Fall Festival

Since school started I don't really get many chances to spend time with just Brooke so I was very excited to take her to her school Fall Festival Fund Raiser (at $20 per kid I would say they raised some funds!) just me and her. She was excited to go because it meant that she got to see her teacher on a Saturday...I have never seen a child love a teacher so much...she actually asked me if she could live with Mrs. Santos...sometimes when we are at home she will pretend that I AM Mrs. Santos and one day on the way home from school she would not stop crying because she said "I don't ever want to go to heaven because I will miss Mrs. Santos so much"....so anyway Saturday came and it was Fall Festival day and it just so happened that it poured rain ALL day.....poor girl was almost in tears thinking she would not get to see her teacher after all and I was almost in tears thinking I was not going to get out of the house....but lucky for us they just moved everything inside (like they were going to miss out on $20 per kid!!). So she dressed up in her costume and I took my little princess up to the school. We spent two hours up there and we had an absolute blast!!! She jumped in the bounce houses, did a cake walk, made a button, had her face painted, played a ton of games, won candy, "bought" a megaphone...light up ring and sunglasses from the school store....we ate popcorn, a caramel apple, pizza and nachos....she got to see Mrs. Santos three times and she hugged her every time like it was the first. But best of all we got to have a mommy daughter date and spend some much needed time together. She got to see her teacher on a Saturday AND I got to get out of the house which in my book is well worth the $20!

It's A T-Shirt Feud

About 10 or 11 years ago my best friend, Carissa, had stayed the night at my house one night like she had done just about every weekend before and even after this event, but I guess when she woke up that morning she needed a shirt to wear home and my mom at the time had folded some laundry and left it on the couch (fair game!!) so Carissa grabbed a t-shirt off of the top of the pile and wore it home. The t-shirt was just a plain grey t-shirt with the words Crown Royal written in purple lettering...well as it turns out this t-shirt was apparently one of my moms favorite t-shirts and Carissa did not know it at the time...the girl just wanted to go home clothed for crying out loud...but she had started a t-shirt feud that would inevitably last for quite possibly the rest of our lives. Every time my mom and Carissa talk to this day my mom asks for the shirt back.....not because she genuinely wants it back....and Carissa will never give the shirt back....not because she loves the shirt that much....it is just all for the principal of the matter. It is actually a very funny thing to watch from the side lines because in the beginning my mom thought that Carissa took it on purpose when truth of the matter was Carissa took it because it was on top of the pile. Carissa once took a picture of the t-shirt and gave it to my mom for mothers day because she said that was as close as my mom would ever get to getting her shirt back, she has even said that she will be buried in the shirt just so my mom can't take it back. Carissa came over last night and she was wearing the shirt so we took a picture and sent it to my mom, it is funny what a silly t-shirt has turned in to and now every time I see it I can't help but laugh.

Operation Find A House AND Where Did Honey Go??

A year ago we moved in with my step dad as a "temporary" thing after my husband was laid off from his job. Somehow temporary turned out to be more long term because things just worked out well and we have not been in a real hurry to go anywhere...plus who really likes moving. Well now that Will is stable in his job AND got a significant raise we have decided that it is time for our own space again. I feel like I just turned 18 and am moving out for the first time...I am so freaking excited to get our own house and have our own space. There are at least a million things about this situation that make me excited, but a few of them in no particular order are....getting my things out of storage....decorating and organizing....my children having AND sleeping in their own rooms....getting able to stay home with Paige at our OWN house....and having or NOT having people over when I want. The last year has brought on many changes and I can't wait to find a house....I started looking today but since we want to keep Brooke at the same school our looking options are pretty limited, but I am sure God will put us right where we are supposed to be. Another thing that has happened in our lives lately is Paige has developed somewhat of an imaginary friend. I had noticed her saying "Honey" a lot while she was playing and I thought it rather odd because we don't say Honey so I don't know where she picked it up but I did not think to much about it. It wasn't until the other day when we were driving to go pick sister up from school and Paige was in the back seat talking....literally having a conversation....with Honey that I realized for the first time that Honey was her friend. In observation I have learned, however, that Honey is not always around...sometimes you can ask Paige where Honey is and she will say "I no see her"...she also asks me "Where did Honey go"...she has even blinked her eyes over and over in an effort to make her appear. A lot of times Honey is outside...but most of the times we are in the car Honey is with us...matter of fact today I heard from the back seat big huge belly laughs....Paige was CRACKING UP!!! when I asked her what was going on she told me that "Honey tickling me". Honey has left me pondering many things as I am not too sure what to think about the whole imaginary friend thing, but it is pretty interesting to say the least.

Being The Mom Of A Kindergartner

In all the things I have had to do in my five years of motherhood...I would certainly say that nothing compares to being the mom of a kindergartner. It is stressful and overwhelming at times, but it seems like most days I am left with question marks floating around in my head. She is learning 50 million things at one time so when she gets home at night I have to somehow figure how to balance our usual evening routine with handwriting, reading, math, vocab words and what ever other random projects they may be doing at the time. The part I have found to be the most difficult is going through the mounds of paper she brings home everyday and deciphering what is homework, what was class work, what needs to be returned and how it needs to be done. Brooke is not very good at communicating with me what is expected of her so that leaves me to try to figure it out. This past week she was sent home with a square piece of poster board and attached was a note that stated they would be studying the Three Little Pigs (I am still trying to figure out what there is to "study" about the Three Little Pigs) and they wanted each kindergartner to make a house. The house could be made out of sticks, straw or bricks but it had to fit on the poster board. The note gave examples of houses made in the past like red play dough for bricks....toothpicks for sticks and wheat for straw...anyway you get the idea....well here was my internal dilemma...I could not for the life of me decide weather this "house" was supposed to be glued to the poster board OR if it was supposed to be a 3D house that sat on top of the poster board...I literally went back and forth with my self all weekend. I even asked my friend and she had confirmed what I was thinking.....NO WAY was it supposed to be a 3D house! Did some KINDERGARTNER out there REALLY make a 3D house out of toothpicks??? NO FREAKING WAY!!! So we gathered up some pine needles (straw) and she glued the pine needles on the poster board in the shape of a house complete with a door and a window...then when it dried she colored the whole thing like she wanted it. I thought it looked pretty good so I put it in her back pack and dropped her off at school...as I was getting ready to leave I looked in my rear view mirror to see a little girl carrying a two story mansion on top of her poster bored....you are kidding me right??? So now I am wondering did we do the project wrong or is that girls mom Martha Stewart? Should I email the teacher or just leave it alone...after all she is in Kindergarten what do they really expect from her...it wasn't MY project. This whole experience has left me rather worried because if a kindergarten project can stress me out this much I am not sure I will last for the remaining 12 years she is in school.

My First Chiropractic Experience

So here I was day six of back pain with no real end in sight. I have tried heat, ice, rest, stretching Tylenol...I was running out of ideas. Well last night at church as I was walking in my newly found "halfway up" position my friend told me about this chiropractor that is near our house. So being who I am I of course came home and googled her website and read through the whole thing and decided that I was indeed going to go today. There were a few things about her that I liked...she does not make appointments you just come in when you need (obviously between opening hours).....and she does not charge a set fee, there is simply a box on the wall (literally) and you put in the box whatever you can afford....being a mom of two small children BOTH of these things appealed to me. I woke up this morning and decided I was going to go when my husband got home so he could watch the kids (well Paige was the one I was worried about really) cause how in the world was I going to get my back looked at and try to keep an eye on kids. Well when my husband told me he wasn't going to be home until after 5:30...that seemed like light years away in "my back is KILLING me" time...so YOU KNOW it must have really been hurting me if I decided that I would take Paige with me. I was very worried about this, but at this point I didn't really care too much...so I let her sleep until 9 am so she wouldn't be tired...I packed her backpack full of toys and snacks and off we went. I didn't really know what to expect because I had never been to a chiropractor before, but when we got there the cutest and sweetest girl introduced herself and asked if Paige would like to play in the toy room while me and her visited...she had me at toy room....anyway I learned A LOT and after being adjusted I have my full upright position back!! This lady was the coolest person ever...her attitude and her spirit lit up the room...and when we were talking and Paige somehow found her way into the Dr's. office and into her purse to find AND eat her banana she wasn't even mad....but the coolest part of it all was that she is actually also a pediatric chiropractor and even adjusted Paige...or as she explained to Paige she got all the popcorn out of her body. She explained to me and showed me all the benefits of being adjusted even as young as Paige....and for the rest of the day Paige has walked around exclaiming..."My Popcorn's Gone"! I most certainly will be seeing Dr. Rachel again she was absolutely wonderful...and being able to stand up again is not too shabby either!

A Minor Set Back

Well it all really started on Saturday, I think, when I woke up I noticed that my lower back was unusually sore. My back is always in some sort of pain (especially when I wake up....I really need to invest in a new mattress) but this was a different kind of pain. It wasn't however unbearable so I took some Tylenol and went on about my day. By Saturday night it was hurting worse and by Sunday, as I had told my friend, I was trying to decide if it was a pulled muscle or my kidneys that were bothering me. I have had numerous kidney problems over the years and have even been hospitalized for it so that was certainly not out of my realm of thinking...but I just couldn't put my finger on it. I came home from church and laid on a heating pad and it started to feel better. Woke up this morning and went on a walk with my friend and our kids (pulling a wagon) and by the time I got home from our walk I could no longer stand in an upright position. I mean that sucker hurts like heck!!! If I move a certain way (or really any way for that matter) it almost takes my breathe away. I literally got stuck on the couch and had to get my five year old to help me up. I have NO clue what-so-ever I would have done to make my back hurt this bad but one thing I know for sure is I hope it starts to feel better sooner rather than later because being in charge of Paige 24 hours a day requires speed and lets just say that I have the speed of an 80 year old turtle. She ran out the door at one point today and by the time I could even get up to get to the door she was half way across the yard already swinging on her swing set. She has literally been running the household today and that does not make for a very good situation for anyone involved.