This has been going on to some degree for the last 4 years now. She would get on the bus in preschool & cry & fight but was calmed down before they even left our parking lot when we lived in the apartments. Then last year she would sometimes get on the bus just fine & other times she'd fight & try to run away. I don't know how to find out what's going on in her head because I'm not sure she even knows. I think she does fine once she gets to school but today I am having my doubts. Last year she did refuse to get off the bus once & her teacher took snack time away from her. She earned it back but she never refused to get off the bus the rest of the year. Only trouble getting on. I know she enjoys school. I don't have doubts about that but it has something to do with leaving home. That separation from home to school, and sometimes from school to home is what can be difficult. What's a mom to do?

Where oh where...

Has the time gone? I can't believe it has been nearly a month since I posted. LOTS to catch up on but won't be able to do it in this post (I've got to get dinner ready soon).

We headed out east for a family wedding & really enjoyed our trip. We drove through Canada to make the trip shorter than it could have been. Crossing the borders was pretty painless. Answer a few questions, show licenses, & sometimes all our birth certificates. The kids did fantastic for the drive. They really were troopers for the whole trip, especially being such homebodies that they are. This was an adventure we embarked on & I think we mostly enjoyed it. There were a few snags like the wailing (sp?) that Gabby & Braly did after the wedding on the boat & we headed back to the car without Daddy (he rode in the Hummer limo back to the hotel). Morgan had just woke up from a nap & was fairly quiet while Gabby & Braly cried so loud that got lots of interesting looks/comments. As I unloaded the stroller full of stuff into the car I let the kids cry it out to release all their built up emotions from being tired & controlling themselves on the boat for so long & it really was a very long day for them. Then I told them they had to be quiet so I could drive down the mountain & after a few more minutes, they calmed down & both fell asleep. Morgan stayed awake with me jamming to some music (courtesy of Lilo & Stitch soundtrack haha) & then she finally fell asleep. It was about 1 hour 45 min drive back to our hotel. Like I said, long day for all. We changed & packed some stuff up & then went out for another gathering with our Pierce family (minus Steven & Kate since they were gone already & Carol & family since they were unable to make it out east, they'd have an even longer drive than us). Oh the other mishap was the next day when we left Vermont to head to Niagra Falls. Morgan got car sick & was she ever a 1st class trooper. She didn't cry, she didn't fuss, in fact, I don't think I would have known what had happened if Gabby had not blurted out "Mom, Morgan just puked!!!" Morgan even grabbed a wipe & tried to clean herself up while I was wiping everything as much as I could. Needless to say, Morgan started getting the anti-nausea herbal things we have just like Gabby. No more trouble with car sickness after that.

Off to make a quick dinner & get the cookies cooled. The kids & I made them this afternoon as part of our 'play week'. Next Tuesday Gabby starts school so this week is have fun in the Pierce house as well as get some appointments taken care of.

Is writing the same as talking?

I started taking this online class to help me with my journaling on my scrapbook pages and I am enjoying it so far. But I got to thinking, is writing the same as talking? I love to chat with friends & family for a long time and I enjoy writing so much too.

I decided to take this writing class b/c it sounded fun. Yup, I'm probably a nut job but hey, at least I'm doing something I like right? I remembered how much I enjoyed English writing class in high school & that I missed it as well as the writing I had to do in college. It was a lot sometimes and coming up with a topic for a paper, no matter how long it had to be, was sometimes a challenge. But one I was usually up for. Well this class has me doing some of the same things and I LOVE it!

Each day we get a topic and have to think about it for 1 minute and then write nonstop for at least 4 minutes. Would you believe that I have gone over my 4 minutes each time so far? Ok, it probably isn't hard to do with the way I like to talk (I'm sure most of you would agree haha) and write. I'm having FUN!!!

I think I'm way too tired to be posting on here and actually making sense so have a good laugh at my tired expense and perhaps I'll be able to compose something a little less wordy & writing in circles tomorrow. Lots to do though so might not get to post till late again & then it would just be goofy again.
Good night all!

Slump-be-gone!

Have you ever tried getting in shape & healthier? Or for that matter tried anything that you haven't really been very good at? Well, I am currently working on trying to be healthier & fit but it seems I've gotten into a slump. I can't seem to get the scale to move and that is so frustrating but I just read a very inspiring quote from the sparkpeople website and I think it may help me get out of my slump. That and I talked with a friend and she advised me to change something I'm doing. Thanks!!!

Slump-be-gone!
So, I'm yet to be the runner I aspire to be BUT I'm a better runner than I've ever been.
I don't have a flat tummy BUT I've discovered my collarbones.
I don't always order the healthiest thing on the menu BUT I no longer make my choices blind.
I'm not going to be on the cover of a magazine BUT I'm starting to think that maybe I look good in certain clothes.
I don't always roll out of bed and throw on my sneakers BUT my sneakers are not collecting dust.
I haven't developed an ego BUT I am proud!