Showing posts with label Lexie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lexie. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
I'm a Grandma!
Meet my new grandson. His name is Charlie. Born 9 days overdue on August 16, 2010 at 8:17pm. He was 8 pounds and 5 ounces and 20.5 inches
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Itty Bitty Kitty
Rest in Peace Little Itty Bitty Kitty.
My 19 yr old daughter, Lexie found an abandoned baby kitten. There were two of them on the edge of the parking lot, but only this one survived. Since Lexie's cat had kittens 3 weeks prior, she took the baby kitten home and added it to the litter.
The mama cat licked it and nursed it and let it join the family, but she didn't give it the extra care it needed as a newborn. She was treating it like the older kitties. He wasn't getting enough nursing nor enough snuggling, so Lexie bottle fed it and kept it snuggled safe and warm.
When Lexie was at work, we babysat the kitten. That was fun!
He lived for ten days under Lexie's care. One day his eye puffed up and was infected. Two days later, he wasn't feeling well. Meowing and not taking his bottle. She took him to the vet. While she was waiting to be seen, the kitten died in her hands. The vet couldn't believe she had kept him alive at all. Apparently, the kitten was premature and didn't have a chance.
My 19 yr old daughter, Lexie found an abandoned baby kitten. There were two of them on the edge of the parking lot, but only this one survived. Since Lexie's cat had kittens 3 weeks prior, she took the baby kitten home and added it to the litter.
The mama cat licked it and nursed it and let it join the family, but she didn't give it the extra care it needed as a newborn. She was treating it like the older kitties. He wasn't getting enough nursing nor enough snuggling, so Lexie bottle fed it and kept it snuggled safe and warm.
When Lexie was at work, we babysat the kitten. That was fun!
He lived for ten days under Lexie's care. One day his eye puffed up and was infected. Two days later, he wasn't feeling well. Meowing and not taking his bottle. She took him to the vet. While she was waiting to be seen, the kitten died in her hands. The vet couldn't believe she had kept him alive at all. Apparently, the kitten was premature and didn't have a chance.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Happy Birthday, Lexie!
My daughter, Lexie, turns 19 today.
She was born in Minnestota 11 days over due and she was my easiest delivery. I wasn't in labor but I had an appointment for a stress test and a possible induction. We first stopped at the radio station where my husband was moonlighting as a DJ and they let him get on the air. He announced to the world (as far as the radio waves would go anyway) that we were on our way to the hospital to have our baby and his wife was outside in the truck. He said he'd better go and get her to the hospital, but he neglected to mention that I was not in labor! I'm sure people thought I was out in the truck moaning and groaning with labor pain! What a goof. We got to the hospital and they so kindly offered to let me go home and wait it out and I said "I am not leaving her without a baby in my arms!" My good friend pitocin convinced her to be born that afternoon. After she was born, Keith called the radio station and they put him on the air. He announced all the details: Girl, 7 lbs 2oz, jet black hair, cries like a champ. It was June 6th when we finally named her. She was just "Baby Girl" for a while.
Her first year was rough, she had colic and food allergies. She was really cute! She had a whole bunch of hair. A mouthful of teeth at 5 months, they all came in at once, fast and furious. She walked at 10 months and talked early too.
When she was three, she saw her first movie at the theater. Lion King. She wanted to know why the mommy lion couldn't be the king. I knew I had a budding feminist on my hands. She rode her tricycle into the ground that year too when she rode in a trike-a-thon and wore out the axel. She got a prize for that. At six, she started kindergarten and got her first ice cream cone. When she was eleven, a kid in her class took his scissors and cut off a lock of her hair in class. From then on out it seemed like her life revolved around her hair. Teen years were spent dying it, straightening it, spending all kinds of time on it.
Lexie's baby is due Aug 5th. She decided to name her baby Charlie Matthew. I'm really excited for her and hope her delivery is easy like she was. I sure hope Charlie sleeps better than she ever did. She didn't figure out the sleeping thing until she was a teenager and then she overcompensated.
She was a great kid. Although this last year, the 18th year, by far my hardest one as her mom. So freaking happy that the 18th year is over! Welcome, 19!!! So happy that Lexie's birthday is here and a new year of her life begins! Hope its a good one!
Just to get this 19th year off to a great start, I spent the day with her and it was so nice! We took the little girls to the park, went out for lunch and had Pazookies! (warm cookie with a scoop of ice cream on top). After that we took Lexie to get a pedicure which she just loved and then we went shopping for a birthday outfit for her. She got a skirt and two tank tops. Gracie and Libby love their big sis so much, it was a nice day for all of us. I'm so happy that we celebrated her birthday together.
Happy Birthday, Lexie!
She was born in Minnestota 11 days over due and she was my easiest delivery. I wasn't in labor but I had an appointment for a stress test and a possible induction. We first stopped at the radio station where my husband was moonlighting as a DJ and they let him get on the air. He announced to the world (as far as the radio waves would go anyway) that we were on our way to the hospital to have our baby and his wife was outside in the truck. He said he'd better go and get her to the hospital, but he neglected to mention that I was not in labor! I'm sure people thought I was out in the truck moaning and groaning with labor pain! What a goof. We got to the hospital and they so kindly offered to let me go home and wait it out and I said "I am not leaving her without a baby in my arms!" My good friend pitocin convinced her to be born that afternoon. After she was born, Keith called the radio station and they put him on the air. He announced all the details: Girl, 7 lbs 2oz, jet black hair, cries like a champ. It was June 6th when we finally named her. She was just "Baby Girl" for a while.
Her first year was rough, she had colic and food allergies. She was really cute! She had a whole bunch of hair. A mouthful of teeth at 5 months, they all came in at once, fast and furious. She walked at 10 months and talked early too.
When she was three, she saw her first movie at the theater. Lion King. She wanted to know why the mommy lion couldn't be the king. I knew I had a budding feminist on my hands. She rode her tricycle into the ground that year too when she rode in a trike-a-thon and wore out the axel. She got a prize for that. At six, she started kindergarten and got her first ice cream cone. When she was eleven, a kid in her class took his scissors and cut off a lock of her hair in class. From then on out it seemed like her life revolved around her hair. Teen years were spent dying it, straightening it, spending all kinds of time on it.
Lexie's baby is due Aug 5th. She decided to name her baby Charlie Matthew. I'm really excited for her and hope her delivery is easy like she was. I sure hope Charlie sleeps better than she ever did. She didn't figure out the sleeping thing until she was a teenager and then she overcompensated.
She was a great kid. Although this last year, the 18th year, by far my hardest one as her mom. So freaking happy that the 18th year is over! Welcome, 19!!! So happy that Lexie's birthday is here and a new year of her life begins! Hope its a good one!
Just to get this 19th year off to a great start, I spent the day with her and it was so nice! We took the little girls to the park, went out for lunch and had Pazookies! (warm cookie with a scoop of ice cream on top). After that we took Lexie to get a pedicure which she just loved and then we went shopping for a birthday outfit for her. She got a skirt and two tank tops. Gracie and Libby love their big sis so much, it was a nice day for all of us. I'm so happy that we celebrated her birthday together.
Happy Birthday, Lexie!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
TGI Fridays Has Nice Clean Floors!
I checked!
As I lay there all sprawled out all over the floor at TGI Fridays earlier today, I thought to myself... "How nice! The floor is very clean"
You see, I had this coupon for a free meal at TGIF and so I took my daughters there for lunch. Turns out, the coupon expired yesterday so we could have gone to any restaurant but here we were. Our first trip to TGIF in 5 or 6 yrs. Anyway... we were seated at a table, not one of those sturdy booths, but a table with separate chairs. Apparently this isn't an issue for most people and I had no idea I was "chair challenged". I am.
We already ordered and were just waiting. Lexie was taking pictures of Libby who was "reading " the beer menu book. Gracie was coloring her placemat. I thought Libby needed something better to entertain herself than pictures of beer, so I lean over to reach into my diaper bag and I reached too deep in there. Reached beyond the limits. My chair slid right out from under me and flew sideways then hit the floor with a loud clatter! My body went flying out into the aisle, feet in the air, and I did a spread eagle belly flop onto the tile floor. Thud!
I drew a crowd. There were a bazillion legs all around me real fast. Everyone was saying "ARE YOU OK????" And I was thinking, "Oh thank God there wasn't a bunch of ketchup and crumbs all over the floor"
And that's how I know that the floors are clean at the Temecula TGI Fridays. Yes, indeed.
***Answers to your questions: No, Lexie did not get a photo. She regrets that her compassion overpowered her and she didn't think of taking a picture even though she had her camera in her hand. I, on the other hand, am relieved. No, they didn't comp my meal! I didn't even get a free desert!
As I lay there all sprawled out all over the floor at TGI Fridays earlier today, I thought to myself... "How nice! The floor is very clean"
You see, I had this coupon for a free meal at TGIF and so I took my daughters there for lunch. Turns out, the coupon expired yesterday so we could have gone to any restaurant but here we were. Our first trip to TGIF in 5 or 6 yrs. Anyway... we were seated at a table, not one of those sturdy booths, but a table with separate chairs. Apparently this isn't an issue for most people and I had no idea I was "chair challenged". I am.
We already ordered and were just waiting. Lexie was taking pictures of Libby who was "reading " the beer menu book. Gracie was coloring her placemat. I thought Libby needed something better to entertain herself than pictures of beer, so I lean over to reach into my diaper bag and I reached too deep in there. Reached beyond the limits. My chair slid right out from under me and flew sideways then hit the floor with a loud clatter! My body went flying out into the aisle, feet in the air, and I did a spread eagle belly flop onto the tile floor. Thud!
I drew a crowd. There were a bazillion legs all around me real fast. Everyone was saying "ARE YOU OK????" And I was thinking, "Oh thank God there wasn't a bunch of ketchup and crumbs all over the floor"
And that's how I know that the floors are clean at the Temecula TGI Fridays. Yes, indeed.
***Answers to your questions: No, Lexie did not get a photo. She regrets that her compassion overpowered her and she didn't think of taking a picture even though she had her camera in her hand. I, on the other hand, am relieved. No, they didn't comp my meal! I didn't even get a free desert!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
The Day the Librarians Rejoiced
Another oldie but goody. This one isn't quite so funny, but it's a good story.
When Lexie was three and four years old, I took her to storytime at the library every Tuesday. Or maybe it was every Thursday, no, I think it was Tuesdays. She's 18 now, I've forgotten the little things that don't really matter.
Anyway, we were regulars at Preschool Storytime. Lexie called all the librarians "Shirley". Do you know how long I thought they were all named Shirley! Too long! None of them were actually named Shirley, it's just that Lexie named them. I called them Shirley for years. Honestly, I kept thinking things like "I thought that one was Shirley, I mixed them up again, Are there two Shirleys? Must be." Anyway...
One Tuesday (or whatever day it was), Lexie had a playdate before storytime and we decided to meet up at the library and I'd get Lexie back there. Lexie went with her little friends and their mommy and I ran some errands before I headed to the library for storytime. I got there a little early. Catch that? Me! Early! I went to the library alone. This is a crucial element to this whole story!
I walked in with the previous week's pile of books, sauntered up to the front desk and smiled said hello, dropped the books in the return cart... noticed the Shirleys were all staring at me. They were, they were just staring at me like I walked in naked or something. No, not that... they would have been screaming and hiding their faces... anyway, I got the big eyed silent stare from all of them.
None of them said anything for a bit, and then the head Shirley said, "How are you? Are you ok?" Usually people only ask me if I'm ok or if I'm sick if I'm wearing a green shirt. I replied, "Fine, How are you?". Me, smiling. Them, staring with sober faces. They said, "We didn't think we would see you here today". I said, "Here I am!".
I didn't know what was wrong with the Shirleys, but I was done being stared at so I went to the table where us mommies usually gather to visit. Still kind of early. The Shirleys were staring at me and whispering. I could feel it.
Then the kids and mommies started to arrive, coming in just the nick of time was my friend with a herd of kids. Lexie was one of them, she had one more stray, and the rest were hers.
As soon as Michele showed up, that's my friend's name, Michele with one L, the Shirleys all rushed to the front door, holding it open for her and gushing over Lexie. They were kind of ignoring the rest of her brood. The Shirleys were overjoyed to see my daughter! "Oh Lexie! Oh Lexie! We are so happy to see you! Such a nice surprise!" Huh? Wonder what the Shirleys put in their morning coffee today?
The Head Shirley, she was wiping back tears and she herded all the kids to the nametag table and told Lexie to wait a minute, her nametag wasn't out. It was in the Libraian's office. The other Shirleys are still smiling and patting Lexie on the head. Again, huh?
Head Shirley comes back with the nametag and another Shirley follows. Second Shirley is carrying the Sioux Falls Argus Leader on a stick. You know how libraries put newspapers on a big long stick? I always thought that was pretty cool. The Head Shirley has herself composed again and shuffles all the kids into the next room for storytime. Newspaper on a stick Shirley lays the paper down on the table in front of me and points to an obituary.
With watery eyes, she told me that they thought Lexie passed away. And they were so very sad to see this obituary this morning for a 4 yr old little girl with the same first and last name as my daughter. The mom's name was the same or similar to mine to too. And when I came in alone, they knew it was true.
I had no idea that's what they were thinking! The obit was a complete coincidence, no relation or anything. Lexie was happy and healthy and all the Shirleys were delighted to see her. And my bizarre behavior was suddenly clear to them, as theirs was to me.
I bought a paper and saved the obit in her baby book. Just as a reminder that there are no guarantees in life, but there is a lot of love and caring for my sweet little Lexie. Even when she is just fine!
When Lexie was three and four years old, I took her to storytime at the library every Tuesday. Or maybe it was every Thursday, no, I think it was Tuesdays. She's 18 now, I've forgotten the little things that don't really matter.
Anyway, we were regulars at Preschool Storytime. Lexie called all the librarians "Shirley". Do you know how long I thought they were all named Shirley! Too long! None of them were actually named Shirley, it's just that Lexie named them. I called them Shirley for years. Honestly, I kept thinking things like "I thought that one was Shirley, I mixed them up again, Are there two Shirleys? Must be." Anyway...
One Tuesday (or whatever day it was), Lexie had a playdate before storytime and we decided to meet up at the library and I'd get Lexie back there. Lexie went with her little friends and their mommy and I ran some errands before I headed to the library for storytime. I got there a little early. Catch that? Me! Early! I went to the library alone. This is a crucial element to this whole story!
I walked in with the previous week's pile of books, sauntered up to the front desk and smiled said hello, dropped the books in the return cart... noticed the Shirleys were all staring at me. They were, they were just staring at me like I walked in naked or something. No, not that... they would have been screaming and hiding their faces... anyway, I got the big eyed silent stare from all of them.
None of them said anything for a bit, and then the head Shirley said, "How are you? Are you ok?" Usually people only ask me if I'm ok or if I'm sick if I'm wearing a green shirt. I replied, "Fine, How are you?". Me, smiling. Them, staring with sober faces. They said, "We didn't think we would see you here today". I said, "Here I am!".
I didn't know what was wrong with the Shirleys, but I was done being stared at so I went to the table where us mommies usually gather to visit. Still kind of early. The Shirleys were staring at me and whispering. I could feel it.
Then the kids and mommies started to arrive, coming in just the nick of time was my friend with a herd of kids. Lexie was one of them, she had one more stray, and the rest were hers.
As soon as Michele showed up, that's my friend's name, Michele with one L, the Shirleys all rushed to the front door, holding it open for her and gushing over Lexie. They were kind of ignoring the rest of her brood. The Shirleys were overjoyed to see my daughter! "Oh Lexie! Oh Lexie! We are so happy to see you! Such a nice surprise!" Huh? Wonder what the Shirleys put in their morning coffee today?
The Head Shirley, she was wiping back tears and she herded all the kids to the nametag table and told Lexie to wait a minute, her nametag wasn't out. It was in the Libraian's office. The other Shirleys are still smiling and patting Lexie on the head. Again, huh?
Head Shirley comes back with the nametag and another Shirley follows. Second Shirley is carrying the Sioux Falls Argus Leader on a stick. You know how libraries put newspapers on a big long stick? I always thought that was pretty cool. The Head Shirley has herself composed again and shuffles all the kids into the next room for storytime. Newspaper on a stick Shirley lays the paper down on the table in front of me and points to an obituary.
With watery eyes, she told me that they thought Lexie passed away. And they were so very sad to see this obituary this morning for a 4 yr old little girl with the same first and last name as my daughter. The mom's name was the same or similar to mine to too. And when I came in alone, they knew it was true.
I had no idea that's what they were thinking! The obit was a complete coincidence, no relation or anything. Lexie was happy and healthy and all the Shirleys were delighted to see her. And my bizarre behavior was suddenly clear to them, as theirs was to me.
I bought a paper and saved the obit in her baby book. Just as a reminder that there are no guarantees in life, but there is a lot of love and caring for my sweet little Lexie. Even when she is just fine!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
18 years ago...
Way back in the olden days, before every home had 3 PCs and a laptop, before cell phones, before the ipod, before dvd, before dvr, before flat screen tv, before Hannah Montana, before we moved to California.... yes, on this day way back in 1991... Lexie was born!
We didn't know if she would be a boy or a girl, but we assumed that a boy was coming along since the pregnancy was very different. This kid gave me morning sickness for months, and didn't even limit it to mornings. She had the hiccups all the time! And the doc promised me that she was going to break my tailbone during delivery. A rebel before she was even born!
She was due to arrive May 23rd. Her big sister asked ten times a day for weeks and weeks "Is it May 23rd yet?" Even after that day came and went, I still told her, no, not yet.
On June 3rd, I woke up still hopelessly pregnant with no signs that this would ever end. Luckily, this was induction day! Yippeee! We all piled in the truck, Katie sat in the jump seat in the king cab part, and we headed out of town a couple of miles to the radio station. I forgot the call letters, hmmm... KPHR? They called it Pow-Pow-Power 104FM. Keith ran in and they put him on the air. He said "I just stopped in to say that we are on our way to the hospital to have our baby. My wife is out in the truck. Well, I suppose I should get going". He neglected to mention that I wasn't out there screaming in agonizing labor pains! Hahahaha!
After dropping Katie off at daycare, we crossed the border got to the hospital on the other side. We had our first daughter in South Dakota, this one was going to be a Minnesotan. First thing they did was a stress test; baby was fine. I could either go home or start the pitocin. Go home? Are you nuts? I'm sick of being pregnant! The doc said it would be anytime ever since I was 8 mths along back in April and now I'm 10 mths along with no end in sight - I wasn't leaving!
Lexie was born at 4pm. Well, she wasn't actually "Lexie" yet. She was "Girl". We were so excited that our daughter got a baby sister! Two girls! Now, we had the task of trying to name this cutie little girl. Honestly, that was the hard part! She got her name on June 5th.
And that is how it happened a long long time ago, back in the olden days before satellite radio and GPS in your car, 18 long years ago.
Happy Birthday, Sweet Lexie!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Bridezilla, Gradzilla, Pottyzilla and Boobyzilla
They aren't princesses every day. Lately, they are more monster than they are princess.
Bridezilla. There is only three weeks until her wedding. She has a ton of things to do! She is really feeling the pressure of deadlines now. In the last couple of weeks, she's gotten a lot done! But, there's always more. So very much more! Her bridesmaids, all six of them, don't know how to be bridesmaids! They should be helping her, but these bridesmaids are all pretty young and are not educated in the fine art of bridesmaidery. One of them told her that it is the job of the Mother of the Bride to plan and hostess a Bridal Shower, so go ask your mom when and where it is. This Mother of the Bride wasn't planning on throwing a bridal shower, this MOB was planning to attend one! I don't think the bridesmaids know that I was finishing college, and have 4 kids and a house being redone, and not enough hours in the day! So, they decided that since Katie's mom flipped out and is mean and horrible and isn't supportive of her bride daughter, they felt sorry for her and planned a Bridal Shower. The theme is panties. I'm invited. Hmm, That's what I get for not doing it myself I guess, oh well, it's a bridal shower and that's all that matters at this point. In the meantime, Bridezilla wants me to "help" (meaning do it and she'll let me know how I should have done it better but its fine the way it is) make boutonnieres for the men, find and decorate a garden arch for the ceremony, pick up and set up the cake on wedding day, get bubbles and make the containers all weddingish, teach Gracie how to walk like a flowergirl, and whatever else she can come up with. I should just be ready to jump in and do anything that needs to be done, and why oh why do I have to bring the little girls with me everywhere I go? Geez, Mom!
Gradzilla is extremely apathetic and does all she can to avoid talking about her high school graduation. We don't even have senior pictures done yet! Or announcements! I finally figured this out. Maybe she's avoiding because she isn't going to graduate. Hmmm. So, I called the school counselor in a panic. Sure enough, she's graduating, but she still has time to blow it. We're throwing a graduation party for her the Sunday after graduation. She's not so sure she'll show up. Ha, kid, I'll chain you to the fence, you will be there for your own party! (I won't really, but a mom can threaten) We're having "The Taco Man" cater the party and we'll have Karaoke going on too. We've got about 50 people coming. Of course, they'd all like a graduation announcement, that would be nice. I'm going to make one and use her kindergarten picture. Bet that'll get her to cooperate in a hurry! Her 18th birthday is a week before graduation. She is pretty sure that means Freedom! Little does she know, she lives under my dictatorship! Hahaha!
Pottyzilla is peeing everywhere! What is up with the sudden piddle puddles all over the place! When does the potty training end and accidents become a thing of the past? She's not always in the mood to go potty, sometimes she just cannot be bothered with such nonsense. I'm running out of ideas to motivate her. But, the other day I thought of a good one! I put her baby sister on the potty! And guess what! The baby peed on the potty! Not to be outdone, Gracie suddenly wanted to go too. And she did! The next day, I did it again and baby sister peed on the potty again! Not even 8 months old and she was showing up her big sis. Since then I haven't been lucky enough to get the timing right for a repeat performance, but she got the idea that if the baby can do it, she can too. In the meantime, she's peeing all over the place like a scared puppy. Driving me crazy!
Bobbyzilla still won't eat. She sure enjoys finger painting with her baby food. She loves to let the dog lick it off of her fingers! She gets it everywhere except near her mouth! Oh the faces she makes! We think she has food allergies, but not sure what all is included in her allergies if she really does have them. One day she had baby food bananas, she of course hated it. But she got enough of a taste that she broke out in hives. Another day, she picked up her big sister's banana peel and stuck that in her mouth (because anything on the floor is good to eat!) and she broke out in hives. I'm pretty sure she's allergic to bananas. I asked the pediatrician about her not eating, no desire to eat. She only nurses! The pediatrician said she's 20 lbs, stop worrying. She'll eat someday. And if she isn't eating in a few months we'll have her tested for food allergies. I think I'll have her tested anyway because of the banana reactions.
All four of the girls are busy in their own way. All of them going in their own direction. Busy with their own thing. And there is four of them and only one of me! Yikes! I'm doing my best to keep up as Mother of the Bride, Mother of the Grad, Potty Training Teacher and Breastfeeder Extrodinaire. But lately, I'm more of a monster-tamer in this four-ring circus!
Bridezilla. There is only three weeks until her wedding. She has a ton of things to do! She is really feeling the pressure of deadlines now. In the last couple of weeks, she's gotten a lot done! But, there's always more. So very much more! Her bridesmaids, all six of them, don't know how to be bridesmaids! They should be helping her, but these bridesmaids are all pretty young and are not educated in the fine art of bridesmaidery. One of them told her that it is the job of the Mother of the Bride to plan and hostess a Bridal Shower, so go ask your mom when and where it is. This Mother of the Bride wasn't planning on throwing a bridal shower, this MOB was planning to attend one! I don't think the bridesmaids know that I was finishing college, and have 4 kids and a house being redone, and not enough hours in the day! So, they decided that since Katie's mom flipped out and is mean and horrible and isn't supportive of her bride daughter, they felt sorry for her and planned a Bridal Shower. The theme is panties. I'm invited. Hmm, That's what I get for not doing it myself I guess, oh well, it's a bridal shower and that's all that matters at this point. In the meantime, Bridezilla wants me to "help" (meaning do it and she'll let me know how I should have done it better but its fine the way it is) make boutonnieres for the men, find and decorate a garden arch for the ceremony, pick up and set up the cake on wedding day, get bubbles and make the containers all weddingish, teach Gracie how to walk like a flowergirl, and whatever else she can come up with. I should just be ready to jump in and do anything that needs to be done, and why oh why do I have to bring the little girls with me everywhere I go? Geez, Mom!
Gradzilla is extremely apathetic and does all she can to avoid talking about her high school graduation. We don't even have senior pictures done yet! Or announcements! I finally figured this out. Maybe she's avoiding because she isn't going to graduate. Hmmm. So, I called the school counselor in a panic. Sure enough, she's graduating, but she still has time to blow it. We're throwing a graduation party for her the Sunday after graduation. She's not so sure she'll show up. Ha, kid, I'll chain you to the fence, you will be there for your own party! (I won't really, but a mom can threaten) We're having "The Taco Man" cater the party and we'll have Karaoke going on too. We've got about 50 people coming. Of course, they'd all like a graduation announcement, that would be nice. I'm going to make one and use her kindergarten picture. Bet that'll get her to cooperate in a hurry! Her 18th birthday is a week before graduation. She is pretty sure that means Freedom! Little does she know, she lives under my dictatorship! Hahaha!
Pottyzilla is peeing everywhere! What is up with the sudden piddle puddles all over the place! When does the potty training end and accidents become a thing of the past? She's not always in the mood to go potty, sometimes she just cannot be bothered with such nonsense. I'm running out of ideas to motivate her. But, the other day I thought of a good one! I put her baby sister on the potty! And guess what! The baby peed on the potty! Not to be outdone, Gracie suddenly wanted to go too. And she did! The next day, I did it again and baby sister peed on the potty again! Not even 8 months old and she was showing up her big sis. Since then I haven't been lucky enough to get the timing right for a repeat performance, but she got the idea that if the baby can do it, she can too. In the meantime, she's peeing all over the place like a scared puppy. Driving me crazy!
Bobbyzilla still won't eat. She sure enjoys finger painting with her baby food. She loves to let the dog lick it off of her fingers! She gets it everywhere except near her mouth! Oh the faces she makes! We think she has food allergies, but not sure what all is included in her allergies if she really does have them. One day she had baby food bananas, she of course hated it. But she got enough of a taste that she broke out in hives. Another day, she picked up her big sister's banana peel and stuck that in her mouth (because anything on the floor is good to eat!) and she broke out in hives. I'm pretty sure she's allergic to bananas. I asked the pediatrician about her not eating, no desire to eat. She only nurses! The pediatrician said she's 20 lbs, stop worrying. She'll eat someday. And if she isn't eating in a few months we'll have her tested for food allergies. I think I'll have her tested anyway because of the banana reactions.
All four of the girls are busy in their own way. All of them going in their own direction. Busy with their own thing. And there is four of them and only one of me! Yikes! I'm doing my best to keep up as Mother of the Bride, Mother of the Grad, Potty Training Teacher and Breastfeeder Extrodinaire. But lately, I'm more of a monster-tamer in this four-ring circus!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!
Today, Lexie starts orientation and training at The Big Cheese. She got hired to work at this new pizza place going in by the movie theater.
She is still working at Shakey's Pizza over by the mall and at Little Caesar's Pizza which is conveniently located just down the street.
Count them... 1... 2... 3... THREE pizza jobs!
Crazy Teenager!
Now, here's a couple of twists: Little Caesar's knows she works at Shakey's but not at Big Cheese. Big Cheese thinks she quit her other two jobs, and Shakey's doesn't know she added the other two. Potentially, she could get fired three times in one day when she spills the beans, er, pepperoni.
Also, our next door neighbor is a manager for Shakey's Corporate. She is the Shakey's Big Cheese! We're just waiting for her to see Lexie coming in and out of the house wearing a different pizza uniform. That might be fun to see the neighbor's expression, but things could unravel fast for my pizza-teen. See twist #1.
Interesting to note: She isn't all that crazy about pizza. She moderately enjoys it, but she doesn't love it. She couldn't eat it for half of her life because she had food allergies until she was older. And here she is, living the pizza life.
Being the old nag that I am, I told her she has to keep her grades in shape and graduate or she's taking time off from all of her pizza jobs and I'm taking her keys. Pizza cannot become your life until after you have a high school diploma in your hand! A signed diploma!!! Mean, aren't I? Even when they are all grown up and they know it all, a mom has to set limits, define boundaries, and threaten their invinsible young lives.
She is still working at Shakey's Pizza over by the mall and at Little Caesar's Pizza which is conveniently located just down the street.
Count them... 1... 2... 3... THREE pizza jobs!
Crazy Teenager!
Now, here's a couple of twists: Little Caesar's knows she works at Shakey's but not at Big Cheese. Big Cheese thinks she quit her other two jobs, and Shakey's doesn't know she added the other two. Potentially, she could get fired three times in one day when she spills the beans, er, pepperoni.
Also, our next door neighbor is a manager for Shakey's Corporate. She is the Shakey's Big Cheese! We're just waiting for her to see Lexie coming in and out of the house wearing a different pizza uniform. That might be fun to see the neighbor's expression, but things could unravel fast for my pizza-teen. See twist #1.
Interesting to note: She isn't all that crazy about pizza. She moderately enjoys it, but she doesn't love it. She couldn't eat it for half of her life because she had food allergies until she was older. And here she is, living the pizza life.
Being the old nag that I am, I told her she has to keep her grades in shape and graduate or she's taking time off from all of her pizza jobs and I'm taking her keys. Pizza cannot become your life until after you have a high school diploma in your hand! A signed diploma!!! Mean, aren't I? Even when they are all grown up and they know it all, a mom has to set limits, define boundaries, and threaten their invinsible young lives.
Friday, March 27, 2009
The Girls: Katie & Lexie
The Girls. When I say “the girls” I really only mean Katie & Lexie. I guess I still haven’t completely figured out how many daughters I have. These two were always “the girls” and they always will be.
Lexie is always busy and now there are only 9 weeks left of her senior year. She has to finish her classes, complete her required community service (students are required to do 40 hrs), do her time in Saturday school, and then there is Prom, Sr. Trip, Sr. day at Knotts Berry Farm, Sr. Cruise, Grad Night, etc. And then we have to get her Sr. pictures done, make and mail announcements, finish planning her party, buy her tassel and dresses for all these occasions, etc. Her birthday is coming up too!
She still works at Shakey’s. In fact, she’s the game-room leader. She’s not as enchanted with her job as she was in the beginning. A few of the other employees have jerks and she’s had to handle some sticky situations. One guy, while working, cracks open a can of beer that he had in his apron pocket and is drinking while working – Right in front of Lexie! What’s she supposed to do? She let the management know, hey, doofus over there is drinking a beer… that ended up being quite a mess because there are 50 managers and each and every one of them was eager to show their newly acquired management skills! So, they all wanted to talk to Lexie and get the story first hand. She was sick to death of it before very long. The guy was fired.
Then another night one employee threatened another employee. Right in front of Lexie! Here we go again, and sure enough the entire management team had to talk to her one at a time. She was irritated. She said “I work in the game room! I’m secluded in a little room in the back! Why do they come in there and do stupid crap!” Luckily, she’s not afraid to say what she sees, even to the corporate big cheese. The Big Cheese happens to be our next door neighbor, so she has a familiar face which helps in these crazy situations.
Even so, Lexie is applying at a new pizza place that is opening a lot closer to our house, it’s called “The Big Cheese”. She’d rather drive 3 miles to work instead of 10. Apparently she’s figuring out gas isn’t cheap when you need plenty of it. And with her pizza experience she has a good chance of getting in there she thinks.
She is still loving her car! She is getting better at parking. It’s so nice that I can just send her on errands, or say goodbye to her when she is ready for school, and she can go do her own thing instead of having me haul her around. She's picked up a friend and gone to the beach a couple of times too. I’m loving it! I do worry though, of course. I make her call me a lot, just because I need to know she didn’t get creamed by some red light runner. One day I saw a car just like hers had been in a 3 car accident, that white car was the one squished in the middle. I had to pull over and catch my breath and look at the accident and make sure it wasn’t her. Then I called her. She was fine, but the mom warning bells were going off just because I saw the aftermath of that accident.
We still have to get her some California license plates! I keep putting off spending hours at the DMV. Blech! I’d better go do it next week.
Katie is planning her wedding for June. Less than a week after Lexie’s graduation. She bought her dress and we are venue hunting. We also need to make and mail invitations, book motel rooms, register for gifts, get her packed up to move out, and her list of things to do is endless. In fact, I don’t even know what all we need to do. Good thing she has a little wedding planner booklet that has a list. I know we need to find an officiate.
Her little hubby-to-be is in the Navy and stationed in South Carolina. While she’s wedding planning, he’s doing his Navy thing and lining up housing for them after the wedding. He only gets ten days off to fly across the country, walk down the aisle, fly back. It’ll be a whirlwind wedding for him!
She is still going to college (on occasion) and working as a bridal consultant at David’s Bridal. She’s hoping to get transferred to the store near where she will be living once she is an old married woman.
In her spare time, she listens to me nag at her to clean her room. I gotta do my mom thing while I still can. She’s also spending time with the littles lately. I think she’s realizing that moving away means exactly that, moving away. Leaving the littles will be hard for her.
Lexie is always busy and now there are only 9 weeks left of her senior year. She has to finish her classes, complete her required community service (students are required to do 40 hrs), do her time in Saturday school, and then there is Prom, Sr. Trip, Sr. day at Knotts Berry Farm, Sr. Cruise, Grad Night, etc. And then we have to get her Sr. pictures done, make and mail announcements, finish planning her party, buy her tassel and dresses for all these occasions, etc. Her birthday is coming up too!
She still works at Shakey’s. In fact, she’s the game-room leader. She’s not as enchanted with her job as she was in the beginning. A few of the other employees have jerks and she’s had to handle some sticky situations. One guy, while working, cracks open a can of beer that he had in his apron pocket and is drinking while working – Right in front of Lexie! What’s she supposed to do? She let the management know, hey, doofus over there is drinking a beer… that ended up being quite a mess because there are 50 managers and each and every one of them was eager to show their newly acquired management skills! So, they all wanted to talk to Lexie and get the story first hand. She was sick to death of it before very long. The guy was fired.
Then another night one employee threatened another employee. Right in front of Lexie! Here we go again, and sure enough the entire management team had to talk to her one at a time. She was irritated. She said “I work in the game room! I’m secluded in a little room in the back! Why do they come in there and do stupid crap!” Luckily, she’s not afraid to say what she sees, even to the corporate big cheese. The Big Cheese happens to be our next door neighbor, so she has a familiar face which helps in these crazy situations.
Even so, Lexie is applying at a new pizza place that is opening a lot closer to our house, it’s called “The Big Cheese”. She’d rather drive 3 miles to work instead of 10. Apparently she’s figuring out gas isn’t cheap when you need plenty of it. And with her pizza experience she has a good chance of getting in there she thinks.
She is still loving her car! She is getting better at parking. It’s so nice that I can just send her on errands, or say goodbye to her when she is ready for school, and she can go do her own thing instead of having me haul her around. She's picked up a friend and gone to the beach a couple of times too. I’m loving it! I do worry though, of course. I make her call me a lot, just because I need to know she didn’t get creamed by some red light runner. One day I saw a car just like hers had been in a 3 car accident, that white car was the one squished in the middle. I had to pull over and catch my breath and look at the accident and make sure it wasn’t her. Then I called her. She was fine, but the mom warning bells were going off just because I saw the aftermath of that accident.
We still have to get her some California license plates! I keep putting off spending hours at the DMV. Blech! I’d better go do it next week.
Katie is planning her wedding for June. Less than a week after Lexie’s graduation. She bought her dress and we are venue hunting. We also need to make and mail invitations, book motel rooms, register for gifts, get her packed up to move out, and her list of things to do is endless. In fact, I don’t even know what all we need to do. Good thing she has a little wedding planner booklet that has a list. I know we need to find an officiate.
Her little hubby-to-be is in the Navy and stationed in South Carolina. While she’s wedding planning, he’s doing his Navy thing and lining up housing for them after the wedding. He only gets ten days off to fly across the country, walk down the aisle, fly back. It’ll be a whirlwind wedding for him!
She is still going to college (on occasion) and working as a bridal consultant at David’s Bridal. She’s hoping to get transferred to the store near where she will be living once she is an old married woman.
In her spare time, she listens to me nag at her to clean her room. I gotta do my mom thing while I still can. She’s also spending time with the littles lately. I think she’s realizing that moving away means exactly that, moving away. Leaving the littles will be hard for her.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Mom-Taxi Going out of Business
It's all the rage these days, businesses closing down. Especially the services.
Even though I drive the mom-taxi for a pretty sweet rate, I'm retiring my special service; my passengers pay with mutterings of "thanks mom, don't be late picking me up again."
My husband is getting Lexie her own car! Next week, Lexie will be the proud owner of a 1996 Olds Cutlass Cierra. It's a hand-me-down from her Great Aunt Gertrude who passed away a year and a half ago. It'll have an engine, 4 wheels and get her where she needs to go. Without me!
Currently, I drive her to school. Then I go pick her up. Drive her to work. Go pick her up. She needs more hair color. Come'on, let's go. Wants to go to her friend's house. Here we go again. And I'm always toting two kids in carseats with me wherever we go too.
She is going to pay her own insurance (we'll bail her out on that when she can't), pay for her own gas and oil changes (we'll give her tanks of gas as "presents"), and she's going to get her own car smog checked and licensed (I'm sure I'll be there for that part too).
Giving up the mom-taxi means heading up a new venture: Mom's Used Car Lot. Instead of driving everyone everywhere, I'll be checking their tires, nagging at them to get their oil changed, how are your wipers?, do the tail lights all work?, clean that car out!, and putting new license plate tags on every year. We are going to have 2 cars, my mini-van, the truck and two motorcycles out front. I think I should put a sign out front "Honest Mom's Used Cars". See if I can get a dealer's special on license plates and insurance!
Even though I drive the mom-taxi for a pretty sweet rate, I'm retiring my special service; my passengers pay with mutterings of "thanks mom, don't be late picking me up again."
My husband is getting Lexie her own car! Next week, Lexie will be the proud owner of a 1996 Olds Cutlass Cierra. It's a hand-me-down from her Great Aunt Gertrude who passed away a year and a half ago. It'll have an engine, 4 wheels and get her where she needs to go. Without me!
Currently, I drive her to school. Then I go pick her up. Drive her to work. Go pick her up. She needs more hair color. Come'on, let's go. Wants to go to her friend's house. Here we go again. And I'm always toting two kids in carseats with me wherever we go too.
She is going to pay her own insurance (we'll bail her out on that when she can't), pay for her own gas and oil changes (we'll give her tanks of gas as "presents"), and she's going to get her own car smog checked and licensed (I'm sure I'll be there for that part too).
Giving up the mom-taxi means heading up a new venture: Mom's Used Car Lot. Instead of driving everyone everywhere, I'll be checking their tires, nagging at them to get their oil changed, how are your wipers?, do the tail lights all work?, clean that car out!, and putting new license plate tags on every year. We are going to have 2 cars, my mini-van, the truck and two motorcycles out front. I think I should put a sign out front "Honest Mom's Used Cars". See if I can get a dealer's special on license plates and insurance!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Shakin' at Shakey's!
No, I didn't forget about my blog. I've just been busy. 2009 is already whipping right along!
Yesterday was my little brother's 30th birthday! Happy Birthday, Little Bro. He doesn't know I have a blog, so he'll never read that, but I hope he had a good one.
The mom-taxi is now a full time job. Soon to become full time plus overtime. I have to drive Lexie to school. Pick her up. Drive her to work. Pick her up. All while dragging the littles along. You know how when you are getting ready to go somewhere with two littles someone has to poop their diaper? Imagine that four times a day! Welcome to my world.
College starts soon. The 20th. I'm taking three classes: Sacred Texts, History of Literary Commentary & Theory II, and the third class is still up in the air right now. I need an upper level DD general ed course, which I've already taken and aced. Sigh. The joys of transferring from 4 previous colleges in 3 other states plus California. I tried to get into an online course, but it filled within the first hour that registration opened and I missed out. So, I signed up for two other courses as possible substitutes for the online course, and I will decide which works best in my schedule. So far, I've decided neither works best. I filled out a waitlist form and I emailed the professor of the online course. I'm getting nowhere fast. In the meantime, I have to choose between the two classes that I am registered in and drop one.
My schedule stinks. I have one literature class at 10am - 11:45am and the other literature class from 5:30pm - 8:45pm. Nothing like spreading it out over one long day! Add the hour long commute, and it's a long day. I'm thinking of going twice, head to campus in the morning, attend my class or classes if I can't get in the online course, and then head home. Pick up the kids from their sitters, drop them at home. Then head back to campus. I'm not sure how else to do it. Two trips to San Marcos in one day?
Somehow I'm going to have to juggle my class schedule with my taxi schedule. Hmmmm...
I'm having babysitter issues. This just makes college much more fun! The sitter I have been taking Gracie to, where she recently got a snazzy new haircut, is so upset over the haircut incident that she might not watch Gracie anymore. I can't get ahold of her and she isn't returning my calls. Great. Now I need part-time temporary daycare for my not-potty-trained yet 2 yr old. I dare ya to find that!
For the baby, I arranged for her to go to my daughter's friend. This sitter just had a baby this week and she's 17 yrs old. But, she doesn't work, doesn't go to school, she's available! And she has all the baby stuff: Swing, bouncy seat, high chair, exersaucer, changing table, pack n play, etc. She's available and she's all set up. And she said she'd do it. Again, with the part time temporary stuff, add the word infant and no daycare will come near me. But, now that this girl has her own baby, she is feeling a little overwhelmed and not so sure about watching one more. Ay ay ay.
Neither sitter wants to watch both. I know, it's kinda crazy, but that's fine. Crazy I can deal with. But, lack of babysitters is something that is going to send me over the edge! Anyone out there need a nanny job? It's part-time and temporary! But they are soooooooo cute!
We had a 5.0 earthquake the other day, later downgraded to a 4.5. Not sure how an earthquake gets "downgraded" but there you have it. Even the earthquakes are suffering in this economy. There was a big jolt and then a shake and rumble. I got scared! I was holding Libby, so I leaned over her so nothing would fall on her; nothing fell, but that's what I did. The whole house shook and I looked up and swore it was swaying. Keith was teaching and he said he spread his arms out wide to keep his balance. He was only 5 miles from the epicenter and our house is 40 miles away. Katie said she didn't feel it. Lexie felt it! She was at work at Shakey's Pizza and just got her ten minute break, so she grabbed a soda and sat down and that's when it hit. Right when she sat, so she wasn't sure at first if she was just so tired from working that it felt like an earthquake or if she really felt one. She said people didn't seem to react. So she looked around and the hanging lights were swaying. Lexie said "We were shakin' at Shakey's!"
Not to be overlooked, my oldest is nursing a broken heart. Well, not really broken... what do you call it? Disconnected. Her boyfriend left on Monday for boot camp. Eight weeks of no cell phone, myspace, email, texts, or old fashioned getting together at Starbucks. She misses him terribly. It really hit me, look at this generation of kids. They are in constant connection with their peers. Constant! The girls sleep with their phones!
Boot camping boyfriend gave Katie a promise ring before he left. They are engaged to be engaged! Committed without the official commitment. Promised. Awwww, sweet!
Baby is teething, toddler is bouncing off the walls 24/7, teen #1 is a puddle of tears, teen #2 is busy doing a lot of nothing and yet... off she goes. And she needs a ride.
That's the down and dirty update, come back in a few hours and I'll finish the post when I don't have two kids and a doll in my lap!
I finished my post! Took me 2 full days! You can read it now...
Yesterday was my little brother's 30th birthday! Happy Birthday, Little Bro. He doesn't know I have a blog, so he'll never read that, but I hope he had a good one.
The mom-taxi is now a full time job. Soon to become full time plus overtime. I have to drive Lexie to school. Pick her up. Drive her to work. Pick her up. All while dragging the littles along. You know how when you are getting ready to go somewhere with two littles someone has to poop their diaper? Imagine that four times a day! Welcome to my world.
College starts soon. The 20th. I'm taking three classes: Sacred Texts, History of Literary Commentary & Theory II, and the third class is still up in the air right now. I need an upper level DD general ed course, which I've already taken and aced. Sigh. The joys of transferring from 4 previous colleges in 3 other states plus California. I tried to get into an online course, but it filled within the first hour that registration opened and I missed out. So, I signed up for two other courses as possible substitutes for the online course, and I will decide which works best in my schedule. So far, I've decided neither works best. I filled out a waitlist form and I emailed the professor of the online course. I'm getting nowhere fast. In the meantime, I have to choose between the two classes that I am registered in and drop one.
My schedule stinks. I have one literature class at 10am - 11:45am and the other literature class from 5:30pm - 8:45pm. Nothing like spreading it out over one long day! Add the hour long commute, and it's a long day. I'm thinking of going twice, head to campus in the morning, attend my class or classes if I can't get in the online course, and then head home. Pick up the kids from their sitters, drop them at home. Then head back to campus. I'm not sure how else to do it. Two trips to San Marcos in one day?
Somehow I'm going to have to juggle my class schedule with my taxi schedule. Hmmmm...
I'm having babysitter issues. This just makes college much more fun! The sitter I have been taking Gracie to, where she recently got a snazzy new haircut, is so upset over the haircut incident that she might not watch Gracie anymore. I can't get ahold of her and she isn't returning my calls. Great. Now I need part-time temporary daycare for my not-potty-trained yet 2 yr old. I dare ya to find that!
For the baby, I arranged for her to go to my daughter's friend. This sitter just had a baby this week and she's 17 yrs old. But, she doesn't work, doesn't go to school, she's available! And she has all the baby stuff: Swing, bouncy seat, high chair, exersaucer, changing table, pack n play, etc. She's available and she's all set up. And she said she'd do it. Again, with the part time temporary stuff, add the word infant and no daycare will come near me. But, now that this girl has her own baby, she is feeling a little overwhelmed and not so sure about watching one more. Ay ay ay.
Neither sitter wants to watch both. I know, it's kinda crazy, but that's fine. Crazy I can deal with. But, lack of babysitters is something that is going to send me over the edge! Anyone out there need a nanny job? It's part-time and temporary! But they are soooooooo cute!
We had a 5.0 earthquake the other day, later downgraded to a 4.5. Not sure how an earthquake gets "downgraded" but there you have it. Even the earthquakes are suffering in this economy. There was a big jolt and then a shake and rumble. I got scared! I was holding Libby, so I leaned over her so nothing would fall on her; nothing fell, but that's what I did. The whole house shook and I looked up and swore it was swaying. Keith was teaching and he said he spread his arms out wide to keep his balance. He was only 5 miles from the epicenter and our house is 40 miles away. Katie said she didn't feel it. Lexie felt it! She was at work at Shakey's Pizza and just got her ten minute break, so she grabbed a soda and sat down and that's when it hit. Right when she sat, so she wasn't sure at first if she was just so tired from working that it felt like an earthquake or if she really felt one. She said people didn't seem to react. So she looked around and the hanging lights were swaying. Lexie said "We were shakin' at Shakey's!"
Not to be overlooked, my oldest is nursing a broken heart. Well, not really broken... what do you call it? Disconnected. Her boyfriend left on Monday for boot camp. Eight weeks of no cell phone, myspace, email, texts, or old fashioned getting together at Starbucks. She misses him terribly. It really hit me, look at this generation of kids. They are in constant connection with their peers. Constant! The girls sleep with their phones!
Boot camping boyfriend gave Katie a promise ring before he left. They are engaged to be engaged! Committed without the official commitment. Promised. Awwww, sweet!
Baby is teething, toddler is bouncing off the walls 24/7, teen #1 is a puddle of tears, teen #2 is busy doing a lot of nothing and yet... off she goes. And she needs a ride.
That's the down and dirty update, come back in a few hours and I'll finish the post when I don't have two kids and a doll in my lap!
I finished my post! Took me 2 full days! You can read it now...
Friday, April 11, 2008
A Story From Long Ago
My friend over at Life in General (my REAL friend - not just a blog friend! isn't that cool!) wrote a story about an Obituary. For some reason it made me think of a little story about Princess Middle daughter back when she was the cute little youngest princess. It went like this....
One day 5 yr old Little Princess wanted to play at her friend's house for a little while so I said yes, the other mom said yes too. We'd meet up later at the library for preschool storytime like we do every Tuesday. Well and good.
I got to the library before my friend did. I walked in without Lexie at my side. I went to the desk and returned her books from the week before, said hello to the librarians and smiled. They didn't smile back. They said "I'm very sorry, Mrs. Schumacher. Are you ok? Anything we can do? We didn't put Lexie's nametag out today but we kept it for you if you'd like to have it." I say "oh, sure! Thanks!" Smile!!!
They look at me like I'm insane. Librarians are funny like that anyway so I didn't give it a thought. I went to sit with the other mommies and wait for my friend to show up with Lexie and her son. The other mommies were all pretty quiet that day. Kind of weird.
The librarian rounds up the kids and herds them into the storytime room. My friend was a bit late. She showed up in a bit though. No big deal. I gave Lexie her nametag and the kids went into the room.
When my friend walked in with Lexie the librarians behind the desk gasped and stopped. Their jaws dropped and their eyes were big as saucers. Again, I didn't think much of it. Librarians are silly like that. I know, because my mother is a librarian.
Then the librarians said "Mrs. Schumacher?" So I turn and go see what they want.... and the Storytime librarian came out of the room and asked one of the mommies to go read. So we have a little pow-wow at the desk. Me... I'm still in a good mood and smiling "What's up?" They are in shock and NOT smiling.
One of them pulls out the paper from that day and opens it up. "Did you read today's Argus Leader?" No. And there it is.... the reason her nametag wasn't out. The reason they looked at me funny. The lack of smiles.
An obituary for a 5 yr old girl named Lexie with our exact same last name. The mother's name was Mary. The librarians were very sad and thought we lost our Lexie.
I bought a copy of the paper and cut out the obit and put it in her baby book. I'm so sad for the other Lexie, but I felt so loved by the librarians because they were truly heartbroken when they thought they lost my Lexie from storytime.
One day 5 yr old Little Princess wanted to play at her friend's house for a little while so I said yes, the other mom said yes too. We'd meet up later at the library for preschool storytime like we do every Tuesday. Well and good.
I got to the library before my friend did. I walked in without Lexie at my side. I went to the desk and returned her books from the week before, said hello to the librarians and smiled. They didn't smile back. They said "I'm very sorry, Mrs. Schumacher. Are you ok? Anything we can do? We didn't put Lexie's nametag out today but we kept it for you if you'd like to have it." I say "oh, sure! Thanks!" Smile!!!
They look at me like I'm insane. Librarians are funny like that anyway so I didn't give it a thought. I went to sit with the other mommies and wait for my friend to show up with Lexie and her son. The other mommies were all pretty quiet that day. Kind of weird.
The librarian rounds up the kids and herds them into the storytime room. My friend was a bit late. She showed up in a bit though. No big deal. I gave Lexie her nametag and the kids went into the room.
When my friend walked in with Lexie the librarians behind the desk gasped and stopped. Their jaws dropped and their eyes were big as saucers. Again, I didn't think much of it. Librarians are silly like that. I know, because my mother is a librarian.
Then the librarians said "Mrs. Schumacher?" So I turn and go see what they want.... and the Storytime librarian came out of the room and asked one of the mommies to go read. So we have a little pow-wow at the desk. Me... I'm still in a good mood and smiling "What's up?" They are in shock and NOT smiling.
One of them pulls out the paper from that day and opens it up. "Did you read today's Argus Leader?" No. And there it is.... the reason her nametag wasn't out. The reason they looked at me funny. The lack of smiles.
An obituary for a 5 yr old girl named Lexie with our exact same last name. The mother's name was Mary. The librarians were very sad and thought we lost our Lexie.
I bought a copy of the paper and cut out the obit and put it in her baby book. I'm so sad for the other Lexie, but I felt so loved by the librarians because they were truly heartbroken when they thought they lost my Lexie from storytime.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
The Kindergarten Dilemma
Once upon a time.... we had to decide if we should send Lexie to kindergarten or not. Her birthday is in June, and with a summer birthday she will either one of the youngest kids or the oldest. Hmmm.... what should we do? 
This is going to be a long post, because it was a long process to decide what to do. No matter what, parents cannot see into their child's future. Decisions like this are such a crap shoot. We made the wrong decision and were later able to correct it. That pretty much sums it up, read on if I peaked your interest.
Lexie is our second child. We didn't have to decide this with our first one. She is a February baby. February is easy! She fell right in the middle - no need to ponder what to do. Katie started her education as a preschooler, then advanced to kindergarten after a year of preschool. Katie attended an awesome preschool - she went to public school preschool as a "peer leader". Yes, a 4 yr old peer leader.
The public school preschool program received a grant to incorporate some "peer leaders" into their special education prescool classes and Katie was selected due to her amazing nonstop vocabulary skills. The kid could talk! She was born talking and hasn't stopped. Her verbal skills were what they were looking for to inspire some of their special ed students to learn and speak more. But, Katie had a great experience too. When she entered Kindergarten, she was bored. In fact, her preschool had covered almost everything that was in the Kindergarten curriculum. She did attend two different schools for these two grades which was probably part of her Kindergarten boredom problem. Preschool was in North Dakota and Kindergarten for Katie was in South Dakota. But the decision about what year to start K was easy-breezy. She started at 5 1/2. Perfect little winter kid! She fit right in academically and socially all the way through 12th grade. She's in college now and studying to be a special education teacher - she has always wanted to be one since she was a preschool "peer leader".
OK, back to the topic at hand.... but you kind of need to know how we came to have a big decision and nothing to base it on even though we had an older child and had been through the Kindergarten thing already. Our first decision about Lexie's education was: no preschool. We weren't in the same community as when Katie was her age so she didn't have the opportunity to be a peer leader. And, it left Katie with a lot of Kindergarten boredom. So, Lexie attended daycare (I was the daycare teacher) library storytime, went to the YMCA for swim lessons, and I sent her to Safety School. Social more than academic exposure. Lexie is shy. She doesn't talk in public, only at home. She was my little barnacle, always attached. Katie always spoke for her. Her vocabulary and speech skills were amazing too but only at home. Anywhere else and she hid behind my leg and let Katie do the talking.
After putting her in preschool aged social situations where she didn't have Katie or I to hide behind, she bloomed a little more. Still shy, but she was able to do what she needed to do. We thought she was ready for Kindergarten at age 5. She'd been able to read since age three and she could do some simple addition already. But kindergarten? not in that town.
The school district strongly encouraged five year olds to stay home. If your birthday was after March, stay home another year. Wait till your child is age six, then begin kindergarten. They had all sorts of data to back up their views. This was not a school policy, but it may have well been. You know how moms talk.... I soon learned that six year olds were the preferred Kindergarten students and five year olds were moved to the margins and then retained. Especially boys! Well, here we were with a shy summer kid. Not much choice but to wait till she was age 6 and start her with the other kids her age. So, we did another year of social activities.
We put her in K at age 6. She was bored. The class spent three weeks learning how to line up, raise your hand, sit, be quiet. She complained. She was bored. "Why do I have to go there?" I figured it was just the curriculum, first grade would be better. Just like with Katie. Around the middle of the year of Kindergarten, I got a note from the teacher. Lexie was recommended for the gifted ed program which was an after school program called Odyssey of the Mind. She joined and had a great time. She was still annoyed with Kindergarten though. At one point she said there was a kid in her class named DJ and he couldn't spell his name. She just didn't like being there and listening to the teacher explain to poor little DJ how to draw the letters of his name every day.
She stayed in the OM program through the 5th grade. Her team won the state championships and competed at the world level three times. She won a $1000 college scholarship when she was in the 4th grade. We were really proud! But all the kids on her team were a grade and two grades above her. They were her favorite friends, but all ahead of her in school. They were winter babies! So Lexie was the same age minus a few months and a whole grade behind her friends. This isn't what we expected.
School remained the same for her. Boring. In second grade she was used as a buffer so the teacher could better control classroom behavior. She hated second grade. We petitioned to have her bumped up to the third grade. She could do the work, she was old enough, and she was miserable in the grade we placed her in. The school flat out refused our request. Didn't matter, she had a summer birthday. So she plugged along through her elementary years.
After 5th grade, which was the end of elementary, we moved to Southern California. She would switch from an elementary school with 450 students to a middle school with 1500 students. And Katie was finished with the 8th grade and ready for high school. She would go from a middle school of 300 students to a high school with 3800 students. Big changes for both girls!
Katie fit right in. Lexie stood a head taller than her classmates. One very nice girl invited her to her birthday party, she was turning 11. Eleven!!! Lexie had been 12 for months, and the kids in her class were eleven and just turning eleven! No wonder she was so much taller than they were. Sure, she's always been a tall kid, but put her in with kids who are a year to a year and a half younger and she was sticking up like a flagpole. She spent a week feeling like she was a square peg in a round hole. Her new peers were younger. Seemed like a lot younger.
Maybe now was our chance to change that decision we've always regretted about starting Kindergarten late. By now we had realized that our decision for K was based on what people were telling us to do, not what was in the best interest of our child. We felt bad for not thinking of her interests first and taking recommendations second. Live and learn.
So, we met with the school counselor. She looked over Lexie's file and agreed that we could consider moving her up to 7th grade, but she made no promises. Awesome! She didn't look at us like we were nuts! She looked past Lexie's June birthdate! She didn't say "June - Nope!" It felt good just knowing that her new school was going to make a decision and not base it solely on the month of her birthday. Lexie was interviewed to determine social needs. She was tested to determine academic standing. She passed her tests and passed the 6th grade after just two weeks of being in California. The counselor explained to us that ultimately it was our decision. We asked about the ages of the kids in the 6th and 7th grades and we found out that in Cali, kids begin kindergarten at age 5 or close to age 5. The cutoff date is December 1st as opposed to South Dakota where the cutoff date was officially September 1st but anything after March wasn't going to fly very far. We decided to bump her up to the 7th grade.
She did not want to participate in Odyssey of the Mind anymore. She'd already been to world three times, and she just wanted to blend in. She blended in just fine. She soon had a bunch of friends, all her own age, and some almost as tall as her! She was happy and academically she did just fine.
Like any teenage girl, she isn't as interested in her grades as she is in her hair. She doesn't always bring home grades we can brag about, but her hair looks great. Her standardized testing almost always comes back as proficient, she is just as smart as the other kids in her grade. Skipping sixth grade did not hurt her education any. She's got one more year left of high school and then she's off to college where we expect she'll do just fine and fit right in.
Like I said, we can't see into our child's future. These decisions we make for them when they are young are based on our best guesses. We rely on the professionals to guide our decisions, usually they are right. But we happened to be the parents of the one kid who didn't fit the mold. Lexie.
This is going to be a long post, because it was a long process to decide what to do. No matter what, parents cannot see into their child's future. Decisions like this are such a crap shoot. We made the wrong decision and were later able to correct it. That pretty much sums it up, read on if I peaked your interest.
Lexie is our second child. We didn't have to decide this with our first one. She is a February baby. February is easy! She fell right in the middle - no need to ponder what to do. Katie started her education as a preschooler, then advanced to kindergarten after a year of preschool. Katie attended an awesome preschool - she went to public school preschool as a "peer leader". Yes, a 4 yr old peer leader.
The public school preschool program received a grant to incorporate some "peer leaders" into their special education prescool classes and Katie was selected due to her amazing nonstop vocabulary skills. The kid could talk! She was born talking and hasn't stopped. Her verbal skills were what they were looking for to inspire some of their special ed students to learn and speak more. But, Katie had a great experience too. When she entered Kindergarten, she was bored. In fact, her preschool had covered almost everything that was in the Kindergarten curriculum. She did attend two different schools for these two grades which was probably part of her Kindergarten boredom problem. Preschool was in North Dakota and Kindergarten for Katie was in South Dakota. But the decision about what year to start K was easy-breezy. She started at 5 1/2. Perfect little winter kid! She fit right in academically and socially all the way through 12th grade. She's in college now and studying to be a special education teacher - she has always wanted to be one since she was a preschool "peer leader".OK, back to the topic at hand.... but you kind of need to know how we came to have a big decision and nothing to base it on even though we had an older child and had been through the Kindergarten thing already. Our first decision about Lexie's education was: no preschool. We weren't in the same community as when Katie was her age so she didn't have the opportunity to be a peer leader. And, it left Katie with a lot of Kindergarten boredom. So, Lexie attended daycare (I was the daycare teacher) library storytime, went to the YMCA for swim lessons, and I sent her to Safety School. Social more than academic exposure. Lexie is shy. She doesn't talk in public, only at home. She was my little barnacle, always attached. Katie always spoke for her. Her vocabulary and speech skills were amazing too but only at home. Anywhere else and she hid behind my leg and let Katie do the talking.
After putting her in preschool aged social situations where she didn't have Katie or I to hide behind, she bloomed a little more. Still shy, but she was able to do what she needed to do. We thought she was ready for Kindergarten at age 5. She'd been able to read since age three and she could do some simple addition already. But kindergarten? not in that town.
The school district strongly encouraged five year olds to stay home. If your birthday was after March, stay home another year. Wait till your child is age six, then begin kindergarten. They had all sorts of data to back up their views. This was not a school policy, but it may have well been. You know how moms talk.... I soon learned that six year olds were the preferred Kindergarten students and five year olds were moved to the margins and then retained. Especially boys! Well, here we were with a shy summer kid. Not much choice but to wait till she was age 6 and start her with the other kids her age. So, we did another year of social activities.
We put her in K at age 6. She was bored. The class spent three weeks learning how to line up, raise your hand, sit, be quiet. She complained. She was bored. "Why do I have to go there?" I figured it was just the curriculum, first grade would be better. Just like with Katie. Around the middle of the year of Kindergarten, I got a note from the teacher. Lexie was recommended for the gifted ed program which was an after school program called Odyssey of the Mind. She joined and had a great time. She was still annoyed with Kindergarten though. At one point she said there was a kid in her class named DJ and he couldn't spell his name. She just didn't like being there and listening to the teacher explain to poor little DJ how to draw the letters of his name every day.
She stayed in the OM program through the 5th grade. Her team won the state championships and competed at the world level three times. She won a $1000 college scholarship when she was in the 4th grade. We were really proud! But all the kids on her team were a grade and two grades above her. They were her favorite friends, but all ahead of her in school. They were winter babies! So Lexie was the same age minus a few months and a whole grade behind her friends. This isn't what we expected.
School remained the same for her. Boring. In second grade she was used as a buffer so the teacher could better control classroom behavior. She hated second grade. We petitioned to have her bumped up to the third grade. She could do the work, she was old enough, and she was miserable in the grade we placed her in. The school flat out refused our request. Didn't matter, she had a summer birthday. So she plugged along through her elementary years.
After 5th grade, which was the end of elementary, we moved to Southern California. She would switch from an elementary school with 450 students to a middle school with 1500 students. And Katie was finished with the 8th grade and ready for high school. She would go from a middle school of 300 students to a high school with 3800 students. Big changes for both girls!
Katie fit right in. Lexie stood a head taller than her classmates. One very nice girl invited her to her birthday party, she was turning 11. Eleven!!! Lexie had been 12 for months, and the kids in her class were eleven and just turning eleven! No wonder she was so much taller than they were. Sure, she's always been a tall kid, but put her in with kids who are a year to a year and a half younger and she was sticking up like a flagpole. She spent a week feeling like she was a square peg in a round hole. Her new peers were younger. Seemed like a lot younger.
Maybe now was our chance to change that decision we've always regretted about starting Kindergarten late. By now we had realized that our decision for K was based on what people were telling us to do, not what was in the best interest of our child. We felt bad for not thinking of her interests first and taking recommendations second. Live and learn.
So, we met with the school counselor. She looked over Lexie's file and agreed that we could consider moving her up to 7th grade, but she made no promises. Awesome! She didn't look at us like we were nuts! She looked past Lexie's June birthdate! She didn't say "June - Nope!" It felt good just knowing that her new school was going to make a decision and not base it solely on the month of her birthday. Lexie was interviewed to determine social needs. She was tested to determine academic standing. She passed her tests and passed the 6th grade after just two weeks of being in California. The counselor explained to us that ultimately it was our decision. We asked about the ages of the kids in the 6th and 7th grades and we found out that in Cali, kids begin kindergarten at age 5 or close to age 5. The cutoff date is December 1st as opposed to South Dakota where the cutoff date was officially September 1st but anything after March wasn't going to fly very far. We decided to bump her up to the 7th grade.
She did not want to participate in Odyssey of the Mind anymore. She'd already been to world three times, and she just wanted to blend in. She blended in just fine. She soon had a bunch of friends, all her own age, and some almost as tall as her! She was happy and academically she did just fine.
Like any teenage girl, she isn't as interested in her grades as she is in her hair. She doesn't always bring home grades we can brag about, but her hair looks great. Her standardized testing almost always comes back as proficient, she is just as smart as the other kids in her grade. Skipping sixth grade did not hurt her education any. She's got one more year left of high school and then she's off to college where we expect she'll do just fine and fit right in.
Like I said, we can't see into our child's future. These decisions we make for them when they are young are based on our best guesses. We rely on the professionals to guide our decisions, usually they are right. But we happened to be the parents of the one kid who didn't fit the mold. Lexie.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The Stubborn Patient
A teenager without tonsils is a challenge! She's got a notebook and a pen so she can still be as sassy as ever, but otherwise she's pretty sick.
She has all kinds of pain pills and stuff to gargle and some antibiotics too. I have to cut up her pain pills. I crushed one between two spoons and she wrote on her notebook: "I'm not going to snort it like cocaine". So now I'm cutting them into three pieces so she can swallow them down with water.
That's the only water she will drink. She won't take ice chips or juice or popsicles or anything. She's driving me insane! She also won't take her antibiotics because they are in big capsules and she can't swallow them yet. And she won't gargle with her liquid gunk either. She just swallows her pain drugs and goes back to bed. Did I mention that she's driving me insane?
My husband force fed her a chocolate bar this morning. Good choice. Where's mine? I will eat it willingly!!!
She's only comfy in my bed. hmmmm.... not sure what is up with that, but that's ok. She can lay in my bed and drool on my pillow. If she weren't so dehydrated that she could actually drool that is. So her and the dog and some stuffed animals are all snoozing in my bed. Awwww!
I stayed home from school - yup, skipping again! - on Tues, Wed and today to take care of her. Not that she needs much more than a pill cut in half, but it's my mom duty to stick around and be close. I'm sure if I drove 40 miles to class, sure as shlt, she's spike a fever. So I'm staying home and trying my best not to totally hover, but just be here if needed. I told myself I'd write papers while she's recuperating, but so far I haven't made much progress. I have two papers due Monday and one of them needs to be super amazing. Yeah, it'll be something I whip outa my butt at the last minute. Amazing Indeed!
She has all kinds of pain pills and stuff to gargle and some antibiotics too. I have to cut up her pain pills. I crushed one between two spoons and she wrote on her notebook: "I'm not going to snort it like cocaine". So now I'm cutting them into three pieces so she can swallow them down with water.
That's the only water she will drink. She won't take ice chips or juice or popsicles or anything. She's driving me insane! She also won't take her antibiotics because they are in big capsules and she can't swallow them yet. And she won't gargle with her liquid gunk either. She just swallows her pain drugs and goes back to bed. Did I mention that she's driving me insane?
My husband force fed her a chocolate bar this morning. Good choice. Where's mine? I will eat it willingly!!!
She's only comfy in my bed. hmmmm.... not sure what is up with that, but that's ok. She can lay in my bed and drool on my pillow. If she weren't so dehydrated that she could actually drool that is. So her and the dog and some stuffed animals are all snoozing in my bed. Awwww!
I stayed home from school - yup, skipping again! - on Tues, Wed and today to take care of her. Not that she needs much more than a pill cut in half, but it's my mom duty to stick around and be close. I'm sure if I drove 40 miles to class, sure as shlt, she's spike a fever. So I'm staying home and trying my best not to totally hover, but just be here if needed. I told myself I'd write papers while she's recuperating, but so far I haven't made much progress. I have two papers due Monday and one of them needs to be super amazing. Yeah, it'll be something I whip outa my butt at the last minute. Amazing Indeed!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
The Toxic Tonsils are Gone!
Princess Lexie had her tonsils removed this morning. The surgery went well and she did just fine. The doctor said her tonsils were pretty ugly. They were large and full of scars. He could tell they had been putting her through hell for many years. He got that right!
She's sleeping now. She got more drugs than a 90 year old. Lots of pain meds and some antibiotics. I loaded up the fridge and freezer with popsicles and jello. Got her some applesauce for when she's feeling more adventurous.
I'm so relieved it's over. I was a nervous mess but I was pretending to be calm, cool and collected. Not sure if I pulled off that charade, but I gave it a good try. I couldn't sleep last night so am exhausted now that it's all over. I'm super happy that she will be a healthier person! She deserves to be healthy since she rarely gets that chance.
She's sleeping now. She got more drugs than a 90 year old. Lots of pain meds and some antibiotics. I loaded up the fridge and freezer with popsicles and jello. Got her some applesauce for when she's feeling more adventurous.
I'm so relieved it's over. I was a nervous mess but I was pretending to be calm, cool and collected. Not sure if I pulled off that charade, but I gave it a good try. I couldn't sleep last night so am exhausted now that it's all over. I'm super happy that she will be a healthier person! She deserves to be healthy since she rarely gets that chance.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
My Precious Public Puker
Just another day in the life of Me!
I grabbed the little shopping cart monster and one of teens and my long list and headed off to Sams Club. All we have left to eat in the house is candy. And we've been living off of it for three days.
On the way I stopped to ship some books that I sold on half.com. Score!
We get to Sams Club and Lexie says... don't drive around the parking lot so fast.... Mom, just pick a spot... quick twirling around.... geez, just park.... (I park)... I don't feel so good.... My response is "will you get the stroller out? Why are you just standing there? Come on Lex lets go" Lex says "I don't feel so good... I'm gonna throw up....
I'll let you imagine the noises she made..... ewwww!
So she's standing behind the van in the middle of the row puking. And I'm screaming "ewww eww ewww! Don't let it splatter on me! Go puke between the cars! Ewww!" She wanders between the cars and pukes some more. Thankfully I couldn't see her puking - which is why I wanted her to hide cuz I didn't want to join in.
Me: "ya done? Let's get back in the van and go home" she says "oh no, I am not getting back in the van!"
oh no.
So I tell her to just chill out in the furniture section and I gave her my bottle of water. She rinsed and spit in the parking lot. Ok she says.
Well, little one is a shopping cart monster and screams and cries if you stick her in a shopping cart, which is why I needed to bring a teen, so I had to push her in the stroller and pull the cart behind me - like a train. No worries, I still managed to talk to my sister on the cell phone while running up and down the aisles throwing diapers, meat, and frozen pizzas in my cart at break-neck speeds. I got my shopping done in no time, never once consulted my list, collected my puker and drove very carefully home. Didn't want to rock the boat.
She just ate a handful of candy and asked if we had any beef jerky leftover. Grabbed a soda and headed to her computer. I think she's recovered already! Teenagers!
Lex is the Queen of Puking in Public. I've pulled over so she could puke on the side of the road, she's hurled in gas stations, she ralphed all over main streets in several towns, and she shut down Hallmark once - she puked in the entrance trapping people in and barring others with her puke barricade. She's puked at school, in class, in the hallway, in the quad, in the gym.. she's not particular. If she gets a little queasy, she'll blow. I've never even heard of anyone who pukes in public as much as this kid. She's precious. But she pukes.
I grabbed the little shopping cart monster and one of teens and my long list and headed off to Sams Club. All we have left to eat in the house is candy. And we've been living off of it for three days.
On the way I stopped to ship some books that I sold on half.com. Score!
We get to Sams Club and Lexie says... don't drive around the parking lot so fast.... Mom, just pick a spot... quick twirling around.... geez, just park.... (I park)... I don't feel so good.... My response is "will you get the stroller out? Why are you just standing there? Come on Lex lets go" Lex says "I don't feel so good... I'm gonna throw up....
I'll let you imagine the noises she made..... ewwww!
So she's standing behind the van in the middle of the row puking. And I'm screaming "ewww eww ewww! Don't let it splatter on me! Go puke between the cars! Ewww!" She wanders between the cars and pukes some more. Thankfully I couldn't see her puking - which is why I wanted her to hide cuz I didn't want to join in.
Me: "ya done? Let's get back in the van and go home" she says "oh no, I am not getting back in the van!"
oh no.
So I tell her to just chill out in the furniture section and I gave her my bottle of water. She rinsed and spit in the parking lot. Ok she says.
Well, little one is a shopping cart monster and screams and cries if you stick her in a shopping cart, which is why I needed to bring a teen, so I had to push her in the stroller and pull the cart behind me - like a train. No worries, I still managed to talk to my sister on the cell phone while running up and down the aisles throwing diapers, meat, and frozen pizzas in my cart at break-neck speeds. I got my shopping done in no time, never once consulted my list, collected my puker and drove very carefully home. Didn't want to rock the boat.
She just ate a handful of candy and asked if we had any beef jerky leftover. Grabbed a soda and headed to her computer. I think she's recovered already! Teenagers!
Lex is the Queen of Puking in Public. I've pulled over so she could puke on the side of the road, she's hurled in gas stations, she ralphed all over main streets in several towns, and she shut down Hallmark once - she puked in the entrance trapping people in and barring others with her puke barricade. She's puked at school, in class, in the hallway, in the quad, in the gym.. she's not particular. If she gets a little queasy, she'll blow. I've never even heard of anyone who pukes in public as much as this kid. She's precious. But she pukes.
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