She's all growed up.

So this morning Brad woke up at 6:30 to go to Walgreens to get Tori's school supplies. Can you believe I forgot to get those last week? And of course I remembered on Sunday, the one day I can't go. Shame on me.

So we got there on time this morning with school supplies in tow. Tori looked adorable of course, and the uniforms could not hide the fact that she was the ONLY white child in the school. She made a friend instantly named Brooklyn, who was the only African American child in her class, so they had something in common, they were a little different from everyone else, but Tori held her hand and put her arm around her friend as Brooklyn cried, it was the cutest thing. Tori was so brave, and so was I :) So she was off into the world of never ending schooling.

They have half day this week and then next week they go to full-day, so at 11:45 I left to go pick her up, I turned the key to my Honda and low and behold, the battery was dead. So of course like any normal mother of a new kindergartner, I FREAKED OUT! I panicked, I called Brad and freaked out at him, flagged down a stranger to help me open my hood cause I couldn't unlatch it, Called the school, told them I'd be late, called Brad to have him come pick her up, in the mean time I found our battery charger, so I charged the battery after help from Brad because I pushed the air button not the battery switch (I was wondering why it was making that air sound), and finally, the car worked... phew! So I rushed over to her school as fast as I could, I was about 10 minutes late, I know, I'm a horrid mother. I was so upset. How could this happen on her first day of school?! Well, by the time I got there there were still other kids there, and she was happy as can be, with a filled backpack and a bag full of her school supplies. Her teacher explained to me, "Tori said that her Daddy bought these special for her and that she wouldn't let us keep them here at the school, she had to bring them home with her because they are special." I was kind of surprised at that and realized, how is she supposed to know what these are for, and that they are supposed to stay at school. So we got to bring them all back home and the teacher said she'd work her way into leaving things at school and Tori frankly said, "Tomorrow... I will leave my ziplocs." I laughed as I'm sure you are too. I thought that was adorable. Tori's words as we walked out of the gymnasium this afternoon were classic, "That was GREAT!"

Then we got in the car and I tried to explain to her about the whole school supplies situation, that we have to leave them at school, that's what they are for, etc.etc, so she go upset and she's been mad all day ever since. She did get sent to a different class though with the only White teacher there and Tori said there are 10 boys and 5 girls in her class. So it sounds like her class is very small and I met her teacher for a brief second, although I didn't know at the time it was her teacher, but she seemed very nice. But her friend Brooklyn is not in her class which I'm pretty sad about.

She enjoyed eating at the cafeteria, and she said kinda confused, "They took LOTS of potty breaks." She said that all the kids were mean to her. I didn't think that was true so I asked for more details, "What did they say, how were they mean to you?" She said, "Well, this one girl pushed this other girl to get to the sink and I told her she should use this other sink that was free and that she shouldn't push. *pause* And she didn't listen to me!" I said, "So she didn't push you or say anything mean to you?" Tori: "No, but she wouldn't listen."

So there you go. She enjoyed herself, and looking at these pictures, its amazing how much she looks like Brad, huh?

Some call it Creativity, Some call it Cruelty...

So today I'm trying to calm Tori from a tantrum, I decide that we need to "talk it out". So Tori begins to explain that everyone in her family is mean to her. Upset over the situation, trying to gain understanding, I ask challenging, "How have I been mean to you?" (She's had a scowl on her face ever since we came home from church and just very grumpy). She says, "You're making me clean, and I hate to clean, and that's not fun." So I come back with, "Cleaning is not a punishment Tori, it is not a consequence. Cleaning is a responsibility. Do you clean up after me?" Tori answers, "No." So then I went on explaining that we all clean up after ourselves and that I am not a maid, but that she has to learn to clean up after herself and its a part of life that she needs to understand is a responsibility, not a punishment, but that there are consequences if we don't clean up after ourselves... So she freaks out and runs into her room and shuts the door loudly (her latest rebellion). So I put on Veggie-tales for Abbie and go into Tori's room to talk... (here is where my idea comes)...

I pick her up and hold her in my arms and explain how much I love her and tell her that her room will be clean either her way or my way. Her way, is that she cleans up after herself and it is always clean... My way is this. Every evening I will bring up an empty bin (we have tons from moving) and fill it with whatever is on the floor of their bedroom. We'll store it in the Garage for one week. We'll have 7 bins, one for each day of the week. So everything I put in the bin this evening will stay in the garage in the bin marked (SUNDAY) and next Sunday after church we'll bring it out for them to put away. So this way the room is clean at least every night, and its rather easy for me to keep it clean. I'm hoping that after two weeks of this, they'll start learning that if they don't put it away, it goes away for a week, so we'll see how it goes. I've got to change their habits in order to keep my house clean and right now its just not working, so I'm hoping this idea will work. I'd like to thank my Mom for all the creative ideas that she had while growing up to get us to clean. She is my inspiration. And just so you know, most of the stuff in the bin today was Abbie's, but she didn't care much. So we'll see if this works for her too.

She's got it good.

So I was just sitting here daydreaming in my own little world about Tori starting school tomorrow as I'm preparing her school bag and her school lunch money and all that when I had this thought, "Man, She's got it good." The reason I thought that is because she gets to go to Kindergarten and play games and read books all day, and her lunch only costs $1.50! You know, I think her lunch would probably cost less if there were another child in her class paying for school lunch, but I think almost all of them get it free. i think the school rate of free lunch is 85%! So anyway, I was just thinking how nice it would be to have someone make my lunch and have it only cost $1.50. Granted I could get a 5-piece chicken nugget at Wendy's for only $1.00, but she gets an entree and 3 sides and a dessert! I'm jealous! Anyway, so the thought crossed my mind, "Wouldn't that be funny if she gained like ten pounds in a month from eating school lunch, maybe I'm starving my poor child at home!" I'll let you all know how it goes. And for those of you who never found out, she is going to Public School, so we'll see how it goes. Pray for her!!!

My baby is going to school

We've been trying to be a little more creative in our parenting with Tori as she's journeying into a new phase of her life. She's about to start Kindergarten here in a week and a half and I'm just amazed at how ready she is, and how ready I'm not. I thought I'd include this picture of Tori's writing on a post it note for me after a long day of her bad choices and hard consequences. Talk about a little girl who is thinking a lot. The note says, "How can I help to be a better kid?" Can you believe that? Yesterday after I grounded her for throwing Daddy's shoe at our cat five times, she wrote in her journal, "I wish my Mom was a better Mom." Can you believe that? Initial thought was, "Well, that was rude." And then I realized, Wow, she is communicating really well, telling me how she feels. So we had the opportunity to talk about good parents and bad parents and how if I were a bad mom, I wouldn't do anything, and give her no consequences. I gave her the opportunity to choose between consequences, 1.) Get grounded for the "whole day" (about 6 hours in her room with books) or 2.) Give the cat away. Her response: "Can I come out for dinner?" Poor girl. Some might think it was a harsh punishment, but she had been warned before, and she knew better, and she did it with a horrible look on her face (I was spying on her, so I saw), and I was worried for the life of our cat! Anyway, so she is definitely growing up, I'm well pleased. My baby is growing up!

The Question Has Now Been Answered

I've learned after 7 years of marriage that if you let your husband know what you want but let them make the final choice, it goes much better than if you make the choice for them. He decided not to go... maybe it was the bribe I gave him, but he decided on his own not to go. We did go to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and it was WONDERFUL, I enjoyed the company more than the food, but the food was excellent. We just had a blast hanging out and trying to come up with stories we haven't told each other yet after 7 years :) It was refreshing, and wonderful. Forget the reunion! We've got what we need all right here with eachother :)I thought this was a cute pic of Brad.

Abbie's Birthday

I haven't posted any pictures from Abbie's birthday. I've been so bad at blogging, I apologize. I'm working 6-8 hours each day at home so needless to say when I'm not working I prefer not to be on the computer. Anyway, so we had a great time for Abbie's birthday. She got some cute Snow White stuff from her Grandma and some really fun things from her Nona and Grandpa. I bought her some new gellies and a dress and Dora Sunglasses. I'm realizing quickly that now is the time to skimp on presents, these kids don't care what they get, I think for Christmas we're going with fruitsnacks wrapped up in boxes, they'll think its the greatest thing in the world. We're going to turn off the TV starting in November and only watch movies so the kids don't get brainwashed this year by all the ads for Christmas toys. Anyway, enjoy the pictures, she's been working on her sad/grumpy faces, I thought these would be great to blog :)

Half Success

Well, I would say I'm at 50% success. Not because she only goes 50% of the time in the toilet, but because she goes about 85% of the time in the toilet, 15% of the time on the girl's closet floor on their clothes (joyous, I know). But I'd say 50% of the time because she's still going in the dish with kitty litter. I got so frustrated at one point I tried to sell her. But did you know Craigslist here doesn't allow you to sell animals on it? So lame. Anyway, today is one of those days I wish I didn't have her, she peed on the girls clothes this morning because Abbie took the dish out of the toilet, so she had no where to go and she decided Abbie's jean skirt was a great alternative. You know it wouldn't be so bad if her pee didn't stink SO BAD and take 3 washes in the washer to get out. ANYWAY, some day she will go, I just decided to give her some time, and give myself some sanity. Hopefully we'll all make it out alive.