Thursday, June 30, 2011

Her Masterpieces

NyCee enjoys puzzles and I enjoy watching her put them together. I believe the brain is a muscle that should be exercised daily. For example, I drive different ways on a daily basis to avoid getting into a rut or routine. I think that it is healthy to change things and make your brain "think" about what it is doing rather than be on autopilot.

That is one of the reasons I encourage NyCee with puzzles. The other is it helps produce problem solving skills. She has to learn how to complete a task and create different ways of doing it.

Generally, she would put together the 24 piece puzzles. I quickly realized those were too easy for her. She could complete three or four of them in less than 30-40 minutes. So we have graduated to the 100 piece puzzles. I work on them with her and it is a good activity to develop patience as well.

Tyler usually gets out his puzzles and ask, "Mommy, I help too?" I will give him a few pieces to put onto the puzzle. When he fits a piece into place, he often starts dancing and singing, "Go Bubba. Go Bubba."

As for me, my schedule is slowing down a bit. I am into the routine of working from home. LOVE IT! I only have 5 classes until I take my comprehensive exam. Then, I will begin working on my dissertation. In my mind, I am Dr. Dayna E. Thompson. That is pretty cool!


It is amazing what you can accomplish when you learn to look past the obstacles to the goal. When I decided to return to school, I had no idea that I would become Dr. Dayna. That is such a wonderful legacy to leave for my children. Faith in and application of God's word has the power to change your tomorrow. I am living proof.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Musical Beds

NyCee asked if she could sleep in my bed last night which is a very rare request for her. So I agreed. She went to her room and brought back her pillow and two stuffed animals. She got comfortable. Played with one of her animals and then drifted off to sleep.

Approximately, three hours later, Frederick comes strolling into my room with his blanket in tow. He looked at NyCee while she slept as if to say, "Why are you in my spot?" He asked if he could get in my bed. Of course, I obliged.

Now, there are two sleeping children, two stuffed animals, 1 Tinkerbell pillow, 1 blankie. All that is missing is the partridge in the pear tree! With all that in my bed, there was no room for me.

I went and got in Tyler's bed. He woke up and started calling my name. He walked into his room and asked, "Mommy, why are you sleeping in my bed?" "Well, my dear son, because you and your sister are in my bed!" HA! I did not answer him but he crawled in his bed next to me and went to sleep.

I then proceeded to my room and went to sleep. The alarm when alerted approximately 30 minutes later.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Saturday Morning Fun

Normally on Saturday mornings, the kids and I are out doing an activity. This past week has been so busy. I decided I did not want to leave the house until it was time for church. So, I bought the kids a little pool at Wal-Mart for some morning time play.

They spent some time playing together. I even bought water guns but they are too heavy for the kids when they are filled with water.




It was challenging trying to get them to sit down in the water. But once they got comfortable, they sat and played with the toys.


Tyler wanted to stay in a little bit longer so I gave him about 10 more minutes. A couple of times, he would smile and say, "Mommy, I play in the water. I having fun!"





Of course, I was sitting watching them during their water play time. A simple, quiet, Saturday morning. It was very nice.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Contest




NyCee and Tyler decided to have a contest to see who would win the gold trophy. The contest involved one of them laying on the floor at the base of the stairs while the other jumped over him/her.


Tyler started the process and jumped three or four times. We were on Skype with Nana Ida. We all cheered saying, "Go Bubba. Go Bubba." At one point, he was taking a long time to jump. I said, "C'mon son and jump." He replied, "Wait, my butt is itchy." It was classic!










Friday, June 17, 2011

"Ut oh, Mommy.."

When your three year old son begins a sentence with the phrase, "Ut oh, mommy..," generally what follows is not good.

Here I will present another antic of young Frederick.

He went upstairs to use the bathroom. When he finished, he called my name. I knew that meant he pooped because he needs help getting the wipes to clean his bottom.

I gave him the wipe and walked out of the bathroom to let him finish the process. Shortly after I heard, "Ut oh mommy." So of course, I returned to the bathroom and see this:


I asked him why he threw his underwear in the toliet. He said, "Because they were dirty with the wipe." I stopped. Processed it. Then looked down. The wipe must have fallen on the floor on top of his underwear. (For whatever reason, he feels the need to completely remove his underwear and shorts when using the bathroom.) In his effort to throw the wipe in the toliet, he also threw in his underwear as well. My response: "Son, seriously" while shaking my head.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

In my head, I hear different people saying, "boys are different than girls." "Each child is different." Every single day, those statements become more and more true.

Take this morning for example, I walk into Tyler's room to wake him up. When I removed the covers, this is what I see:

So, I paused trying to understand why his pajama top is on backwards.

Next, he goes to the bathroom, comes out, and takes off his pajama pants. This is what I see:





Now, I am really bewildered as to why his underwear are on backwards. I helped him get dressed last night after his shower. I am very confident that I did not put on his clothes incorrectly. I have no idea at what point he turned around the clothes. Again I paused for a moment, thought to myself, "If I ask him what happened, will the explanation make any sense?" Probably not. So I, refrained, shook my head and laughed.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Bad Tooth Fairy


NyCee lost another tooth yesterday. It was the last of the four front teeth that were loose.

We followed the normal routine. Put the tooth in a bag. She tells me how many coins she is going to ask the tooth fairy to bring her. The bag goes under the pillow. The swap is made and viola! All is right in her five year old world.

Okay! Not this time.

So mommy, put the tooth under her pillow where I would be able to reach it. At some point, my child moved the tooth to the middle of the pillow. And of course, her head was smack dab in the middle while she is sleeping! And to make it better, she was laying on her side facing the outside of the bed. So I could not move her to get the pillow from under her head. I merely put the coins under the end of the pillow thinking she will just see the bag of coins. I would then retrieve the tooth put it away and all would be normal. Again, not so much.

At 6:00a, NyCee walks into my room and says, "Mommy, the tooth fairy didn't take my tooth" with the saddest little voice ever. I asked, "Did she leave you any coins?" "Yes, but I cannot keep the coins because she didn't take my tooth." "Maybe she forgot because she had other little boys and girls to visit last night who lost their teeth also."

Seriously, who knew the child would look for the tooth? I thought the coins would be enough! And now, I have to repent for lying. The joys of motherhood.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Make a Difference Monday

Today, a friend came by to fix a light switch that has been broken for months. It was a fairly easy fix but while here, he noticed a couple of other problems. Due to the way my house is situated, I come in through the garage and do not pay attention to the front door. He noticed a leak in the front yard and on the sprinkler system in the backyard. Which now explains why my water bill was $40 higher last month.

He also sprayed a particular type of bug spray needed for the parameter of the house. And he did all of it for free. I bought him lunch as a way to say "Thank you." But I am glad to know that people still do things for others, just because.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Mommy's Day at the Lake

After dropping off the kids at daycare, I enjoyed a day at the lake with Dionne, her best friend, Milinda, Dionne's kids and her kids' best friends. WOW! That is not at cumbersome as it reads.

It was a gorgeous day! Even though it was near 95 degrees today, on the lake it felt like the low 80s. The water was wonderfully warm.


I had a good time just sitting and hanging out with Milinda and Dionne. We watched the kids ride the wake board and tube behind the boat.

Of course, the lake is man made but it was so majestic to view the canyons and mountains from the boat.

One of the major things that Dionne as taught me is that it's okay to be Dayna and not just mommy.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Still Here... Just Busy

What have we been doing for the past few weeks? Glad you asked. Well, we have been driving all over creation trying to find a place to live. My lease expires at the end of the month and I have no idea where we will be moving. Now, Jesus and I have had long chats about this situation. I want to live closer to NyCee's school. Although I work from home, I do not want to spend 40 minutes of my morning dropping off the kids at their designated locations.

I went to look at a house today. It is 1000 square feet smaller than were we are now but it is literally 3 minutes from NyCee's school. YAY! I completed the application today so now we play the waiting game.

I have been diligently looking but I am not paying the high amount of rent being asked. Especially when the houses look like trash. The neighborhoods were just awful. I found a house a couple of days ago but by the time my realtor called, it was rented. I know something better awaits. I am not the 9th hour kind of girl but my life belongs to God and he knows that I need a place to live. So, I do my part and He will do His.

The foreclosure rate in AZ is still very high so people are walking away from their homes and going into rentals. So the ones that are affordable go very quickly. I refuse to get upset and agitated over this situation. God always provides!



Over Memorial Day weekend, NyCee attended her first away from home sleep over. The girl in the middle is Olivia. It was her 6th birthday party. We started the morning by going to see Kung Fu Panda 2. Then, off she went for her girl day.

It was really weird that she was not home on Saturday night. She did not seem to mind being away from mom.

I will keep you posted regarding our move.