Monday, August 27, 2012

Three Scary Vegetables

This weekend, my daughter informed me that her band was messed up now that one of the members had moved back to Lebanon. The band was called The Three Scary Vegetables, and one of the songs went something like:

We're in the soup, we're in the soup,
HOT HOT HOT

She also explained that the members' names all rhymed with potato. One was potato, one is tomato and one was karado (carrot-o).

Stay tuned to find out what will become of the group that is now down to two members.

After homework today, Vivian began cutting out birds she learned to draw, and was determined to make a nest for them. She left a basket outside and the dogs chewed it up, so we fished it out of the trash and used it for the "nest". She has taped the bird pic's inside of it, complete with a picture of eggs as well.

She has made art exhibits of:
1) Cut-outs of fruit, that she glued onto black construction paper and cut out, hanging each one from a ribbon.

2.) A series of portraits of all the contestants and J. Lo from American Idol.

3.) Underwater creature series, one picture of each creature

4) Bird series, featuring artistic pic's of flamingos, ibis, crow, robin, etc.

I am listening as I type to them singing "How will I know if he really loves me?"

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Dear Hearts

I am so in love with these little creatures God has given me. They are such loving girls. Vivi tells me several times a day how beautiful I am. She makes sure that I know there is no one more beautiful than me. Sophie came up to me and hugged me today and said, "Mommy, I just needed to tell you that I loved you today."

They began school last week, and Sophie is just the most excited child in the world. There is nothing more she loves than school. And the cherry on top is that she got into the class she wanted, with the teacher she wanted and her best friend is also in the class with her. She didn't want the weekend to come. School began on a Thursday, and then the weekend was here, so it was a short week, which disappointed her.

We had a delightful weekend. Daddy has been home which is a real treat. And we have not done much of anything. Haven't left the house except to go to the grocery store. The girls played lacrosse with Daddy and practiced their archery. We swam at the school pool today for the first time all summer. They did major renovations this summer.  I was thrilled the diving board was reinstalled. Sophie did a great job diving.

An old movie was on Turner Classic Movies called Light on the Piazza. It was about a beautiful girl with a brain injury who acted like she was 10 years old. The girls were very interested in it. Those old movies are great because they have good story lines that are interesting and not inappropriate. I was shocked they wanted to watch an old movie.

I love and adore them so much.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Uganda for one year

I can't believe we have now lived in Africa for a whole year!

The school the girls attend is amazing in many ways. Swimming is part of the regular curriculum,but both girls shy away from any kind of swim team training or practice, much to my dismay. They love to swim for fun, but even though they have wonderful potential, they do not want to do any type of swim competition or training.

Sophie loves school. She has many friends and is very popular. Lots of her schoolmates vie for her attention. She said she loved dogs, and some little boys in her class started crawling around and barking. She's becoming a bit preoccupied with "crushes" and who likes who, but I think it's all normal developmental stuff. She professes to love math best, although she is not very quick at it. She started playing violin this year but loves recorder better.

Vivian claims to hate school. She has a hard time getting along with people. She is a very loving child and it seems that her issues come from being over sensitive. Many times she claims that "no one wants to play with her" and she doesn't have "any friends". If she perceives two girls ganging up on her, she says that "no one" likes her. Her teacher has only good things to say about her. She is a natural born leader and very very bright when it comes to her school work.

She's been having issues wetting her pants. This only happens at school. It doesn't happen at all at home so of course it is situational. She hasn't even wet her pull up at night. She claims that the bathrooms at school are dirty. Or that boys are trying to look at her. She likes her privacy so we will continue to work on the pant wetting issue. She is holding and holding it so long that by the end of the day, she just lets it go. It happened before break when she was getting ready for swim class, and the teacher said she was mortified and really embarrassed. They have given her permission to use the bathroom for the 3rd graders since it is cleaner. These problems never happen at home so that tells me there is a lot of stress going on at school.

We are just coming off of a long break - 3 weeks for Christmas holiday. I am sure it will not be easy for her to go back to school, but she is doing very well.

She tells me she loves me all the time, tells me she is sorry to have to say it, but she loves me a bit more than she loves Daddy. She wants to be with me all the time, never wants to be away from me. She loves to play the "Love Game" where we profess our love to each other. "I love you more than the stars love the sky" and "I love you more than the God loves the whole world!"
She always wants someone to play with, but no matter who we invite over for a playdate, she ends up unhappy.

If we invite a friend of Sophie's, she claims they leave her out.

If we invite a friend of hers, the friend inevitably ends up playing with Sophie because she is so easy to get along with. Vivian likes to dominate and tell everyone what they must play and gets very upset if everyone doesn't go along with what she wants to do.

She also loves to eat and peeled 6 bananas yesterday morning without asking permission and wanted to eat them all. She did eat them all, plus 2 hotdogs for lunch, plus 2 chicken burgers for dinner. She asks for candy constantly, as does Sophie.

Vivian does very well with her reading. Both girls lost a tooth on the same day, Tues Jan 3. Viv lost her first front tooth and Sophie lost an eye tooth on the bottom. Tooth fairy has been taking one extra night to get here while we are in Africa.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

first sleepover

We hosted our friend Maya for our first sleepover. It has taken me this long to feel equipped to deal with anymore than my own 2 children. I am fragile, I admit.

It was very easy really, besides Vivian getting a bit high maintenance when she got tired.

Vivian also informed us that the reason people put Christmas lights on their houses for the holidays is to make us remember to buy things for Christmas. I think she got this from me explaining why they decorate stores for the holidays.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

boy pants

We are hitting some milestones around here, and some I'd rather not acknowledge. Last week, Sophie wore "playclothes" to school. She is beginning to care more about being comfortable than looking "darling". She wore a pair of nylon workout pants, boy pants, that I got from a free bag of Freecycle clothes. . .to SCHOOL! Gone are the days where I could dress her in anything and she never complained. She never really was into her ego either though. She is not one to dote on the material world and spend hours looking in the mirror. She is happy just being who she is.

I asked her if anyone said anything about her "boy pants" and she said no. She was very surprised - she had thought it would be a big deal, but nobody cared.

Also, they have stopped coming into my bedroom each and every morning. That's something they do when they are very little. They are like homing pigeons - something inside tells them that as soon as they wake up, they must locate the mommy. But now they engage with each other, reading books, getting dressed, playing in the sink, or the latest - eating a pile of candy for breakfast, up in the top bunk.

As far as her tooth, the one she lost is almost completely grown in, and the one next to it is slowly loosening. I think she'll lose teeth the way she grew them - nice and slow.

This week, she wore the same outfit two days in a row. I don't have the heart to tell her that people might tease her. She is so innocent and practical. Her clothes weren't dirty. They are comfortable. It's a matching outfit and so it makes sense to wear it again.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

1st Loose Tooth

Tonight is a milestone. I did not have a sitter so I took the girls to my meeting with me. They behaved beautifully. Put them in a room next door with a movie and food and pretty much didn't hear from them.

Sophie told me that there was something sharp in her tooth. Her tooth was somehow bothering her. I noticed while brushing her teeth tonite that a space had really opened up between her bottom middle teeth. That sucker was loose!!! SO EXCITING.

Also, her little sis has been falling asleep very quickly, leaving Sophie still awake in the top bunk. Last night was the first night that I gave her a book lite and Junie B. Jones, 1st Grader, Toothless Wonder chapter book to read herself to sleep. Is it any coincidence she is reading this book and her tooth gets loose?

In Sophie's words, "It's a miracle!"

Friday, June 4, 2010

4 year checkup

I have one entertaining little daughter.
Today was the 4yo checkup, complete with shots. Based on last year's visit for both girls, wailing and crying and thrashing at the thought of shots, I requested that Daddy be there for today's visit.

Viv knew the shots were coming and she was OK with it. I told her she could have whatever treat she wanted, and suggested a Slurpee, which she readily agreed to.

At the doctor visit, she was highly entertaining and chatty. 4 going on 24. Each time the dr. asked a question, a charming response was elicited.

How old are you? I'm 4. (bat of the eyelashes)

Do you eat well? - I like to eat.

Do you eat fruits and vegetables? - Yes.

What kind of fruits do you like? - Mangoes, apples, oranges, strawberries

Do you like vegetables? - Yes, broccoli and cauliflower.

Do you go to school? - Preschool.

Do you like school? - Oh, yes!

Doctor? Do I have to lay on the table? In a minute.

Do you like to exercise? Yes. I do gymnastics. I can do a cartwheel. (puts hands up and points toe) Dr. says - Oh don't do that here!

She climbs on the table and waits patiently. While dr. listens to her heart, you hear deep breaths, like a prank caller.

After the exam is over, and the nurse comes in with the needles, Vivian tries to touch the tray and move the tissue that is covering the 3 needles. As she hugs Daddy, and the shots are administered into her arm, she gets a wincing look on her face, and then when she is informed the shot is over, she cracks up! A laugh of relief.
There was no crying, no tears, no screams.

She got a mix of 3 flavors for the Slurpee - Goji Cherry, Wild Cherry and Watermelon Lime.