Bragging

It's really annoying when parents brag about their kids, but it's so hard not to some times. I don't mean to imply I had anything to do with the kids abilities or talents so it's not like I'm looking for compliments. But it is fun to see them being so good at things. So here it goes.

After swim class today (where Parker had to dive into 9 feet of water, touch the bottom and then swim to the wall), the teacher came up to me and said, "Um, excuse me. How old is he?" Six I said. He says, "He is an unbelievably strong swimmer." Yup, I say. "I've never seen anyone so young so good at that age. I was never like that," he adds. I smile. He continues, "We did some tests today and he did perfectly on all of them. It's quite amazing." Yes, he is pretty good. Did you hear that Parker, the teacher thinks you are pretty good? Parker stares off into space. And humble too!

And yesterday at Circus class, where Parker is only one of the three students and the only boy, the coach comes up to me after class and says, "Parker is really quite good at this and I would strongly consider trying out for Circus Development (which is the equivalent to Elizabeth's class if you want to run away and join the circus rather than a girls' gymnastics team.) I frowned and said, "NO!!!!! I can't be at the gym more hours each week. Please tell me you are kidding. I can't handle this. Can't my children just be average!"

Swim class ends tomorrow and Art Camp starts next week. If any of the counselors tell me he is amazing at art, I'm gonna punch someone.

Oh and speaking of Art and amazing kids, the other day in kindergarten camp, they read the story of Rainbow Fish...the fish that has shiny scales but no friends and then he gives away all but one of his scales to the other fish and has tons of friends. Stupid story, but kids like it. The girls read it tons of times at Sequoia. In fact, all the books they are reading at kindergarten camp we either own or read at Sequoia. But I digress. After they read Rainbow fish they each got a piece of paper with an outline of a fish and were instructed to draw a Rainbow fish. When Miranda showed me hers, I said, "Who did your scales?" She replied, "I did!" I said, "No, really, who did them?" She again said she did them. There was no way she did them as they were absolutely perfect. Each scale was colored in with a different color and each one was identical to the next one. The fish had patterns and it was amazing. So I went to look at Elizabeth's to see her scales. Hers was fine and it was obvious the scales were drawn in by the kid. It had a bunch of scales, but then you can tell she got bored or impatient or both and they all ran together and she didn't stay in the lines and it got a little messy. Totally typical for her age. Maybe even slightly advanced. But Miranda's was crazy good. I showed it to Michael and night and he said, "we've got to get this girl in art class!"

Elizabeth did a cart wheel on the beam yesterday. Um. A fucking cartwheel. Sure she fell off a few times, getting frustrated each time, but then she stuck it and it was quite a thing to watch.

Another hiccup

Well... the first hiccup was resolved, but there is, of course, another one.

This whole process is so completely horrific. It really makes me never want to buy a house again.

a hiccup

Because nothing in this process has been smooth, there was a small hiccup today with some of the buyers loan documents. Won't close today. Maybe tomorrow, but probably Thursday. So fucking annoying.

Almost done.

We signed our house sale papers today. It's suppose to close tomorrow when our mortgage is paid off and we can pick up our check.

It's still unbelievable.

Morning Activities

The girls were running circles around the house this morning singing and waving their arms.
I asked, What are you doing?
Elizabeth said, Exercising.
Miranda added, Yeah, doing an exercise show for the people.
Me, For what people?
Miranda, The invisible people!

More death talk.

Miranda says, "What day is it when all the people die?"

Me: "What?!?!?!"

Elizabeth: "I think what she meant to say is, is there a day when all the people die at the same time. She knows all people die."

Me: "No there is no day when everyone dies at the same time."

Miranda: "Good. The only thing you do when you die is..."

Me: "You can't do anything when you die."

Elizabeth: "The only thing you can do when you are dead is be dead."

Cars 2

The girls were invited to a bday party today. It was lunch and then a movie. Cars 2. For 5 year olds. It was a little boy who wasn't particularly friendly with the girls, but since only 5 kids were invited (with mine being 2 of them), I guess he had some fondness for them or one of them.

I told the mom that there was no way in hell (I used other language) my girls would be able to do a movie. They are too loud, too scary, too dark, too mature, too long, too everything. But I told her we would do the lunch and cake part before it.

But, after much discussion, the girls said they wanted to try it. I told them that if one of them wanted to leave, we all left. They said they understood so we gave it a try.

They lasted the whole time. Which was absolutely shocking considering how incredibly loud, violent and incomprehensible it all was. It had a plot about alternative fuel that I barely followed with a sub plot about loyalty and friendship. There were cars being killed, shot up and drowned. They had evil cars (Pacers and other cars that have been laughed at all their lives) doing mean things to other cars. There were adult jokes, tons of race and crash scenes and endless anxiety provoking moments like cars being crushed in Big Ben. I have no idea how they watched it.

After the movie I asked them what the movie was about. They said, "cars". I asked what about cars. They said, "we don't know." Then Miranda said, "I do remember this one part when they wanted to kill Lightening the Queen." Jesus.

I'm not a big action movie or a animated movie person so it was kinda lame for me and at one point I almost fell asleep except Elizabeth disturbed my sleep with the need to pee. That girl is so like me it's creepy.

Anyway, after the 4th party in one week, I'm glad we don't have another one scheduled for a while.

Parker is feeling better

Fortune tellers

Commercials

Mommy!!!! Something is wrong with the TV! Some other show came on right in the middle of our show!!! IT'S BROKEN!!! MOMMY!!!!


This is what I get for letting the kids watch Qubo, the educational kids tv channel.

It's a goddamn commercial, kids. Deal with it.

But why are they trying to make us buy something, mommy? Miranda says after I explain commercials to them.

First week of summer

Well, the first week of summer has pretty much sucked. Monday and Tuesday were fine with playdates, pool time, swim class, but from Tuesday at midnight when Parker got sick today, it's been fairly horrible. Parker is totally sick with a virus and can't stop making dying sounds. He really does feel like shit, but it's hard to keep saying, "Are you ok?" when he sounds like he is about to keel over only to hear him say for the 50th time, "I'm sick." Parker had a party planned for tomorrow for school and tball friends which we had to cancel. We missed two days of swim class and I've essentially been stuck home for 3 days. Which I hate.


I chatted with the kindergarten camp teacher today at pick up. I asked how they did this week.

She said, "Very well. They both did great. Elizabeth, as you know, is very....verbal. Miranda is...not."

Which is not true really, but together that is how it appears. This is why I wanted them in different classes come fall. Ah well.

In the car on the way home I asked Miranda why she didn't talk much in class (assuming the reason was because Elizabeth did) and she said, "Sometimes it's hard to talk and I'm a little shy."

This weekend we have 3 birthday parties (the girls are getting invited to many these days, even ones with limited guests).

I hope Parker is better soon.

Parker is sick.

He is a total mess. Throwing up. Tired. Fever. Everything. It's super great.
Parker becomes fairly horrible to live with when he is sick. He makes this incredibly annoying moaning sound and pretty much cries non stop when he isn't sleeping.

He hasn't eaten since a piece of toast at breakfast yesterday and today when I was trying to get him to eat more toast today, he started the crying/whining/moaning sounds.

Then he says, "The only thing that will help me feel better is if I do math."

Yeah, going 4 x 4 = 16 always make me feel better.

Out of the blue

Miranda says today while eating her lunch...

I wonder if Grandma Judy is going to name the birdies in the nest outside her kitchen.

(Referring to some baby birds that hatched recently and they watched last time we were there (weeks ago).

Swim Class

Before we moved to Piedmont where we would have access to pool daily, I signed up the kids for a couple weeks of swim classes at local park.

They started yesterday and it was quite chaotic. Tons of kids and parents all looking lost and young swim coaches looking equally confused were everywhere. Parker was put in a group with kids who were just getting used to putting their heads in the water. When it was clear there would be no swimming in that group, I walked up to the teacher who was in the water and said, "he can swim. Just ask him to show you." He didn't bother verifying it and sent him over to the 5 feet side with the kids that could not have been younger than 8 years old and maybe as old as 10. Parker looked tiny with them, but it was obviously the right group of kids because he was still the best swimmer there. It was amusing when they asked him to tread water, something he never officially learned and had trouble. Breast stroke, sure. Keeping your head above water? Not so much. Guess we'll work on that.

The girls were in a class with other 4 year olds, but other 4 year olds are aren't like Miranda and Elizabeth in the water. But, they seemed happy in their little grouping and I didn't throw a shit fit like I should have.

I think I'm gonna cancel the other session I had them signed up for in August.

House Status

All contingencies removed. Scheduled to close next Thursday (in 9 days).

I'm still not holding my breath, but I'm a tiny, little bit hopeful it will be a smooth 9 days.

Kindergarten Camp

The girls had their first day of kindergarten camp yesterday at a piedmont elementary school. If it is any indication of what the piedmont school system will be like, we are damn lucky. The room was spotless. The teacher was prepared. The name tags and cubbies were properly set up. The teacher was calm and spoke to the children in a very appropriate way. The girls had fun and made one friend named Mira. There were 5 sets of twins in the two camp classes of 36 kids. They have this camp for two weeks 9-12.

Parker and I are hanging out while they are in camp. Yesterday we went to costco and to get him a bed. Today he has a playdate with Zoe at our place.

After camp, we are all gonna go swimming at Piedmont pool.

Good times.

Tidbits from Parker's Journal

I did not eat snack.
I was raceing.
I almost won every race.

Green and Purple Menu
Breakfast
Blueberry pancakes grapes
Lunch
Kiwi Brocoli
Dinner
eggplant celery

(Where each word was appropriately colored green or blue, except the kiwi which was blue.)

Riddles are you right...
You fly in me
Rain comes from me
I like me when I'm blue
But...sometimes I'm gray

Ducks
Ducks are cute.
Some ducks fly
Ducks like water.
Ducks.


Chockolate Milk Duds and Friends
I love chockolate.
I love eating.
I share chockolate.
I share olot.

Clock
I love Clocks.
They tell me the time.
Clocks can be round.

Shapes
Cubes are cool
And Neat.
And stars.
and circles too.

Spring Break
I want to go to New York. I will go on an airplane.
I have never been to New York.

Favorite Animal
My Favorite Animal is A Girafe. I like it because it's tall.
It is very tall.

5/3/11
I want you to by rasberry.
(I suppose this was some kind of note to me.)

I like fractions.
They are fun.
And they are hard.

I want to go to space.
and go around and around the moon.
and see an asteroid.

I say hell.
I say goodbye.
I drive away under the sky.

Mama, please.

For some reason (and I think I blame my friend Ashley who is the mom of a preschool friend), Miranda is now calling me Mama. I don't mind the mama so much, but she does it like this,

"Mama! Mama! Please let me watch TV! Mama, please! Please, mama! Mama!"

It seems somewhat fake, somewhat affected and slightly manipulative.

I told her to stop it since it annoyed me.

A conversation with Miranda

Me: "Miranda, what is your favorite thing to eat?"

Miranda: "Hmmm....well....I like so many foods."

Me: "What is one of the ones you like to eat?"

Miranda: "Tomato sauce."

Me: "Oh, I see."

Miranda (a few minutes later): "I'm not sure I like tomato sauce, mom."

Me: "Ok, Miranda."

Madame Eli

"Graduation"

Parker and Zoe. BFFs.








Like the certificates I made?

The pox..an update

Michael seems to be out of the woods. He doesn't have a fever today and his pox are actually looking better. It's still horrible, but it looks like he will avoid hospital. He has to remain home for 5 more days, but then he can leave the house.

When I told my parents about this, they both said they didn't remember me having had chicken pox. They didn't remember any of the kids having it. This freaked me out and I went to get my titers checked. I found out today I do have the antibody which means I must have had it, as I suspected.

Parker's Report Card

"Parker has been a joy to work with all year. He radiates knowledge in all academic areas. He is an inspiration for others to want to learn more, and they seek the knowledge he has. He goes with every assignment with dedication and works constantly to his highest caliber. He enjoyed writing about the person of the day and if ever missing work, he himself will work on catching up on anything he has missed. It is awesome to try to keep up with the knowledge that Parker is continually gaining.

In math he is working on 5th grade math standards and in reading, he is end of 2nd grade, beginning of third grade reading level with the short record that I gave him. With comprehension he was not assessed. However in comprehension in Kindergarten text he is very understanding, can find the underline "moral" of the story and can also relate the text to other stories or experiences in life. This is a higher level of thinking that he is demonstrating on a regular basis. Going further in his education I wish him the best of luck. I hope that he has a great summer and a wonderful start at his new school in the fall. It was an honor to teach Parker this year, he is a rare treasure that is exciting for education."

Don't even get me started on this. So many levels of lameness.

M vs E

Something happened at Fairyland yesterday that reminded me, again, of the difference between Elizabeth and Miranda.

We were on the Jolly Trolly and were on the 1st of 3 laps when we heard the loud speaker announce that the puppet show would start at 11am in 3 minutes. Miranda heard it and started freaking out saying the train had to hurry, that they would miss the show, that the world was ending. Elizabeth said, "Don't worry Miranda. We have lots of time. They won't really start the show on time since they have stuff to do."

Parker's last day of school

It's tomorrow and I could not be more excited.

Our summer is full of camps, classes and trips including Kindergarten camp for the girls through the Piedmont school system, swim classes at Roberts Park, July 4th trip to Reno, Zoo camp for Miranda, Gymnastics Camp for Elizabeth, one week of Art Camp for Parker then 2 weeks of Sarah's Science Camp, a camping trip to Yellowstone, lots of hanging by the pool, a visit from Julia and her parents, and regular gymnastics class for Elizabeth. None of the camps are on the same week so I won't have much kid free time, but that's ok. I'll get plenty in the fall when the girls are in school 5 days a week 3 hours a day. We've also made a list of other things we want to do like bike ride in golden gate park, go to water world, and miranda's favorite...hang around the house and play.

It should be a fun summer.

Poor Michael

I've never seen Michael more miserable than he is right now. He is covered from head to foot in bumps, blisters, sores and redness. He can't sit, lie down, or move. He has no appetite. Let's hope this is the worst of it.

Spoiled Children: A new series

" I wanted a whole Black and White cookies not it broken down in pieces!"

"When do I get my new crocs that aren't green, orange or purple like my old ones????"

"We didn't stay here very long!" (after staying at the Bay Area Discovery Museum for 5 hours.)

"I didn't get to jump on the trampoline one single time today!"

Chapter Books

After my latest trip to Amy's I realized I had been slacking in the reading to the kids department. Especially with Parker. So I hit the library and got Charlottes Web for the girls and James and the Giant Peach for Parker. Neither have very many pictures so I was worried about them not being able to focus and pay attention, but they all can. In fact, each time I get to the end of a chapter, they say, "can you do another one?" And the girls are listening to James and the Giant Peach also and really seem to enjoy it. We all lie on Parker's bed and read together.

I also got The Fantastic Mr. Fox for Parker to read on his own and he read the first chapter tonight and only got stuck on the word "nonetheless" which I thought was amusing since he knows None and The and Less, but couldn't put it together correctly. He learned a few word too like Lean and Dwarf. I also got him a book about Wolves (non fiction) and how to draw. He was happy with both.

tonight about 7:48...48 minutes after bedtime

Me: You girls have to lie down and go to sleep now.

Elizabeth: But I'm hot!

Me: So change your clothes (which she did.)

Me: What's the problem Miranda? (she was making strange noises.)

Miranda: I'm not comfy.

Me: Why not? What do you need?

Miranda: I need to be comfy!

Me: What will help you then?

Miranda: I will be helped if you help me be comfy!

Me: I get that, but what specifically do you need to be comfy.

Miranda: I need to FEEL comfy and then I can be comfy.

Me: I'm gonna ask you one more time...what do you need to do or need from me in order to be comfy?

Miranda: When I'm comfy, then I'll be ok.

Me: Good night Miranda. If I have to come back in here, I'm taking your pillow and blankets and then you'll really be not comfy.

The pox

Michael woke up the other night with a fever and feeling like shit. He didn't go to work on Friday. But Saturday he had strange bumps on him, like hives. By Saturday night, they were really bad and he called advice nurse. By Sunday, they were on his face and he went to ER. After several hours, he was diagnosed with Chicken Pox. I've had it and the kids have been vaccinated, but poor Michael is stuck home for the next week and for now, he is fairly miserable with a fever, hives, and the pox and nothing much to do about it.

Good times.

You know what's hilarious?

I have chicken pox.

first tooth!

TPS: Reading

Parker: Wouldn't be it cool if Elizabeth could read?

Me: Yeah, but Parker you don't read that much. You don't seem to like it. Is that true?

Parker: I like it.

Me: Oh, you do? But you never really do it.

Parker: That is because it is boring.

Me: Reading is boring?

Parker: Yeah. But if I could read something that is TRUE, I think it would be cool and not boring.

Me: I feel the same way. I like reading things that are true and not made up. Do you know we can read books about true things? Like about space or food or basketball or art.

Parker: Let's go to the library and get a book about art and read it!

Preschool is over.

Yay!

Here are the girls with their teacher Renee and then Margaret with Elizabeth. It was a great preschool and I'm so glad we went there.

Back then...

They were pretty cute.



And so was he.

Happy Birthday Grammy

Two versions for twice the celebration!

Eli

Hanging Around

Tabs

Parker made a book today about jump roping, his new favorite thing to do.
Making a book is not new, but he made tabs for the different chapters or in this case levels. He made it them like real tabs, so they are spaced correctly, labeled and color coded. For some reason this seemed really complex.

1st Attempt

After the latest trip to Amy's house I decided that there was no real reason I was just a bad cook. If I could run a half marathon and stop biting my nails, I should be able to figure out this cooking thing. So today, I made this salad. Granted, it wasn't very hard and no one in my house will eat it. But I don't give a shit. I thought it looked yummy and it is.

Status

I'm totally convinced it will fall through, but for now...sale pending.

TV and the Noise

I take the kids to LA every so often not only to let them play with their cousins and to see my family, but to give Michael some down time. I would go crazy in the house alone for 4 days, but he loves it. He usually does a lot of work, relaxes some, watches tv or movies, sleeps in, and goes on some runs. This past weekend was no exception except for the exception.

The TV

When I called to say hi on Sunday and asked what he was up to, he hemmed and hawed a bit. Then he said it was a surprise only to give away the surprise moments later. He had climbed up on the roof and attached our fabulous antenae to it. We had decided not to buy any cable or dish or anything else when we moved as we found ourselves watching lots of Iron Chefs, Cupcake Wars, and anything else on the food network at Rhoda Ave, but admitted that we couldn't go without watching Survivor on it's televised night. So we got a antenae (or actually two before we realized what we needed) and propped it up in the tv room so we could watch Jeff Probst insult the castaways. It gave us CBS and FOX nicely, but that was pretty much it except for some Spanish, Japanese and Korean channels. Oh, and we got the WB or UPN or one of those and watched a bunch of old Friends and Seinfelds. You couldn't walk in front of the antennae, which occasionally fell over, without the picture breaking up and we had to move it back and forth since the best position was up against the window (blinds up), which left the big cord stretched across the room.

So...when Michael told me he had climbed up on the roof (and if you have seen our place, that is pretty damn high), I was surprised at the least. He got it all hooked up and now we get all the networks, plus about 30 other channels. Yay!

The Noise

When we moved in, our place had many things wrong with it. The toilets didn't flush properly causing daily clogs. The dishwasher didn't clean. There were safety issues everywhere. Cabinets didn't close, blinds were not hung. Etc, etc. Some of it was annoying (like the toilets) and some of it didn't bother us (they repainted a lot after we moved in, even though we said we didn't have a problem with the paint as is.) One thing that drove me up a wall was the strange noise in the bathroom. This "Thump, thump, thump" would happen at strange times, day or night without much of a pattern. It didn't seem related to water use. It didn't seem related to our room use. It just went "thump, thump, thump" in the ceiling of the upstairs bathroom. I asked the landlord about it and at first he said he would look into it. He stood up there for a few minutes, didn't hear and said problem solved. When I told him to try again, he did and did hear it. So he had a plumber that was here for the toilets, snake the drain in the shower. They removed a big hair chunk and considered the problem solved. When I told him the noise was still there, he came back again to investigate. He determined it was a "spook" noise...some sort of echo in the pipes that had to do with the shower. He said, "Sorry, you'll have to live with it."

Since I can hear the drop of a pin during a rain storm, I was fairly distraught with the thought of waking up in the middle of the night to pee (which happens twice every night) and then lying awake listening to the "thump, thump, thump."

So when Michael texted me that "Oh, I fixed that noise in the bathroom" I almost died. I rarely say "I love you", but that deserved a big one. When I got home he told me all about it. How he was doing the antennae and was about to head back inside when he saw this opening. It had a screen on it, but also a flap under the screen. He could see the flap move back and forth and literally heard the thumping while standing on the roof. He removed it and felt damn proud of himself. I'm still deliriously happy about it and go up to look at the flap sitting on the landing outside the bathroom window often.