Christmas of past

Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year, has come and gone. It was great this year as another part of our family joined us. Faith's little brother, Champ, joined us this year for his first Christmas along with Andma and Pa Pa from IL. It was great to see the joy in Faith's face this year as she is begining to understand Santa Clause. We made Christmas cookies for him and placed them in front on the fire place. She was excited to see that he ate all her sprinkly cookies. Her favorite gifts were her princess items. She is all about princesses still. Andma found her a huge framed poster of all the princesses to hang in her room and Pa Pa gave her some sparkle glue to draw with. Messy, but fun. Santa brought a princess castle for her; how does he know this stuff? Faith played with all her toys this year all weekend. She was thankful for everything she received. We sang Christmas songs and danced in her room together. She still loves dancing and has started to move for freely and thoughtfully in her movements. I can't believe how much she has grown this year. Sometimes I miss the little girl as each day I realize how much she changes. Merry Christmas Faith.

Christmas celebration

Where has time gone and how have I not posted in over a month? I suppose the roar of the holidays has approached and time has gotten away from me. The big thing that has been going on recently is the preparation for Christmas Celebration at school. Faith has been working diligently on her song, Silent Night. She loves the finale song, One Small Voice by Jack Hartman also. Thursday night the night arrived and Andma and Pa Pa made a surprise arrival one night early to see this little angel sing. Faith was so beautiful. Her beautiful white Cinderella style dress set the stage as to how it was going to be. With her hands folded in prayer, her and her friends sang acapello. I wanted to cry. She was so beautiful. If I had to imagine what an angel would have sounded like the night Jesus was born and how beautiful it would have been to see them descend, I would have imagined Faith.

The birthday party

Faith was invited to a birthday party this last Sunday. The nice thing about being a teacher is that often parents of my children will invite me and my children to their gatherings. Makes for more opportunities for Faith to make friends. So the party was at a local kid drop zone where you can drop off for an hour or two. Some of the things to do there were slide down the laundry shoot, zip line down into a pile of pillows, bounce on huge bouncy balls, jump in the moonbounce, play in the dress up closet, ride a minature train down a track, swing on a giant swing, and crawl through the cabinets. She thoroughly enjoyed herself. We enjoyed some cake and juice and had some much needed mommy/daughter time. Sometimes with the hustle and bustle of the week, we need to spend more time doing fun things on the weekend.

Such a singer

Faith loves music so much. She must have got that from me because Bud doesn't sing anything. At school over the last few weeks she has been preparing for our Christmas celebration concert. She has learned a song in sign language that I taught the entire preschool. They will be singing that as a finale. Her class has decided to sing Silent Night complete with home made angel wings. After only practicing her song for one week, she knows all the words to Silent Night. Pretty impressive considering I didn't even know all the words. But what makes her singing even more special is when she is in the car. Champ can be screaming and fussing and crying but as soon as One Small Voice is put on and Faith starts singing, he is quiet. Now if I start singing, he will continue to cry. But her voice is beautiful. That precious little child's voice that every mother loves.

Halloween fun

So as if you didn't guess already, Faith was a ballerina again for Halloween. After trying and trying to get her to wear her pretty princess dresses she was firm on the fact that she was going to be a ballerina. Does it surprise me? Not at all. She loves loves loves dance class and listens very intently to her teacher. We had a great trunk or treat Friday evening at school where we walked the parking lot to see how people decorated their trunks. She picked up one piece of candy for herself and one for daddy. One for Faith, one for daddy. I think he might have had a hand in it too. Trunk or treat was followed by dancing, face painting and hot dogs in the gym. What better to finish an evening for a ballerina than to go dancing. We all (with maybe the exception of Bud because he had been up since 430am) had a great time. A nice safe alternative to trick or treat; and not too much candy to have to deal with.

Lovin' the leaves

Fall has quickly approached and it is Faith and I's favorite time a year. We sing songs, dance with pretend leaves and yesterday we made it outside to jump and roll in the real leaves. Why do we love Fall so much? I guess it has to do with the beauty that surrounds us for 1 week. The leaves of red, orange and yellow remind me just how great our God is. So before the rain arrived we headed outside to rake up some leaves followed by some good ol' running and jumping and kicking of the leaves. Faith played hide and seek in the leaves as I covered her up and pretended not to know where she was. Hopefully today will be a good day to head to the park. My favorite is the one with trails and the animals on the farm. Maybe they will be giving hay rides today. Anyways....we love the Fall. The mountain in our back yard is at it's peak now. It is just such a wonderful time of the year.

One Small Voice

Have you ever heard of Jack Hartman? He is a singer/songwriter of children's music. I was introduced to his music recently at a seminar. I loved one of his songs so much I decided that was the song "One Small Voice" that I was going to teach all the children at school for our Christmas concert. The first time Faith heard it she loved it. That evening she asked to sing it over and over again a total of 8 times. A simple song that starts with one child singing followed by more children on the second verse and the rest of the group on the last verse. I hear Faith's one small voice sing quietly from the back seat and my eyes tear up. Such a sweet voice to hear singing this song. I am reminded of just how small she is. She talks so big and acts so big but inside she is just this one small voice. Here is the link to the song clip if you want to hear a piece of it. Copy and paste the link.
http://www.songsforteaching.com/jackhartmann/s/1smallvoice.mp3

Reading

Faith is at it again. She has received her sight word books and has jumped right into them. After helping her sound out the two words of the book she has taken to reading it all by herself. What is even more exciting is that she loves it. Finally, all of those hours of reading has paid off. Some people just think that a child like Faith is just the same as others. Yes, she is but so much of her is different. I see her everyday at school and I see her independance. I am currently evaluating my four year olds in class and Faith's pre literacy is so far above and before a normal four year old it is amazing. As I did investigated into understanding more about our learning styles yesterday at a seminar I realized that her learning style is word smart and music smart. Although I am first music smart and then nature and picture smart, it is interesting that we both have a same learning style. And that is the reason she learns so easy with me. I learned yesterday at my Applebaum Training that I child needs to be exposed to roughly 1000 books before they can start reading for themselves. I think we probably hit the 1000 mark long ago and she just kept going. Thanks to Grace for her Disney Fairy books. She has finished three of them and is now reading and listening to Fira and the Full Moon. Here is the video of Faith reading "Go, Go"

Where a kid can be a kid

Off to Chuckie Cheese today for the first field trip of the year. Faith is super excited. This year we are a little more comfortable with her not in her carseat. The bus is designed for little bodies like hers. I think she has fun with us at Chuckie Cheese. She is going to have a blast with all her friends. It is times like these that I wish I wasn't a teacher and could just go along as a parent. That is one downfall of teaching at the same school. I have my own class to take care of. She gets 20 tokens and 2 pieces of pizza. Why is it that the pizza looks good from there but never tastes good. Faith loves the carriage ride. She gets to sit in the carriage while a frog drives her to the ball. She pretends she is a princess. Also she loves the carosel and air hockey. I can't wait to hear about her day.

PALS

Today Faith was tested on her PALS, otherwise known as a pre-literacy screening. So I as a teacher had reviewed the test for my own sake considering I am testing this week also for my classroom, Faith had asked to play the alphabet section a few nights ago so I allowed her to tell me the alphabet upper and lower. I told her that I would not play any other games with her due to the fact that her teacher was going to play with her at school. So today as Faith was tested what did she tell her teacher. "Oh, mommy and I played this game at home" BANG, I just shot myself in the foot. After her completely blowing away the test with all right answers because she is smart, her teacher called me into the class to ask me whether I had already tested her. I informed her no and then continued on to explain that she knows this information (rhymes, text awareness, alphabet recognition, letter sounds, words recognition, and word sounds) because I have taught it to her. Hence the reason why I have asked the director for some sight word books for Faith to read at home. Well as if it wasn't enough to convince her teacher, I now had to report to the director and assistant director. Do they believe me in the fact that I didn't administer the test? I don't know. Is it that they can't believe that she knows what she does? I don't know. Or do they think that over the course of three days that the test has been in my possesion she memorized all the answers to the test. Now her teacher wonders, does she really know it or not? Well I tell you what; if she doesn't know it she is the smartest little girl I've met to pull those answers over the teacher's head. I told them to give her the kindergarten test if they are so concerned that she cheated. She is three for heaven's sake. She knows nothing about cheating. She knows what she knows.

Princess War

I never thought about playing the card game War with a three year old but after thinking about it I said why not. She knows her numbers why not play a game where Faith has to think about what number is bigger in order to win. So the newest game is Princess War with princess cards. Pretty funny. Last night her and Bud had a double princess war. She was beat and he took all her cards. She still was happy though. Champ likes to watch from the sidelines and cheer them on with his squeals of delight. His raspberries are ever so popular these days. Pa Pa would be so proud of him if he seen him. School is going great. Everyone loves their classes including Faith. After having her teacher make her a special helper she is happy to arrive with her friends each morning. She is counting to 50 now. She knows all her letters; upper and lower along with most sounds. I am so excited to see her grow this year. Champ; he melts everyone's heart in the nursery. He is so laid back and fun to be around. He just smiles and talks to everyone. I am enjoying my huge preschool class this year. It is great to have such a big class with lots of opportunities for the children to learn. I am so glad school has started back.

A great birthday and party

We had an awesome day yesterday. Faith was feeling better as a cold has got her down recently. We went our separate ways yesterday morning. Faith went with Bud in order to do her shopping and then they returned to the house to decorate it with streamers and party wear. She was definitely excited to be party planner. Bud cooked pizza for lunch....my favorite. Faith picked out a great present for me; earrings, a headband, a variety package of nail polish (even though I don't paint my nails, she likes her's painted), Encyclopedia Britanica for the computer (Faith is always full of questions), a card in which she wrote happy birthday by herself, and two fruit tootsie pops from her teacher at school. Bud got me chocolate truffles and jelly bellies. Mom got my birkis resoled and some new work clothes. Bud and I enjoyed an evening to ourselves as we ate Olive Garden and went to the book store. I found a Hooked on Spanish program for Faith and school along with a Dora game that encourages learning of colors in Spanish. That is on the agenda for this morning. I love good days and yesterday was one of those.
A birthday
A birthday is a day to celebrate the joy
of all the blessings in my life.
For had I not been sent to Earth
I would have never had this wonderful family to enjoy.
Hear the laughing fill the air
Just look at Faith's messy hair
We dance and sing
We do almost anything
The cake was great
Ice cream cake is hard to make
Enjoy the smiles
See the tears
Naptime is what I hear.
Time to sleep
Another birthday will slowly creep.

Hola, Como` Esta`?

Faith is coming along quite well in her Spanish classes recently. After completing her colors, numbers and alphabet, her teacher has moved on to simple greetings. Luckily her Spanish teacher will also be her classroom teacher for the Fall so she will be getting double the lessons. We are hoping that she continues to enjoy it. We are going to go ahead and keep the private lesson with her teacher on Saturday mornings. This week's greetings include, Hello and Goodbye. Hi how are you. I am good. What is your name? My name is.... Good morning, afternoon and night. Please. Thank you. and You're Welcome. Come Fall, she will be learning the weather and calendar during circle time along with a thirty minute Spanish lesson once a week.

Newest addition

So we have had another visitor move in. In fact, he is living on our porch. Faith brought home some sand from the beach last week and has had it sitting in her pail on the porch. She picked it up this evening to find a small beautiful neon blue tailed lizard sunning himself in the warm sand. I asked Bud if he was going to stay, he said probably until it starts getting cold. Faith is overly excited about this. Maybe we can sit down tomorrow and learn more about this lizard. I have researched and have found him to be a blue tailed skink. However I would like to learn more about him. If we are lucky maybe Bud will let us keep him. Big beautiful blue eyes have that kind of effect on daddies.

The End of Summer Vacation

With the end of summer in sight, it is back to school for all of us here in the Happy Little Family. So far Faith doesn't appreciate being back in class. I guess 10 weeks is just too much for a child to be away from something she loves. Loves....I can't use that word anymore for how she feels. I hope it gets better. As far as Champ, he is a happy little baby. I wish he could be held more in the infant room but with 9 babies what can a person do? He is treated well and cared for. I guess that is all that matters at this point in time. Faith is transitioning to a different class room. Her original class is now switched AGAIN. I am about fed up with the philosophy of the school and so is Bud. I am starting to see how a school doesn't treat children differently based on their intellectual needs they keep them the same as their ages. It is really disgusting but we won't talk about that. Faith misses her little brother and her mom at school. When I go to pick her up she wants to hold baby Champ and kiss him. I'll put him in her arms so it feels like she really is holding him. She loves him so much. I can't say that about his crying though. We are having an end of summer extravaganza at school on Friday. Maybe this party will help boost Faith's enjoyment of school a little more. Until then, today is another day in a class she doesn't want to be in.

What to pack for the beach

We are going to the beach tomorrow. Faith's first trip and my first trip in a long time; since I was 8 years old. Here is a list of important things that Faith has decided to bring along.
-Hello Kitty notepad....check
-toothbrush....check
-horsie......check
-clean underwear.....check
-change of clothes....check
-Hi Ho Cheerio Game....check
-microphone....check
-Mr. Machine man...check
-bag of beach toys... check
-fan...check
-vaccuum.....check
-everyone's tennis shoes.....check
-Lamby....check

Faith is super excited to go the the beach. She is planning on building a sand castle, swimming in the water, eating a picnic on the sand,keep away with the beach ball, and riding the ferris wheel at the amusement park. The drive is not going to be excited. Especially since Champ hates his carseat. We'll make it though. With a headache maybe, but we will make it.

Growing up

Each day that I stop into RS school I am reminded of how much Faith has grown this summer. Her hair has gotten longer; probably 5 inches since Christmas. Her communication has broadened by means of talking like a grownup and knowing words like intersection, breast feeding, weeping willows, content, passe, tondue, gorgeous. Only to name a few. Her imagination has run wild as she has no choice but to pretend with only Champ and I around. Her caringness towards others has expanded to asking for forgiveness when she does something wrong. Her wants have taken a back seat to Champ's needs when it comes down to him crying. Her boarding pass arrived today for Purple class. However Blue class was crossed off and Purple wrote in. It was kind of depressing knowing that the keepsake will not be nice and neat like the others. She has grown from an only child to a big sister all in the matter of two months. She goes to sleep by herself now. She buckles up her seatbelt by herself now. She sets the table now and helps clean up. She even helps feed her brother and hold him. As we venture into a new school year I am excited and nervous all at the same time to lose my little preschooler and gain a prekindergartener.

Thankful

I just wanted to take an opportunity to jot down the things that I am thankful for.
1. All my family that has came to visit me this summer to help with Champ. It is hard taking care of two kids especially one as active as Faith.
2. My dad for caring so much and sharing his experiences with me
3. The patience that I've learned again with having a newborn around.
4. Faith's love of books that allow me to just sit and read when things get chaotic.
5. Knowing that my mom is just a phone call away if I need anything.
6. The opportunity to remain at home this summer to get to know Champ and his ways.
7. A beautiful smart little girl that wants nothing more than to be with her mom and wrestle with her dad at night.
8. Our wonderful landlord who cares so much about Faith and Champ and our family (she is coming over on Sat. to teach me to cook vegetarian)
9. A great school with nicer than nice teachers for Faith to enjoy
10. The beautiful earth that surrounds me each day filled with mountains, flowers, hills, and sunsets.

I really couldn't ask for anymore. How blessed we each are when we sit and think about how many things we have been given in life and how short life is.

Welcome to everyone is the same world

So after receiving an email from the school director yesterday that stated she is being pressured to put all kids into their rightful classes for the Fall by the corporate office, I am forced to write a letter to state and prove why Faith should be allowed to be in the older class. Here at our school it doesn't matter the age. The child is supposed to be in class with their own age and the teacher is to tweek the curriculum in order to accomodate the advancedness of the child. Well, I have one question. With 20 three year olds in a class, when is that teacher going to have the time to teach her the stuff she needs to know for kindergarten. Hence the reason we wanted her in the pre-K class.After discussing it with Bud his response was "eventually we will have to consider having her back with her own age." Why oh why does a child have to be with their own age when they are far more advanced than their age? Yes public school will have her in her own small group for reading and math based on her ability however here at our school even the most advanced primary care group would not suit her. She learned all of this curriculum last year. Basically she will have to start with this is the Letter A and this is the number 1. We are currently putting sounds together to make words and numbers together for adding and learning to identify the teen numbers. The teacher of the Gold room feels that Faith will have no problem in class. That tells me that she should be allowed. I hope that the director sees where we are coming from and I suppose that I will write corporate office if it comes down to it.

1 basket, 2 fish, and 5 loaves of barley bread

This past week has brought a love of Jesus to Faith after completing Vacation Bible School. I realize now more than ever that in order for her to learn something she needs to have fun. The music and dancing has taught her many things and the songs are so catchy that I wake up in the middle of the night singing them. Yesterday at church, Faith went up to the front of the sanctuary and sang her songs with the other VBS kids. She was so darn cute. Usually she shys up but she did wonderful. I even heard her little voice carry the tune from the third row. I had several people come up to me after the service and complimented her on how much they enjoyed seeing her sing and dance. Even Champ was dancing in the pews. I wish she had VBS every day. It makes her such a pleasant child as she apologizes for doing wrong, tells me she forgives me when I do wrong, sings and dances her cares away, tells me stories that she has learned, and asks to stay longer because she would rather be at church than at home.

A quick update

We are so busy here with a new baby that I find myself going ever which way and then collapsing from exhaustion at the end of the day. Faith is doing well and so is her brother Champ. He is growing so much. Can't believe he is almost 6 weeks old now. His smiles brighten my day and Faith's willingness to help is just what a mother needs. Some of her thoughts for the week include....
1. She is drying up her milk due to the fact that her nipples hurt from breastfeading her twin babies.
2. She married a girl and received a princess ring.
3. Her magic ring will turn anyone into a dragon if they touch it.
4. "Jambo" means hello in Swaheli.
5. We forgive others.
6. Champ is so adorable when he is naked.
7.A princess doesn't wear panties when she is in her royal attire.
8. Do you want to wrestle? Yes but only if you put panties on Faith.
9. She has packed her suitcase for a trip to see Grace.
10. She doesn't like to close her eyes when she is tired.
11. She will always love me and be my peanut and my little girl even when she grows up big.

There are so many funny things to hear her speak about these days. I need to keep a pad of paper with me to jot them down. I look back at her home videos from 15-18 months and I am reminded of how sweet she has always been. Her little voice and love for people and life makes her a true blessing to the lives around her.

Flippin' cool

Just when I think that Faith can't possibly do any more gymnastics in the house she has found something else to flip on or over. First she has to go over the rules. Rule #1- Safety first. No flipping off the bed or cardboard boxes. Always use your hands. Tuck your head. Etc. Rule #2- Try your best. Do we want you to be the best. NOOOO!!! We want you to try your best. After stating the two rules she is off to gymnastics. Today she surprised me when she used the couch as the uneven parallel bars. She jumped from the crib mattress on the floor to a front support position on the back of the couch. Then she continued on to lift her bottom up and forward roll off the front making sure she was still following rule number one (safety first). Last night she forward rolled off of Bud while he was laying on the floor. Thank goodness she has been taught by me to put her hands on the ground and not on her feet like the teachers at class have taught. This little girl loves loves loves wrestling. I will be glad when I am up to the challenge. However Bud has been appointed official wrestler for evening time. It is a wonderful way for her to get her energy out and still have to follow the rules. What will next week bring? I guess we will have to see what gymnastics and dance brings tomorrow evening.

Time for a checkup

Faith had her first dentist visit today. She had so much fun. The dental hygenist allowed Faith to try out all her instruments and then when she was comfortable with them she allowed her to use them on her mouth. Faith not only allowed the hygenist to count her teeth, she allowed her to clean, polish, and scrape the tarter from her teeth. Faith smiled the whole time. She was glad to hear that her teeth were very clean and she had no cavities. She picked out a prize for her good checkup. Her baby bunny even had a checkup. Faith pretended she was the dentist and used the hygenist's tools to check her out. So the first visit to the dentist was a pleasant one. She is growing so much. I can't believe how well she does with new things. She is just willing to jump right in and try it out and learn more.

Jazzy Bugs

Faith is loving dance/gymnastics class this summer. She is learning about tap, ballet and creative movement in dance class. Gymnastics class she is learning fwd rolls, safety falls, following directions, and having fun. Her face is lit up with a smile from the time she arrives till the time she leaves. I love the fact that she is staying active this summer. Last week was cowboy week. She danced with swim noodles and pretended they were partners, rode a runaway stagecoach, lassoed cows, galloped, smooshed bugs in dance, stomped in mud and patted a pony (the beam). Her teacher is so good with children. This week is pirate week at dance class. That will be exciting as they will probably go on a treasure hunt.

My friend Sally

Faith has a new friend. Everyone meet Sally, her make believe friend. When asking Faith about Sally I was told that she is five years old. She has blue eyes and purple hair. She is her best friend and is always having a birthday party or sleepover. It is so funny to hear her talk to her on the phone. Her conversation goes something like this.
Hi Sally. Oh Sally you are my best friend Sally. How are you today? You are having a birthday party you say? I'd love to come. Sure I can bring my sleeping bag. Ok, I'll see you then. Ok, bye bye. Love ya. (Then comes a hug to the phone with hug noises and then a big kiss). Ok bye Sally. See ya later.
When she doesn't have her pretend cell phone it is not uncommon for her to pick up her sunglasses and fold an ear piece down and begin to talk on it. She will ask everyone to be quiet because she has to make a phone call. That means if we are in the car, the music is turned down. You can ask her anything about Sally and she will tell you about it. Her conversations definitely have me cracking up laughing.

Time at home

Besides the usual game of tag or hide and seek, we are trying to do some learning this summer also with Faith so what she has learned in school will not be forgotten. Of course she loves anything that is fun so I made up a game in which we play letter BINGO or letter sound or word find with different words. She seems to get a kick out of it. Most of my kids in class loved playing it too. So today we did word find. We used the sounds of the word to narrow our choices down. When our choice words were narrowed it was up to Faith to decide which word was correct. Then she had to find the word on my board and mark it also. With Bud she did counting. She had to count the number of objects in the picture and then determine which number below was correct. She also got all of them right. She worked on her circling and Xing the numbers. Tomorrow I'd like to start back to more of a schedule like school. Otherwise by the end of summer I will have gone mad from playing hide and seek or tag so much.

Welcome home

Baby T was born on Monday June 15, 2009 at 3:36pm. He was 7lb 1oz and 21 inches long. Faith has been such a good big sister just like we both knew she would. She helps get things for her baby brother such as clothes, burp clothes, bottles, blankets, binkies, etc. She even read him his first story, Horton Hears a Who his first night home and helped brush his hair at the hospital. She has been waiting and anticipating his arrival for quite some time. We are all trying to adjust to life with a newborn again. No sleep. Emotions gone crazy. Trying to get ready to go somewhere in under an hour. Etc. I hope that the coming weeks bring a better schedule as dance and gymnastics start tomorrow and then library activities start on Tuesday. I'm excited to be home all summer with Faith and baby T. I hope that Faith grows as a big sister and learns to love T and develop some patience with everything.

A family of three no more

Today is the last day that we will be a family of three. With baby T arriving tomorrow I find myself with mixed emotions. Happy to be bringing another child into our world, sad to think that my time will now be divided. I'm not sure how to do it. Faith and I, as Bud says, have been glued together for quite some time. She is like a mini me. As we sat in the bathroom together yesterday at the restaurant she became so excited to see that my underwear matched her dress. I can't say that about baby T. I doubt that he will ever become that excited. Faith and I are like two peas in a pod. If I could be any where or do anything it would be with her. As I went to work three days this week without her I realized just how much I enjoy her company. I am so unorganized. I keep asking myself, can I make that much deserved time with baby T as I did with Faith when she was little. As our family grows so do we as individuals; all of us. We begin to learn about raising a boy and teaching about being a big sister. We begin to learn what it is like to share everything we have and to help each other out a lot more. We start to learn more patience and most of all we learn to to let our heart love someone else.

Homework time

Although homework doesn't officially start for a few more years, Faith has diligently set herself up for success by starting early. Last night we stopped into Border's for a nice reading time before bed and I ended up purchasing a Rhyming workbook. In it we read rhyming words, match rhyming words, follow rhyming mazes, and trace the letters of rhyming words. Faith wanted to again do her homework when we arrived back at the house and even th is morning. Last night she decided to do the alphabet tracing and to my surprise continued to write her name which I cut off the top here. It looks wonderful and come Fall time she will be ready for the big kid class at school just like her other friends.

Wanting to read

At story time last night I asked Faith to go pick out a night night story. This is usually book number 7 of the night and it is usually one of her old hard board books. When I came back into her room she had her alphabet picture slide book. There she lie in bed spelling each of the words starting with the Letter A word and then reading the picture. I really thought that she would only do maybe three of them and then get bored however she completed the book to Letter Z spelling all the words in between. She also picked out a new Level 3 reading book yesterday. Tink and the Hide and Seek Game. She called it a chapter book but it is just a long book to her. She told me her teacher had one of those types of books at school. When I asked her if her friends listened to it quietly she informed me "no, they sit and talk" When I asked her if she did she said, "oh yeah, i do." I guess it is about time to get her some longer stories to read over the coarse of the week long storytime.

Where a kid can be a kid

Faith asked me the other day, "Mommy, when can we go to Chuck E. Cheese Its? My friends go there." After mentioning it to Bud we decided that we would stop by one day and see if she likes it. So Faith had had a very good weekend complete with nice words and listening ears so we decided to take her the local kid zone. She ate all her lunch and headed off to the toddler and kiddie zone to play. I think that she would have had just as much fun with zero rides and just the curly slide. However she really enjoyed the real horse carasol and the princess carriage ride. Faith and I enjoyed dancing to Dance Dance Revolution the preschool version complete with the song "If your happy and you know it" and "The wheels on the bus." Bud went to the older children's side to play and earn Faith some tickets to exchange for a prize. As we left, she was still in a good mood, unlike most of the children there who had missed their naps for the day. She picked out a string necklace with beads on it and still managed to go down for an afternoon nap despite her continuing excitement from the morning.

Ride'em cowgirl

This week Faith has been learning all about cowboys and cowgirls at school. I really think that this was her favorite unit. She learned alot. Some of the activities included painting a cowgirl hat, decorating a banadana to wear, making stars that hung from the ceiling, making a toilet roll horse, and decorating a boot with sand to represent the dirt roads. She also learned what they wear, where they sleep, what they do, and what they eat. All the activities and learning led up to a hoe down and pretend campout on Friday. Anyone who knows Faith knows she loves pretending so this was an awesome adventure for her. On Friday she was allowed to dress as a cowgirl complete with pink boots and cowgirl hat. Her teacher tied her bandana around her neck and she galloped down the halls hollering "yeehaw" an she twirled her lasso over head. Her and her friends roasted pretend marshmallows over the class fire and settled in for a nap under the stars they had made. For the special occasion she brought in her TinkerBell sleeping bag instead of her napper. What a wonderful week for her. She was so excited about her Friday hoe down complete with Doe Si Does that she decided to not make it to my doctor's appointment. That is what I like to see; Faith having so much fun that she doesn't want to leave.

Milkshake music and facepaint

Yesterday was a wonderful day as Faith and I had the opportunity to spend some much needed mommy daughter time together. After running errands in the morning we headed to a local shopping center for a picnic and music. A band by the name of Milkshake was performing. They have been on PBS and Noggin. They are a band geared towards bringing rock music to preschoolers. So after having a Subway picnic in the grass Faith and I went to have some facepaint. She chose to have a beautiful sunshine along with some purple and white flowers. The lady did a wonderful job complete with glitter and all. Next we asked the balloon man for a unicorn balloon pet. It was awesome looking. It was about then that the music started. Such a cool group for preschoolers. The lead singer, Lisa, really got the children involved. Faith went from wanting to leave to playing beach ball baseball with all the children in front of the stage to joining the love train and marching around the field. Faith's favorite part was when Lisa shook yellow tissue paper out of a bottle and called it a bottle of sunshine. We enjoyed a cupcake together and even said "hi" to a walking credit card. I have to say that we both needed this time together and it was wonderful to spend so much time with her.

Slow down

Faith is moving so fast these days I can barely keep up. I'm not sure if that is in part because I have an extra 30lbs on me or if she is just that busy. She is often too busy to get dressed in the morning; atleast in something that is not a princess ensemble. Too busy to sit and eat; unless it is ice cream or fruit snacks. Too busy to clean up her toys; unless she knows that someone is going to play princess with her. Too busy to settle down for bed anymore thanks to a new scooter that she drives through the house. Too busy to sit and watch t.v. because she is taking care of her new old cat that Bud gave her last year. Too busy to play with her friends at a party because she says she has homework to do which involves a princess activity book and writing her name or making Valentine's Day card for her Andma and Pa Pa. Sorry she is just now getting around to that holiday. I think if I could change my blogsite name it would be onehappylittlebusyfamily. There is so much to do and most of the time stuff just doesn't get done unless it is by Bud. Thanks be to Bud. Without him our house would be a princess haven with dresses everywhere followed by art supplies, dishes, puzzles, toys and more. I am grateful for him right now as I am so exhausted and ready to have baby T already. Soon maybe things will slow down here. Until then, we keep on chuggin.

Looking forward to the weekend

The weekend has started off good as Bud and I were able to go see Star Trek last night. What a great movie. Although, Forte I was waiting for the steamy Vulcan scene and I just didn't get it. A kiss was it. So Wendy's and movie for date night. Today we are going to the park to let Faith practice her new scooter and bicycle. Then we are off to get a birthday present for a little friend for this evening. Swimming and a BBQ for a fun Saturday night. The weather is supposed to be wonderful and I am just ready to be outside. Maybe I might even get a tan. Do you think? Everyone have a great Memorial Day and don't forget to fly your flag high.

Happy Birthday

To my two favorite men in my life, happy birthday. Who would have thought that the man I married would have the same birthday as my dad. It is always nice to celebrate them on the same day. Hope you have a great birthday dad. You are a great Pa Pa and Bud you are a wonderful father.

The Happy Family happenings

Becoming a green monster
Catch in our new Ariel robe
gymnast in the making
dress up
Princess puzzles

Gifts from a friend

Our infant teacher at school has a daughter who is 8 years old and a former princess fan herself. In addition to the princess bedding that Faith received a few weeks ago, Ms. Gloria has given her a travel thermos and then yesterday she broke out the "glass slippers" and more shirts. As Faith went through the bag she said, "I love it." to everything that she seen. After I explained to her that the "glass slippers" came from Cinderella's castle she was even more excited. Real princess slippers. Now the marriage to daddy will be complete. She has a princess ring to fit the size of her finger, glass slippers, dresses from Grace, and a crown from her birthday. As I sit back and think before she was born, "I can't handle the princess stuff. It is just too much." Now I realize that it is her world. It is any little girls world where they go if they read stories like this. I feel for other little girls who don't have as much imagination and story time to be able to enjoy this time of play. Do we read other stuff? Of course we do. And in time she may pretend to be those characters too. And what makes it all worth the trouble is when she refuses to wear anything else to the store but her princess attire and receives compliments from people. It makes her feel super special.

Still having a brother

Faith went with me yesterday to my doctor's appointment as she usually does. Except for being 20 minutes late, it was a good visit. She is going to be such a good big sister. I honestly believe that she is going to be a great helper and very gentle and kind to baby T. I was measuring small so the doctor went ahead and did another ultrasound on me for size, dates and amniotic fluid level. All were fine. Guess baby T is just going to be a small baby (for now). My ultrasound revealed baby T is still a boy. The ultrasound tech said his testicles were still taking up the screen. Just what any father wants to hear. Needless to say, I didn't mention that to Bud. I don't want him to get a big head or anything :-) Faith enjoyed reading Cuddles the Cow three times and counting her shapes in a shape book in Spanish. She counted all the way till sixteen. You think that they have outgrown the baby books but then they turn around and use them for something else. I can't believe here in about 5 or 6 weeks our lives are going to change again. And what have I done to get ready, not a whole lot. Better start soon.

Apples and Peanut Butter

I have to admit that Faith's newest favorite food is apples and peanut butter. She doesn't want any other fruit from the refrigerator; just apples and peanut butter. But it is not as simple as just dipping the peanut butter. She literally has to clean her plate all gone of it in order to put it into the sink. More peanut butter she asks. Sorry Faith, you've had enough. So what does she do? She takes her finger and runs it around the plate and licks her fingers clean. If I try to take her plate before it is done, she says, Wait, I'm still eating.
Faith also has a new job. Her job responsibilities include making sure that Abby does not leave the porch. Of course Abby loves the fresh air but she loves sneaking down onto the step and then to the yard. This morning she was down at the other end of the house. After Faith checked on her she came running and told me she was missing. So I put on my shoes and found her down by Faith's room. Needless to say, she is grounded now.

Missing her friends

Since school has reopened Faith has soon discovered that her close friends did not return to play. Moms are anxiety ridden and having nightmares about what happened. They are scared for their children to return to such a school. Us, on the other hand, know and feel that we are safer than ever in our school. As I watch Faith outside on the playground I want to cry for her. Her best friend from day one in Green class is gone. She now plays by herself. As I see her running around alone I think why does she not want to play with the other children. Well, they do not play what she likes to play. She doesn't want to leave my side any more and cries when I leave. I wish that things would get better. Does she have fun? Yes of course. But not with her friends. It is mostly with the teacher. Yesterday she was chasing her teacher around and vice versa. I guess just a few more weeks and she will be at home with her Andma doing all the things that she enjoys doing, baking, reading, dressup, puzzles, and playing outside.

An imagination gone wild

From the moment Faith wakes up, she is involved in a pretend world. A world filled with princesses, princes, dungeons, fairies, castles, dancing, and marriage. Bud and I have started taking turns who will marry her each night. She will put on her marriage music and walk down the hallway with her flower. Then we marry and dance our dance. Yesterday we took off to NeverLand where we met up with Captain Hook. We thought happy thoughts and then she spread her wings and flew. When we arrived we went to sleep in her new princess bedding that a friend gave her. She tiptoed and pranced around the house like a quiet little fairy. Her world is full of everything that she could think of. Oh what it would be like to be 3 again.

Ready for the Ms. America pagent

I guess Sunday instead of watching Cailou for a few minutes before bed we decided to watch the Ms. America pagent. We called it a princess pagent. It was so cute as Faith danced in her swim suit with the other "princesses" and called for us to clap for her. Although, this dancing I am not sure where she learned her moves. What ever happened to the cute booty shaking this time last year. Now she has some attitude behind her moves. Oh, girls will be girls. Cute, but grow so fast.

We made it

After 11 hours in the car, we finally made it to the parents house yesterday. The good news is that Faith fell asleep at 830pm and woke up at 6am. She only got out of her seat once to go potty at 2am and then went back to sleep. I could tell she was getting excited. Bud drove the entire way except from 2-4am. He was exhausted from the six hours before that of the mountains. So lucky me as soon as I get into the driver's seat, it starts raining the entire time. Well, I love to sleep in rain. This made it incredibly difficult to stay awake. So yesterday was a nice relaxing day around the house and his mom's house. Today will be busier. Off to see my brother for the morning, Easter egg hunt this afternoon followed by spaghetti night at a friend's house tonight. And of course I can't sleep past 530am. I always wondered why Carl was up early when he visited here however now I realize that the sun comes up here at 530am while it comes up at the Secret House at 630am. Different time zone, same sun.

Feeling sick

Faith has been a little under the weather the last few days. What started off with just a runny nose has turned into a terrible cough. It was so bad yesterday that she only napped 15 minutes before she woke up. Her teacher propped her bed up but she still coughed. I came into her class and helped her get to sleep but it was still filled with restlessness. I hope she feels better by the weekend. She came to my doctor's appointment on Tuesday and enjoyed hearing baby's heartbeat and seeing an ultrasound picture of him. I can't believe here in two months she is going to be a big sister. What a good sister she will be as she is always wanting to help around the house with things. Tonight is the big night to leave for the midwest. 12 hours on the road is a long time. However if we can sleep and Bud can drive we will all be ok. Faith is looking forward to spending time with everyone.

The 3 year checkup

Faith had her doctor's appointment yesterday because she turned three. She was so excited. She knew she wasn't getting any shots so that was a plus. She had been reading the Pooh story about Pooh having his annual checkup so she knew what to expect. After sitting up on the table like a big girl and answering the perfect stranger of a nurse's question quite clearly, she was weighed and measured. Of course she has been getting Bud's scale out recently to look at the numbers so the big one at the doctor was even better. The scale read 30.5 pounds. Still right in the 50%. Then the nurse took her height. Before Christmas she was 35 inches tall. Now she is 37.5 inches tall. A growth of 2.5 inches in the matter of a few months. Back we went to the patient room to wait for the doctor. There she sat in her underwear and socks. Usually she clams up and gets bashful around new people however she opened right up and answered the doctor's questions also. Everything from when do you go to bed to when do you get up to where do you go to school and do you drink your milk and eat your fruits and vegetables. She did a wonderful job. When it was all said and done, the doctor said, "she speaks very well for a 3 year old. Seems like a very independent person and very mature for her age." A Strawberry Shortcake sticker wrapped up our visit and we headed back to school for lunch. A fun morning.

Computer time

Every once in awhile we get onto the computer with Faith. Most of the time it is for some kind of counting or reading activity. Yesterday we went onto Starfall.com where she can add letters to the beginning of words to make the requested word. Then I realized that the Superwhy from PBSkids is fun also. I took my kids to it on Wednesday at school and it was a little hard for most of them. They just clicked until they got the right answer. Faith however did a spelling bee where she earned herself her very own crown. It had her name on it and jewels of all the words she spelled correctly. They would give her a letter sound and then she would have to pick out the letter. She spelled five out of five right and now has this wonderful crown to wear. Her next favorite activity has to be an Easter counting game in which I made up. She is given a plastic egg with a number on it. She has to fill the egg with the correct number of jelly beans. Can a three year old do that and be trusted not to eat the beans. Of course, she does great. Plus she knows that once she gets to Andma's house next weekend she will get her own jelly beans to eat.

It's Sunday. Beautiful Sunday.

What is there not to love about Sundays. It is a day filled with family and no school. A day to rest. A day to spend time enjoying each other around the house. Today our Sunday consisted of a wonderful church service where Brooklyn and I were both encouraged to serve others. She made a get well card for a friend and I sang my heart out like I always do at church. After church Brooklyn was rewarded with attending service for the last seven weeks by herself like a big girl. She was able to go to the store and pick out something that she wanted. So she picked out Princess Jasmine and Princess Sleeping Beauty. She painted today which she just loves to do and went outside after nap for some bubble blowing, mud puddle jumping and chalk drawing. We visited the new pony of Tony's and peeled hard boiled eggs for supper. When supper was over we went to return a movie, showered for school tomorrow, played hide and seek(which by the way she is getting good at) and tucked in for storytime. Tonight's stories consisted of A Surprise Garden for Pooh and friends, Eric Carle's Tiny Seed, A Pony for a Princess, Adventures of Walter the Duck, and The Story of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I love Sundays. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to have Bud home instead of on his way to San Diego.

A busy little girl

Since Faith has turned three she has been going nonstop
...School party on Thursday and then party at home
...princess party with her two friends from school
...balloon games
...riding her new bike, only to have it broken the same day by daddy riding it
...princess stories out the wazoo
...trip to the park
...new bike again
...new helmet (calls it her space helmet) and even wears it in her carseat.
...trail walks to see the Spring arrivals
...merry go round ride at the mall
...shopping for a new swimsuit, shoes, and sandals
...and yes still had to make time for our naps.
As we try to enjoy the nice weather that is arriving, I am looking forward to having more time to spend with Faith this summer and Spring evenings for outdoor activities.