Mommy's Guardian's

The kids advised they are going to protect me from the bad guys. Clearly, they are armed for the job.

The Diva and The Gentleman

Yesterday, NyCee asked if she could wear a pair of dangling earrings along with her scarf to church. I sent this picture to her Nana Ida in Texas. I laughed because NyCee added accessories to her outfit just like her Nana would.

Yesterday evening we were leaving for church. The kids went to the garage and walked to the van. I followed shortly after. I noticed my door was opened but thought the kids crawled in through that door. When I got in the car and sat down, Tyler said, "Mommy, I opened the door for you because I am a gentleman." And blinked his eyes as if he was winking.   That little boy is quite the charmer already.

"Mommy, I will do it because I am a gentleman."

Lately, Tyler has been doing more things for himself. He ends every reason for doing things himself with the statement, "Because I am a gentleman." Today, he asked for a snack. The snacks are on the lower shelf of the pantry so that they kids can reach them. Tyler wanted goldfish which requires a small cup. I was sitting on the couch watching TV. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Tyler climbing on the counter to open the cabinet with the small cups.

When I asked what was he doing? He simply replied, "I am getting a bowl for my goldfish because I am a gentleman."  He was able to climb on the counter because he retrieved the step stool out of the bathroom.  He climbed up, sat down, opened the cabinet, got the cup, closed the cabinet, jumped down and got the goldfish.  Next, I am going to teach him how to make breakfast for his sister.

H-O-T

I am SO glad God had a redemptive plan for mankind.  It is 113 degrees today.  It is H-O-T!!  Hell is hot and dark.  That is not an option I recommend anyone exercise.  Share the love of Christ with someone today!

Her First Semi-All Nighter

Last night, NyCee asked if she could stay up and watch TV.  Sure, why not?  It is summer vacation.  Around 3a, she came in my room and asked me to turn off the TV because she was sleepy.  Well, I had to wake her up about 10a because Tyler had a doctor's appointment.  She replied, "Mommy, I am so tired from all the TV."  HAHAHA!  Now, at 5:35p, she is taking a little power nap. 

Bonus: Today, I went to the furniture store and found the perfect entertainment center for my family room area.  It is the one I have been wanting for about a year.  I did not want to pay $1200 for it.  I got it for the lovely price of $398.00! Brand new.  The sales man checked with his manager on the price.  Apparently, it was supposed to be $898 but someone marked it $398.00.  The manager ripped off that tag so fast your head would have spun around.  Oh well.  I got it for $398.00.  I LOVE God and the favor His bestows on my life.  YIPEEE!!!!!!!!!!

My Big Helper

NyCee has a chore chart in her room.  She earns stickers for completing her assigned chores.  She has now discovered the wonderful world of "bonus" sticker.  She earns a bonus sticker by completing a task without being asked.  Yesterday, she made her brother's bed.  Today, she asked to help wash the dishes after dinner.  She is an amazing little girl. 

NyCee Reading

Early Days of Summer

First full day of summer break: Yesterday morning, I took the kids to a small water where they ran around and played with water guns.

Second full day of summer break: As of 948a, Bubba is still sleeping. LOL

Tyler woke up around 100p.m. Seriously, no joke. He washed his face, brushed his teeth, ate some food, and laid back down. This is him at 343p in the afternoon. Must be hard being a 4yr old on summer break.

Tyler's Last Day of Pre-K 3

She was Tyler's Pre-K 3 teacher, Mrs. Lambert. The kids wore pjs today and watched movies given it was the last day of school. Mrs. Lambert asked if I wanted Tyler to remain in her class next year for Pre-K 4. She has both 3 and 4 year olds in her room. The curriculum is the same among all the teachers. Mrs. Lambert stated, change is hard for him, which is a true statement, but it is part of life.

Below is Ms. Noriko, Mrs. Lambert's assistance.  Putting Tyler in all day Pre-K was a really good decision.  Of all the weeks of school since January, he earned five (5) happy faces this week - the last week of school!

Tale of Two Children

Today, was NyCee's last day of school. This was NyCee's Kindergarten teacher - Kimberly Bilow.

NyCee received an award for perfect attendance and she was acknowledged in front of the school at the Pride Day Assembly.

Here is NyCee sitting with her class.

This was the end of the Pride Assembly where the kids were dancing with their classmates and teachers.

On Wednesday, May 23rd, the Kindergarten classes had water day where the kids played outside and moved from station to station.

NyCee really enjoyed the water slide. 

Now onto Bubba: This morning, I woke him up for school.  He said, "Momma, may I have a few more minutes because I am tired and I have a long day at school." He is too funny.

Truly My Child

Bubba walked up behind NyCee and touched her on the back.  She turned around ever so slowly and said, "Son, you just scared the Hell out of me."  I asked, where did she learn that statement?  She calmly replied with a smile, "From you mommy."  Indeed she did!

Afternoon Tea

NyCee decided to have an afternoon tea party with her "friends."  She set up everything by herself.  I thought it was pretty ingenious.  She is such a big girl.  Lately, she has been telling everyone that she is 6 1/2. HA!

WOW Moment

I picked up Tyler from school today and he said to me, "Mommy, I am being proactive."  LOL.  Yes, he said those words.  I asked how was he being proactive?  He said, because I was sitting and listening.  Ms. Lambert (his teacher) said I am proactive.

Gotta love pre-k 3.

A Day to Breathe

NyCee made me this card and gave me the note pad for Mother's Day. Tyler "colored" me a red strawberry and gave it to me saying, "Happy Mother's Day."

Tyler and I went on a date to see "The Avengers" on Saturday night. He really enjoyed his date with mommy. My mother's day was quiet. I do not like Mother's Day. I celebrate it for other people by sending cards and gifts. But, I do not particularly care for it. I will not discuss my reasons in a public forum. I choose to spend the day with my kids in the quiet serenity of my home. I am EXHAUSTED. I am writing chapter 3 of my dissertation, overseeing two projects at work, teaching at another school, involved in my kids' lives, laundry, cooking, etc. And I do it every day all alone. So forgive me for not wanting to talk to anyone on Mother's day. But I chose to have a day to just "breathe."

Superhero Down for the Count

He flew around the house in his cape so much that he just finally crashed.  Although his nap was short-lived as it is too close to bedtime.

Trading Places

Tyler and NyCee slept in the tent the night of his birthday.

Sometime between last week and yesterday, Tyler decided he no longer wanted to sleep in the tent. So I told him to sleep in the bed. NyCee asked if she could sleep in the tent. Tyler said, "no" because the tent has Spiderman on it and "is for boys." After an intense discussion over the sleeping arrangements, Tyler conceded and allowed NyCee to sleep in the tent "with" him. Notice the word, "with."

At some point, Tyler decided to sleep in the corner next to the tent and NyCee slept in the tent.

I do not know if they played rock, paper scissors or what but they somehow worked it out and went to sleep. NyCee has been sleeping in Tyler's room because it has been hot here (triple digit heat). I am having the ceiling fan changed in her room. Until that is done on Thursday, I told her she could sleep in Tyler's room.

He's 4!

Today, Tyler turns 4 years old. He very proudly declared this morning, "Mommy, I am four!" He wore a special ribbon with one of his favorite cartoon characters. Last nite, they spent the night with Lewis at the hotel. I set up his birthday present. When he came home from school he declared, "Mommy, look at this tent. It is so cool." I figured since he sleeps on the floor anyway I might as well make it fun.

Resurrection Day

Happy Resurrection Day!! This is a wonderful time of year to bury the past and begin anew. When I stop and truly process all that Jesus endured on the cross for me, the unending compassion and ever present love of God just blows my human mind.

As always, the kids' Easter attire is courtesy of Nana Ida. She spent weeks looking for the perfect dress for NyCee. The kids look great and I appreciate the role that Nana Ida plays in finding Easter attire. I have never bought the kids' Easter clothes. She has assumed the role and I am MORE than happy to let her deal with it. LOL..

By the time we got to the van to leave for church, Bubba removed the tie. But when he had to take a picture with Cadence, he was upset that he did not have on his tie. Go figure..

We ended the day by going to see a puppet show. It was fun. The kids danced and laughed. Tyler sat down front and watched like a big boy.

I trust you had a wonderful Easter celebration with family and friends. Off to work for me now. I was off on Friday but now I have to catch up.

Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt

Today, I took the kids on an Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. It was a nice day. Not too hot or windy. The park was about 45 minutes from my house but it was worth the drive.

There were less than 100 people total at the event.

I am glad because normally Easter Egg Hunts are so large and crowded it just works my nerves.

Each of the kids took turns looking for eggs during their scheduled time. There was one Golden Egg with tickets to a water park. We didn't find that egg but the kids found a sufficient amount.

They played a few games and worked on a few crafts.

They wanted to follow the trails up through the mountains but obviously I voted against that idea.

It is hard to believe it is April already. Time really flies by. I think time speeds up with each passing year.

OMG!!

I did not have another title for this blog. I am SUPER busy with work. But that is a good thing. I have been "selected" once again for a student initiative project. I am the course manager over a particular group of people while we look for ways to increase student retention in General Education courses. I embrace the opportunity to serve in such capacities as it provides knowledge and skill for my resume.

I received approval on Chapter 1 of my dissertation. YAY!! The entire paper is five chapters so I consider myself 20% done. (It's all in how you view things.)

The school year is quickly coming to a close. Hard to believe NyCee will be in 1st grade next year. I have decided to put both kids in the same school, five minutes from my house, to make my life easier.

Bubba was sick this week. He had the beginning stages of pneumonia but it was caught early. He is on medication for the next 10 days. Today, he was back to his normal self. I still kept him home from school.

We are doing very well. Only three things left to pay and I am debt-free. WAHOOOO!! I had my own version of March Madness going on. But it was worth the hard work to be debt-free. Next goal, increase my stocks and liquid savings accounts.

It is approximately 328a PT as I am writing this blog. I should go to bed but I have a few more things to do for work. I told my friend I would watch her 18 months old daughter tomorrow. So, I have to figure out how to entertain the kiddos for a few hours. At some point, I should probably sleep.

A Bubba by many names...

Over the past few days, my son has decided to be many different "Bubbas."

• Dr. Bubba
• Cowboy Bubba
• Super Bubba
• Mommy's Bubba

and of course:

Spiderman Bubba.

Office Desk

I moved into my current house back in August. The front room is split in two parts. 1/2 is my office and 1/2 the kids' playroom. Since moving in, the front 1/2 of the room was empty. Except at Christmas time when I put the tree in the window.


Thursday, I went to Staples to replace my wireless router and found this desk on clearance. It does not match the book shelf. But, it was $60 off the original price. It was the floor model so the sales clerk removed a couple of the screws and put it in my van. I brought it home and set up it.

It fits perfectly in this space. I may consider staining it to match the bookshelf but that will be a project later in the summer when my schedule slows down a bit.

UTTERLY RIDICULOUS

Not only is it ridiculous that I have been awake for probably 19 hours, my router decided to die in the middle of the night. I spent an hour on the phone with the Cox Communications automated system to restore Internet service to my modem.

Wednesday morning, I woke up at 3a to grade papers. I am swamped with work this month. I had two appointments, needed to take my ex-husband to the airport, had a caramel frappe, and visited a gym (I must start working out as I need energy and to be able to fit into my clothing. By the time I did all that, it was about an hour before I needed to pick up Bubba from school. Instead of going home, I sat in the car, ate my lunch and read a book. I fell asleep for about 20 minutes.

Then, I picked up NyCee, came home, cooked dinner, worked some more, had another caramel frappe from McDonald's (I rarely drink caffeinated beverages), gave the kids showers, put them to bed, worked some more, read a book, played a game on my phone and fell asleep around 1130p.

I woke up at 12:45a and am not able to sleep. So, I am working and writing a blog at 2:02a. However, I am sitting in a chair in what will be my office area with the Ethernet cord plugged into the computer to maintain the Internet connection. So in about 3 hours, I will start to prepare for the day. Cook breakfast, make lunch, wake up the kids, feed them, drop them off at school, go to an appointment, stop to buy a router and work out clothes, pick up Tyler who has a 1/2 day, take him to get a hair cut, eat dinner, work some more, complete the edits for Chapter one of my disseration, and at some point sleep.

I think I should stay clear of coffee!

NyCee Turns 6!

(This picture would not cooperate. Sorry it is sideways.) These are actually cup cakes. She wanted a My Little Pony cake today.

Her dad came to town and we went up to her school where she enjoyed cupcakes with her classmates. They sang Happy Birthday to her. (There are about 10 kids in the class whose birthdays are in March. That's a lot of cake!)




They went to Chuck e Cheese to play games. I stayed home as I had work to do. I allowed both she and Bubba to leave school early today. They had a really good time.

We went to dinner and then came home. There were a couple of cupcakes left so I put six candles on one and we sang "Happy Birthday." Bubba sang it twice by himself because he wanted to eat his cupcake. HA!

Tyler did not have a nap all day. He fell asleep in the car on the way back from dropping off Lewis as his hotel.

NyCee received a doll whose hair changes colors. Clothes, cards and money. (Her Nana Ida is highly upset that her birthday card did not arrive today. I am sure it will be here tomorrow.) Both kids were asleep before their heads hit the pillow. NyCee really enjoyed her birthday.

Girl Power

NyCee's birthday is Tuesday, March 20. To celebrate the day, I picked up two of her friends, they are sisters. Ahlayla (Brown shirt) Milayna (pink shirt). They attend our church.
The baby in the photo is Morgan. She and her mom joined us for the Scavenger Hunt. I probably drove over 100 miles yesterday. The park was ridiculously far away. The admission was only $6; however, I used more than that in gas just getting there. But they girls enjoyed themselves.
There were five different stations to the Scavenger Hunt. The kids followed the map and collected stamps as they completed stations.
Striking a pose with face paint!

All three girls hit the target. (After the young man gave them several attempts and moved them closer.)

There was an area for horseback riding. That was NyCee's first time on a horse.
This is on our way to church. They were exhausted. We had lunch and ice cream. After, we went back to our house so that I could get ready for church.

Tyler was not allowed to attend. I had a sitter for him so that NyCee could enjoy a girl day with her friends.

What I have been doing?

If you just happen to be wondering what I have been doing these past few weeks, here is the cliff notes' version of my life:

Teaching four courses between two different universities, writing chapter 1 of my dissertation, due to my leadership skills and excellent job performance, I was "selected" to participate on the student success initiative project at work, I am classified as a Subject Matter Expert at another school which requires me to re-write courses as required, it just so happens that four courses need re-writing, my kids are going on Spring break next week, NyCee's birthday is March 20, had my braces removed, losing 10 pounds, paying off debts, and somewhere in there I still manage to find time to take myself on a date every Saturday to get a break from all my responsibilities.

WHEW! How do I do it? God's grace covers me. When I learned that I had been "selected" for the Student Success committee, I literally busted out laughing. I did not ask to be on said committee. I did not apply to be on said committee. I have one better - I did not know anything about said committee. I laughed and said, "Yes, Jesus. I will serve on this committee and do it with excellence because I have room for one more green bean on my already full plate. " HA! Let us add to the joy of being on this committee, I am assigned to oversee a course that I have never taught and of which I have no knowledge. AGAIN - HA!

God gives me the grace to carry out any assigned task. That is why I spend the first hour of my morning in prayer and bible study to get the plan for the day. Every day, I complete every required task for that day. It seems overwhelming. But it's not. I have learned to stay in my lane of grace and depend totally on God's direction. Life is so much easier that way.

Commando

It is becoming increasingly more important that my instructions to my children are concise.

About two weeks ago, I told Tyler to "put on his pajamas." He did in fact follow those instructions. He was in the bed and walked out to the family room about 10 minutes later. I said, "Son, why are you out of the bed?" He replied, "Umm, mommy, I am not wearing any underwear. See my cho-cho." I busted out laughing.

Fast forward to last night: I provided the same instructions. "Go to your room and put on your pajamas." This time, I put the underwear on his bed. This morning, he woke up and proceeded to get dressed for school. He did not close his room door. I turned and saw all his nakedness. I asked why didn't he put on any underwear last night. He just busted out laughing.

Precision with instructions is critical.

NyCee's First Field Trip

NyCee has been so excited waiting for this field trip. All the Kindergarten classes visited the Stuffington Bear Factory today. I think NyCee was more excited to ride on the school bus which she wants to do everyday anyway.



The kids walked through different parts of the factory and learned the history behind the Teddy Bear.

The kids were able to go behind the scenes and feel the fabric for the bears, the various parts, and how the bears are stuffed and stitched.

The bear in this photo is 10 feet tall when standing and weighs almost 600lbs. This is NyCee's entire Kindergarten class. Each kid was able to make a bear to take home.
After the factory, we enjoyed a picnic in the park and then the kids returned to school. Overall, the kids were good given their excitement.

Today's thought: need birth control? go on a field trip with 60 Kindergartners. LOL...

It was fun. I am glad that I was able to go with NyCee on her first field trip. We even dressed alike for the occasion.