Hot damn!

Natalie knows how to tie shoes now! Miracle of miracles, it took all of 15 minutes for her to nail it!

Ooof, forgot, 2nd quarter report cards!

Natalie had a fabulous report card! We're so proud of her. All 3s and 4s (As and Bs) - quite a few 4s, and a few in areas where her teacher says she doesn't often give them out at this point. She's on level, or proficient in every area that is graded. Her teacher says she is the type of student who makes teaching fun.

Mrs. K also told me that Natalie is quite the rule-follower at school, and gets irritated when other kids don't follow the rules. She said she'll look over at Natalie when someone else isn't following the rules, just so she can see Natalie rolling her eyes. LOL

Natalie also passed her belt testing last semester - she's now a green belt, and will add in sparring within the next couple of weeks. We just need to get her equipment.

Happy 6th Birthday!

Natalie turned 6 today. It doesn't seem possible! Had a nice day... Picked my mom up this morning (still can't drive after her recent surgery), and she sat in the house while Oliver slept, so I could take birthday treats to Natalie's class. Came home, Natalie opened her presents, then we went out to dinner. Mom couldn't make it - some issues with her surgical site (but was checked out and is fine!) had to run her home so Jim (was supposed to be heading into work - graveyards) could take her to her doctor, so Natalie's best friend's mom let Trinity come with us. Went to a local pizza place called Organ Stop Pizza - good pizza and an incredible organ that comes up out of the stage, light show, puppets, can't really describe it well enough to do it justice. All three kids had a blast - the only time Oliver was unhappy was during The Phantom of the Opera - that scared him. But, the organist played O Holy Night (my favorite carol), and it was the most beautiful version I'd ever heard. Got a Happy Birthday played for Natalie as well!

Overall, a good day. We missed Mitz, Natalie was quite distraught, but at least she got to spend several hours with her this afternoon.

Had her friends birthday party this past Saturday - at Build A Bear. 16 kids from class came! Had a big group, but they all had a blast!

And Happy Birthday to Aunt Annie as well! Missed her call, and got home late, but will hopefully catch up tomorrow.... Which happens to be Grandma's birthday!

"Is Natalie there?"

First phone call from a boy. Ooof. Not sure I'm ready for this!

It was too funny though... Natalie got all girly and giggly when I gave her the phone. Wasn't much of a conversation, apparently Josh just wanted to know her birthday, then "gotta go". She was a little confused at how abruptly the call ended, and the look on her face was hilarious!

Looked him up in last year's yearbook, remarked that he's cute (has a great smile). Natalie said "YEAH. He's CUUUUTE".

Bring a gas mask

Natalie told me the following just now (triggered by me having Oliver pulling my finger, mass hilarity for both kids!):

"I farted a lot in school today. Some were quiet, some were loud. Chloe thought it was funny. Elise said she never farts, she holds it in. We need to let Elise borrow Oliver's 'The Gas We Pass' book, because she doesn't know you have to pass that gas".

She kills me! I should add... She wasn't farting in class to be disruptive - both kids have been pretty gassy this week!

First quarter report card!

Natalie received her first quarter report card this past week, and I had our first parent-teacher conference of the school year. She is doing really, really well! Her teacher says she loves having Natalie in class, she's respectful, organized and a good friend to her classmates. She is one of her teacher's three go-to kids for other classmates who struggle a bit socially - that makes me really proud. She's very sensitive and kind, and I'm so glad she's a friend to everyone. Academically, she's also doing very well. Grading scale is 1-4, with 4 being the highest. Her teacher said that she gives out very few 4s this early in the year, as that indicates mastery. Natalie's report card was all 3s and quite a few 4s! This Tuesday is her Student of the Month assembly, which Oliver and I are looking forward to attending!

Soccer girl!

Natalie started soccer two weeks ago - same group with whom she takes karate. Just once a week, on Saturdays, so no weeknight practices to interfere with school, which is good! She's doing really well so far! The first week the coach just had the kids in the field, kicking the ball around and getting comfortable. She was right in there, going after the ball - really cool to see. Especially since I hated all sports. I kind of dig having a daughter who is a budding athlete! My favorite story from that session is, the coach put the kids in their positions. Got Natalie to her spot and told her to stand there. Whistle blew, and all the kids started running and playing, but Natalie stayed put. LOL! I wish she followed directions that well at home! :-P

I missed this week - upper respiratory infection that won't quit. Jon said this week was regular practice, skills building, and Natalie continues to do well. Apparently several parents asked him if she's played before, because she is very natural out there!

She wants to play football too. Oof. Not sure if I'm ready for that, seems so much heavier on contact. I didn't think girls were allowed to play football anyway, but found out that the Pop Warner program out here (and I'm not sure if that is the correct spelling, I haven't looked it up) does, and in fact, on one of the teams, the quarterback is a girl! But for now, I think Daisy/Girl Scouts, soccer and karate are enough activities!

First spelling test and progress report

Natalie had her first spelling test last week - 100!

Also had her first weekly progress report, which was excellent.

Great start to the year!

Wait until she's in 6th grade!

Natalie came up to me yesterday and said:

"Mommy, the kindergartners look so SMALL this year! Aren't they so cute though? I think they are just SO CUTE! Oliver is almost as big as they are".

I told her wait until she is in 6th grade - then kindergartners will really look small and cute!

First day of first grade!

I've fallen behind these last couple weeks of summer - lots going on - I'm on the PTO board this year (fundraising coordinator, and we're knee deep in planning the school's 3rd annual carnival for October), and some things with church, but I wanted to make sure I posted about Natalie's first day of school!

She was so excited to get out to the bus stop this morning - did not want me to drive her on her first day like last year. Got off the bus all smiles, had so much to tell me. We met her teacher Monday - Jon and I both really like her and think it's going to be a great year! Some of her close friends are in her class too, which is nice. Today was the first time I had a hard time seeing her leave. Preschool and Kindergarten didn't faze me too much, but I had a knot in my stomach and a lump in my throat for the better part of the morning.

Oliver missed her terribly as well. He kept saying "Where Na-nee? No school. Na-nee play Ahvrar" (the last is my attempt of phonetically spelling how Oliver pronounces his name).

She starts karate again in a couple of weeks, and soccer as well. And Girl Scouts (Daisy) in less than two weeks luckily the soccer is not too competitive - Saturday lessons, but no practice during the week, and GS is every other Sunday. We don't want to overload her, but we want to encourage her interests at the same time. Have to figure out how to fit piano lessons in there somewhere.

Here she is -

Yellow belt!

Natalie's karate class had Awards Night on Monday! She passed her test and is now a yellow belt! Woohoo - way to go kid! Mitz and Pops joined Oliver and me, and we got to watch Natalie and her class demonstrate what they learned this session - very cool! She wants to continue with it, which we think is great! New season starts 01 Sep.

Ms. Roboto

I had the kids out running errands Friday afternoon. I could hear Natalie speaking in a robot tone in the back of the van - and Oliver laughing. So I turned down the radio and AC so I could hear her better. I caught the following -

"I AM A ROBOT"
"THE ROBOT LOVES DOGS"
"THE ROBOT IS ALLERGIC TO DOGS"
"THE ROBOT WANTS BENADRYL"

Toothy McTootherson

We were in Baltimore for ten days, and am just getting back to our normal routine - which is why I haven't posted. We had a wonderful time! Saw my grandfather and father, my step-grandmother. Packed a lot into ten days - absolutely exhausting. Aside from the kids being way keyed up the whole time, they were little troopers! I ate like a pig. We all did. Had steamed crabs four times, crabcakes twice, crab dip, crab pizza (the dip and pizza from a local restaurant called DeSantis' Pizza and Grill in Parkville, MD - best crab dip I have ever had, hands down), pizza sub, inside-out pizza (stromboli), and an egg-custard snowball with marshmallow in the middle and on top - that satisfied a 15 year craving! Hawaiian ice and snow cones are NOT the same, and you can't find egg custard flavor OR marshmallow topping out here, as far as I know. I'm on a mission though!

And now for the post title... Natalie had two loose teeth. She lost the first one (left center, bottom) last Monday night - we were at my friends' house (Lynette and Derek) for our final night in Baltimore. She worked and worked that tooth - it was pretty loose and finally twisted and pulled it out - the new tooth is already on the way up! She was so proud of herself! She was so excited to lose her first tooth in MD - "You lost your teeth in Baltimore, Mommy! Just like me! We're lucky! We're twins".

Speaking of teeth, I was sure I broke a tooth our last weekend in MD - was spitting shards of tooth, and had a fair amount of pain, that got worse through the end of the trip. What are the odds of both of us having teeth issues? Went to the dentist Wednesday... Painful visit. I have one tooth on the upper left - last molar - that is my problem tooth. It shredded 8 years ago while I was eating pasta. My dentist at the time was able to do an onlay - basically a huge filling that is cemented in - has to be created in a lab like a crown, but isn't quite a crown. I was eating really soft bread and crab dip this last time. Apparently, the onlay was fine, but there was a gap between the gum and tooth/onlay. So I had to have the onlay cut out, the area cleaned out (my dentist found nothing broken, he thinks what I spat out was tooth from 8 years ago that got trapped up in there when the original onlay was put on), a temp on, and the new onlay will go on in about three weeks. Good times. The only good thing was, I was so tired from the trip, the nitrous put me completely out, so I got a really nice, 1 hour nitrous nap. lol Woke up to lots of pain though. The damn retraction cord they have to use to cut off blood supply to the area is so painful.


Then Thursday night, I was getting the kids to bed (Jon was OOT), and went downstairs for a minute to grab Oliver's lovey. When I got back upstairs, she handed me the other tooth (right center, bottom)! Apparently it was very loose - she was able to get it almost completely perpendicular, and used one of Oliver's hardcover books to knock it out. When asked why she used his book - "I didn't want to get germs on one of mine". The stinker!

Grammar Patrol FAIL

Conversation in the car last night -

Natalie said "I seened _____" - we couldn't figure out what she was saying she "seened".
Mitz - "Natalie, I never SAW it before"
Natalie - "Me neither!"

LOL

The Karate Kid

Natalie finally started karate tonight! She's been dying to learn for a couple of years now, but I've had a hell of a time finding a place. Her school sent home a flier for Young Champions of America - and karate was one of the offerings. She did two classes (2 hours!) back-to-back tonight, and had a blast! The classes started last week, but she was sick with a stomach bug and couldn't attend, hence the make-up. The kids get an award for perfect attendance, and perfect attendance is required for belt testing at the end of the 10 week session. Her instructor said she did really well. She even won a contest in class, and brought home a ribbon! She was so proud of herself, and loved showing me what she learned tonight. Next week we're going to get her a uniform (wanted to wait to see if she liked it before buying one - the classes are paid on a weekly basis, so we could cancel if we wanted to), and she can't wait for that! They are teaching Stranger Danger and techniques for handling those situations as well, which I really like!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there - especially Mitz, Grandma, Elizabeth and Sara!

My MD started off with a bang. I got out of the shower, to find Natalie standing there, swinging a bucket of vomit. "I threwed up Mommy". So I did what any stellar mother would do, I recoiled in horror, and directed her to take it down to Daddy. :-P Poor kid threw up most of the morning, but appears to be on the mend now. We've had a lot of fun with the whole "Natalie gave me a bucket of vomit for MD", but she doesn't find it nearly as amusing - "I did NOT get you throw-up for Mother's Day, Mommy". I tried explaining to her that it was just the timing that made the whole thing classic, and everyone knows that she didn't really get me vomit, but she's too young to understand. But some day, she'll likely have a similar experience, and we can dredge up this memory and cackle away.

Had a nice day though. Went to church, went grocery shopping. Stopped by Mitz's house to give her some flowers (she and Pops decided against coming over for dinner, given the diseased status of our house). Jon cooked an awesome dinner - bacon wrapped scallops with a maple/orange glaze, and a cream/dijon/maple sauce for dipping. And he made me Tollhouse cookies, but in a jellyroll pan (per my request) for dessert. Natalie made me a lovely card at school, and colored a picture for me at home, Jon and the kids gave me some clothes (gee, how DID they know just what to get and even the right sizes to boot?! ). Natalie insisted on putting a candle in my slice of cookie bar, and Oliver started trying to sing "Happy Birthday" - it was the funniest/cutest thing.

My kids rock.

Fly away home

If you have me on FB, you already know this... About a month ago, we sent away for caterpillar larvae for Natalie's butterfly garden (Christmas gift from Oliver). All five grew (3 are guaranteed) and formed chrysalides, and all five hatched! I let Natalie's teacher know what we were doing, and even though they covered butterflies in class months ago, she finds value in letting the kids see the actual process. So, I brought the larvae to class just before they formed their chrysalides, so all the kids could see them. Once they formed their chrysalides, they could not be moved, so I took a picture and sent it in with Natalie - her teacher hung it on their board. Naturally, they all started hatching at the start of Spring Break - which had me anxious - they are only supposed to live 7-10 days after they hatch. Somehow, even the oldest one (which was 12 days old at the time of release) made it until school resumed. So, Natalie's teacher had me come in with the butterflies. Natalie and I worked on a poster about "Painted Lady Butterfly Facts", which we presented to the class. Then Natalie got to show everyone her butterflies. After that, we headed to a little park just beyond the school to release them.

Natalie was very upset when it came time to release them - she didn't want to let go. Her classmates were just wonderful with her. Many of them hugged her, or would rub her arm and assure her that she was doing the right thing by letting them go. And her little friend Kevin grabbed a tissue and was wiping away her tears. Letting them go was really cool. Her teacher found a spot with lots of clover, which they love to eat, and one-by-one, they all flew away. What was really neat was, the butterflies got visibly excited and active once we hit the outdoors - like they knew this was where they truly belonged. The last one to go kind of hung out for a bit - I suspect that was the oldest one. It finally flew off into a patch of clover, ate for a bit, then came back, flew right into Natalie's face, and brushed her nose. I told her that was a butterfly kiss, to thank her for taking such good care of them. That really lifted her spirits! Then, I shit you not, that same butterfly came back to me and Natalie two more times, circled us each time, then finally flew off. Natalie's teacher had everyone sing "Skinamarinkadink" or whatever that song is, to send them off - she leads the class in that song at dismissal each day. It was really lovely - Mrs. A didn't rush everyone back - we got to take our time and watch the butterflies go. She was very thoughtful with Natalie too - she said if we didn't want to release, that was just fine. But, I told her it would be way worse if Natalie discovered one dead in the habitat one day, and Mrs. A agreed - but wanted to make sure we knew it was up to us. She's a wonderful teacher.

We went back in, and the kids all got to do a butterfly craft - even Oliver was included! Both the teacher and aide always go out of there way to include him, so he screws around less when he's in the classroom now. He'll go right to a desk and sit down and wait for an activity. It's really sweet! Then we all had butterfly shaped cookies (dipped in chocolate - yum - found them at Fry's)!

Student of the Month, and report card

Natalie was chosen to be one of the Students of the Month at her school for March! Tomorrow is her award ceremony - the kids get called up on stage and are presented with a chain/necklace, a certificate and they get to shake the principal's hand! We are so proud of Natalie! Can't wait to see her up on stage tomorrow! On the nomination form, her teacher wrote:

"Natalie is a good student and a good friend. She always helps others and is kind to others".

We also received her third quarter report card last week. She continues to make progress! She's evenly split between being at level, and proficient, so we're quite pleased. Her teacher writes that she is a pleasure to have in class, and continues to do well.

Spring Break

Over a week late, but who's counting? :-P

We had a great week, but busy, busy, busy! I'll just break it down by day....

Monday - took the kids to the zoo. Had a great time! We fed the giraffes, looked at some animals, then the kids played on a huge treehouse structure they have there. Rode the carousel and went home for lunch.

Tuesday - Natalie had her yearly allergy appointment. Nuts and tree nuts still an issue - it took over ten days for her skin to heal where the peanut and walnut oils were applied. She is also highly allergic to basically the entire AZ outdoors. 7 weeds, 8 trees, 2 grasses (Bermuda mix and Rye), cats and dogs. She has mild, developing asthma, which we can treat with nebulized Albuterol on an as/if needed basis, and Singulair daily (mainly for the allergy symptoms - her asthma presents as allergic response) - so far no daily asthma meds or rescue inhalers are required. She is at high risk for developing severe asthma, and sometime within the next year or so will be required to start an allergy shot regimen - a shot once or twice a week for 3 months, then a shot a month for 3-5 years - this will greatly reduce the risk of her developing severe asthma. I'm starting to talk it up now, because she is very shot phobic, but we are going to have to do this, because the risks otherwise are too great. Her friend Trinity came over and played the rest of the afternoon.

Wednesday (St. Patrick's Day) - took the kids to get Easter and Oliver's birthday pictures. That went shockingly well - especially since Jon was OOT and I had to go solo with them. Then her friend Kevin from school came over to play - very sweet boy! Later that night, we had breakfast for dinner - green eggs for the kids (blech) was on the menu. So foul, but Natalie loved them!

Thursday - headed for the mountains in the afternoon! It was close to 80 in Mesa, but in Overgaard, there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground! Just got settled in that evening.

Friday - took the kids out for a bit in the morning, but it was 40 and raining off and on, so we didn't last too long outside. Ran a couple of errands, went back to the condo, had lunch. Once Oliver went down for his nap, Natalie and I went to a local tea place in town and had afternoon tea. Tea and an English muffin for me, tea and 3 enormous pancakes for Natalie. I am not a fan of pancakes at all, but these were amazing. Big, thick, fluffy and slightly sweet. They smelled kind of like cakes. Had dinner at the condo. Then the kids and I locked ourselves in one of the bedrooms, and I colored all over them with washable marker, (including "Hi Daddy" on Oliver's butt, lol) - and of course the kids got in on the action too! Oliver was so funny - he was so serious about coloring on himself. The look on Jon's face when we came out was priceless. The bathwater was unreal. Mad props to Crayola though - their washable markers come right off, with a minimum of scrubbing!

Saturday - Jon took the kids out to play while I got ready. Another cold morning, but clear. Then we all putzed around a bit - went to a local food store in town and ugh - they had hotdogs that expired in January. Came back, had lunch. Got Oliver down, then Natalie and I went over to the hot tub for a bit. After we got changed, she and I went to the coffee shop on the property and got hot chocolate for her, a Mexican (real sugar!) Coke for me, and a huge cinnamon bun. Went back to the condo to share with Jon and Oliver, but they had taken off somewhere. I intended to just eat a bite of bun and save the rest for Oliver, but it was too good. Little man had no idea what he missed. Walked around a bit, found the guys, visited some of the shop owners on the property - we've gotten to know several of them really well! Had dinner. Drew on the kids again.

Sunday - left for home.

Kid sweetness

Natalie has declared one day last week "Loving Brother Day. Hugs and kisses and kissing hands for little brother day". Kissing hands are part of her good-bye and good-night rituals - you kiss the other person's palms, who then presses their palms to their face to save kisses for later. It's from The Kissing Hand book.

She made Oliver a card, all by herself, that says "I love you Oliver, love, Natalie" and dug through all of her stickers, and decorated it with stickers that she knows he likes best, as well as drawings of him and her. And we had to have brownies and ice cream for dessert to celebrate Loving Brother Day.

And that day she got out really early - end of third quarter - so Oliver was awake when she got off the bus. As soon as the bus doors opened, he started shouting "Na na Na na", and she barreled off the bus, scooped him up, big hugs, kisses, spun him around, then introduced him to the kids who ride the bus in the afternoon - some of them only ride in the PM, so they don't see Oliver in the mornings at drop-off.

And Oliver has started demanding hugs. He throws his arms wide, big grin, yells "HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUG" and waits for his hug. When Jon's gone, I give them story time together - when she leaves his room to wait for me to get her in bed (he goes first), he does the HUUUUUUUUUUUUG routine I don't know how many times in a row. Both of them laughing like loons. As soon as she gets to the door, he calls her back for a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUG.