May the Force be with you...

Wow, that sure sounds religious up there, doesn't it? We had the Blow Out Birthday Bash of 2008, a home movie theater set up in the backyard. Kids went through Jedi training, I did face painting, we had theater food (nachos, hot dogs, popcorn with weird butter flavoring, and ALL THE CANDY YOU COULD EAT!!!!!) just the way I always dreamed of it, all you could eat, as much as you want, with no additional cost! We put a big screen tv in the backyard and showed Star Wars, which was loads of fun. The kids raked in the gifts, our family and friends are WAY too generous, and Glee now has (after saving about $30 before the party) enough to buy her own Nintendo DS. At age 7. Yep, our country may be experience a serious cash flow problem, but not Glee! Thomas has almost enough to get one of his own. At age 5. We already made it clear that we are still in charge of them, that we would have all final say on games purchased and played, and that we could take them away for bad behaviors. So, even though they buy them, we would still be bosses. For a little while anyway.

Thomas scored big time on the Hot Wheel front, and he hasn't had his official birthday yet, when we give him presents too. As I type there all sorts of Hot Wheel tracks secreted away under our bed, and he is going to flip when he sees what he can put together. He loves those things!

Glee got all sorts of magical fairy books as well as art supplies and her very own gift card to Joanns so she can buy her own crochet hooks and yarn. She made a scarf for her doll which came out super nice for a first project. She should have some serious reading material to last her a while too... one friend gave her a whole set of flower fairy books, and she got a very cool book on raising chickens. Even though we aren't supposed to have them here (our city is not zoned for "livestock") I am determined to find a way for her to do it. She loves the chickens in Colorado so much!

Maybe she will get her fix when she sees what we are getting them for Christmas. We are going to get a dog! We are working on it now, trying to figure out what would best fit for our family, talking to our vet who has made some great suggestions for rescued animals. So... stay tuned. A family dog is in the works!

Thomas is now working on his school skills, like sitting quietly on the rug during class. That was something he was never expected to do in preschool, but kindergarten is a whole new ballgame! He is making new friends every day. I have a long story about a girl named Ximena and the girl he sits next to (same class) who he was convinced was named Timena. I argued for a weekend with him about that, saying her name couldn't possibly be Timena. On Monday, I learned her names was Tammena. Who would have thought. What a name for your kid! We can tell them apart though, apparently Ximena is a crybaby, talks out of turn, and spends way too much time talking and singing in the bathroom. It's cool what your kindergartner will tell you. OH, and sat next to a boy for lunch the other day but couldn't talk to him because "he only speaks Spanish." The boy's name? Mohammed. Must be from Spain.

Glee is adjusting too... she is the only person at her table who doesn't talk all the time (and I know some of the other kids and she's not making that up). I need to have a talk with her teacher because she said it is become too distracting to sit there, and papers she normally gets all right on have come home -2 and -3. Not that that is a big deal, but she knows the answers and is being distracted, so we need to do something about that.

Back to school night on Thursday, and Brownies tomorrow. Soccer practice was cancelled tonight because of another back to school night.

My Pirate name...

Some things are just for fun...

My pirate name is:
Captain Bess Rackham
Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate.

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com

Excerpts

This is actually excerpted information from an email to my cousin Aurora! Sometimes it is faster to do this than retype it all...

I did do work this week. Monday I did some running around (library, turned in some paperwork at City Hall for our Brownie meetings, grocery store) and I donated blood (apparently a vein in my left arm is a gusher and I got two pints out in 4 minutes FLAT!)… then Tuesday was spent working on a clients family slide show… then Wednesday was organizing for the first Brownie meeting, and then here we are.

So… school seems to be going okay for both kids. I was a little nervous about Thomas, he seems so young compared to the other kids in his class (I think many of them are 6). I have discovered he really needs to practice his writing which will become part of his homework every day. So far both kids LOVE homework. I do homework with Thomas right when he gets home at 1:30, and he is usually done by 2, at which time he has a snack and watches a little tv before we pick up Glee at 2:45. Then, on a good day (for me) he will lay down for a rest until about 5, but on Tuesday and Thursday we have soccer practice, so he might not get that rest, and at the end of the night (8:30pm for them) he is EXHAUSTED. He seems good in class, a good listener, so he’s not the Thomas I have at home all the time. Thomas’s teacher told me a funny story about him. I guess they were reading Billy Goat Gruff and at the end the teacher asked why the troll would pick the goat he picked and Thomas piped up saying “because he has the most meat on him!” Later he told me the fat one had more meat than the skinny ones, because more is more and less is less. No vegans in our house!

Glee has become a go-to girl in her class already. The teacher told other kids yesterday to see her if they needed help with a project because she was the only one who listened and followed directions. She’s a good girl, and she sure does like helping others… lucky me! In her class they have a behavior chart and the object is to pull a green card everyday which means she had a great day. She is proud to bring those home, let me tell you! The teacher has also moved students in the class and put a talker next to Glee because she knows Glee won’t talk during class. She has such self restraint, she NEVER talks to the person next to her she said, unless the teacher said it is okay! I am sure she is wise beyond her years, and if there was ever anyone who has been through this life before, it is her. She has learned to crochet and made a lovely scarf for her doll Elizabeth, and now wants to make her a toy or a sweater. I am not sure she can do it yet, but we will see. Once I get the hang of knitting better I will teach her that too. She is very patient with that stuff!

The only real problem I am having with school so far is food. They take lunch every day and Thomas is pretty good about eating his, but Glee has become so picky! She doesn’t like sandwiches, cut fruit, cheese, yogurt, cashew nuts, raisins, so many things! Then she eats all the sweets first, but I am afraid if I don’t put the sweets in she won’t eat anything at all! Any ideas on stuff that worked for you guys for school lunches? I will take all the help I can get!

So that’s it from here. Not a lot of news. I am working on a couple of jobs now, and I need to sit down with a calendar to outline my next steps. I really do want to start up my business again (plus it will give me a better outlet than PTA for my time!).

Oh, X’s hockey team won his league championship, on Glee’s birthday! It was nice, we got to go watch the game (I haven’t watched a hockey game in AGES), and although it was late (we didn’t get home until almost midnight) it was a lot of fun. Glee and Thomas both had soccer that day too, opening day. Glee’s team lost 2-0, and Thomas’ team doesn’t keep score yet, but they have a ringer on their team, and we had to have a talk with Thomas about TEAM sports and how when someone on your team scores, it benefits the WHOLE team. He was mad because he couldn’t get the ball. We are working on the team thing still…

So there you go. Lots of news but nothing earth shattering, just stuff.

Republican women

This has really been bugging me. Why on earth do the republicans think that just because Sarah Palin is a woman it means women will vote for her? Did people vote for Hillary JUST because she was a woman or was there something else, like, maybe, you had the same views as she did on some key matters. I will say this now, I did NOT vote for Hillary because a key issue for me is gun control and she is (apparently) very soft on gun control.

So, Sarah Palin, who is a creationist, anti-choice, governor for not even 2 years, and women should just be happy she is breaking in? She's cashing in on the 18 million cracks? Man, it just bugs me that there are people who will vote for someone based on their sex, race, or any other reason that the candidate didn't have any say in. Seriously, how stupid do the republicans think we are? I think I am even more appalled because of two different views I have been exposed to recently. Two different men whose opinions I have come across really disturb me. The first one that bugged me was a guy who said a woman couldn't be president because women don't have the ability to say when someone should die. Women are "life-givers" and therefore would not be able to sign an execution warrant, or hire a hit man, or pull the trigger to kill someone, or decide where our military should go to kill people. Hmm. The other said that people should vote for Palin because "she's hot." By that he meant that she had every bit as much experience as Barack Obama (despite the fact that she still lists PTA as one of her volunteer positions) and she is all for being a car carrying member of the NRA and getting whatever she can for her constituents in the way of tax rebates while ignoring the environment. Okay, I can see why we should put our country in her hands.

Enough politics. I just had to get that off my chest. Chuck E. Cheese was a HIT, and it was empty (LA County schools back in session today!). Park afterwards for a little, home to popsicles and then I treated the munchkins to a spa treatment (shower and then bubble bath!). Thomas is sleeping off his spa high and Glee is building zoos in Zoo Tycoon. It's off to Souplantation for dinner (Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup!) and early bedtime in anticipation of the next best thing to Christmas for moms stuck at home... first day of school!

Last Day of Summer 2008

Wow, so school starts tomorrow. Thomas will be in kindergarten, with the same teacher Glee had for kindergarten. Glee's teacher will be posted this afternoon, after the office closes, so they won't have to deal with any parents who don't like the teacher their kid got.

Today I am taking the kids to Chuck E Cheese. They don't know this yet, which makes it sort of an exciting secret I have for a little while. Thomas is helping himself to a yogurt right now and asked if I would make him an English Muffin for breakfast. I hear Glee upstairs, getting dressed, probably brushing her teeth because she is good like that.

How did I ever get such KIDS? I wonder it now, when I look at them and they can do so much for themselves. It won't be long before they don't really need us for anything. I wonder if I will always walk them to school. I imagine I always will to elementary, I mean it's a walk to the corner basically. I guess I wil always be needed for somethings, which is kind of a nice thought.

So, our Brownie troop has lost two members, and gained a couple in return. I guess it's bound to happen. I also am soccer mom to the Tigers (Glee's team). The Wild Dogs' (Thomas' team) soccer mom is the coach's wife. The first soccer games of the season start this Saturday, Tigers 10am, Wild Dogs 10:15am. I offered to do my duty as a parent and work in the snack bar on behalf of the Wild Dogs. I will probably be in charge of it for the Tigers too. Oh yeah, and didn't I say I was going to get back to work on my business? I will, really, it is one of my goals for this year.

I think my kids think I am super happy they are going back to school, but I am a little sad. I am going to miss them, more than they know. Sure, the freedom thing will be nice, but I won't have anyone to go anywhere with for the year, and sometimes the quiet is really too loud. I know they will be getting their top notch grade school education, but it's still strange to think they will be spending more time with strangers now than with their parents. Just think what I will be like when they go off to college (man, that's only 10 years away for Glee and 13 for Thomas!).