Asthma or Post Nasal Drip?

. . . are the two answers from two different doctors about the uncontrollable coughing we've been experiencing with Abby. But before I tell you about that, these pictures are of Abby this week. I cannot tell you exactly when these were taken this past week because she ALWAYS wears this Rapunzel dress up. Always. As soon as she gets home from the sitter in the morning, she automatically puts this on. We walk in the front door and in a matter of seconds, she is naked and trying to get this on as fast as she can.

Notice, the red around Abby's mouth? When she gets a cold, she gets red, chapped skin, which can't feel very good for her.

Here's the health craziness that has been going on in our house over the past week. Abby has always had trouble with uncontrollable coughing when she gets a cold, especially at night. This started when she was three months old. I remember taking her to her pediatrician after three nights of sleeplessness. Abby had been up coughing all night. Seriously . . . ALL NIGHT. She was so little and I was so worried about her because she just wouldn't stop. I'm talking like coughing every 20-45 seconds all night. I stayed with her in her room and was so exhausted. I had no idea what was going on with her, but I knew that it wasn't normal for a three month old to cough like that. The odd thing was that she didn't cough during the day, and I was confused. So I went to my pediatrician, looking for answers. She had a little cold, but nothing that would cause this craziness. I remember going into the pediatrician's office wearing my glasses and thinking that everyone must be looking at me because I felt so out of sorts. I had been up for nearly three days! I was desperate for an answer. After evaluating her (remember she didn't cough during the day) he looked right in my eyes and told me that I was a paranoid mother and that I had a perfectly healthy child. He also added that he didn't have time to see well children like mine just to put mommy's minds at ease. :) After giving him a piece of my sleep deprived mommy mind, he mentioned that this could be an indication that Abby would deal with asthma in the future. I "fired" him right away, wrote a letter of complaint, and found a new wonderful doctor for the girls.

Abby always coughs at night with colds, and in the past year, she has had those same coughing fits when she runs or plays. I've had several people tell me that she could have asthma, but I thought that she might just react poorly to colds (since I'm a paranoid, overreacting mother, you know). But a few weeks ago, it was clear to me that she was having trouble breathing. I called the doctor when I couldn't even take her to the park because she coughed so hard after running around for thirty seconds.

Dr. Yen, our new lovely doctor, diagnosed her right away with viral infection/exercise induced intermittent asthma. She put Abby on an inhaler, and life has been much easier in the week that she's been on it. Dr. Yen also referred us to an allergist to see if allergies were possibly triggering her asthma.

Having Abby tested for allergies was, quite possibly, the hardest thing I've had to have her subjected to. She had a six pronged device dug into her back to test for allergies. While the nurse was digging this into her back, she was looking at me, screaming, undoubtedly wondering how I could let that happen. Meanwhile, Jenna was crouched in the corner of the room wiht her hands over her head, sobbing, because she couldn't take the fact that Abby was in so much pain.

In the end, she doesn't have allergies and the allergist refused to tell me that Abby has asthma. Instead, she insisted that Abby just has a hard time with post-nasal drip.

Whatever. I choose not to go with that diagnosis. Dr. Yen knows Abby and the inhalers are helping. So whatever. And boooooooooo to the allergist and while I'm at it, I'll send some boos to her first pediatrician too.

In order to get Abby to take her medicine and inhalers, Nate has turned into Dr. Daddy. See the picture below. :) He has an Elmo stethescope, an Elmo thermometer, a Hannah Montana type microphone headset, and some kind of kitchen utensil that magically turns him into Dr. Daddy. Thank goodness for Dr. Daddy because he can get Abby to take any medicine--she just needs a few giggles first:)

Fun to Fun

. . . that's how all the T-Ball games will end. There are no outs, no score, and all the girls get to hit every inning. It's really a great introduction to team sports and turned out to be a whole lot of fun for us as a family this morning.

So today was Jenna's first T-Ball game. Our team, the Royal Highnesses, played the Wildcats. It was quite amusing to watch girls who have little to know knowledge of how to play T-Ball get out there and play the game. Several girls ran from first to third, completely bypassing second. When a ball was hit, half the team would go for it, resulting in a big pile of blue on top of the ball. But the best was when a girl from the other team fielded a ball for us and threw one of her own teammates out!

It's all in good fun and a riot to watch these little girls play for the first time:)

The Royal Highnesses T-Ball Team

Jenna's first at bat!

A team huddle.

Three Minutes

I have tried to put all the play makeup far out of the reach of my little Abby, but she found it today. In no more than three minutes, she managed to make her face up so nicely! I was upstairs on the phone and after I was done only heard silence. Silence and Abby are always a messy combination!

Our First T-Ball Practice

How cute is the helmet and bat?

Matt and Nate teaching the girls to catch the ball with alligator arms

Coaches. Matt probably didn't know that it was a vicarage requirement that he coach T-Ball for his supervisor's kid's team:) Just kidding!

Ash Wednesday

These sweet pictures were taken when Jenna was just two months old on her first Ash Wednesday. Today, we mark the beginning of Lent and tonight, I will brave the 7pm church service that has never been a successful experience.

I've tried to take the girls to the Advent and Lenten services over the past few years, and every time I leave incredibly frustrated and a little bit embarassed. You see, these services are at 7pm, which is a half an hour before their bedtimes. And my kids are usually the only kids in the service. Most other parents don't even consider bringing their kids to church on a school night. I completely boycotted Advent this year, and most of the Lenten services last year.

So, I am going to take the girls tonight, because I want them to experience Ash Wednesday. (And I also want to go:) ) I'm particularly excited about Nate's sermon series for Lent. He bought over 500 copies of The Shack and is having the congregation read the book. His sermons will then relate to certain aspects of the book. It's a tad bit risky, but good and I'm really looking forward to it.

I am going to heavily rely on crayons, coloring books, snacks, and my good friend Megan to help get the girls through the service without embarrassing ourselves, knowing that a nice glass of wine will be waiting for me when I get home!

The California Budget

California finally passed its state budget and every single person will feel the sting of the budget cuts that were made. Our sales tax is going up, the amount we can claim for dependents has been drastically reduced, and worst of all . . . it's going to cost us almost double to register our cars in California (and I thought it was already expensive). But the most difficult cuts (in my opinion) were made in public education.

I teach in a public school . . . not in the K-12, but in the adult school. These do not exist in most states, but they are schools that really have an impact on the community they serve. Our particular adult school offers all kinds of classes, but mostly we serve the immigrant community by offering ESL classes. I teach the GED preparation class, helping to prepare people to earn their GED and go on to get better jobs or higher education.

In the past few weeks, we have seen a dramatic increase in our enrollment because people are losing their jobs and need GEDs or better language skills to get a new job. In our particular school, we have taken a 15% cut this week. And next year another 5% will be cut from our budget. This means that several people have lost their jobs, me not being one of them (thank God!) But it also means that the filtered water that's available to the staff is gone. It means that once the copier paper is gone, it is gone. We will have to buy our own paper. It also means that if I need staples or dry erase markers, I can only hope that there are some left in the supply closet, because there will be no more purchasing for the rest of the year.

So I am thankful to still have a job and am serving the people of our community, but it's not a pretty picture for many in California.

Pieces of My Week

I am home this week from work. It's apparently President's Day Week. I've never heard of a whole week devoted to that, but I'll take what I can get! I LOVE working part-time because it is a good balance for me, but I've really enjoyed this week at home. I have cleaned out our whole office, played with the girls a lot, and cooked some good dinners. It's nice for a break every once in a while.

Here are a few random things that have happened this week.

1. For three days now, Abby has been persistent about drawing on her left leg with a pen. I am not exactly sure where this came from, but every time I wash it off, she does it again. She keeps telling me that "T.J. will love it!" T.J. is a little boy who goes to our church and to the same babysitter with Abby in the mornings. I think she has a crush on him:) She is saving her leg drawing so that she can show it to him:)

2. I have an appointment for the girls to have their yearly pictures taken tomorrow. I have to cancel it, though, because Abby has a mysterious scratch accross her right cheek. Seriously . . . I have no idea how it happened and wish she would have waited a few days to get the scratch. I hate rescheduling things. Hopefully, it'll be gone by next Saturday.

3. I got to meet all the Kindergarten teachers at Jenna's school for next year. I'm very excited about her being in Kindergarten and think she will thrive there.

4. Jenna will be playing T-Ball in the area league this spring. She's on a little girls' team, ages 4-6. Guess who is their coach? Yep . . . Nate. Oh, and he roped the our vicar (student pastor) into coaching as well. Nate is super excited and already has his practices planned out. First, his goal is to get them to run around the bases the correct way. Next, he wants them to know that they always have to throw the ball to first. And lastly, he wants to teach his girls what tagging up means. He says that he never wants his kid to not know what it means to tag up. I think this is a little lofty for 4-6 year old girls, but it will be so fun! I will be impressed if they can hit the ball and run the right way around the bases. I love that he's coaching and that he is so excited. Their team name is the Royal Highnesses. Very cute!

5. Jenna is in a weekly dance class. There's 6 other little girls in the class and I've had fun getting to know the other moms who hang out outside the studio window during the class. We all get along and have gotten to be friends, but there is this one lady who I am pretty sure thinks I am an idiot. And I think it's because I am different from her. Different culture and different socioeconomic class. That's all I'll say about that . . . but I don't think it's because of any problem we've had with each other, because I really like her or did like her untilt his week. It's just that I don't make the same decisions she does. Here's what happened this week at dance class.

* I walked into class with a reuasable plastic water bottle. I thought I'd drink some water while we were waiting for the kids. She immediately asked me if I thought it was safe to drink out of the plastic bottle. It caught me off guard, so I had to ask her what she was talking about. She said that it's not safe to drink out of plastic due to chemicals in them. Now, I know that it's not safe to heat up plastic in a microwave with food in it, but I wasn't aware that all plastic was unsafe. Hmmmm . . . .

* Every week, this mother tells me that Abby should be in the class because she dances in the hallway and seems to follow along with the girls from the window. And every week, I tell her that the two year old class is on Saturdays and that doesn't work for us. The real reason is that I am not willing to pay for Abby to be in dancing. She would love it, but she'll get to do something like this next year. We just can't do it now.

* About ten minutes later, this mother tells me again that I need to sign her up for dance and asks why I won't do it.

* I was sitting on the floor with Abby, and we were practicing counting her fingers. Abby is just learning to count things (which I think is pretty normal). And Abby wasn't getting all the numbers right. After three, everything became two or six. I thought it was cute, but this particular mother told me that her daughter, who is about six months older than Abby, can already count to 20. Well good for her . . . I am in no rush to push my kids into academics they aren't ready for.

* The last activity for dance class is always freeze dance. This mother walked up to Abby and told her to go join the other girls because she could tell that she wanted to dance too. I simply looked at this mother, said nothing, and picked Abby up. There was no way I was going to send Abby into a class that she wasn't registered for.

* And last, but not least, right as we were leaving, she looked at the scar on Abby's head (remember the jumping on the bed/emergency room incident?) and told me that I should be putting lotion on her head so it doesn't scar. I nicely (although by this point, I think she was getting the point that I was ticked) told her that we have special cream that we put on twice a day.

Now, if it were appropriate in any way shape or form to kick this lady in the shins, I would have. But that would be awful and not very nice of me. But if she treats me like I'm an idiot again, I might have to tell her that I would appreciate her keeping her opinions to herself. But I think that I will really want to kick her:)

Trip To The Snow

It's crazy to me that we have to drive to the snow, but it's also kind of nice that we can pick and choose when we want to brave the freezing temps and mounds of snow! We took a mini-vacation this past weekend to the snow, which was about 20 miles west of Yosemite. It was the girls' first real experience in the snow, and they had a blast! When we got there, snow was on the ground, but it was quickly melting. We took advantage of what we could, but then decided to venture out to Yosemite to find more snow. Unfortunately, after getting about five miles up the highway, we ran into a huge snowstorm and had to turn around. However, we did find a little park to stop for a while to let the girls play. It was nice to be around snow again:)

so happy to be in the snow!

learning to make snow angels!

cute Abby!

Jenna sledding

their very first snowman:)

a beautiful snowy road

I Hate To Tell You This . . .

but that's not blonde hair, it's gray:(

So I went to see Bruce, my hairdresser, today for a haircut. It's the first time I've been back since he convinced me to put a darker color in my hair to even things out. And might I remind you all that I was mortified and hated the dark color until it lightened up enough to look okay. Now, it is blending well with my real hair color that is growing in (which I've never really seen before).

We were talking about what to do with my hair and here's how our conversation went.

Me: See Bruce? See the top of my head? The hair is coming in a little bit blonder, but still matching pretty well.

Bruce: Silence

Me: What? Don't you agree?

Bruce: Well . . . I wasn't going to tell you this, but that's not blonde. That's gray hair . . .

Me: I can feel the color drain from my face as I try to not show the horror I am feeling.

Me: So what do we do about this gray hair?

Bruce: Nothing. You don't have a lot, but if it really bothers you later, we'll put some color up there.

GRAY HAIR! Seriously. I am 32. I expected gray hair, but not yet. I don't know exactly why this bothers me so much. I was cool with turning 30. I've accepted the stretch marks and repositioning of body fat that comes with having babies. I even really love my mini-van. I have been okay with my age and all that comes with it---until the gray hair incident.

This is so disappointing, because after years of highlighting my hair, I was excited to let it grow out and have "natural" hair for a while. But I don't think I want this "natural" hair now. Do I color it for the rest of my life or let it grow in and deal with it? I hate the idea of having to color it forever and I hate the fact that I am feeling vain about this whole gray hair thing.

If any of you out there have this problem and have found a good solution, I'd appreciate suggestions:)

A Going Away Gift

I am going to a pastor's wives retreat this weekend. Yes, you heard me right, a pastor's wives retreat. I have never gone to one of these and I'm not sure I would have ever been interested in something like this until recently. I just never thought I needed to go. I never saw the benefit of spending time with other pastor's wives (whom I don't know) but now crave their insight, wisdom, and experience. I am no pastor's wife model, and I hope to learn from the women I meet this weekend. Oh, and I get to go with our student pastor's wife, Megan. We have become good friends this year and I am looking forward to a weekend with her.

In honor of my leaving, Jenna drew me this precious picture. I love seeing her art progress and seeing new little details that show up . . . like the eyelashes and the dot in the flower and the blue line for a sky. Notice the red hair? In case you are wondering if it's a picture of me or Jenna, look at the red hair:)

A Boycott

I am officially boycotting the 25 Random Things About Me on Facebook.

Yes, I was one of those people who posted 25 Random Things About Me, but in the end, I wish I hadn't. After reading a few people's notes, I thought about doing my own, but kept saying to myself . . . no, all 300 of your friends on Facebook don't need or want to know that you used to call yourself Skeeter the cat as a child. I felt incredibly narcissistic doing it, but in a moment of weakness published my note. Soon after, I deleted it from my account entirely.

It's really a harmless, fun little activity on Facebook, but in the last few days I have seen similar notes being written--several about names. And I feel like so much of my Facebook feed is now filling up with these notes that I try not to indulge in. I like connecting with old friends, reading statuses and looking at pictures, but really, how MUCH do I really need to know about all 300 people on my friend list?

Now . . . I'm not condemning anyone for posting these notes because #1 I wrote one and #2 I read lots of them. I just feel like Facebook has become even more voyeuristic than it already is. And I just wish that I hadn't convinced myself that everyone needed to know 25 Random Things About Me.

Where's Dr. Shuta When You Need Him?

Dr. Shuta was our theology/doctrine professor at Concordia who was incredibly smart and knowlegable about Lutheran doctrine, but a bit on the quirky side. I'm not sure he would have the ability to explain anything to a five year old given that he could never number the pages of his "book," but I thought back to my Doctrine days for some reason today when Jenna started asking questions about God.

We were in the car (of course, that's where all the good convos happen) and all of the sudden she said, "Mommy, I really love to learn about God and everything around us. I just want to learn more all the time. (This is such a good sign for us!) She goes on to say . . . "But I just don't get how God can be God and Jesus at the same time and that Jesus is God's son, but that must mean that God is Jesus's son, and I just don't get that."

So I am sitting in the car thinking about the fact that my five year old basically just asked me about the Trinity. How can I explain a topic that I can't get my brain around sometimes to a five year old? But how cool is it that she was asking that question?

She's at a great Christian preschool and I have loved every second of her time there. She has wonderful teachers who have inspired questions like this from her. I also love when she comes home and says stuff like, "Hey Mommy! Did you know that Joseph's brothers sold him and that he still loves them after all of that? I would never sell Abby:)" I just love when I can see her love and knowledge of God grow.

The above pictures really have nothing to do with the story, but I took them yesterday and thought I'd post them. They are getting so big . . .

Mr. Starfish

Getting the kids ready in the morning is a team effort in our house. My job is to help the girls get dressed, brush their teeth, and brush their hair. I hunt down shoes, make sure the girls have coats on and do the morning drop off before I head to work. Nate's job is to wake them up and get breakfast ready for everyone. It works quite well and I love that Nate loves to be a part of the routine.

A few weeks ago, Nate's method of waking the girls up changed. Usually, he goes in and gently wakes them up. I think that stopped working, so he had to resort to an alternative method. And of course, this new way is hilarious!

Nate uses the starfish stuffed animal and to wake the girls up. His name is Mr. Starfish. He's pink and his voice sounds just like the chef from South Park. The waking up usually goes something like this:

Nate: (in the South Park chef voice) Well good morning Miss Abby. It's time to wake up and get our clothes on today.

Abby: Ignores Nate as long as she can.

Nate: Miss Abby, Miss Abby--It's time to wake up! If you don't wake up, I'll have to jump on you.

Abby: Kicks Mr. Starfish and giggles

Nate: Oh, I don't like it when you kick me Abby. How about I jump on your back so you wake up? (Mr. Starfish jumps on her back and then proceeds to cough and choke because jumping on Abby's back apparently causes this reaction for him.)

Abby: Continues to try to kick Mr. Starfish and giggles

Nate: Well, it's time for me to go. See you tomorrow morning Miss Abby!

By this time, Abby is rolling in laughter and she is ready for her day! And I am grateful for a husband with a sense of humor.

Leaf & Strawberry

I love these pictures because they so accurately portray Jenna and Abby's personalities here. See the mischievous little grin on Abby? It says so much to me . . . It says, "I am going to wait until you can't hear or see me to jump on the bed" or "I can reach anything I want in the pantry. I especially know how to find any chocolate that Mommy tries to hide up high" or "I am going to take whatever toy Jenna is playing with and run as fast as I can and hide where she can't get it." That's my little Abby.

This next picture also says a lot . . . "I am mad because I didn't get my way and I won't smile for you . . . ever!" I eventually got Jenna to smile. See above picture:)

This post really isn't about the pictures of the girls, although they say so much about each of them. Instead, it's about a game the girls play called "Leaf & Strawberry." It all started on Sunday when I bought the girls these new spring dresses. The weather isn't warm enough to wear the dresses, but they love to play in them inside. The first time, they put on the dresses, Jenna named Abby "Leaf" and herself "Strawberry." Of course, their names coincide with the colors of their dresses.

Now, I really don't know how one plays "Leaf & Strawberry." I can't figure out what they actually do, except I know it's a bit of a cross between school and acting like horses. I just think it's funny to hear them say, "Come on Abby, let's play Leaf and Strawberry!"

Oh, the imaginations:)

Sometimes I wish I had a brain in my head . . .

because yesterday, I did two stupid things without realizing them until after the fact.

Stupid thing #1--I wore heart shaped earring stickers to school all day without realizing it until I got home. Jenna got them for her birthday and I agreed to wear them yesterday before work, thinking that I'd surely remember to take them off. Of course, I didn't. I wonder how many students noticed my lovely earrings????

Stupid thing #2--And this relates to stupid thing #1. The heart shaped earrings came in a little girl makeup princess kit that Jenna got for her birthday. I played "beauty parlor" with the girls yesterday afternoon and forgot to take off the lovely bright pink makeup before taking Jenna to dance class. You might be thinking to yourself . . . well, that's not that bad. Well . . . she put the bright pink sticky makeup on my forehead too! So I went to dance class and socialized with the other moms with bright pink spots on my cheeks, eyelids, and forehead. I'm sure the other parents noticed . . . I'm just thankful that they didn't say anything to me:)

Why Do I Blog?

I did not intend to like blogging. I never really even considered it until a friend suggested that I do it. So I thought it would be a good idea, and that it would allow our friends and family who live so far away to be a part of our lives--even if it was through pictures and stories on a blog.

I've never liked to send tons of pictures of my kids to everyone in my address book (although I have done it). And I am definitely not a scrapbooker. I want to be. I want to be a scrapbooking goddess like Tamara and have a beautiful page done after every fun activity. I'd love for my kids to have their scrapbooks when they are older and think about how much time and effort I put into making them, but I CAN'T DO IT! I am not crafty and I can't get organized to buy supplies, print out pictures, and find time to put it all together. So I blog. At least my kids can have paper copies of their lives according to me:)

I've also discovered that I like to write. And there's lots of things that I'd love to write about on this blog, but I choose to use discretion instead. It's probably best for everyone involved.

I've wondered if I like the attention of people commenting on the blog. And yes, I love when people comment, but it's not why I blog. I really blog for two reasons. 1) So that my kids can have a permanent record of their lives through stories and pictures. Because if I didn't blog, there's no way these stories wold be preserved. And 2) So that my family and friends have an opportunity to be a part of our lives . . . even if most of them don't read the blog. It's been hard to live so far away from family and friends, and this is one way that I feel connected.

Jenna's 5th Birthday Party

There's a story behind this birthday party. Remember the 16 weeks of sitting on the steps at the YMCA swimming lessons? Shortly after we enrolled her at the awesome swim school that she now attends, I asked her what she wanted to do for her fifth birthday. (We have always had small parties at the house, but decided to let her have a bigger one this year for year 5). To my surprise, she asked for a swimming party. Given that 1) swimming has been a struggle for her and 2) her birthday is in January, I had to work hard to make this event happen.

I found a really cool indoor swimming facility that was perfect for little kids. It had a kids' play structure, a lazy river, and waterslides. So not only was today a really fun birthday party, but I was so pleased to know that she had fun swimming. This was probably the first time in a long time.

We had games and cake & ice cream before swimming. Nate was in charge of the games, which were, of course, all princess games. And he made the parents wear a princess crown if their kid won at Bingo or Musical Thrones. So fun! But after a while, the kids were itching to get to the pool, so off they went!

The only bad thing about this party is that almost all the parents had to swim:) We all had a great time, but you know . . . most of us post-children moms just LOVE to put our bathing suits on in front of other people:) I knew that this party would be work for the parents too, but they said yes and came and we all had a really great time.

Special thanks to our friend, Heather, who made Jenna's awesome cake and to our friend, Jen, who helped decorate and played with our kids:)

Nate leading birthday games in the Jasmine crown. So fitting!

Jenna and Jen decorating the party room:)

Happy Birthday Jenna!

To my sweet Jenna,

Today you are five! This morning you told me that I needed to go to Kohl's today so that we could pick out all new clothes for you. When I asked why, you said that you MUST be bigger since you are five today. So cute!

Today we took ice cream cone cupcakes to preschool today and you were so excited to share them with your friends. We had a birthday lunch at Chili's today (your choice of restaurant and we were so happy it wasn't McDonald's). Matt and Megan joined us and then you got to go see Bolt with your Daddy. This seems to be a tradition now--birthday dates with Daddy to the movies. You were so sweet to invite me and Abby, but we had to decline because Abby needs a little more time before we venture to the theater with her. The people sitting around you should thank us:)

I am so proud of you! I love that you are compassionate, that you love Abby, that you love to learn. I love that you love pink and princesses and that you want to help people around you. I love that you cried longer and harder than Abby did when she cut her forehead. You were so worried about her that you stayed up until 10:30 waiting to see if she was okay. Such a sweet heart you have!

I am thankful that you are ours and I love you very much !

Love,
Mommy

My Education Rant

Here in California, we are in the middle of an awful budget crisis. There is a 42 BILLION gap in the budget and Gov. Schwarzenegger and the state legislature (whom cannot agree on anything) are in the throws of cutting funding for lots of programs, one of which is education.


The budget is not set in stone yet, but there's lots of speculation about what is going to happen. Many school districts are already cutting back their programs in order to get ready for what they know is going to happen. Here are a few of the things that could and very well will happen to public schools in California: entire athletics programs might be cut, schools might no longer have counselors, nurses, and programs for kids who need a little extra help. Class sizes could go up over 30, and the school year and/or school day could be shortened. Art and gym and music could no longer be offered. Maintenence workers and custodians' jobs are likely on the chopping block too. (By the way, I get my information on this from the San Jose Mercury News. I really am not making this up.)


I think about this a lot for several reasons. 1. Jenna will be entering Kindergarten next fall and we are still deciding between public and private school. 2. I teach in a public school district.


As a teacher it is not fun to be in my school now. People's jobs are being cut left and right. The rest of us wonder if our jobs are the next to go. My principal comes in my classroom every day and if my numbers aren't real high that particular day, he makes some sort of comment about my numbers needing to be up so I don't lose my job. (How's that for pressure?)

As a parent, I worry about the education my daughters will receive if they go to the public school--certainly not the one I received! I know that my girls would be fine in a public school. Nate and I would support them and be involved. But I can't imagine a school without the opportunity to play sports or music or see a school nurse. I do realize that I am a bit of an education snob, for lack of a better term. I went to excellent schools and want the same for my children. I guess in the end, I'm sad that our state is so bad off that they have to cut such important programs for kids, and I hope that doesn't end up happening.

No More Abbys Jumping On The Bed

One little Abby jumping on the bed.

She fell off and bonked her head.

Momma called the doctor and the doctor said,

No more Abbys jumping on the bed!

Right after the girls' bath last night, I was brushing Jenna's hair when Abby snuck into our room and thought she'd get a little jumping on the bed in while I was occupied. She must have jumped too high because I heard this loud thump and then crying. I rushed over to her and realized that she must have landed on the floor and hit her head on the corner of my dresser drawer that happened to be open. And that corner was sharp!

So we landed in the ER last night, and Abby has four stitches. I must say though . . . she was a champ. She fell asleep in the ER and only woke up when they started sewing her up:)


Hopefully, she won't be jumping on the bed anymore!

Her First Crush

Today in the car (which is where all the good conversations happen), Jenna asked me if it was okay to be five and be married. At first, I wasn't sure what she was asking, but soon realized that Jenna was asking for herself! She had this cute little smile on her face, had her hand up to her mouth, and was talking real quietly. This is how the convo went down:

Jenna: Mommy, can I be five and get married?
Me: Ummmm . . . what honey?
Jenna: I think I'd like to get married.
Me: Oh! To whom? Is it a boy in your class?
Jenna: (smiling so cute) Yes, I want to marry Ryan Lee.
Me: Does he know that you want to marry him?
Jenna: No
Me: Did you ask him to marry you?
Jenna: No
Me: What do you like about Ryan?
Jenna: He plays with me all the time and never shoots me with pretend guns.
Me: I think you need to be a little older and have finished college (like that plug?) before you get married.
Jenna: Okay . . . would Daddy let me get married?
Me: You should ask him when he gets home:)

So we have Jenna's first offical crush on record! I have to admit, Ryan Lee is a nice boy. He rode in our car to the Pumpkin Patch and was a delightful young man. But, I'll stick to getting through preschool before we think of marrying her off:)

She Gets Into Everything

Abby is so fast and can make a colossal mess in minutes. Just this morning . . .

After Abby had her usual yogurt for breakfast, she went to the bathroom and earned herself two M&Ms. She gets two for pee-pee and "yots and yots" for poo-poo. She ran downstairs while I was picking a few thing up in our room and had already scaled the pantry to get the plastic tub of M&Ms. She told me she only took two, but I'm sure there were "yots and yots" in that little hand of hers.

I went outside to get the paper (because I cannot even think of eating breakfast without reading it) and she had pushed a chair up to the pantry and gotten into the chocolate chips. (Looks like I need a lock for the pantry.)

(I just now had to take a break from writing because she went into my bedroom, locked the door, put Vaseline all over her face. She apparently thinks it's just like my moisturizer. Sheesh!)

The best, though, was when I went to the bathroom, which really was all of 60 seconds. She pushed the chair up to the computer desk and retreived the two Sharpie markers from the top shelf, where they were thoughtfully placed with her in mind. When I got out, she was drawing me a beautiful picture, complete with holes poked in the paper and lovely green and black Sharpie marks on the carpet. There is a reason that Sharpies are called "permanent markers." And not even my trusty Oxy Clean carpet cleaner is getting the green and black marks out.

Two things here . . . first maybe you have noticed the sneakiness involved here. She never tries any of this when I am in plain sight. It is always when I am gone for a tiny bit of time. She's a smart one, that little Abby. Second, if you have heard my carpet stories involving Nate or have read this blog, you know that I am in HUGE trouble. Nate is fanatical about the carpet.

If he sees crumbs on the carpet, he gets upset. If there is a stain, he will give me a mini-lecture on the importance of making the kids sit at the table to eat and how to avoid this in the future. He steam cleans them often, careful to note every stain that keeps coming back again. So when a stain gets on the carpet on my watch--I do what I have to to avoid the carpet nazi. (that's Nate) I understand that Nate is trying to keep our home nice and hates dealing with dirty carpets, but I cannot worry about such things in the middle of a day full of kids and laundry and toys and pottytraining and sharing disputes and sneaky little girls and and cookie baking. If there is a spot, I get out my Oxy Clean and hope for the best.

So my little Abby is sneaky and into everything. In fact, the house is incredibly too quiet and I need to go see what she's into now.

UPDATE: It was brownies. She found the leftover brownies from a party last night and helped herself to one. Seriously . . . no more sweets today for Abby:)

Jenna, the Breakdancer

As the kids were getting their buckles strapped in the car today, Jenna accidentally broke the bowl that we have in our car. You are probably wondering why the heck we have a bowl in the car, but it's our throw up bowl. Jenna gets carsick, and ever since the incident last month where I had neither the bowl or any chewable Dramamine and spent a great deal of time cleaning puke off the car, her clothes, and the booster seat, I now carry a plastic bowl in the car all the time. (I really need to get one of those Schwann's ice cream buckets with a lid . . . that would be perfect!)

So, Jenna stepped on the plastic bowl and broke it. She felt bad about it, although I wasn't angry. It was an accident--no big deal. In order to make herself feel better, this is what she came up with . . .

Jenna: Mommy, I learned about breakdancing on tv and I think I'm a breakdancer now.
Me: Oh, really? How's that?
Jenna: Well, I broke the bowl and I like to dance, so that makes me a breakdancer.
Me: Well I guess it does:)

Gotta love those little minds at work!

Christmas 2008

Santa brought Tinkertoys for the girls. They are especially designed for girls with pink and purple colors. This was the girls' first masterpiece. It's apparently a birthday cake for Jesus.

Megan and Abby playing Sequence with the fam.


Matt, Matt, Megan, Abby, and Nate playing Sequence

Jenna, enjoying her Princess dolls and their horses.

A trip to Half Moon Bay with Grandma and Grandpa.

How Cute Is She?

Abby, wearing her princess cape and awesome sunglasses:)

A happy anniversary in Napa Valley

Our nine year anniversary was yesterday and we decided to take advantage of my parents being here and took off for an overnight trip to Napa Valley. It was a much needed rest after a busy December and we had a wonderful time. Nate and I aren't into fancy stuff or being really busy. We are just happy to have time to sit and talk at Starbucks or so something new that we've never done before.

Below are some pictures of our adventures from today . . . we ended up at Sterling Winery, which was recommended to us by a local guy named Chuck. We ate at this little deli in Calistoga and made friends with the guy sitting at the table next to us. Actually, he tried to get us to give him a piece of our pizza because it looked good to him and we ended up talking to him for a good half hour. Chuck is actually my kind of guy, and I wish we could have talked to him some more. We talked about politics, all the diferent places we've all lived, and even got a mini history of Calistoga, CA. I knew I loved him when he said he would choose to live in Texas if he could choose any place in the country to live:)

Anyway, Chuck recommended this winery, so we checked it out. Everyone had to take a gondola type tram to the top--which was so cool. Once we were up there, we took a self-guided tour and had great views of the beautiful Napa Valley.

It was a great ninth anniversary:)

A Pleasant Surprise

As many of you know, I teach a GED preparation class. I have so many different kinds of people all in one classroom every day. There are those on probation, those who have to be there to receive their state aid check, those who really want to get their GED, and young adults who have to pass the CAHSEE.

The CAHSEE is the California High School Exit Exam. There's an English part and a Math part. I have a few students who are not preparing to take their GED, but need to pass this CAHSEE test in order to receive their high school diploma. And let me tell you, the CAHSEE is one hard test. Teaching high school math has surely challenged me.

I have this one student, M, who is in my class for the CAHSEE test. He is there almost every day--I think because his father makes him come, but he hates every second of being there. For the first two months, he wouldn't even say hi to me. He tells me that I'm boring and that all the stuff we learn is boring---which doesn't bother me because I know he has a motivation issue and everything related to learning is boring to him. So we joke about me being boring and I do my best to keep him on task.

For the first three months, M "pretended" to be stupid. He seriously failed every assignment I gave him. I thought he had some sort of learning disability until I threatened to kick him out of class for lack of effort. Ever since then, he's shown that he can learn and is doing much better. And in fact, he passed the math part of the test, and I am so proud of him. So now, we are working hardcore on writing essays and getting him to pass the English part of the test.

I must say, that I am super patient with him. There were several times that I should have kicked him out, but I have put way too much time and energy into him and have seen some positive results. But I know he hates being there and will celebrate the day that he is out of my class.

The students in my class got me a Christmas gift and in the card, M wrote something that was so surprising to me. He said,"You are the nicest teacher ever and I am learning." Wow! (Just so you know . . . I am not the nicest teacher ever . . . and I sometimes struggle with my ability to help him.) Teaching is not a glorious profession, but one sentence of affirmation can give you all the energy to go on. It will give me the patience and energy to get M to write that five paragraph essay if it's the last thing I do:)

Picked Out By Jenna

I love modified birthday cards. They're my favorite!

What I Miss

My kids don't know snow. Jenna begs me to take her to play in the snow; maybe we'll venture into the Sierras for some sledding. I just think it's funny that you have to drive to snow to experience it here.

I grew up with four seasons and there's something I like about each one. Here in California, we really only have summer and kind of cold. I can't even call it winter because it doesn't snow and I can't call it fall because the leaves barely change. Kind of cold means that it gets cold enough to have to wear a jacket, but I still don't get by people buy gloves or earmuffs or scarves around here. Unless they are visiting the snow.

One of the greatest joys that I miss is snow days. I miss the anticipation, the joy when you hear your school's name called on the radio at 6:30 in the morning. (Although since our district didn't bus, it had to be a blizzard or an ice storm before school was called off). I miss the fact that you have an excuse to stay huddled in the house with the tv and pajamas. I try to explain this to my students, and they have absolutely no idea what I am talking about.

My Bon Jovi loving friend, Tamara, sent me a copy of the book, The Shack. I am only on p. 25, so please don't tell me what happens. But in the first few pages, the author, Wm Paul Young, describes this phenomenon that I love so much. Here's how he explains it . . .

"There is something joyful about storms that interrupt routine. Snow or freezing rain suddenly releases you from expectations, performance demands, and the tyranny of appointments and schedules. And unlike illness, it is largely a corporate rather than individual experience. One can almost hear a unified sigh rise from the nearby city and surrounding countryside where Nature has intervened to give respite to the weary humans slogging it out without her purview. All those affected this way are united by a mutual excuse, and the heart is suddenly and unexpectedly a little giddy. There will be no apologies needed for not showing up to some commitment or other. Everyone understands and shares in this singular justification, and the sudden alleviation of the pressure to produce makes the heart merry." The Shack, Wm. Paul Young

So that's what I miss and it's the best way I can explain to my California friends what they are missing.

Annual Christmas Cookie Decorating

This is an all day event! Baking and cooling and making frosting and decorating and cleaning up. Such a task, but so much fun! Here are a few pictures to show you our fun:

Abby holding the mixer all by herself!

Jenna carefully applying the frosting.


Beautiful cookies!

Come on, you know you want to eat this one . . . the one with three inches of blue frosting and two inches of pink sprinkles. Really, you know you want it:)

Magic!

We've had a tough time in the behavior department with Jenna lately. It was like one night she decided to turn sassy and nasty and refuse to listen. I even asked Nate if we had turned into some lazy, awful parents lately or if this change I had noticed was real. Well, it was definitely real!

So we broke out the reward charts. If you look closely, you can see that the girls have things they must do in order to be able to draw in their box. Jenna draws faces and hearts, while Abby draws Xs. If they have six good days in a row, meaning that they get 5 out of six spaces full each day for six days, they get to go to McDonalds.

I'm thinking that bar might be a little high for a two and four year old to reach, but for right now, it's working like MAGIC! Jenna's behavior, especially, has been awesome:) We may tweak the reward chart as we go, but for now, we are loving it!

Our First Successful Trip to See Santa

This will be our fourth time attempting to visit Santa. Year 1, Jenna was terrified and screamed the entire time we were in line to see Santa. So we left, and I was really disappointed that we didn't get a "Santa picture" with her.

Year 2, Abby was here too and I was so excited to get a picture with my two little sweethearts and Santa. Abby was too little to object and Jenna was all for it. We stood in line for at least a half hour. It was almost our turn--we had one other family in front of us. Unfortunately, we had to leave because Jenna threw up all over that family. She had the beginning of a stomach bug and I was mortified. Some nice guy helped me clean up the puke as all the other mommies tried to stay as far away from us as possible. ( I don't blame them!)

Year 3, we were back to being afraid of Santa and settled for a wave to him from afar.

But this year, we did it! There was no line and we had a really great Santa. He sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to the kids, played along when Jenna asked him where his sleigh and reindeer were, and made sure to tell them about the being naughty or nice deal. Which is great, because now I have leverage for a few weeks. Jenna's really afraid of getting coal:) (Not that we would ever give it to her, but it's nice to be able to say, "I'd like to see good behavior or Santa will know that you haven't been good lately . . . ")

It's nice to finally have a picture of the girls with Santa--and so wonderful that they smiled!

Cheeeeeeeeese!

My sweetheart, Abby. So silly . . .

Please Go Away

This is directed to all serious, not so serious, and just down right annoying illnesses that have invaded our home in the past few months.

Here's' what's been going down . . .

Nate--flu
Nate--pneumonia
Jenna-fever
Jenna-ear infection
Abby-fever
Nate-more pneumonia that wouldn't go away
Lots of coughing by everyone.
Jenna-pink eye
Jenna-pink eye, again
Jenna-Fifth's Disease (common childhood illness that is actually a virus and causes fever/rash)
Jenna-fever
Abby-pink eye
Abby-fever
Abby-possible ear infection (doctor's appointment tomorrow)

Notice that my name is not listed there? Yay for staying healthy. I somewhat attribute this to my new love for the supplement, Airborne. Have any of you heard of it? I have been taking it over the past few months and have stayed pretty healthy. Healthy enough to take care of all the sickos in our house!

Also notice that most of these illnesses aren't anything serious, other than the pneumonia. They are just annoying. And I am thankful for annoying because the girls could be much sicker than they are. But I still am requesting that they leave our presence.

I suspect that all of this has something to do with all of us being exposed to different people all day. I work at a school, Jenna is in preschool every day, and Abby is in daycare in the mornings. Maybe we're just building up our immunities .. . who knows.

I am hoping that tomorrow's doctor's appointment is the end of it. You'll know I've gone crazy if you see a post about me getting pink eye. Now wouldn't that be lovely?