Tough Weekend

(These pictures are from last October. It was our first visit to Disneyland. We had a great time. My friend and her daughter went to Disneyworld last week and I have been thinking about them and the fun they probably had. It reminds me of the fun time we had so I decided to post a few old pictures. Lauren's favorite ride was the teacups. We must have rode them about 25 times.)



(Kim and Ella: I hope you had a nice vacation and Happy 2nd Family Day!)

I was tough on Lauren this weekend and as I look back I think it was because it was a weekend of frustrations for me. It was weird because it was such minor things that made me so frustrated.

The first frustration was Lauren's birthday party. About a month or so ago I called and made reservations for a birthday party for Lauren at a place called Pump it Up. It is a place with a bunch of inflatables that the kids jump in, slide down and climb on. They all love it and Lauren really wanted a birthday party there. So I scheduled it for May 10 at 4:00 pm. (Lauren's birthday is in June but I like to have her party in May before school gets out and everyone goes away for the summer.) I sent out the invites on Monday. Well, on Thursday I went to Lauren's school and I learned that there are 2 other parties scheduled for that day. Both those parties are for boys only so Lauren is not invited to either of them. However, since most of the kids in her class are boys not many would be able to make it to her party. I went back and forth and talked with Lauren about whether or not she wanted boys to come to her party. I explained that if she wanted boys to come then we would have to change the date. She decided that she wanted the boys to come so I changed the date of the party to May 31. Later that day I got the mail and Lauren had party invite to Pump it Up for May 10 for another one of her friends. I am so glad that I changed the party. We would have been at Pump it Up at noon to 2:00 and then again at 4:00 to 6:00 that would have been just way too much Pump it Up. It is a bit of a pain to have to send out new invites. I already sent an email to everyone but I am also going to send out new invites.

The second frustrating thing was at dance class. This problem I have not resolved yet. When Lauren got her dance recital outfit she asked if she could put it on with her tap shoes. I told her she could and then she said that the tap shoes where too small. I thought this was a bit strange since I just got her new tap shoes about a month ago. (Lauren wears between a 9 1/2 to 10. She has been a 9 1/2 since school started in the fall. I know that her foot is going to grow soon. So I bought her size 10.) When I looked in her bag she had a pair of tap shoes that were size 8 1/2. I told her she must have picked up someone elses shoes and we would straigten it out on Saturday.

So on Saturday during her tap class I went in to see if she found her shoes. That is when I was told that the teacher took it upon herself to switch shoes. The teacher that did this is the owner of the Dance Studio and was not there but her assistant was there. The assistant told me that the teacher felt that Lauren's shoes were a bit big on her so found another pair and switch them with Lauren. These new shoes are so tight on Lauren's feet. She has not wore a size 8 1/2 in over a year. When I asked where Lauren's tap shoes are she said someone probably has them. Is that weird? The teacher just decided to take Lauren's new shoes and give them to someone else and give Lauren ones that are way too small. I am so mad about this and everyone I tell think it is a bit weird also. I am going to speak with the teacher next week and I hope it goes well.

Boy, I hope this week goes better!!!

List Girl

I have been a list person for as long as I can remember. My sister (the person who watches Lauren during the day) is also a list person. I usually only use lists at work but I think my sister has a list going all the time for all the projects that she is always working on.

Tonight coming home from work I told Lauren we could watch a movie and have popcorn. She thought this was a good idea and decided to make a list of everything she needed to do tonight. I think this pretty cute and she did this with no prompting from me. During the evening she would make marks when we completed an item.

We were able to get through all the items on the list. I love that she added Dance to the list. I agree that we need to dance everyday. (Actually she told me she needed to practice for her dance recitals.) Number 4 is Fox Hound. That is the movie she wanted to watch. She ran out of room so she put the d on the next line.

It warms my heart to know I have a list girl!!

dance outfit

Lauren takes dance lessons at both school and at a dance studio. The classes are almost over for the year and both places are getting ready for the big dance recitals. She is going to be in 4 dances and will have to have 4 different outfits.

The dance outfit for the school program was "inexpensive" when compared to the dance studio. It was only $55, the dance studio (that we have to buy 3 outfits) are $75 an outfit. These dance recitals will probably cost me about $600 when you count the tickets, the DVD, the tights and shoes. I hope she enjoys it. I am sure it will be very cute and something that we will watch a lot.



Today she got her first outfit. This is the one for the school program. She wanted to put it on when we got home tonight. It is cute but it is very cheaply made. It is wild to think that I paid $55 for this Halloween costume (that is the quality that it is). She loved it and had to show me her dance. It was really cute.



The outfit has a little hat and she has to wear white tights and black tap shoes. It should be pretty cute! I am looking forward to a fun afternoon.

scrapbooks

Lauren attends a coop preschool. Parents coop in the classroom a few days a month. However, since I work fulltime I pay a little extra and I don't coop. I wish I could but I have to work. The school also wants the parents to do extra things with the class. So at the beginning of the school year they pass around a list and you can sign up to help with certian events or items.



I signed up to teach a lesson on Chinese New Year. I did that in Feb. It went well and it was fun to see Lauren's class.





Well, I also signed up to help with the class scrapbooks. TO HELP WITH THE BOOKS. A few months ago, I was at the school for some reason and the director came up to me and said I have the books for the scrapbooks. I then realized that I am not HELPING with the books I am in charge of doing the books. There are 14 children in Lauren's class and 3 teachers. That is 17 books I have to do. The books are about 20 pages each. That is a lot of scrapbooking that I have to do!!



About a month ago I sent all the parents a packet for the scrapbooks. I wanted them to write a short note to each of the 3 teachers, I also wanted them to get a short sentence from their child about each of the other kids in the class. Lastly, I wanted them to ask their child a few questions (ie what it your favorite color...). I put return envelopes in each of the packets. I sent one to each of Lauren's 13 classmates. A month later (and 5 weeks before the end of school) I have received 4 of them back. This is going to be a nightmare.





I am starting to get nervous about this project. I hope I can get this done. It is a very big project! If I get what I asked for they will turn out great but that is a BIG IF.



I went to Lauren's class today to get some more pictures for the scrapbooks. Here are a few of the pictures of Lauren at preschool.

My girl

There are days when Lauren is dressed and ready to go that I am amazed at how grown up she looks. She is a strong and beautiful little girl. That is why it hurts me when she is hurt by her friends at school. The other day I knew something was wrong and she didn't want to talk about it. A few days later she finally told me that a few girls at school would not let her play with them. I wanted to make it better for her but I know that I can't and that she will just need to deal with these types of issues. I don't want to be a mother that tries to solve all her problems. I told her I was sorry that her friends were not being nice and that maybe when that happens she can play with others. I know that it is not solving the problem. It is hard to see your little girl hurt and not be able to help.

Grandmother

My mother died 15 years ago this weekend. It was Easter weekend and the day before my parents would have celebrated their 41 wedding anniversary. My mother wanted to be a grandmother so bad. One year before she died she got her wish when my oldest nephew was born. It makes me sad to think that she missed getting to be with and know all 8 (soon to be 9) of her grandchildren.

I look at Lauren and I think it is so unfair that she does not have grandparents. (My father died last year.) She deserves to have grandparents. All kids deserve to have extended families including grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. I feel bad that she won't be able to really know what it is like to have loving grandparents.

My mother died when she was only 59. That age seems younger and younger as I get older. I think she would have loved Lauren and would have been proud that she was her granddaughter.

Before my parents had my older sister they were trying to adopt. They had been married 7 years before they were able to have a child. They wanted children and they thought if adoption was the they were going to have children that would be fine. They put in their paperwork to adopt and were ready to go forward when they finally were able to have a child.

I know my mother would have had no problems that one of her grandchildren was adopted. I don't think it would have made one difference to her.

I am lucky that I have this child in my life, I just feel bad that she did not get to know her grandmother.

We went to their grave a few weeks before Easter and brought new spring flowers and some Easter eggs and an Easter bunny. I tell Lauren about them and I try to keep them in our lives but it is hard for a 4 year to understand.


(These pictures were taken this weekend while Lauren was trying to help around the house. I only let her wear flip flops around the house or on Fridays when she does not have school. Otherwise she will start to complain about them hurting between the toes.)

Playing school

Lauren has been going to preschool since she was 2. She seems to really like it. When she has to miss a day she seems upset. However it is hard to get her to really share what happens in school. I ask her everyday what she learning and for about 3 months she said they were learning about brushing their teeth. If that is true they all should be experts. The parents get a news letter each month about what they are learning and I will ask her about what it says they are learning and she never knows what I am talking about.

Lately she has been wanting to play school. I love this because I do get have a small glimpse into her day at school as she perceives it. Tonight she would not let me read any of the books. I was the student and she was the teacher and she read them all to me. It was quite funny. She does this thing where she will clear her throat before she starts to read. I got in a little trouble for talking while she was reading. She would say "girls and boys we need to listen".


She would hold up the book while she was reading so all the "girls and boys" could see the pictures.

I am glad that she likes going to school and I am glad that she has a lot of friends at school. She only has about 6 weeks until summer and then she will start at a new school in the fall. It will sad that she will not be with this group of 14 kids that she has been with for the past 3 years. There are two boys from her class that will be going with her to her new school next year. It is a good group of kids and I hope that we can remain friends with some of them.

Nemo on Ice

Tonight we went to Disney's Finding Nemo on Ice. A few months ago we went to the Princesses on Ice show and Lauren just loved it. When I told her we were going to Nemo on Ice she was so excited.



Before we left for the show we were outside enjoying the weather and Lauren was pretending to be ice skating. She was pretty funny and was trying to do spins and jumps.


Here is Lauren "ice skating"

More of her "ice skating" tricks.

I work for a corporation that likes for us to entertain our clients and prospects and professionals in our line of business. To do this the corporation (like many others) has a suite at one of the sports center and the show was there. I told them I would host the suite tonight. It is nice to watch a sporting event or show in the suite. You can walk around, there is food and drinks and a bathroom in the suite. The seats are comfortable and it is just nice. It is a little further away then if you buy really good tickets. It is halfway between nose bleed sections and the lower sections. So not that bad. I had invited some people with kids and a lot of them showed but but we had a few extra tickets so my sister and her daughters came also. The show was on Tursday night and it started at 7:30 which is usually Lauren's bedtime. So it was a very late night.

The kids all seemed to enjoy the show. We had one little girl fall asleep but the rest where wide awake throughout!!

The kids where able to eat and then they all got to sit in the balcony area and watch the show. They loved it and I don't think they moved throughout the whole show. They all got Nemo hats and cotton candy. It was a great night for them. It was a bit late but they can catch up on sleep this weekend.

Disney puts on a great show. They really do a good job and the kids (and parents) all love it.

Kitty Problems

Lauren loves her kitty, but at times that cat can be mean. I know that he is still a kitten but he is driving me crazy. He likes to bit our ankles. He will hide under the bed and when you walk by he will reach out and bit us. It can be funny but most of the times it is just annoying. There are times when I am walking through the house and he is just biting my ankles the whole time. I will push him off and he thinks it is a game and just come right back.



Lauren loves to play with Tigger and at times he can be so cute but part of his playing is to bit. When this happens I usually get a crying child. He can so sweet and purr and purr and then he will jump half way across the room to attack your ankles. Boy, can that kitten leap!!! He sometimes just hides until you come by and then he will attack.



When I hear Lauren screaming in the other room I know that the kitten has started to bit her. Hopefully he will outgrow this behavior because if does not he might not be our kitten much longer. We do have a spray bottle and that helps but we need to have more around the house that we can just grab one when he starts this behavior.



Here is a picture of him starting to bit her ankles. His eyes look really evil in this picture. I think it was just the way the light hit his eyes and he is not the devil. (But maybe I am wrong and he is just and evil cat!)

Always moving

Lauren has always been a very cautious child. She would not jump off anything for the longest time. She would not climb too high or want to go too fast. Lately she has been trying a bit more. She now likes to go upside down on bars, she likes to jump and skip and to twirl around as fast as she can. Now it seems like she never stops moving. She wants to run from one place to next all the time. It is fun to see her trying more and loving it in the end.

She calls this dress "the dress with cat in the pumkin hat".

Day at the Park

In our town we have a wonderful park, the Railroad Park. It has a great playground with a bunch of different size equipment. It also has a carousel and lots of green grass to run and play in. But the best thing at this park is that it has this little train that goes round the park. The train has a bunch of open cars that you can sit in and one enclosed car. The kids all love the enclosed car and Lauren has been wanting to go in this car for the longest time. Yesterday Lauren finally got to go in the enclosed car. It was a little sad for me. I didn't get to sit next to my little girl and point things out on our ride around the park. But she loved it. She had the biggest smile when she got out of the enclosed car. I don't think she is going to want to sit by me for a while.














We went to the park with some friends. We met these friends a few years ago at our Little Gym class. The girls were only 2 years old and we have remained friends since then. The girls now take dance lessons together. We also went to Disneyland last year together. Lauren and her friend have a typical 4 1/2 year old relationship. They get along sometimes and other times they are fighting and trying to be the boss. They are both a little bossy.

It was a great day to get outside and enjoy the lovely weather. We only have a few more months (weeks) before it is just too hot to go play at the park. We try to get out as much as we can now.

I lived in Chicago for a few years and I lived for the summer and the warm weather. Here in Arizona it is the opposite. We deal with the summer and live for the spring, fall and winter. Last summer was hard. We has over 30 days with the temperature over 110. (It usually is only about 10 days) I hope this summer is not as hot. But for now we will enjoy the great weather before the hot weather comes. The kids don't seem to mind the hot weather as much. They just swim and swim and swim. By the end of summer they are pretty tired of swimming.

The girls were playing like they were monkeys for a while.

Making cupcakes

(I always forget how the pictures load and I did these pictures in reverse order!)

It is hard to be a working mom and try to spend quality time with Lauren. We have such limited time together each day during the week. I try to do something together each night that we are home. This could be just taking a walk or playing a board game or playing house or the like. Tonight I thought it would be fun to make cupcakes. Lauren loves to help me cook and bake so she was thrilled with this idea.

I am not a great baker or a great cook and I admit that I use box cake mixes. Lauren loves to put the eggs in the bowl. She has gotten pretty good at breaking the egg and not getting the shell in the batter. I use to have to clean out a bunch of shells but now she does it without getting any of the shells in the batter. When we bake together she wants to do everything so I measure out the ingredients and Lauren puts them in the bowl. She then likes to use the mixer and mix the batter.

Her favorite part is licking the bowl after we are done. I know that raw eggs are bad but I did this as a little kid and it is a great memory so I let Lauren do it too. She loves the batter. Sometimes I have to keep her from just eating the batter with a spoon.

While the cupcakes baked Lauren and I read some books and got ready for bed but she really wanted to ice at least one of the cupcakes. They were still a little warm so the icing was a bit hard to put on but she did it. Then she had to add the decorations. Sometimes that does not get done that well because she really just wants to eat the cupcake.

Lauren enjoyed sampling one of her creations. She only eats the top off the cupcakes. She is an icing girl and will eat the top off cupcakes, donuts, cake and anything with icing. The rest of the item is then just left.

It was a fun night. I worry that the only memories that she will have of her childhood is that I was always working. I hope she remembers these times also.

By the way, it was the end of the day and she had finished dinner and spent all day at school and that is why she has a dirty face and messy hair!!!!

I love the smiles and the concentration that she has when she is doing something like this.