Blood.

We were gonna leave about 4pm for a swim team ice cream social and Miranda's choir class. So around 3:45, I gave them a warning and did it again at 3:55. Parker and Elizabeth were downstairs waiting to go, but Miranda was no where to be seen when it was time to go. So I went upstairs and asked her what she was doing. She was doing nothing as it turns out, but I asked her why she wasn't downstairs ready to go. She didn't really have an answer. She came down and went outside where the other kids were waiting and I locked the door. Only then did I realize that Parker was not, in fact, outside. So I went back upstairs, unlocked the door and yelled, "Parker, we're leaving! Where are you?" The only response I heard was crying so I went into the den and saw him there grabbing his head with blood everywhere. Holy Shit! What happened, I asked. He said he was just lying on the couch, rocking back and forth and then he hit his head. He said it hurt. No shit it hurt, blood was pouring down his hand and shirt. We stood at the sink for a while giving it pressure and then I finally looked at it which is easy to do with is crazy white trash haircut and noticed it was a gaping hole. Stitches, for sure I thought. But with Michael out of town, the though of taking them all to ER was horrible. So I called Susan to see if she could help (which she could), texted Michael to see what he thought, and then checked his head again. Still bleeding. Now we had about 8 minutes to get Miranda to choir. Then I turn around and Elizabeth is saying, "Mommy why is it taking so long to leave????" I told her to go back to the car where they had been waiting a good 15 minutes. I walk Parker to the car with a towel and ice pack on his head and we head off. I figured I'd watch it and if the bleeding didn't stop, we'd go to the ER. Luckily it did so we didn't. He's got a nice dried up blood patch on his head now but otherwise he seems fine.

A lovely way to start the evening.

Miranda's Choir Class

I really don't like Miranda's choir teacher, but she seems to like the class so we are sticking with it. For now...

Boy Chasing

I didn't realize chasing boys started this early. But sure enough, here it is.

Nap time.

Elizabeth wasn't feeling well yesterday. She swore she wasn't tired. I told her to come hang out with me and she was asleep 4 minutes later. My phone was close by so I took some shots. It's hard to take a one handed photo with an iPhone if that wasn't glaringly obvious.

This one kinda scares me.


Not really sure what happened here.


Better.


A keeper.

Making Friends

The girls are making lots of new friends at school. Before and after school, they goof off with a bunch of gals or chase boys. It's sweet to see.

Here they are with Beck, Bauer (twins that I've known since they were 8 weeks old) and Caroline playing baby leopard game.

pogo

Ebba gave the girls a pogo stick for their birthday. Parker is the only one that can do it now. He's up to 200 jumps and takes it with him everywhere. Here he was practicing jumping up this little curb. He's also taught several other older kids how to use it.

Piedmont Harvest Festival

Today was the big fall fundraiser in Piedmont. All the schools get together for a harvest festival. Since Piedmont is so small, it seems the whole town comes. Each class was asked to make a scarecrow to auction off. With only two weeks to do that, Jeanne-Marie (my co-room parent for kindergarten) and I decided on easy idea that kids could actually do. So one day after school, they stuffed newspapers in leotards and pants and then dressed them up like trick or treaters. They were very homemade looking, but we figured it would be fine.

We brought them to the festival today and saw all the other scarecrows and realized how naive we were. Even so, there were two bids on our scarecrows before we left the festival.







Parker (and everyone else) liked the angry bird one and it had many bids.



I knew there would be face painting with long lines so I painted their faces before we left and did a better job than they would have gotten there. Parker wanted an angry bird on his face and I couldn't figure out how to do it, so Michael did.



The kids played carnival type games for really crappy prizes, waited in long lines for food, made masks and saw friends from school. They had fun.

Beter late than never...

Blah, blah, blah.

After taking the kids to the Piedmont Harvest festival this morning, Michael and I were tired and ready to do nothing the rest of the day. So when Michael said, "I don't care if they watch tv the rest of the day!" I was all over it.

We got home and Michael disappeared upstairs. I made the kids clean their room and Parker practice first, but then they literally watched tv for about two hours. Kipper, Shaun the Sheep, Pengu, Wonder Pets. I took a nap and Michael went to a movie.

At dinner, I said, "So what all tv shows did you watch today?"

Elizabeth said "Wonder Pets, Kipper..." and then Miranda said, "and Blah, Blah, Blah."

This is a common joke for Miranda. She inserts blah, blah, blah into conversations regularly and thinks it's hilarious each time.

So today, I said, "Oh, how was blah, blah, blah?"

She said, "It was really good. The people said, "Blah, blah, blah and then blah, blah, blah and then one said, blah, blah, blah."

The way she said it cracked me up.

Fun and games.

Before I went to a movie tonight with Susan and Ashley I played tickle monster with the kids. This game involves me staring at them, running after them, grabbing them, and tickling them. They run and shriek and laugh and love it. Sometimes they jump on a chair or sofa or touch something and say "BASE!" and I leave them alone for a few minutes. Sometimes I tell them, "OK, I'm done with the game, come here so I can tell you something..." and then I attack them again, which they love.

Michael wasn't thrilled that I was riling them up so much before taking off for the evening right before bedtime, but then when I left and started walking to the car, I heard him playing the game too. It sounded like people were being tortured in the house which I suppose they were.

Movie.

I took Miranda to see Dolphin's Tale tonight. She really liked it. Very appropriate for kids with only one scary storm scene. She ate popcorn and junior mints, sucked down a punch and only spoke loudly a few times. She loved the theatre (grand lake) and commented on how beautiful the ceiling was (which I had never noticed). She liked the organ player, didn't like the kid booster seat, didn't mind the 3d glasses which were largely pointless and was thrilled she got to stay up late. Wayyy late.

It was a good night.

Morning on the Playground

When we arrive at school these days, Parker and some kids play base tag, a form of tag involving the painted on baseball diamond. Lately, kindergarteners have also begun running around. This morning, as I watching it, Parker ran right into Miranda. Parker was looking one way and running the other and his ear hit her forehead and they both fell down with Miranda hitting the back of her head on the pavement. She started screaming, Parker popped up and starting yelling, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" and they he started to cry. I saw it all happen, as did many other parents, so I rushed over and held onto both of them. They both sat there for a while crying and crying and then I moved them over to the bench where they both continued to cry. Miranda's bell rang, so we walked her in. Parker was still a mess but Miranda was pulling it together despite the large bump on her head. Parker's bell rang, but it was becoming apparent he wasn't gonna be up for school since he was still crying. I went down to the tell the teacher and then tried to figure out what I was going to do. I had to work in the girls' class in 10 minutes and had two friends meeting me at school for a long run. As I was standing their trying to figure it out, I went back up to girls' class, checked in with Miranda who was still touch and go. Then I went back to Parker who was sitting with an aide and took him to the office to wait for Michael who I had called. If he needed to go to doctor we were gonna need two parents. Parker waited in the office while I went back to the class. The workshop should have started already, but it hadn't. Then the principal came in and said Michael was there and what was the plan with Miranda. We agreed she could stay. Then she told me I could leave too. So I did. I went back home with Parker and Michael, offered to cancel my run to hang with Parker, but Michael wanted to stay with him. So I took off, ran for 10 miles, and picked up the girls who were both fine at 11:45. We went home where we discovered Parker was just fine too.

Sheesh. Too much excitement for one morning.

Parker goofing off

Miranda can be very sweet sometimes

Parker Misses Zoe

Zoe and her sister came to Miranda's party. Parker was so happy since we haven't seen her in a while. They got matching angry birds on their faces. Kathis, her mom, and I have set up b-monthly playdates so the kids get to see each other. I think the worst part of going to a new school is not seeing Zoe every day. :(

Eli is tired.

Some days Elizabeth is just so tired. This was from a few days ago. She played outside with Miranda and Parker then came in, sat down and fell asleep.

Girls Parties Thanks

The girls' parties are over and I'm sure I'll blog about them more soon. But for now, just wanted to put some thanks out there.

First and foremost to Michael, who, with only one small exception, was a rock this weekend, doing whatever was needed. Move tables? Absolutely! Get coffee? No problem! Pick up flowers and dirt for flower pots? Yes! Deal with annoyingly late face painter. You got it! (We almost both lost it when we drove to Alameda to get the cakes and hit traffic, idiot drivers and moronic bakery personnel.) He cleaned up, prepared foods, blew up balloons, talked with parents, took videos, and dealt with tired girls. We were a good team this weekend which was really nice.

Louise was also a huge help. She set stuff up, kept calm when we realized I forgot the paint for the painting party, cleaned up, and continually looked when the kids said, "Grammy watch this!"

Ebba and Susan let me borrow tables and chairs which made the painting party possible. Those two would walk through fire for me, so cleaning up after a little party and bringing over furniture is a no-brainer. Thanks ladies.

Parker did an excellent job of letting his sisters get all the attention this weekend. He sort of stole the pogo stick that Ebba gave the girls, but otherwise did really well letting them have their moment.

Val, for hanging out after party number 1, and for always being there on special days no matter how far away she lives.

Thanks to Kika for letting me take her crying child away from her so she could go have brunch. It takes a strong mama to see her kid so upset and then go enjoy a brunch. Thanks for having the trust in me that I could handle it. And handle it I did with a little help from Angry birds.

To all the moms and dads who brought their kids on both days so my girls wouldn't be sad. Jenna, Lucy, Susan, Ebba, Lori/Scott, Leigh, Ashley and Alex, Becky, and Sapna. Your transport and efforts were much appreciated.

And thanks to almost everyone for respecting the no presents rule. Between family and close friends, the girls got everything they could have ever wanted anyway.

Sporty

The other day in bootcamp, we had to do these three man suicides (running back and forth in the gym like a relay). It was harder than it looked since you got very little recovery time. One gal was standing right next to me so I said, "Let's be a team." (She's new, but fast.) Then another woman was walking up to us, so I said, "You're on our team." She replied, a bit sarcastically, "Oh great, I'm with the sporty gals."

Those kinds of comments still crack me up and this time I laughed out loud. Sporty is not how I consider myself or think others, who don't know me well, perceive me.

Two girls, two birthday parties

Birthday girls

Party faces

Birthday dinner at Fentons

Miracles Happen

When we got home from school today, I told the girls that if they cleaned their room and the play room, they could watch some t.v. Miranda immediately started complaining and I cut her off saying, "I don't care if you clean or don't clean, but if you do, you can watch t.v."

Then she turned to Elizabeth and said, "I'll clean upstairs if you do the playroom." Elizabeth said, "Deal."

And this is the really amazing part...they both did it and when Miranda was done before Elizabeth, she came down and said, "I'm done so I'll help you now."

So now they are watching wonder pets and my back thanks them.

More Parker School Updates

Parker's teacher and I have been communicating a bunch in person and in email as she tries to figure out exactly how to work with him. She is sending home different homework for him and this latest was a card game of sorts where he had to take 5 cards and use three of them to come closest to 20. (It's important to start teaching smart gambling techniques young.) The rest of the class was learning their phone number and how to read maps.

He had a little trouble setting up the game, but no trouble at all with the game itself. It was just single digit addition and subtraction. When I relayed this to the teacher (as she has asked me to do), she said that the math specialist had noticed he was challenged when asked to fine the "difference" between the scores and that was why the game was picked. But since he had no trouble figuring out that he beat me by 20 points, I was confused.

Then it dawned on me. He didn't know the word "difference" as it related to subtraction. When I asked him to find the difference between the scores, he tried to tell me why the number 24 was different than the number 4. He knows the math concepts, but not the vocabulary that goes with it. I told the teacher about this and she said that made a lot of sense and she would keep this in mind going forward.

Gotta Sing!

After repeated and persistent requests to take a singing class, I signed up Miranda for the Piedmont Community Children's Choir. They have a "kinder" class once a week. At first I thought the coordination between Parker's swim team practice and this class would be too challenging, but then I realized the class was across the street from the pool and it would work out perfectly. Drop off Parker, see him get into the pool successfully, walk Miranda to rehearsal, go back to pick up Parker (only 30 minute practice), walk back to get Miranda (hers goes for an hour.) Yesterday, I was lucky and Ashley hung out with Elizabeth for most of this. But she came at the end to watch Miranda and started singing along in her chair. Since she is only doing one class (I'm allowing two extracurricular activities each), I asked her if she wanted to take singing too. She said yes. I told her I would ask her again in a few days and to really think about it.

Miranda really seemed to enjoy it. There were 13 kids her age (not all white!) and one highly animated teacher who used a kitty cat puppet, one pianist and one assistant. Miranda was pretty quiet in the class but then afterwards was back to her broadway musical showtune voice to show me what they sang when I was with Parker at the pool.

.

BFFs

Parker and Aidan now refer to themselves as BFFs.

Gymnastics practice

I am picking up Elizabeth from gymnastics class on Wednesdays these days, so today I Took off early to watch Some of the class. They seem to always practice on the far side of the gym, so I have to squint, but it's fun to see her in action. They are doing handstands against the wall right now. And now they're doing splits. She didn't see me at first. And then she did, and she blew me a kiss.

Parker's First Playdate

Parker is having his first playdate with kid from new school today. Jack ZN (there are two Jacks in his class and this is how they refer to this kid) seems like a nice kid. He appears a bit more mature than Parker, but most kids do to me. They jumped on trampoline, played block angry birds (where they build block structures and knock them down with stuffed angry birds) and had a game of baseball in the back yard. They got along like two peas in a pod.

I think we'll be seeing a lot of Jack ZN.

I'm afraid to see this show.

Miranda: "I'm gonna do a show called 'I'm impressed with what you are doing, Babe.' It's a show about a little pig named Babe. Just like the movie. Except in the show, Babe gets killed in the end."

Me: "Oh. Why does Babe get killed."

Miranda: "You'll see."

Miranda: "Oh and mom, the show is in the corn field in five minutes."

Computer Lab

I volunteered in Parker's computer lab today. It was a lot nicer than any of the corporate training centers I've been in. Each kid has his own Mac and after learning how to log in, played drawing/writing games. Most of the kids needed no help at all. A few needed help using the mouse (smaller girls whose hands couldn't really handle them well.) It was all quite ridiculous.

Randall Museum

Susan and I took the kids to a new museum on Saturday. It's not really new, but new to me, which I didn't think was possible. It was just a small, city run kids museum in SF. It had animals including owls and hawks as well as entire model train set up (with real geek model train guys running it) so everyone had fun. Afterwards, we walked down to playground (that Susan and I pondered was some sort of meet up place for gay men since there were random adult men hanging out) and stayed there for a long time (since the men left). It was a lovely afternoon.

jewelry party

Elizabeth went to a party for a friend from Gymnastics. She was turning 6 and had a jewelry making party. Eli didn't know anyone there except the bday girl since she goes to different school and different grade, so was very shy at first. But after she had matching necklace, bracelet, earrings and hair comb, she was pretty happy. She made the necklace and the bracelet completely on her own. I did the others.