Rainy Day

It was a cold horrible rainy day yesterday (most of today too actually)...the girls never even asked if we were going to build, Emily wanted to stay home all day. First thing in the morning they had a fashion show. Emily dressed Ella in her clothes AND put them all away when they were done...miracles do happen! Then we played Monopoly. That was okay for the most part but it dragged on a bit too long, as it tends to do, for little people...the chaos began to bubble just under the surface. You could watch them run around the house (and not listen to me when I said to stop) and just see this was going to be a day that would have a LOT of time-outs unless we could burn off some energy. So why not play outside in the rain and puddles?!?!?!?! Well, okay then!

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Bunnies!

There were bunnies at church today! These bunnies are rescue bunnies...you know, mom & dad gave the kiddos bunnies for Easter and before the candy was gone the little ones were tired of the bunnies and everything they have to do for them. These bunnies have all been adopted by new families, ones that actually want the bunny for 10 years or so. This is supposed to give the kids their "bunny fix". They could sit & have a picture taken with one of them and they could get in there pens to pet them. the pictures are not the best but here you are... (Emily said they were so soft, just like a blanket & wanted to cuddle up on the floor with one)

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Saturday Update

We went to the mall today to get some things George needed for work. Ella had gone directly to the store with George while Emily stayed behind with me so we could pop in to a store and look at dresses for her. As we were walking to meet George and Ella we passed the Easter Bunny. Instantly Emily asked if she could have her picture taken with the Bunny, I said maybe. As soon as we walked in the store Ella yelled out "Mommy there is an Easter Bunny! Can we have our picture taken with it????" I said maybe. There were a few things to consider...their hair was a mess, I am not a fan of standing in line for the Easter Bunny (Santa yes but not the Bunny), it's outrageously expensive and most importantly they didn't match! ;) Ella was dressed for summer and Emily for winter. But...they were so excited and there wasn't actually a line when we went back so here it is......



Have I mentioned that I am DREADING the summer? Aside from the obvious reason (I am too ginormous for shorts or a swimsuit!), what on earth will I do to entertain the girls? After being in school all year I hardly think that Emily will be entertained by my little arts & crafts projects and as much as they love to paint, even that gets old after a few days. So aside from all the little things I have come up with to fill the day, I thought maybe we should have a garden. I am not sure why really as I do not really like to be outside, I despise bugs of any shape or size, I do not really like "funky" looking food, I am not a fan or dirt, oh yeah and I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO GROW ANYTHING!!!!! We also have very rocky, clay-like, generally inhospitable dirt to grow things in. No problem I thought, I'll just make compost and we'll have at it. Guess what? Compost takes a really long time to make! So I have decided to do quasi square foot gardening. We will use some sort window box to grow in, that way we can hang them from the deck, it gets the most sun. We are also going to try and hang our tomatoes instead of staking them. we are going to plant them in hanging baskets and let the vines "fall" like spider plants...we'll see. The girls as so excited by this idea. Ella was sure she'd be picked vegetables in a few days! Poor thing. I explained it all takes a long time and lots of work. Emily wanted to know why we couldn't just "dig a big hole outside" for the garden. I see she already thinks like me, that DOES seem easier! Anyway, after I explained this is a very time consuming, lots of waiting time activity and they were still excited about it we started it. The girls picked what to grow...beefsteak tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, bib lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, and.....WATERMELON! My children are adventurous! I thought we'd just do tomatoes, maybe even 2 different kinds, but they were so excited about growing all these things. I figured if I could kill tomato plants, I could kill any vegetable, right?
Today we planted the seeds in the baby greenhouse. Once they sprout, we'll transfer them to window boxes...what on earth have I gotten myself in to?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
(This also started another summer project, we're starting a compost bin now so that maybe next year we can "just dig a big hole" for a garden). Here is out "garden" today...

105!!!!

Soon after Emily's parent teacher conference she started acting unwell. I took her temperature right after dinner and it was 103.4 F! I told her if it didn't go down to 99 (her normal) she couldn't go to school on Wednesday. She was, um, displeased to say the least. She woke up Wednesday with 105.something!!!! HOLY COW!!!! I was afraid we were going to have to go to the ER! I gave her Motrin & within 20 minutes it was down to 100 so I knew she was going to be okay. She was fine for about 6 hours and then her fever started coming back, more Motrin and she was fine again...didn't need anything else that day. She woke up Thursday with 104, better but still so high! She actually asked if she could stay home...my poor baby! She had no fever this morning so she went to school. Should I have kept her home another day? Protocol says yes, keep the child home for a day after a high fever but they don't know my child. I know she was calmer, more relaxed (therefore better able to fight off any remaining virus) at school than she would have been at home AND she probably got the virus at school so it's not like the other kids hadn't already been exposed (remember, she went Tuesday and was sick Tuesday night).
I also hear that sending your kids back to school IMMEDIATELY following an illness gets bonus points for Mother of the Year ;)

I'm Bragging!

I just got back from Emily's parent teacher conference & I am so excited!!!!! Emily is basically reading at a 2nd grade level...she's in kindergarten remember?!?!?!?! She will be tested at the beginning of next school year for the Venture program (gifted students!) She helps the teacher & all the other students everyday. Her teacher said that most of the kids will go ask Emily how to do something or what they should do next. Today she stunned all the other kids because she was able to spell "quilt" without any trouble at all & she also knew the meaning of "spectacular"! Her teacher is also very impressed that she can do the word problems that Grandpa in NJ is emailing her! I know bragging isn't nice but...oh well! She's brilliant, what else can I say!

Playing outside

It was 80 degrees on Tuesday so Ella & I hung out outside for most of the day. She played hopscotch, rode her bike, drew on the easel and found a GIANT stick (a.k.a. tree limb). When Emily came home, the girls played "basketball" with a never used for garbage garbage can. I was only able to get a few shots of both girls (and they are probably not very good) as then it got too busy to take any...

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Field Trip!

Emily had her first field trip today and I got to be one of the chaperones!!!!! The entire kindergarten (all 8 classes of it) went to the Atlanta Center for Puppetry Arts for a show about the weather. I thought this was a bit of an odd topic for a puppet show but it was actually cute, very entertaining and really educational. I asked Emily a million times if she liked it and 999,999 times she said yes but that last time she said "yes, it was good but why was there so much singing? It was hard to concentrate on what they were saying AND clap along". It is really tricky to be in Kindergarten!
Next week, parent teacher conferences!!!!! Really, does it get any better?!?!?! I think not!

No Sleep and Church Revelations

We didn't go build on Saturday so I have nothing new to show. Emily asked if we could just stay home and play. We had to leave at about 1pm for a birthday party in Alabama so I was happy not to have to go out earlier. The little people played for hours, at lunch and then, without much arguing, they cleaned up FOUR rooms full of toys. Then we packed up and headed to Springville, Alabama for our friends 7th birthday party. The girls had a great time and stayed up WAY too late! They fell asleep on the way home from the party at about 10pm eastern time...3 - 3.5 hours later than normal. As we got in the car I told them that NO ONE was getting up at 6am on Sunday. Well, at 5:52am Sunday morning Emily wanted to know how much longer she had to stay in bed...will anything make this girl sleep?!?!?!?!

At 7am, when I finally let them get up, the girls had to get dressed for church immediately. I think Emily was afraid she'd be late...we don't have to leave until 9am and I've never seen a 5 year old take 2 hours to get ready but...
Anyway, when we first started going to St. Julians, the priest let me know that at an Episcopal church, the girls could take communion at their ages as I long as I was okay with that. I thought it would freak them out so she said that when they were interested to let her know and she talk to them briefly and "see them at the altar". Well, I have been trying to get them to come up with me, to get blessed, every week but they won't...okay, I won't push, it's not supposed to be a fight and it's not about me so I let it go. Fast forward back to Sunday morning on the drive to church, Emily & I have this conversation on the way to church:

her:I have going to go up to that stage with you today.
me: The altar?
her: yes, where Miss Stewart stands (a.k.a. Rev. Stewart, the priest)
me: okay, you just need to cross your arms in front of you and she will "rub" your
head and say a prayer for you
her: no, I want the bread
me:what????
her: the bread, I want to eat the bread
me: do you understand what it is?
her: yes, Miss Stewart told us about it and I want it
me: you realize that you can NOT drop it and you can NOT spit it out?
her: yes
me: okay, tell Stewart at Sunday school.
her: okay

So here I was thinking, well it's not the "First Communion" I had always imagined but that wasn't going to happen anyway (again, in the Episcopal Church all baptized people can take it, no big day in a white dress and veil for First Communion) but here it was. I was amazed that Emily wanted to do it so soon, she always asked me how old I was and I told her 7 she thought that sounded good until Sunday. I wonder how long she had been thinking about this? I really thought she was too young but again, it's not about me so if the priest says okay why should I say no? Emily and Ella went to Sunday School and then came and found me, we went into the church to wait for "kids church" to start and then they left again. The girls came back at Communion. I asked Emily if she still was coming with me and she said yes. I asked if she wanted a blessing and she said "No, the bread!" Again, I said "you know it's Jesus right?" she said, "yes, disguised as bread". So the 3 of us go up, I get communion and then help the girls find a place to kneel. Ella crossed her arms Emily held out her hands. Stewart placed the wafer in Emily's hand and then moved to Ella. By this point Emily was making a horrible face and trying to take the wafer from her mouth...I pushed it back in and got the girls up from the altar and tried to hurry them back to their seats. Emily took the wafer out of her mouth and said "what do I do with THIS?!?!?" I took it as discreetly as I could and ate it. She was so displeased. Here's what she had to say when we got back in the car:

me: what happened Em?
her: it wasn't bread
me: it was, it just doesn't taste like regular bread
her: i didn't think it would feel like that, it wasn't good
me: what did you think it was going to be?
her: like a snack
me: Emily, we talked about that fact that it was Jesus
her: well, I though it was just bread. I thought Stewart stood over it and said a spell and then you got a little snack.
me: I think next time you should cross your arms okay?
her: I think that's a good idea.