Skate Date

NyCee and I went roller skating tonight as part of a fundraiser with my church. When we arrived, she was so excited about skating. (The skates I bought for her birthday were too small. I have to find another pair that will convert from skates to roller blades.) When she first got on the skates, she had to learn to balance herself. Part of it was just the theatrics of NyCee. So she fell a couple of times, very lightly, onto the ground. Then, she found the courage to actually go onto the skating floor. She clung to the wall for dear life. My friend's daughter attempted to help her skate. But NyCee would not stand up straight to get her balance. Then we discovered the "roller aide" the white and red device she is holding. Once she got the hang of that, she was off. She would go on to the floor and skate in the middle of the rink, by herself, holding on to her roller aide. It was a fun, family event. I am learning to embrace more of these types of times. These are the types of events that build memories the kids will cherish.

Sunday Afternoon

After last weekend, (the birthday party weekend), we deserved to rest. The kids took full advantage.

5th Birthday Celebration at Pre-K

NyCee was able to be the class helper and leader today because it was her birthday. Her teacher, Mrs. Beecher is amazing with the kids. NyCee started the morning by counting the days on the calender. (The woman in the photo is the class aide.)

NyCee was able to select a few of her friends from the class to assist her with answering the question regarding the pattern on the calender.

After all their academic work was completed, NyCee was able to have show and tell time with her friends. She chose to take her bear from the Makutu's birthday party over the weekend. She also told the class that there are three people in her family: mommy, herself, and Tyler.

NyCee chose to have the class sing "Happy Birthday" Hawaiian style.

At the end, Ms. Beecher gave her a big hug and squeezed her ears five (5) times.

NyCee is doing very well academically. She is very prepared for Kindergarten. She knows colors by reading the names, can write her last name, and is learning to count to 100 by 10s.

Birthday Number 5 - Weekend Party

Let me start with this statement: It is been a long weekend.

Friday night:

NyCee had a sleepover with her little friend Olivia. JD, Bubba's buddy, was over as well. The girls built a clubhouse and played in there for quite a while.


The boys had to be separated in order for them to go to sleep. They were not allowed to sleep in the clubhouse.



Saturday Morning:
NyCee's party was held at a placed named Makutu's Island. It is an indoor play area with ladders, slides, games, tunnels, etc.




After the kids play on the island for a while, then they are escorted back to the room for pizza and cake. The purple stuffed bear is Makutu.






I bought her a scooter and in-line skates with matching helmet. All are the Disney princess theme.




The big pillow T is from Olivia. It is quite girly with pink sequins on a green cloth.


Sunday Morning:
This morning, we went to church and NyCee wore the dress her Nana Ida bought for her birthday. She is holding the money she received from her grandparents. She was also able to go to the "big girl" class at church because she is now five (5) years old.


Sunday Afternoon:
NyCee made a bookmark from one of the gifts she received.

Sunday Evening:
I took her to Dollar Tree so that she could buy a couple of toys with the money she received. Interesting story: I always tithe for the kids when they receive money. Today was no different. I paid NyCee's tithe of 5o cents and gave an offering.

After the we left Dollar Tree, I took the kids to IHOP for pancakes. While there, a couple sitting behind us made sailboats out of dollar bills. NyCee got a $2 return on her seed she sowed earlier today! There was no reason behind it. The couple just gave them the sailboat dollars. God is so awesome.




Now, as tired as I am, I get to sit down and do three days worth of work, clean my house, and do school assignments that were due earlier this week. But that is the cost for being a mom. NyCee had a great birthday weekend.

Up in there

Two days ago, my son woke up in the middle of the night scratching his nose. I thought it was just the seasons changing so I turned on the humidifier in his room.

The next morning, while washing his face, brushing his teeth, and cleaning his nose. I noticed something in his nostril. I thought it was mucus. Turned out to be a little yellow ball. Well, no wonder his nose was irritating him during the night. I had a conversation with him about NOT putting things in his nose.

Yesterday, I picked up the kids from daycare and Bubba said, "Mommy, I put an earring in my nose." "Bubba, do not put anything else in your nose please." In my mind, we were revisiting the events two days prior.

Last night after dinner, I began wiping Bubba's face and mouth. He stated, "Ouch, that hurts." He then lifted his head back towards the ceiling and this is what I saw:



So of course, we spent part of our evening at the after hours clinic. $20 and one hour later, the hair bead was removed from his nose. It was not one of NyCee's hair beads so I have no idea when he stuck the bead up his nose. My guess is that it happened while he was at daycare. I probably should start an emergency "doctor's office visits co-pay" fund just for him!

Shoes

In an effort to break myself of a bad habit, the children and I have been practicing taking our shoes upstairs as soon as we come in the house. (Most of you know, I do not wear outside shoes in the house. Because of that, all too often, 1000 pairs of shoes ends up piled up at the entry point of the door way. I have decided that my future husband, whomever he may be, while he will love and adore me, will have very little tolerance for the pile of shoes blocking his access into the house.)

With that noted, I am very proud of my little girl. She is nearly 5 years old and keeps her shoes neatly arranged in the closet.



On Wednesdays, I change the bed linen so I went into her closet to get a set of sheets. I looked down and saw sand in her shoes. She was obedient and placed the shoes in the closet as she was told.

I guess I will have to tell her to dump out the sand-outside- before taking her shoes in the house and putting them in the closet. Minor overlooked detail.

Ridiculous Favor

I was out shopping with a friend on Friday and we went to the mall. She was looking for new pillows for her bed. She found ones she liked at JcPenney. She bought two king-sized down pillows for $40. Yes, $40. Normally, one pillow is $40. The store was having a buy one get one free sale. SCORE!!

I went to Radio Shack to get a plug for NyCee's computer game. (That thing uses batteries like toilet paper! geez!) While there, Dionne and I started looking at the phones.

Backstory: I have a house phone. But it is old and upstairs. Generally, the ringer is off as I get tired of the telemarketer calls and I am usually down stairs. A few months ago, my cell phone died due to a server issue at At&T. Unbeknownst to me, the system played a message, "this subscriber is not accepting calls." I didn't think anything of not getting any calls that evening. My kids and I were safe and sound in the house.

Dionne, who lives about 1 minute away from me, told me the next day she had called countless times but I didn't answer the house phone. I asked why didn't she come by the house? She prayed and did not feel we were in any danger. Which, we were not. But from there, we have had numerous conversations about the house phone upstairs thing.

Since that time, we have had multiple conversations about me getting the cordless phone set with three handsets. So on Friday, while in Radio Shack. I looked at phones. The AT&T phone was marked $39.99 for three handsets. SCORE!!! The sales clerk confirmed that was the price. I walked up to the register and prepared to pay. The young lady made the sale and said, "Your total is $99." I said, "I thought the phone was $39.99?" She walked over to the shelf where the phone as housed and realized the phone was marked incorrectly. Due to the store's error, I received a $99 for $40! WAHOOOO!!!

And the best part of all. I wanted the iPhone 4. However, in practicing good stewardship over what God gives me, I decided that I was NOT paying $200 for a phone. That is ridiculous. So, I prayed and asked God for the phone but I committed to not spending more than $100. (The phone is also a treat to myself. I deserve something after working three jobs and putting myself thru school for nearly one (1) year.)

After I finished shopping for the kids on Friday, I returned home and logged onto the AT&T website to see if the phone was available. I had purposed that I would not be disappointed if it were still out of stock. But of course, the phone was in stock and I was able to purchase a 16G iPhone4 for $100. WAHOOOOOO!!!!

I have RIDICULOUS FAVOR on my life. It is only March and all these wonderful things have happened. God has some great stuff in store for me and the kids this year! And I am open and ready to receive it all!!

At Mommy's Feet

Tyler, who has decided everyone should address him as "Bubba" - okay so I take some responsibility for that, woke up and walked into the spare room where I am working. He had his McQueen pillow and blanket in tow. I asked if he had to go potty, he replied, "No mommy" I lay down on the ground next to you."



And there he laid and went right back to sleep. He looks so cute laying there.

Night Owl

Well, I made it through my first week of permanently working from home. I have come to the conclusion that I will have to make a schedule. I literally worked 12-14 hours each day for about 3 days straight. The downside to working from home is you do not stop working. There is always, "one more thing." But do not get me wrong, I will not trade it for any other job. I am finally being compensated appropriately in accordance with my educational level and experience. Beautiful thing!!!

I am becoming quite the night owl. I find that I am wide awake at 2a. Partly because I take naps in the middle of the day. I am telling this job is beautiful.

Now, here is part of the downside, you lose track of days. I literally did not shower or shave my legs for two days!!! That is just nasty. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, dropped off the kids, came home and started working. WOW!! It could be easy to let yourself go keeping up that routine. To help break that bad habit I was forming, I got a calendar notebook that sits next to my work computer. At night, I make a list of all the things that I need to accomplish the next day. Including taking a shower and shaving my legs. HAHAHA!

I have to be sure to guide my days and not the days guide me. Okay, just wanted to provide a quick update of what's going on with us out here in beautiful Arizona. I have to do my statistics homework. I have decided that statistics if fun and I will embrace all that I am to learn during the next 7.5 weeks. WAHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Mis-Matched

One of these kids has his pjs picked out by mom.
One of these kids picks out her own pjs.

Can you guess who?

I have no idea why my daughter refuses to select matching pjs at bed time. Oh well, I have no desire to fight that battle.