Mister & Miss Guided

Halloween

2012-01-24T14:00:00.000-05:00

Since the floods happened not too long ago (back in early September,) a lot of places that we would've taken the kids to in order to trick-or-treat in Conklin had been flooded. So we decided to go around Chris's parents neighborhood and invited some of our cousins (Katie, Natalie, and Hannah)

Unfortunately, some of the houses had some scary decorations that moved and made noises. That didn't go over too well with the kids

Picture of Hannah with Uncle Chris

After this neighborhood, we stopped at Chris's church for a Trunk-or-Treat but it was pretty much exhausted in way of candy and treats so then we did go out to Conklin and hit a few houses of those that were around. Nothing like we did a couple of years ago but all together, there was enough candy to go around

Party Number 3 - Jumping Jungle

2012-01-24T13:39:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, October 28th, we had the third and final party for Makenna's birthday at Jumping Jungle in Vestal. It was mostly for little kids and that's why we had the "adult family party" the night before.

This was the best birthday idea I had and Makenna loved it. Take out the "look for others in the dark" part (even though they were wearing glow-stick bracelets,) and it was a hit.

We ended up having two cakes as my Sister-in-law Autumn was afraid her cake didn't turn out so Chris and I scrambled and picked up a cake and he decorated it with the Hello Kitty picture (pretty good for free hand I thought!)

But my Sister-In-Law's cake was fine and looked great! (it just didn't turn out how she had envisioned)

We got to the place early to set up and Makenna took advantage of the various inflated bounce houses:

Cousin Abbie really enjoyed the slide

Aunt Autumn enjoyed the massage chair a little too much!

Thanks to all that came and helped Makenna enjoy her birthday party!

Party Number Two

2012-01-23T13:55:00.001-05:00

On October 28th, we had the second party for Makenna's fifth birthday. Granted the first one, on her actual birthday was not "grand" by any means but she still received gifts, and now here was her second round of gifts. This time with grandparents and with an aunt, and uncle, and a cousin.

Hello Kitty Pajama's:

Ice Cream Cake (with cousin Stephanie):

Playing catch with Aunt Jennifer (mind you, the balls were NOT one of her gifts) - figures!

I wish I had taken more pictures of other family that were there, but I guess I didn't. She enjoyed her gifts and those that were able to come over. On to party Number 3 tomorrow!

FIVE!

2012-01-23T12:22:00.000-05:00

My little girl, has turned five! I can hardly believe it. It truly does fly by and I can't believe I'm writing this (even though it's three months after the fact). She has grown in so many ways. Just the other day I was looking at a picture that was taken shortly after she had turned four and I can't believe how much more mature she looks in one year!

We out did ourselves in the way of celebrating. Considering her birthday was on a Thursday and she still had school the next day, we didn't have the parties (yes parties,) until Friday and Saturday. But we did let her open some of her gifts on her actual birthday and had a celebratory cupcake. It was the same cupcakes I took to her class for her birthday earlier in the day.

A bit frightened by Dad lighting the candles on her cupcake

Dora Ballerina Movie (Makenna is still wearing her dance outfit from class earlier that night)

Hello Kitty hat for winter:

Just in time as it decided to snow that night!

In looking back over the 5 short years you've been on this planet, I can't believe how much you've grown in height, looks, and personality. I thank God every night for sending such a sweet spirit to me. To show me face to face all my quirks and flaws as you reflect to me what I show to you. This has only made me try and be a better person so that you will then reflect to other's what a great girl you are.

I so look forward to many more years of watching you grow, learn, and love. You make me laugh with all your "butt-shaking" and you amaze me with the things you come up with, your amazing memory, and how you understand and grasp things so quickly.

Even though I get impatient with all your questions sometimes, I love that you're trying to learn and understand everything around you. I love Sundays most of all with you as you cuddle up on my lap during church and I'm trying to hold on and remember your embrace. I know as you grow older those tender moments will be less and less as you grow and become more independent. I hope you always know, that you can run back into my arms for any reason and I'll always have two arms open to hold you.

Happy Birthday my little one!

Precurser to Halloween

2012-01-23T11:40:00.000-05:00

We did the annual Trunk-Or-Treat at our Church on Saturday the 22nd and this year, Makenna was more into it. Although she still wouldn't do the cake walk! Dang her...doesn't she know that it's not about her! It's about me getting some yummy cake. Hopefully next year she'll come to understand this and be a willing participant to indulge her mommy's need for sweets in the form of cake that someone else made (or bought).

Again, sticking with the Hello Kitty theme (her idea) here she is:

I can somewhat say this is my first "home-made" Halloween costume. Pretty lame I know, but hey, I'm not a seamstress by any means. I'm a shopper and google-idea browser. I found the headband at Hot Topics on-line and decided to try our local Hot Topics store and by sheer luck (and that there seems to be a massive Hello Kitty craze as of late,) I was able to get it. The T-shirt, purse, and stuffed animal she had already, along with the red pants. Bought the pink tutu for dance so just Incorporated it with the outfit and borrowed the pink shoes from cousin Katie, who although younger, has about the same size feet.

Then I went out and bought face-paint, which we now have an over-abundance of. I had initially thought to paint her face white but then thought better of it and just used the yellow and black face paint. I'm pretty certain I saved myself and her much aggravation by not painting her whole face.

I only hope next year's outfit is as easy...maybe even the same one?!

The Long Awaited Return

2012-01-23T11:25:00.001-05:00

Well obviously one of my New Year's Resolutions was NOT to be timely on the blog - so I guess you could say that I'm keeping up with that resolution - yeah for me! Need to put a positive spin on why I'm so far behind besides general laziness.

So for a quick return - here are a few pictures that I mentioned in the last post (which seems like eons ago):

Bowling - only picture I got as Autumn's camera was on it's last bit of battery life, and if you recall, I had totally forgotten mine.

Pumpkin Farm (back from Oct. 2011):

I like this one of them from behind. It shows a sense of peace and love before the dreaded who pushes the pumpkin cart fight ensued along with tears and unhappy children. Well, really only one child...mine.

Bits and Bobs

2011-11-04T22:51:00.002-04:00

The title of this post is taken from our days in England. It's basically "Miscellaneous" said in a more fun way.

Anyways, here's a few things that have been going on. On Sept. 6th, the day before Makenna's first day of school, I decided to take her out and we went bowling. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera! It was our first time bowling and we decided to invite our cousins Katie and Natalie.

It was quite a hand full...3 adults and 3 kids bowling. Natalie (who's 2,) kept trying to take her turn constantly. Katie and Makenna just kept standing in the way where ever they were. But we got through 2 games a piece and decided that was enough. Not to mention how much the prices went up! I remember when you would "rent" bowling shoes and get your money back. I guess they realized that no one was going to steal these corny things, so they now make you pay for the shoes and you get nothing back in return.

Makenna and I then went to the ice cream store. It was just her and I in the store, and my ice cream was a bit melted and messy - not as good. Either way, I enjoyed a day with my big girl who was starting the next chapter of her life the next day.

On Sept. 18th, it was a nice "Fall" day so Chris decided to get some painting done. Makenna loves painting so she decided she had to help and Chris and I always love watching the two of them doing things together.

Of course she tired of this quickly but it was fun while it lasted.

On Monday, Oct 10th we decided to go to the pumpkin farm with Aunt Autumn, Katie and Natalie. Since we left a little sooner than I had anticipated, I didn't have my camera - yet again! (I still have to get the pictures for bowling and this from Autumn).

Makenna enjoyed it until her and Katie started fighting over who got to push the cart with the pumpkins in it. Makenna didn't want to do the maze so she played in a play area, and did a obstacle course. I had to go in and help her the first time, because she wasn't sure what to do and got scared, but then the second time through she was a pro.
On Thursday, October 20th, Makenna found the guitar that daddy got from his dad and decided she wanted to learn how to play. Now Chris and Makenna play at the same level.

So hopefully at some point I'll bug Autumn to get the bowling and Pumpkin Pictures. AND hopefully at some point, I'll be caught up and stay caught up! Here's to wishing.

First Day of School - Take Two

2011-10-22T13:55:00.001-04:00

A full week went by before Makenna had to go to school again (Sept 14th). I was kind of surprised at this since her school wasn't flooded, but I guess kids in another area that are bussed to her school were flooded. I think it was Ninevah area, if I recall.

This time it was a full day and as you can see, we still went with the Hello Kitty theme.

The next day, after school, she had her fist day of dance class - 20 minutes of ballet, 20 minutes of jazz, then 20 minutes of tap.

First Day of School – Kindergarten (9/7/11)

2011-10-15T22:51:00.000-04:00

I knew this day was coming and I was dreading it. We got up bright and early (before 6am) toget our routine down that we scheduled out the night before.

Mommy gets up – gets Makenna up and then takesout the dogs while Makenna gets dressed.
Daddy gets himself up and ready for work.
Then Mommy gets lunch together for Makenna (andherself) and feeds all the animals (both human and beast).
Daddy comes out and enjoys time with Makenna duringbreakfast.
Mommy then gets Makenna brushed (teeth and hair)and daddy gets to take the dogs out for one last bathroom break.
Shoes on, coats on – time to catch the bus!

Of course there may be a few extra minutes here or there towatch a little bit of cartoons and there’s always time to complain as we’vefound out.

We all made the trip to the end of the driveway, waited forthe bus, had hugs and kisses, and I met the very nice bus driver – Sheldon. He told me the “rules” of crossing in frontof the bus – (go to the mailbox where he can make eye contact with myself andMakenna) and then when he gives the signal – a wave of his hand – we cross). It was now my duty to pass this on andreinforce it with Makenna.

I had a couple of questions myself. What times does he expect to be dropping heroff in the afternoons (he says around 3:45pm or so) and is he going to wake herup to get off the bus? I’m serious Itold him, I expect her to be half awake by the time the bus gets here.

Off they went and I cried. Then Chris and I got in our car and went to the school to wait, and onthe way, I cried some more. We wanted tomeet with her teacher and see where her classroom was and have a peace of mind. We went in to the school and then decided towait in our car for a while as we didn’t want to wait in the “herded” parent’sarea.

Well, then close to 8am and her bus still wasn’t there! Mind you she got on the bus around 7:05a.m. So about an hour later (exactly) –in she strolls. After being so happy tosee her alive, we walked her to the classroom. She found her cubby and her assigned seat. We introduced ourselves to her teacher, “Mrs.Friend,” – and yes that’s really her name.

We got a couple of pictures and we were on our way. Chris took me back home and he left forwork. I took the day off to recuperatefrom the emotions and I wanted to really make sure I would be there when shegot home.

Good thing I did as I was startled by a phone call around11:30 a.m. from an automated voice telling me that due to the weather (lots andlots of rain) that my child would be let out at 1pm. I initially thought to myself, “boy if kidsare coming home because of some rain – I can’t wait to see how many days I’llhave to take off due to snow!”

Since the bus driver gave me an approximate of 45 – 50 minutesto get home when they would normally leave at 3:05 p.m., I figured that sheshould be home 1:45 or so. I went out inthe cold wet rain with the dogs at 1:35 and started to wait and wait andwait. The dogs were shivering and soakedso I took them back in and proceeded to wait some more – with Makenna’s rainboots in hand.
Finally after 2pm the bus showed. I was a bit miffed but figured that due tothe weather, he may have had to go slower than he normally would. Or at least I hoped. Otherwise this girl is going to have an hourdrive each way every day! Sure enoughwhen he opened his doors, he had to wake her up.
But she was excited to see me and after a quick change intoher boots, down the driveway we went. Ifound out much later in the day the true severity of the rains – which you can seesome of it in these links:

http://youtu.be/tMGIQoYxEvI
http://youtu.be/t5P5eMfiF3o
http://youtu.be/1O3B1URx_V8

There are many more if you go to Youtube but I thought thesewould suffice to show you why Makenna’s first day of school was cut short. Not only that, but she then had a whole weekoff. I felt like this girl is going tobe so confused as to why she has to go a full day and for more than one day ina row when school starts again.

Here’s some photos of the day:

(Can you tell we're now into "Hello Kitty"?)

Heading down to catch the bus

Meeting the bus driver

Found assigned seat

Returning down the long drive back home (after half a day)

Made it through our first day looking a bit weary

NYS State Fair 2011

2011-10-11T13:29:00.001-04:00

We decided to make another trip to the State Fair thisyear (Sept. 3rd). Unfortunately, we chose the lastSaturday of the fair to go which also happened to be a very hot, humidday. As we were there, I thought tomyself, didn’t we go last year on a hot and humid day? Why do we keep torturing ourselves?

Then to look at the grin and smile of my little girl on theroller coaster (kiddie roller coaster) and other rides that I recall why we come...which I would have pictures of if the camera battery didn't die.

This year we also went with my aunt and unclefrom RI who came down.

As a special surprise,we happened to see Crystal Bowersox (crystalbowersox.com) and got close enoughto snap a couple of pictures. I wasn’twilling to stand in line to get a picture with her but this was good enough forme!

I had also seen this on the news about this sand sculptureand it was truly humbling and amazing. What was really hard was trying to explain it to Makenna. She kept asking questions and the most simpleanswer I could give her was that some bad people did a bad thing that killed a lot ofpeople. Of course she kept asking whyand I had no good answer for that.

Rare Form

2011-09-27T13:47:00.000-04:00

Can I just say what a little stinker my girl is! She was in rare form today (August 30th).

This morning, while trying to get ready, I was insisting that she brush her hair and teeth BEFORE going downstairs to get her shoes on. In my mind, it was a time saver. Why go all the way downstairs to put on shoes, to then come back up and brush hair and teeth. When I was insisting on getting my way, she got mad, stomped upstairs, and said, "I quit you! Old Mother."

I burst out laughing. Not the right reaction but I could not help it. Then as she continued to talk back, I got on her case.

Later, when we got home, I was on her case about not eating her lunch. This has been an on-going issue for the past couple of weeks. I specifically put in her lunch, what she requests (within reason). Today was a grilled cheese sandwich with "white" cheese not "orange cheese." Come to find out as I opened her lunch box, she had a bite of applesauce and her juice box - that's it.

Everyone says I shouldn't worry but I am because I feel that she's going to need the energy to get through the day at school. She typically eats a poor breakfast too, meaning that she doesn't eat much for breakfast.

Well, when I found out how little she ate, I said, "That's it! I'm going to start packing foods you don't like since you're not eating the foods you do like." "Expect broccoli in your next lunch," I told her. Of course she's saying no way to that idea. I kept reiterating that if she's not eating what she says she will, maybe she'll eat stuff she says she won't.

Later, she used that same logic on the dogs. They haven't been eating much either and she told them that if they didn't eat their food that they were going to start getting food they didn't like. I thought, "wow, that was a quick turn-around." For her to use that same logic within a half-hour on someone else. I guess I was just glad it wasn't me for a change.

After dinner, which she ate right up, she was trying to get me to give her a dessert. I had already planned on going for ice cream with her as long as she did well at gymnastics. When I told her that she was all excited and gave me a high-five and a hug.

When we did go get the ice cream, and when I handed it to her, she said, "precious" like Gollum does in Lord of the Rings. It seems like we have some serious food issues in this family.

Canada Family Reunion

2011-09-27T13:43:00.001-04:00

The weekend of August 26^th, we had yet anotherfamily reunion but this time for Chris’s mom’s side of the family up inCanada. It was really a birthday partyfor Joan’s Aunt Doris who was turning 85 but a lot of the family was coming soit was also considered a reunion. Wefirst debated whether or not to go since we knew hurricane Irene was on itsway. But what better reason to escapethe possibility of rain, storm damage, and no electricity then to leave and head upnorth for a family reunion. We also tookChris’s parents with us so that they didn’t have to be nervous about driving upor back through the impending weather.

We got up there Friday night and went to Aunt Doris’s house. She lived in anapartment complex and when Chris and Makenna went out for a walk, they found afarm right behind the complex with goats, rabbits, horses, and other animals Ican’t remember. It was fenced off butthe animals came right up to them. Ofcourse when I went out later with Makenna, the animals were being fed so had nointerest in me.

The next day we went to some beach like area for the reunion/birthdayparty. It was a really a nice summerday and we got to enjoy the water. Whatwas really neat about it was that it was really shallow water with a lot ofsand bars so you could really walk out far and it was shallow. The bad thing was you couldn’t really swim asit was so shallow. Also, the section wewere at was the pet section. A lot ofpeople brought their dogs and they seemed to have free reign about where theywent to the bathroom. I even saw one doguse the water as his spot so I wasn’t too thrilled about going in after that.

After the reunion we hadto go find this cheese place which took forever to find but when we did, it wasworth the trip! I made Chris buy somemaple cheddar and even though it was expensive, it was SO worth it! We then went to “Aunt Jan’s” house (she’s adaughter to Doris). She has horses thatshe shows and takes care of for other people. She has a really neat farm house and is also building an addition overthe garage for guests.

Since her sister who has grandkids lives next door, she alsohas this cool playhouse that Makenna enjoyed.

All day and night we debated what time we should leave onSunday; early in the morning, later in the morning, later in theafternoon? We kept tracking HurricaneIrene and Chris finally came up with a plan to drive more West and then Southto go around it. This worked. We saw sunny skies the whole way home.

We did decide to stop in Toronto at a Discovery Center butwe only stayed for an IMAX movie which was ironically called “Tornado Alley.” We felt that we should continue to push on aswe knew the storm was actually heading into Canada.

We went through the Canadian border at Niagara Falls andjust as we crossed, I got a dreaded phone call from the girl watching our dogsthat Maddie was really ill. She had beentrying to call me and it wasn’t until we crossed the border that the phonerang.

Not sure what happened but Maddie was puking and havingdiarrhea and was extremely dehydrated because of it. I told the girl to go ahead and have the vetgive her the necessary fluids and medicine.

When we got home you could see a remarkable difference inattitude from Maddie – she was practically lethargic. After a few days she perked up but whateverit was came back again. We had stoppedgiving her the medication when it seemed as though she was doing better andfound out, just like humans, you should finish the medication. She seems to be back on track but not quite100%.

Who wanted these stinking dogs anyways – oh yeah me – DUMB!

At least we got away and didn’t see any rain and only had asmall tree that had fallen from the hurricane right next to our propane tankand still had electricity when we came home. Even though the vet bill was an unexpected $250 we still enjoyed thelast weekend of Summer.

Niagara Falls Reunion

2011-09-27T12:01:00.004-04:00

I am SO far behind on my blogging (obviously)! I will hopefully remember a lot of what wedid the last month of Summer!

On the weekend of August 19^th we went up to Niagara Falls. The annual “Jones”family reunion was this weekend and we decided instead of just going up onenight or just for the day that we would make a weekend trip of it.

We got up there on Friday and went to Chris’s Aunt Doloris andUncle Bob’s house. They live in an apartmentcomplex that has a pretty even driveway so Makenna was able to ride her bikeagain. This just shows us we really needto pave our driveway. This poor girlonly has been able to ride this bike a few times and she really enjoys theopportunities to do it.

On Saturday before the family reunion wedecided to go to Fort Niagara. I don’t think Makenna wastoo thrilled so she seemed to immediately attach to another family – who wedid not know. She ended up taking off with them right away (and I meanwithin 10 minutes of us being there) and she disappeared. I was used to this happening but Chris wasnot and boy was Makenna in HUGE trouble when daddy got a hold of her.

She had managed to follow this couple, who had a little boy,up the stairs of one of the structures in the fort. I knew she couldn’t have gotten too far so Ilooked around and then went up the stairs and sure enough there she was. What I couldn’t understand was why thiscouple assumed we were the type of parents who would just let their child go wherever.

We continued to walk around to the different buildings andthen at one point they were having a cannon demonstration. Makenna freaked! She was so afraid of how loud it was going tobe that she couldn’t relax. They allowedus to come up around the cannon to see the demonstration but when they weregoing to actually light it, we had to stand way back. Well, Makenna wouldn’t even get near thedemonstration. She literally wrenchedher hand out of mine and ran away to a “safe place.” I kind of chuckled but then went over to herand held my hands over her ears. Ithappened really quick and then tears started coming. I think we both thought we’d have a moment toprepare after the fuse was lit but it was like – lit – BANG! No long fuse there. Once we got her calmed down, we finishedwalking around and then went to the family reunion.

Makennaobviously enjoyed this as she got to swim and swim and swim. She barely came out to eat and then went backin as soon as I would let her. She alsogot to meet some cousins who were relatively around the same age

The next day we decided to stop at the Niagara Aquarium –which was really not that exciting. Theydid have some seals that were blind – as you can tell by looking at theeyes. There were penguins, fish, sharks,turtles, and frogs. But it wasn’t reallythat big and we were done within an hour.

So we decided to go across this bridge over to the “DiscoveryCenter” – this was even smaller than the aquarium and nothing really too excitingfor Makenna to do. It dealt more withthe history and formation of the falls. So we left there and headed home.

Biker Chick

2011-08-09T10:15:00.008-04:00

Nothing too exciting has been going on since our trip, thus the lack of postings. But here's an update.

Back around July 15th, I had the incredible foresight to get the dogs "shaved" for the Summer. What actually happened was they needed to be trimmed, and after Chris's attempt with his shaver, we realized it would be an all day ordeal for us to do it. Plus, we didn't even think we could get Maddie to sit still long enough to do it. So I called Pet Smart and made an appointment. When they asked me about the length of hair I wanted, I said, just shave it. They asked, do you want some Schnauzer features to remain around the face? I said, "Nope, just shave it!" They said even around the feet and tail? I said, "Yes, all of it, shaved!".

I came back a few hours later and didn't even think they were my dogs! They were about an inch thinner and so scrawny looking. I wish I had the foresight to take a before picture, but you're left with the "after" shots. (Gunner is the one with some brown on his face).
Then, a couple of weeks ago, I went out and bought a bicycle for Makenna. She was getting way too big for the tricycle so we moved her "up" to a four-wheeler (as my dad put it). It has a princess theme on it and a place for her to add a passenger (in this case it was bunny) and a back-pack on the front for her to store all her important crap (I mean stuff).

You can see that after Daddy finally had a chance to put it together how happy she was. The downside, sort of, was that it was raining out so she had to practice riding around in the garage. But it's not like she could really practice in our driveway since it's all loose stone anyways, so it worked out for the best. Plus, it was a way to keep her contained and for her to practice turning.
She's trying to get the hang of the whole pedal thing. On her tricycle she could pedal backwards. On this, if she pedals backwards, she stops abruptly.
You can see the frustrated look of "not getting it."
But when she did get it....she was elated! She came in later to tell me that she can ride her bike now and that she was all grown up. Yikes!
We also had a conversation a couple of Sundays ago (July 31st) on the way home from church about 9-1-1. I was explaining to her what it's for and when she should use it. It boiled down to she should only call it if (a) Mom or Dad asks her to; (b) if she can't wake Mom or Dad up for whatever reason.

I have these visions of her calling it because she fell and has a scrape and I won't give her a "plaster" (band-aid) and to tell them that she needs an am-bee-lee-ance to take her to the hospital to get better. Me then explaining to the EMT's that her version of hurt and need of medical attention is a bit different than mine. But to stick around as she may now need some medical attention for calling.

Home Again

2011-07-21T13:13:00.000-04:00

Got up and finished our trip home in time for the Fourth of July festivities up at the cottage...and some swimming.
We got to see some more family and enjoy the multitude of fireworks that people who are rich buy and shoot off for those up at the lake to enjoy.

Then we went home and enjoyed being back in our own beds, especially me, as there were a couple of nights where I shared a bed with Makenna. The rest of the week was daily trips up to the cottage to visit with family and enjoy the nice cool lake.

Trip Home - Day 5

2011-07-21T13:07:00.001-04:00

We woke up early and headed home via Ohio where we stopped at the COSI musuem (Center of Science and Industry).There were lots of things to do and play with - as you can see by this huge lite-brite type board.

They even had a water play area, where they were smart enough to have rain gear for kids

They also had a section on the body and this little piano played bodily noises - tons of fun as you can imagine.They also had this section where you could take some tests like strength and flexibility. Chris and I first tried the strength test and he was quite miffed that I beat him. So we tried again, and he came up with a higher number but I wasn't too far behind him. Then we moved on to the flexibility test and I blew him out of the water - you can see by the picture below - this man has no flexibility whatsoever! (I don't think I laughed so hard in a long time).

We also saw a 3D Imax movie about dinosaurs. We were warned that it got a bit graphic in a couple of places, but Makenna still enjoyed it, and we covered her ears during the loud parts.

Then we continued our journey home.....

Trip to TN - Day 4

2011-07-19T13:40:00.000-04:00

July 2nd
Today we split up into two groups. Some went to downtown Nashville seeking some famous record store while Chris, Makenna, myself, and my Aunt Laura went to The Hermitage http://www.thehermitage.com/jackson-family/ - home and plantation of President Andrew Jackson. Again, no pictures could be taken inside, but the history was neat to hear. We actually also got headphones and a recorder that we pressed numbers into to hear history as we walked the grounds. It reminded me of all the trips in England and Europe that we did as we would get these same devices.

This was the slave cabin to Andrew Jackson's head slave "Alfred"

Aunt Laura put it in our heads that this would be a great tree to climb and Makenna was all for it!

She kept wanting to go higher. When it was time to get down, then she realized going so high wasn't the best idea.When we left there we met up with the family at Centennial Park where the "Parthenon" is located.
A blurb about it from the website: "Originally built in 1897, the Parthenon stands proudly as the centerpiece of Centennial Park, Nashville's premier urban park. The re-creation of the 42-foot statue Athena is the focus of the Parthenon just as it was in ancient Greece. It was built for Tennessee's Centennial Exposition to celebrate 100 years of Tennessee's statehood.

The building and the Athena statue are both full-scale replicas of the Athenian originals. The Parthenon also serves as the city of Nashville's art museum. The focus of the Parthenon's permanent collection is a group of 63 paintings by 19th and 20th century American artists."

Here's the huge statue of Athena: (and I have no idea who that family is but they wouldn't leave. Every time I tried to take a picture, they went right back to that spot to get another one, so I gave up and took one of them too).
After this it was off to find another place to eat. We found "Montana's Bar and Grill" (I think that's what it was called,) after quite a hike on another hot sticky day. I actually had a Bison burger and it was good. It did taste like a hamburger, but I think my taste buds had my mind thinking it was "just okay" since I knew it was Bison.

As we were walking to this place to eat I heard as clear as day, the sounds of a U2 song playing. I was like "Wow, I wonder who's playing that U2 song so well?" Come to find out, it was U2! They were doing a sound check for a show that night at Vanderbilt Stadium for their 360 Tour. I was shocked and saddened. Of course, all the young kids professed not to know who U2 was, which was just blasphemy to me. The waiter at the restaurant said that it's been sold out for 9 months. If I had my way and it wasn't so dang hot, I would've just stayed at the park until after the concert and listened to them. But Chris and I had already agreed to be "kid-sitters" for the night as the rest of the family went to the Grand Ole Opry for a show.

So after trudging our way back up to the car, we went back to the hotel, got stuck in traffic on the way, and it was more pool time. Then the "adults" went off to the Grand Ole Opry and the kids, Chris, and I ordered Chinese. We had put Makenna down for a nap as she desperately needed it but then she didn't want to wake up for dinner.

We got her up for about 10 minutes where she ate a couple spoon fulls of rice and then went back to bed. Which was good because we had to get an early start to head back.

Trip to TN - Day 3

2011-07-19T13:15:00.000-04:00

(Friday July 1st)

We all decided to go to Cheekwood which is a Botanical Garden (http://www.cheekwood.org/About/History_of_Cheekwood.aspx.). The history is interesting as it has ties to Maxwell Coffee. It honestly wouldn't have been on my list of things to do but it was nice and I enjoyed this large train exhibit they had set up. I obviously like the little houses that were a part of the display. The houses are representations of famous houses in TN, mostly Nashville I believe.

You can see some of the structure of the train exhibit: (It was rather large and well done)

Then it was off to look at the gardens

Makenna did not want to miss any time with her new best friends...cousins Caitlyn and Anna

Then we went to the BelleMeade Plantation House (no pictures allowed inside). http://www.bellemeadeplantation.com/index.php/Our-History/Our-History/ It's well known for the Thoroughbred horses that trace their bloodlines back to BelleMeade (such as Seabiscuit, Secretariet, Smarty Jones, and Giacomo, to name a few).
It still had a few slave cabins on the property that we could go look at:

After that it was trying to find a place to eat for late lunch. We drove somewhere that was famous and quite packed. Don't know what it was called as we didn't stay but it had pictures of a lot of famous country singers. We just ended up at some Mexican restaurant. Then we went back to the hotel for swimming and relaxing from the oppressive heat.

We sat around the pool, ordered pizza's for dinner and talked. It was nice to hear the brother's and sister's talk about old times.

Trip to TN - Day 2

2011-07-19T12:52:00.000-04:00

We got up and headed further South to Sweetwater, TN and ended up at the next cavern called "Lost Sea Adventure" You can read more about it here http://www.thelostsea.com/history.html.

It boasts to be America's largest underground lake. To get to it, we had to go down this tunnel.

We also saw more stalactites and stalagmites, not as neat as yesterday's trip at Luray but this cavern had writings in it that were carbon tested to be back in the 1800's and it's believed some of these names and dates written were from confederate soldiers.

I think they called this the "devils" hole - the guide told the story that if you look down in to the hole and see the devil, it means that you're going to hell, if you don't see anything you're "safe." He then went on to say that a little girl looked down whole and said she saw the devil. It turned out to be one of the workers changing the light bulb.

We did go on the lake and someone a long time ago had brought in fish. Since they would naturally have been in here, every time they go out on these boat rides, they feed the fish. So they're quite large and it was neat to watch them literally jumping out of the water for the food. Also, since it's typically pitch black in the cavern, these fish are actually blind now.

We then left that cavern and got to the hotel and had a little fish of our own swimming around. She is now swimming without the aid of any flotation device. She loves to jump in and then swim to the nearest person and hang on, or to the side of the pool to get out and jump in again. Here she is with cousin Anna (in the middle) and cousin Caitlyn in the back.

Once everyone made it to the hotel, then we went out for food. We decided to drive to downtown Nashville and walk around until we found a place we could all agree on (that took some doing as you can imagine).

The kids got to sit at their own table and Makenna loved every minute of not being hovered over by mom or dad. (Anna in yellow shirt, Ryan in black shirt, Michael in purple shirt, Caitlyn in bright pink shirt)

The family: (Chris, Lynn, Michael - all siblings) The other two siblings (Laura and Bruce) were also in attendance and we missed Phyllis and her kids who couldn't make it.

Trip to TN - Day 1

2011-07-14T12:16:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday, June 29th, we started our trip down to Nashville. Chris planned out our route and did all the driving (yeah!). Our first stop was in Virginia at Luray Caverns.

I got this blurb from their website:

" Since discovery in 1878 by a tinsmith and a local photographer, visitors by the millions have made Luray Caverns the most popular cave in Eastern America and an internationally acclaimed destination. 4,000,000 centuries in the making beneath Virginia’s storied Shenandoah Valley, this “must see” U.S. Natural Landmark awaits your discovery."

"...cathedral-sized rooms with ceilings 10 stories high. Enormous chambers are filled with towering columns, shimmering draperies and crystal-clear pools. Also in this subterranean wonderland, “Hear Rocks Sing” as you experience the haunting sounds of the world’s largest musical instrument, The Great Stalacpipe Organ. Completely unique are the beautiful tones created by this one-of-a-kind instrument, which makes music of concert quality from the surrounding stalactite formations covering more than three acres."

I do have to say the "organ" was pretty cool. They hooked it up to different stalactite's throughout this one area in the cavern and it would play by hitting the stalactites, of which were all different sounding.

This picture does not do the "coolness" of this justice. It's stalactite's that are being reflected by water on the bottom half of the picture. It looked like a little underwater city.

This is the "famous" fried egg formation - and you do have to admit - it does look like one

Took a quick break after the caverns and you can see Makenna with her prized pink bracelet that daddy got for her at the gift shop.

Then it was off to the maze. I think we did better at this maze than we did at the one at Iron Kettle back in October of last year. We didn't find all the "spots" we were supposed to in order to get money off something in the gift shop but we found two out of four - which was pretty good - for us. Plus we had to get going to our next stop.

The next part of the trip was taking a scenic ride through Shenandoah National Park. The mountains were great to look at and there were many places along the way you could stop and pull over and look out. We probably stopped about six or seven times and realized we could be there all night if we kept doing that so we finally opted to just finish driving through.

Makenna was calling family and friends on her phone to tell them of our trip

Even though these mountains were definitely beautiful to look at, I couldn't help but compare it to the French and Swiss Alps that we saw back in 2009 and these just didn't measure up.

Makenna is now taking a picture on her toy phone

We ended up eating dinner at a diner at the park, and then continuing our trip. When we realized, that we could be here a long time, as the speed limit was only 35, we took the first opportunity to get off and continued on our trip.

Camping Pictures

2011-06-27T13:09:00.012-04:00

Tarp being layed down:Tent being layed out The cooks discussing what tonight's meal will be Also, known as the overseer's of the tent being put up properly

Finally...tent is done...Now it's ready for inspection:

Approved! time to move in our sleeping stuff

Wood for the cooks...notice the little hatchet vs. the big axe

The sprite of the camp

She's inspecting the housing of the puppies

Sorry....batteries died~

Camping 101

2011-06-27T11:58:00.017-04:00

We did it! Makenna has been asking since May (maybe even April) to go camping in June. We, on the very last weekend of June, finally obliged her request. Even though it was for one night, it’s amazing how much crap you have to pack to go. Next time, and yes, we hope to have a next time, maybe even this summer, it definitely should be for two days with the amount of time and effort it takes to pack the car and unpack the car.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get many pictures as I’ve used the camera so much with the graduations that I forgot to charge the battery and within the first 10 minutes of being there, my batteries died.

We went up to Robert Treeman Park in Ithaca and camped with my brother Jared and his family. Luckily Jared is an avid camper, being that he’s the Boy Scout leader at church, and was able to help us put up our tent quickly. He also came prepared with things that we didn’t have and/or forgot.

After setting up the tent, Jared got busy on a fire to cook dinner. We of course copped out and went the easy root with hot dogs. I guess the real easy root would’ve been to stop at McDonald’s and brought food with us…so we weren’t that bad. Then after that came the time we’ve been waiting for since back at my last post about it….SMORES~

Both Makenna and Eli were more interested in just eating the Marshmallow’s and then Makenna just wanted the chocolate. I finally put my foot down and said – Smores or nothing! They were using up our supplies. Not really, I of course gave in and let them eat the marshmallows – but I did put my foot down on the chocolate.

By this time it was “late” – like 9pm or so and Makenna just wanted to go to bed. This surprised my brother who wished he had a child who would tell him that they just want to go to bed. So we tucked her into her sleeping bag on top of a comfy air mattress and off to sleep she went.

The rest of us started playing cards until it started to rain. Then we quickly packed our stuff up and took cover in our tents. We had borrowed a tent from Chris’s parents – that they had never used – but sealed. Luckily I took the side I did as Chris got up in the middle of the night due to rain dripping on his head. Guess the tent wasn’t sealed well enough.

Next morning, 6:30am to be exact, Makenna woke up and I got up with her. We hung around a bit and I had to repeatedly tell her I didn’t know about swimming or not for the day. It was kind of rainy on and off.

After breakfast and clean-up, we decided to go on a 3 mile hike. Why on earth we thought we could do that with 4 adults, three kids under the age of 5 and two dogs is beyond me. But we got through it. Luckily we took the path that was mostly down-hill. Being that we had two cars we left one car at the top and one at the bottom so we only had to hike one way. I can’t imagine having to hike back up another 3 miles! I’d say by mile two, Eli (who’s 3) and Makenna (who’s 4) had enough of hiking. So a lot of carrying ensued. The baby, Abbie (who’s 1) already had a comfy spot in a baby carrier strapped to my brother so she didn’t complain.

Also surprising was the dogs who have never been walked this much in their life. It was actually good for them as they started to learn to walk with us without pulling on the leash. Plus it gave them opportunities to inter-act with other dogs and people. They are definitely more “bark than bite” dogs. They sound fierce as they bark (okay, as the yip,) but then when people try to come up to pet them, they cower.

After the hike it started pouring. I figured swimming was out of the question, but the skies cleared up and the nagging ensued by my child. We got some lunch and then I convinced Chris to take her swimming while I read a book back at the campsite and took a nap. Best decision I made. They came back from swimming – what they could do of it – as it was in the bottom pool of a waterfall and it was freezing cold they said. So they didn’t really swim too much.

After that, we packed it in and went home – to unpack it all. I still say it was a great trip, loved the hike even though my one knee is a bit sore and I had to walk very tentatively as I forgot my ankle brace. Makenna did really well with it all – besides the constant nagging for this or that and the dogs learned some lessons too.

Hopefully there will be a “camping 201” post before the end of the Summer.

Helping daddy pound in the stake

UPK Graduation

2011-06-27T11:58:00.015-04:00

Daddy doesn't seem to be able to take a picture (or notice that he's taken a picture) without squinty eyes.

On June 24^th, Makenna had her second graduation from UPK. It wasn’t something we had initially planned, having her in two pre-school type classes, but I’m glad we did. She really enjoyed Miss Susan and Miss Stacey’s class and would ask every day if she had class with these two teachers.

Graduation was more low-key than the ECC graduation but it was still very nice. I had to try holding back the tears as soon as I dropped her off to her classroom for the last time. I went upstairs to the auditorium and waited for the ceremonies to begin and fought tooth and nails to not cry.

As part of the “gifts” for the kids/parents I received a report card of sorts telling me how Makenna did in the Fall of 2010 compared to the Spring of 2011 in certain areas. Most of them had improvement, but some areas, we need to obviously work on.

On the wall also hung a picture of “What I want to be when I grow up.” Makenna drew a picture of herself as a princess. While I admire this wish, I can only hope it pays well. I realize it’s the dream of many little girls, and I hope it can come true for her. That would mean that the new Royals (William and Kate) better get busy in the baby-making department and it better be a male heir to the throne and he better be willing to marry an older woman.

Makenna with friend Sarah

ECC Graduation

2011-06-27T11:25:00.009-04:00

Our Graduating Girl! Our first of two graduations occurred on June 16th. I was preparing myself to be full of tears and tissues. As it was, I forgot the tissues, and due to exhaustion, or knowing I still had a second graduation, had no tears.

I helped on the committee to prepare for this graduation and it came out fairly well. I was in charge of gifts for the kids and with help from Makenna got the gift boxes (pencil boxes with school supplies) ready in time.

Makenna did well with her songs and walking up to get her diploma. Unfortunately, she didn’t stand still long enough for me to get a picture of her after receiving her diploma but I’m still so very proud of her confidence and all the knowledge she received from going to the ECC (early Childhood Center). I’m very glad that she had great teachers, Miss Dusty, Miss Jean, and then Miss Chrissy (when Miss Jean left). I think there may have been another teacher in there somewhere too.

Miss Dusty

Miss Jean

Miss Chrissy

With friend Mallory With friend AndyDiploma!
Her teacher gave me a book that had projects that she had saved throughout the year that Makenna had done and it was neat to look back and see some of the work she had done. It also included pictures of Makenna throughout the year. Little do they know, I also have saved various projects and have a notebook full of laminated pictures to go along with this one.

I’m amazed at all that she learned and Makenna is so ready for kindergarten, as she keeps telling me she can’t wait to go. I on the other hand, will most likely have many tears for that day!

Grandma & Grandpa Jones

Mom & Dad

Too much partying - ready for bed!

Lovely

2011-06-22T11:35:00.000-04:00

‘Isn’t she lovely, isn’t she wonderful….” (Stevie Wonder)

This is what goes through my head initially when I hear the word lovely. But at some point, the word which would indicate an admiration of something beautiful to look at turns to a word of frustration and disgust – as it has done in our household.

The funny thing is that I didn’t realize it until Makenna started saying it this past week when she dropped food on to herself. I kind of stopped, said, “Did you just say lovely?” She replied she did and then asked why I asked. I just said, “I thought it was funny how you said it, that’s all.”

Then the next day, a marker and/or a crayon hit the floor from a major coloring project of hers, and again, a sigh of frustration and the word, “lovely,” as she bent down to pick it up. This has happened a few more times at least and although I laugh at her using the word in such a manner, I have no one to blame but myself…again.

It got me thinking about what other words have their meaning skewed into some sort of derogatory diatribe to where when you use it, you no longer have the beauty of the word but the ugly end of it. Another one I know I’m guilty of is using “Joy” as a way of being sarcastic when someone or something does not sit with me well.

I wonder if someone commented to Makenna that she looked lovely, if she would be offended. Oh Joy, I have yet again tainted my daughter with my wayward words.

Smores

2011-06-15T11:24:00.007-04:00

We had grand plans to have a campout as a test run this past Friday night. But being that Chris was so tired (don't understand why - as he just came back from a red-eye flight from England,) we scrapped the camping and just went straight to the Smore's - and boy did we enjoy them!

By the way, the shirt Makenna is wearing, is one that she made at Pre-school.

Tears

2011-06-15T11:19:00.006-04:00

This past weekend was the health fair at Chris’s church. We have the obligatory shot of Makenna on the horse (pony). I only had a couple of good shots to choose from as I was watching a dance crew and Chris took her out for the ride.

I tried to also get her to go into the fire truck but this was as close as she wanted to get.

The next day, on Sunday, was a picnic at Cole Park with his church and I wish we had gotten a picture of her after she had slipped and fell in the mud as she was covered. I guess with all her tears, we didn’t think of taking a picture. My mind was racing about how I was going to clean her shirt.

Other than that, a rather tame weekend as Chris just returned from England and had to catch up on some sleep. This week proves to be a lot more hectic (and filled with tears from mommy) as Makenna graduates from her morning pre-school on Thursday night. I’ve been on the graduation committee so I’ve got to help decorate, and I got gift boxes together for the kids.

Makenna brought home from her morning preschool some reminders of what it was like the first day of school back in September. There was a hand-print, a small rope, a picture, and a paper stating what she liked. We could compare the hand-print to her hand now and see how she’s grown. Then take the rope and hold it up and see how much she’s really grown. To look at the picture you can see her baby face and just how she’s grown in features and maturity. The paper was just funny because she said her favorite book was “Bambi” and I swear we don’t have a Bambi book that I know of.

When we showed daddy this morning, Makenna then turned to me and said, “Mommy, it makes you sad.” I said that yes it does make me sad to see how fast she’s growing up but that’s okay because I know she has to grow.

Just yesterday I was looking back at our blog from England (ChrisandTerijo.blogspot.com) and looking at some of the pictures and videos. I have to say the videos really brought tears (of laughter) to my eyes to watch her and especially listen to her little English accent back then. I’m so glad we kept that blog and wish our lives were that interesting and adventure filled now.

I guess for now I’ll have her milestones of growing and learning. Plus, I’m now back on a volleyball league for the Summer (Yeah!) and we have a double header tonight. Chris is just praying that I don’t get hurt in my “advanced” age. Then he’ll be the one crying!

NYSEG - Say You're Sorry

2011-06-09T13:56:00.001-04:00

I’ve been putting off this post as I didn’t really want to re-live the misery of the past holiday weekend.

It started on Thursday night (May 26th,) with warnings of a tornado and a really bad rainstorm. Around 9pm or so, we lost power and it didn’t look like it was coming back for some time. Being that the winds were picking up and we no longer had direct news (TV) regarding actual tornados, we decided to get Makenna out of bed and bring her down to the cellar.

We went down for about a half hour when it seemed as though the storm passed. We put Makenna back to bed and went to bed ourselves hoping for power by morning. No such luck. In fact, it wasn’t until four days later, Monday Night around 9pm, that we again received power.

This made for a difficult, holiday weekend. Chris had to keep running out to take care of the generator and switch its power between keeping the refrigerator cold and giving us hot water. I kept trying to remind myself that we’re definitely more fortunate than those who’ve recently been hit by tornados.

But as time wears on with no electric, so do your nerves and patience. Even Makenna was getting upset that she couldn’t watch her shows, or play her Wii, or watch a DVD on the big TV. Although it gave us more time to play other games that she enjoys.

The frustration really set in on Sunday when there was a glimmer of hope that we would have electric. When we left for church, we saw some NYSEG crews (or those contracted by NYSEG,) looking for the problem. When we came home from church they were installing a new pole, about half a mile from our house.

By Sunday night, with nothing to do, we went out for ice cream. On our way home we were pointing to the houses that now had electricity. Then we got about 4 houses away from ours and noticed they were dark and we knew the crews had left for the night.

At one point on Saturday we thought about going up to the cottage but then realized that it may not have power either. We tried calling some random cottages but it seemed as though a cell tower was down. Then I tried having someone without a cell call but they didn’t even get through at all – just a dead line. So we figured that there was no power.

Makenna and I, along with my brother Josh and his girls, went up to the cottage on Sunday and found there was actually power. But, to add to the frustrating weekend, the pump to the well seized and we were not getting any water. I guess I knew what Monday would be like – trying to fix this new problem.

Monday morning I broke down and went to the fire house and got dry ice and water. Chris had started the chest freezer on Sunday and we transferred the frozen food down to it along with the dry ice and some bagged ice. Then off to the cottage we went.

Somehow, out of sheer luck, or determination, Chris was able to get the pump working. At least we had one thing go right. As the day went on, and the mosquitos had quite a meal on us all, I started to feel hot and achy.

Everyone left and just as I feared, our car got stuck in the mud at the bottom of the hill. I was so upset for not learning from past experience and that everyone had already left. I was in the car telling Makenna that we had to pray for God’s help to get us out. She asked why and I tried to explain to her that it was important to ask God to help us in all things.
She then told me that I needed to tell God I was sorry. I was astonished. I said, “Why do I have to tell God I’m sorry?” She just repeated that I had to tell Him I was sorry. This really got me thinking. We definitely should’ve learned from the last time and she was right, I had to say I was sorry.

We got out from our predicament with some help of a neighbor up at the cottage and got home just after nine. That’s when we saw NYSEG finishing up and that we had finally gotten power back. Even though I just wanted to crawl into bed, there was too much to do.

I wish I could say the week got better but on Tuesday I swallowed a contact and had to cover my eye for the rest of the day until I got home to replace it. Then on Wednesday Makenna came home with a high fever that continued into Thursday. I was going to take her back to school on Friday but noticed that her throat was really swollen and took her to the doctors. She ended up being fine but stayed home anyways. We think it was because she went swimming in the lake on Monday and probably caught some kind of bacteria from it.

I felt like I needed a vacation away from this past week. I guess a lot of the frustration with NYSEG came with the knowledge from a former employee that they just hire contractors who don’t know the area well.

Plus, it didn’t help that we kept calling and hearing that at the beginning of the ordeal there were 65 people in our area without power. By Sunday night they were down to 15, of which we were one of them.

Maybe NYSEG needs to say sorry to God too.

As for us, we've already changed providers.

School Registration - Part Two

2011-06-01T14:03:00.000-04:00

Last Wednesday, May 25th, I took Makenna for Kindergarten registration at the school whose district we are in.

I guess it went well, but I do have some concerns. The first “station” that we had to stop at, I filled out paperwork and Makenna had to tell the lady what letters she was being shown (both uppercase and lowercase letters). Makenna got them all right and the lady said, “Wow, you’re the first person in 3 days to get them all correct.” Even though I felt proud I was a bit concerned. Makenna took some more reading comprehension type tests, and even though she didn’t do great on those, the lady giving it felt Makenna was more than ready to start Kindergarten.

My concern really grew when the lady then asked Makenna if she went to pre-school. Makenna replied yes. Then the lady said, “Do you go to the pre-school here?” Makenna, said yes, and the lady immediately acted surprised, and said, “You do?” I explained that Makenna does go to pre-school just not at Harpursville. The lady then seemed to react as if then it all made sense to her. Why she seemed surprised the Makenna knew all her letters if she was going to their pre-school, why she knew all her letters, etc. It was as if the lady was shocked that someone that she thought was going to their pre-school might actually know all their letters, both upper and lowercase. I felt this didn’t bode too well for the school.

This continued further when at another station I got the same reaction when the person giving Makenna a test thought she was going to preschool there but then when I explained where she went, they then reacted as though it all made sense that she was more than qualified and prepared to attend kindergarten.

The last station was more for me as I got to talk to a guidance counselor about any questions I might have. My first had to do with the bus situation. I said how I’m uncomfortable that she has to get on it so early (around 6:50 am) and ride on it with bigger kids for 40 plus minutes. The counselor said she understood my fears and that the little kids sit more towards the front and the older towards the back. She also explained that there are camera’s on the bus “when they’re working.” - Again, not a great feeling.

I then asked about the future and what types of advanced courses would be offered if we stayed in the district long enough to have Makenna in high school and she said that it was based on financial aid which I didn’t realize.

The counselor went on to explain how they do conflict resolution in each grade level, which I like, but then when I talked to another parent about it, who works in a school (not this one), he seemed surprised that they start it in kindergarten. He conveyed to me that they typically start that type of teaching more towards middle school setting.

The counselor kept continuing on about a group called the “banana splits” – which is a group that’s held for children of parents who are divorced or separated. Why she felt the need to tell me this I was unsure, and as she continued on to proudly tell me how they have about 30-40 kids in the group currently, all I could think of is “what am I sending my daughter to?” I’m sure this is a very helpful outlet for kids who need this, but again, why was she telling me this?

We then took the 40-50 minute trip back to Makenna’s pre-school where I talked to her current teachers about my experience. One of them told me that the school is good but has a different feel to it as it’s made up of a lot of foster kids. That explains the banana-splits I thought.
Makenna was excited by the prospect of going there because there are two playgrounds that she can choose to play on and she expressed repeatedly that she wanted to go on the wooden one. I am still unsure about what is the best for her but it seems that her dad has for the most part made up his mind to have her start here and if we see that we’re having problems/issues with the decision, then we can change.

Looking to the future, I see a lot of cranky mornings as her dad thinks that she can still do her 7-8pm bedtime routine without any repercussions. Also, if she stays in this district I see a lot of “out of the way” driving to her extra-curricular activities. At least with the other school it was on the way home to some extent. This is completely 20 minutes in another direction that I would never go…except for this reason.

Ugghh – I’m not looking forward to the first day of school for so many reasons.

Mother's Day Cookbook 2011

2011-05-14T21:07:00.000-04:00

Here are the recipes from the cookbook created by Makenna’s classmates for their moms:

Potatoes - (Ingredients: Potatoes, Rice, Spoon)

Instructions - Mash potatoes in the sun and let them dry. Make them hot by putting them in the microwave for 30 seconds. Eat them with rice and a spoon.

My Comments: In my opinion, putting them in the sun to dry would mean that you only have potatoes in Binghamton about three times a year. Also, does that mean I have to stop using my fingers to eat mashed potatoes or is it optional?
~~~~~~~~~~~
Spaghetti and Meatballs - (Ingredients: Sugar, Sauce, Salt, Vinegar, Long Noodles, Water)

Instructions: Mix sugar, sauce, salt, and vinegar all together. Put meatballs in a pot on the stove for 15 hours and 10 minutes. Put long noodles in a pot with water for 2 hours and 1 minute. You can buy everything at Wegman’s.

My Comments: Even though I'm a bit skeptical about the vinegar, I really am impressed with the exactness of time to cook the sauce and spaghetti.
~~~~~~~~~~
Chicken - (Ingredients: Chicken, Secret Spice)

Instructions: Cut the chicken into 2 pieces. Put it in the refrigerator for 2 minutes. Cook it in the oven for 8 minutes at 1 million degrees. Don't know the spice, but it is spicy on my tongue except for dad. Serves Grandpa, Dad, Brother, Me.

My Comments: Wondering what the 2 minutes in the 'fridge does to help but willing to try, it's only 2 minutes. Wondering where I can get a stove that goes as high as a million degrees as I could cook things so much quicker. Also, knowing that the parents for this child are Asian, I can only think of "Ancient Chinese Secret" when it comes to doing laundry (for those of you old enough to remember that commercial,) and wondering if
It’s the same stuff they use for their chicken, as it's only two pieces of chicken feeding at least 4.
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Ketchup and Noodles - (Ingredients: 12 boxes of Elbow Noodles, Butter, Ketchup, Cheese)

Instructions: Buy 12 boxes of Elbow noodles from Wegman’s. Put them in a pot and mix with hot water and butter for 10 minutes at 150 degrees. Pour them into a bowl with holes in it. Add Cheese.

My Comments: I'm impressed that it only takes 10 minutes at 150 degrees to cook 12 boxes whereas the other kid needed an oven with a million degrees. Also, I'm guessing that the ketchup is a personal preference as it's not in the instructions and frankly, I'm glad as I don't know if I'd make this recipe if I had to actually use the ketchup on the noodles.
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Beef Soup - (Ingredients: Chicken, Water, Carrots, Beef Soup)

Instructions: Put the beef soup in the pot. Take the chicken from the fridge and put in microwave for 4 minutes. Put in pot and add water. Cook for the length of a movie. Add round carrots.

My Comments: Interested in why it's called Beef Soup when chicken is added? Like how this child's cooking time is based on the length of a movie, but also feel that depending on the movie, say for instance, "Gone With The Wind, it may be overdone.
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Grilled Cheese - (Ingredients: Cheddar Cheese, Brown Bread)

Instructions: Put cheddar cheese inside bread, put on stove for one second, keep crust on, no cutting.

My Comments: Like how this child knows what kind of cheese and what kind of bread, but I find it a bit of a waste of time to put it on the stove for one second, but that's me. Also, I'm glad I was told about the crust and cutting as I always wonder about that. Now I know.
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Bacon - (Ingredients: Bacon)

Instructions: Buy bacon from Wal-Mart. Put 5 pieces on a paper towel. Put in the microwave for 3 hours.

My Comments: Now this is why I don't buy bacon. One, I typically don't buy my food at Wal-Mart (but part of that is just because it's too far away,) and also, who's got the time to wait 3 hours for bacon?
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Macaroni & Cheese with Balls - (Ingredients: Macaroni, Orange Cheese, Little Balls, Water)

Instructions: Mom goes to Wegman’s while I go to kidsplace and play. She buys macaroni and cheese with the little balls. Bring it home, pour water in it and put in microwave for 15 seconds. Add orange cheese then blow on it because it is hot!

My Comments: Well, besides the fact that I know she meant "little bowl" not "little balls" - I guess I need to explain that putting it in the microwave for 15 seconds will give her hard wet noodles. But for the rest of the instructions...she's right on the money...even down to the cheese. What the heck do you call that cheese besides "orange?"
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Pizza - (Ingredients: Onion, Tomatoes, Beef, Pepperoni)

Instructions: Buy round pizza at a bakery store and bring it home. Put in downstairs freezer. Take out and put in microwave for 10 hours on high power. Ingredients are already on it. Have Dad cut into pieces.

My Comments: Now, I'm really confused...why put it in the freezer to just take it back out? Where are these kids getting these appliances? A microwave put on high power for 10 hours to cook a pizza? Maybe she also needs the million-degree oven. Like how she also got dad involved in the cooking process.
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French Fries and Ketchup - (Ingredients: Potatoes, Tomatoes)

Instructions: Get potatoes from store or garden and take the skins off. Throw the skins away. Cut potatoes into 7 pieces. Place on tray. Put in oven for 10 minutes on 0 degrees. Smoosh tomatoes to make ketchup, serve cold.

My Comments: Wow, first, love how the ingredients rhyme. Next, now I finally know what to do with the mountain of skins I have in the pantry. Yet again, another appliance issue, but I'm glad that we serve it cold as it was in the oven for 10 minutes at 0 degrees. Or is it the homemade ketchup that's served cold? Oh crap, now I'm confused.
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Thai Food - (Ingredients: Thai Food)
Instructions: Pick it up from the restaurant.

My Comments: My favorite recipe by far! I think I can do this one!
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I absolutely loved this idea from her teachers. I will hopefully always be able to treasure and keep this and refer to it to be a better cook.

Mother's Day

2011-05-12T11:34:00.000-04:00

Mother's Day this year was fantabulous! Why you ask? I had a day to myself. Most moms may say that they enjoyed spending time with their family and doing things with their kids. For the most part, I do enjoy days like that, but I seem to have many days of Makenna and myself going and doing things. This was a day where she could spend time with daddy and I could have time to myself to do....NOTHING! Well, as much of nothing as I could stand. I still did dishes, laundry, take care of the dogs, and make homemade granola. Plus go to dinner alone with my mom, and get some shopping done.

Mother's Day for me started on Friday (5/6) when I dropped off Makenna at school and got this cute little bag that was colored by Makenna and in it was a "cookbook" made by the kids, and a pot-holder that she had colored. Plus a cute little baby food jar that was cutely decorated and had flowers in it. I loved the jar and the cookbook. I'll have to make another post about the cookbook alone as it was absolutely hilarious. It was kids telling the recipes of how their mom's cook their favorite foods.

Then later in the day I came back to school for her afternoon UPK class and we got massages by the kids...which for me was dangerous because when I give Makenna massages I lightly rub her back under her shirt...so she tried to do the same. Needless to say, I didn't want my shirt pulled up. We also made bracelets and decorated jewelry boxes. Then we had a story and a dessert. I left during the movie time as I needed to get her registered for Summer camp and pick up a few things at the store. She was upset I left and I felt bad but I really needed to do these things without worrying about her disappearing.

On Saturday, Chris had to take his parents down to NJ to go on a cruise ship that he had arranged for them for their 50th wedding anniversary. I said to him, "You know what would be a great mother's day gift?...If you took Makenna with you!" He didn't think it was such a great idea at first as he was concerned about the bathroom situation. I told him that she could pretty much go on her own, and prefers to, but that hopefully he could find single bathrooms. In the end he decided to take her and I had the day to myself. Besides all the other things I listed, I watched a lot of TV without having to fight to watch what I wanted. We have a DVR that's pretty much 100% full as I only get a chance at night to watch things off of it and most nights I'm trying to watch other things that are actually on at that time. So even though I got it down to 80% full, as of last night it was almost back up to 100%. Hopefully summer will have a lot of re-runs and I can catch up on some of these shows!

Plus, I thought it was a good idea for Chris and Makenna to spend time together. I hope that they'll always have a close relationship and it means a lot to me to watch her do things with her daddy. I didn't really have an opportunity growing up to do a lot of things with my dad and I want Makenna to have that with her dad.

Chris thought that he might take her over to the Statue of Liberty, and that kind of made me pause for a moment about going too, but then I really wanted a day to myself more. Also, the dogs just got spayed/neutered last week so they couldn't really be alone for very long.

He decided to just go to some Science Center that was nearby but obviously they still got to "see" the statue from a distance as you can see by the pictures:

Then on Sunday, Mother's Day, Chris took Makenna outside to mow with him. She loves sitting on his lap with her ear mufflers (I can't think of the word I want...things to cover her ears to protect them from noise), and go around on the lawn tractor to mow. This gave me more time inside to myself to watch more shows and relax. They then got into a squirt gun fight and she loved being soaked. When I came out to gripe how it was a bit on the chilly side to be getting her head wet, Chris proceeded to squirt me. Of course Makenna found this hilarious. She keeps asking to play "squirters" now.

Then of course it ended with a dinner cooked by Chris. Steak (grilled,) potatoes (microwaved) and corn (Microwaved). So nothing extravagant but nonetheless tasty!

Now the real mothering comes in this next coming week when he goes away for a week on a guy's fishing trip. Probably another reason he agreed to take Makenna this past Saturday. He knew he was going on a man-cation for a week and all I got was a day. I'll still take it! Now I get another vacation while he's gone...I get the bed all to myself again!

Missing Part II

2011-05-05T11:21:00.000-04:00

Well, I guess my little talks about Makenna walking off have not sunk in quite yet. Yesterday while we were at her school I was walking around talking to different people about the Summer programs and what we need to get together paper-work wise and making sure that we have some kind of care for her after she “graduates” from the ECC and before their Summer care picks up.

She was with me, or I at least knew her whereabouts until the end. By my third stop to talk to someone, I knew she was behind me, but when I turned around to leave, she was nowhere in sight. I blame myself to some extent as I knew she had walked off but I continued my conversation thinking she had just gone up to the cafeteria to talk to one of her old teachers. I think I felt comfortable knowing where she was at, or where I perceived she was at, and she feels comfortable at the school to walk around too.

When my conversation was over, I was looking for her…and then looking…then looking some more…then panicking. I went everywhere I could think of that she would go and this is a pretty big building. I even looked in rooms and areas that I didn’t think she would normally be able to get to without an adult as they have a security system throughout the building and the only way you can get through certain doors is with a code.

After ten minutes or so, and with help from staff at the school she was found. She was actually in one of the rooms I peeked my head into but since it was dark I assumed she wasn’t in there. She had gone in to use the bathroom, which is what I had figured but I checked bathrooms that I assumed she would go to.

When they brought her out to me she broke down into tears. I felt like crying with her. We sat down and I told her I wasn’t mad and kept asking her why she was crying. I was trying to see if she was scared that I was mad at her or if she was scared because I wasn’t around. She eventually said she thought it was because I was scared. But then later she said she was also scared.

I talked to her a few times throughout the night about how she is to tell me if she needs to go to the bathroom or wants to go to some other area then where I’m at. We talked about strangers and how she doesn’t go anywhere with strangers but that they could also take her against her will. I guess she eventually got tired of the talk as she told me I was frustrating her. Imagine that!

I can only hope that this time the lesson sticks!

All Tucked In

2011-05-05T10:46:00.000-04:00

I blame my husband for this.

Makenna was born one ounce shy of 10 pounds (I don't blame him for this necessarily). We found that if we swaddled her that she slept much better as her hands didn’t tend to wake her as she stirred in her sleep, thus we got more sleep. As she was so big, those little swaddling blankets didn’t cut it for very long and we used two to get the job done. I wish I had a picture (and maybe if I dig hard enough I could find one,) of her all rolled up tight like a little sausage. The job was usually done by Chris as he could get it real tight and secure.

On to today…she still likes to be swaddled. Obviously we don’t encase her to where she can’t freely move but she wants to be tucked into bed real tight. Her blankets are tucked in all around her so that only her head is showing and it has to be tight on to her body. If one corner is allowing a hand or foot to peak out, it’s not acceptable. This is where I blame Chris because he started this tight swaddling, and now it continues.

I fear a fire and she ends up trapped under her cocoon, so I tend to be a bit more lax in my tucking. The problem is that it’s routine for her to get up in the middle of the night and tell us her covers are untucked. Whether it’s from a middle of the night bathroom trip or that she just woke up and realized that she’s no longer secure, she comes down and complains that her blankets are “stuck.” Which basically means, come up and tuck me back in tight. Chris usually tells me that I just have to tuck her in real tight so that this issue doesn’t happen. But then what if she’s tucked in so tight that she can’t even get out to go to the bathroom?

I usually hit Chris and tell him to take care of it. But I was feeling generous last night and got up and mumbled the whole way upstairs that she has to start taking care of this issue herself. She whined “no.” I told her to lie in bed and pull the covers up over herself. She again complained but did it when I threatened to just go downstairs and leave her lying there uncovered. I then hastily tucked her in much to her complaint and told her to “deal” with it and she’d be fine and I was going downstairs back to bed.

I feel like I have to find some therapy for her to realize that she doesn’t have to be strapped down to her bed by blankets or at least slowly wean her of this so that she can just get up in the middle of the night and go back to bed on her own without having the blanket police come up and get her secured. Unfortunately, If she does finally get to this point, I’ll probably still get out of bed and check on her as I usually hear her get up to go to the bathroom and until I hear the toilet flush I don’t feel “safe” myself. Then I patiently wait for her to come down and wake us up. So the day that it doesn’t happen, I’ll probably wonder if she got lost somewhere in between. I remember a couple of times where she’s come in to our room before and would just lay down on the floor and I fear one of us stepping on her.

I also feel I’m totally justified in blaming Chris for this, even though I may perpetuate it for the sake of sleep.

This picture is of this past Sunday. Chris’s dad officially retired from preaching and we went to his church to hear his last sermon and for a get together after.

Easter

2011-04-26T09:40:00.008-04:00

On Saturday we colored Easter eggs which she enjoyed doing. I don't think she remembers doing this last year (and yes I know the date is wrong on the pictures...I have to figure out how to turn that off).

When we were done, I tried to tell her that if the Easter bunny liked her colored eggs then he'd leave her eggs filled with candy and other surprises. Then I guess i pushed it too far as i went on to tell her that if he REALLY liked her eggs then he'd leave her a basket filled with stuff. Her reply was, "What?!?" The kind of of "what" that's stated with skepticism. It was so funny to hear her say "what" as if I was feeding her a line of rubbish. I laughed and said, "You don't believe me?"

The next day she came down and was excited to see eggs strewn all over the living and dining room. I think I have to cut down on the number of eggs (52) as it's way too much candy and Chris doesn't really hide them as there's too many. She practically just has to walk around and pick them up from obvious spots.

Plus, she seemed to like finding the eggs more than what is inside them. When she got to her grandparents, she only had 13 eggs to find and she kept wanting people to hide them so that she could find them again. It was just to bad that she had to do her hunt for eggs inside as it was a rainy day but she seemed to enjoy it just the same.

I hope that next year I'll take her to an actual Easter egg hunt done by someone else in the community. I'm also thinking of doing a treasure hunt for her basket next year. I figure she'll be reading to some extent and that I can put clues in some of the eggs to find her basket. Chris says that's "my department"...translation...it is up to me to do it...hopefully I'll remember.

I should've taken a picture of her with her basket which was filled with three movies ("Alice in Wonderland," "Bambi," and "Snow White") along with a Wii dance game, coloring stuff, and stickers. She makes out like a bandit on these holidays. The only thing I didn't do was get her an Easter dress this year as this one still fit from last year, surprisingly.

Kindergarten Woes

2011-04-25T13:56:00.000-04:00

Go t a bit behind so there will be a couple of posts to catch up.

A week ago Makenna was on this “Woman” kick. She keeps saying that she’s a woman or that daddy sounds like a woman (which I’m sure he’ll love that I’m posting that….and my brothers will laugh hardily and agree with her) or that I’m a woman. On Sunday (April 17th,) I mentioned to Makenna that she’s almost 4.5 years old to which she replied, “So I’m a woman?” I gasped and said, “No…you’re not a woman…yet.”

I’m not sure if this came about from me showing her signs to restroom where she has to look for a “W” for Woman which then clues her in that she can go into that bathroom. Of course it doesn’t help when they have a “G” for girls and then Makenna just decided to use the one that says “M” because her name starts with “M” and I’m frantically trying to figure out where the heck she went. But, at least it was a one-person bathroom so it wasn’t all bad.

We also started the process of school registration. I’m starting to feel sadness about this already. Although I’m so glad to watch her grow and blossom, I look and other kids that are still in the baby stage and long for her to be back there. Then I wonder why when it was so tough to know what she needed at times and I was so tired. I think back to all the cute little things I did with her and all the cute songs I made up and sung to her and how that doesn’t happen anymore.

Well, back to the registration….We went to an informational night on Tuesday (April 19th) at a school in the CV district. We’d have to pay tuition and one of the questions I asked the Superintendent was how much tuition was going to be this coming fall. Before giving me the estimated answer, he explained how they are supposed to be charging around $6,000 but are “stepping” their way to that price. Therefore, he expects the price to be $4200 (more or less,). Then he explained how the High School is at $9,000 for a school year. I can only imagine what tuition will be at that grade level when Makenna is old enough to be in high school. We left there and Chris said, “We need to move before the end of summer.” I felt a wave of anxiety and pressure.

I explained that whether we decide to have her go to this district where we have to pay tuition or to the district that we pay school tax in, we still have a year at least to worry about housing. I feel that after 4th grade you’re starting to solidify some relationships with kids at school. Before then, kids come and go and it’s not too detrimental to move her around.

I still went the next day to get her registered in case we do decide to have her go to this school. I was surprised by Makenna who was either scared or nervous or both. I was sitting at a table going over paperwork with a woman and Makenna went off to a wall and sat down on the ground. I was waving her over to sit with me and she was too nervous and shook her head no. I left her there until I was done and then she came and sat with me.

Another lady came to get Makenna to do some testing but I had to come along in the beginning until I could tell Makenna felt comfortable enough to trust this person. She was having her do some gross motor skills like jumping, hoping, throwing, catching, rolling a ball, etc. Once she got past that and realized she was having fun with this new person, then I was able to walk away while she did some other tests. I guess these are to gauge where she’s at developmentally on different scales so they know if she’ll need help in certain areas before she even starts school.

When they were done and the lady returned, I did tell them about some poor results on her gross motor skills from previous tests at her Pre-K. So they marked that down as something to look at in the Fall…if we go there.

Next Week (4/25) is the informational meeting for Harpursville and we plan on asking some questions like why the test results in English and Language Arts dropped 12% from 2008 – 2009. Do they have IB or Regent Courses in the High School and what time does the bus arrive in our neck of the woods to pick her up?

My belief is that she has to be out by a little after 7am to be picked up by the bus for a 40 minute bus ride one way to school. I think she’ll be exhausted, and I’m a bit scared that there are no other kids her age on the bus right away. Not to mention that if something happens while I’m at work, that it will take me probably close to 50 minutes to get to her.

I also got to thinking about if she does make friends in school, then we’d have to drive her to Harpursville area to play with those friends and what a hassle that would be. Then last night drove the issue home for me in my opinion. Chris and I were discussing (our word for arguing) about getting to this meeting tonight. I was saying how I would run home after work to take care of the dogs, then run back down to get Makenna and take her to swim lessons and then get to the meeting after that.

He wants to meet me at home which means that we’ll be late to the meeting. By the time we get done with swim lessons and get her showered and dressed it’s close to 5pm. Then to get home it’s another 15-20 minutes. Then to get him and get to a place we have yet to find, I say that’s another 20 minutes so we’ll get there probably 15 minutes into the meeting. Plus, I have to hope that he actually is home when we get home.

My argument was that I didn’t want to be late and his argument is that it’s a waste of gas money for us both to drive out there and that’s when I raised my finger and said, “And that’s the problem with going to Harpursville!” Everything that she’ll be a part of as the school year(s) go on means going in a direction from our house that’s away from everything we do. If it was down more into town, (like CV school is,) then at least activities would be on the way home not past our home into an area we typically don’t go.

I guess we’ll see how the meeting goes tonight and then we have at least the Summer to decide what school….or to move…and start this paperwork nightmare all over again.

Sleeping Alone

2011-04-14T12:48:00.003-04:00

It's been a "slow" week so to say - as slow as it can be for a four year old with no school due to Spring Break. I don't understand why kids have break early but someone told me that they don't want to have it around Easter any more (they meaning the schools,) as it promotes a religious holiday. My reply was, "What's Christmas to them then?" They still get a break then.

What it means to me, regardless of when it is, is that I have to find day-care. Luckily, I have family that pitches in and I so appreciate it. Since Chris is still sick, he took Monday off and stayed home with Makenna. Then on Tuesday she went over to her Uncle Josh's and Aunt Autumn's and got to play with Katie and Natalie. Then to her grandparents for a couple of days.

I think it's going to be hard to get her to go back to school after all this. At least weather wise it's been nice so she was able to go to the park on Monday for a while.

Back to Chris....I guess he has some viral infection and finally broke down yesterday and went to the doctor's to get something. What it's meant to me is sleep! I've said before that I never knew what a light sleeper I was until I got married and had to sleep next to someone. When most spouses go away on trips and their wives wonder how they're going to be able to sleep without their protector, I'm relishing and planning my night of how I'll be able to sleep (unless Makenna decides to get up multiple times).

Last Friday, Makenna got to go to her grandparents for a sleep-over as Chris and I had tickets to see The Machine with the Binghamton Philharmonic. I enjoyed it thoroughly but Chris was in pain from having a migraine and being up close to a laser show and loud noise did not help.

When we got home he tried to fall asleep but just was coughing up a lung and got up and slept out in the recliner. I actually slept-in...the first time in probably four years. Sleeping in means past 6am for me. I think I got up close to 8am.

Then the next night he slept out in the recliner again and since then in the spare bedroom. He did try coming back to sleep in our bedroom one day and he would snore than wake up coughing, then fall back to sleep snoring, then coughing and this cycle continued for about a half hour. The whole time I was contemplating if smothering him with a pillow could be considered an insanity plea due to lack of sleep?

But he finally got up on his own and went back to the other bedroom and it's been wonderful. I'm almost not looking forward to him coming back as I know that means fitful nights for me. So as bad as I feel for him being sick....I love my opportunity to sleep! I've actually felt quite refreshed this past week.

So if you see me and I'm looking cranky and tired, you'll know why.

Missing Makenna

2011-04-07T13:08:00.002-04:00

Well it seems our little talk about telling mommy where she is going hasn't sunk in quite yet. On Monday (April 4th), after swim I usually let her go out and play with the toys for a few minutes while I finish up in the locker room. Okay, so maybe I'm too trusting but I feel she needs to get a little independence and it's only for about 5 minutes, which I know some of you will say, too much time for her to be on her own.

Before she left the locker room I specifically asked her if she needed to go to the bathroom and she said no, and then she went on her way. I went out shortly after and I could not find her. Panic mode. I went back into the locker room even though I was fairly certain she did not come back through. I looked back on the swim deck, I went back to the lobby, I went looking outside, and just as I was about to talk to the front desk staff, out she comes from the bathrooms in the front lobby. I gave her a quick stern talking to and then we went into the car where I really laid it on.

We get home and she disappears again! We were taking out the dogs and she usually does this lap or two around the garage and house. Well after her second or third lap, she didn't return. I'm yelling for her, and she wasn't responding. So now I'm frantically looking around the garage, the woods, and finally find her on the back porch playing with a ball. I again told her that she has to respond to me when I call her so I know she's okay.

That nights discussion was talking about strangers and what strangers mean and how she needs to kick, scream, yell, etc. when someone she doesn't know is trying to take her or making her do something she does not want to do. (I fear that this lesson will be turned around on me at some point).

The next day, she leaves the house to go to the car for school, I come out and she's nowhere to be found. I start yelling, no reply. I then hear the car door automatically open and realize that's where she is. I reiterate to her again the importance of telling me of where she's going. If she tells me she's going to be one place and then decides to go to another place, that she has to come ask and/or tell me.

Have I learned my lesson? Yes...so please don't berate me. Does she still need to learn some life skills...yes but maybe in smaller doses as my heart can't take these "missing" moments.

Breakdown at Barnes & Noble

2011-04-07T12:39:00.002-04:00

Last Thursday (March 31st), I decided to take Makenna to Barnes & Noble with me so that I could by her cousin Natalie a gift for her second birthday. NOT A GOOD IDEA.

First of all, my child typically wants to go somewhere every day after school. How do I know this? She repeatedly tells me when I pick her up, "Where are we going?" (my reply...home). Her answer in whining format, "No! I want to go somewhere!"

So today I figured, well at least I have some place to take her after school. When I told her that we weren't going home her reply (again in a whining format,) "I just want to go home." Figures. Not only that but she was of the mindset that I should take her home and she'd stay by herself while I went to the store. All the explanations of how I would be in deep trouble does not register with her.

Well, we got to B&N and I could not get her to leave. I don't blame anyone buy myself as I had a very strong feeling that this was going to be the case. Once she got to the kids section and saw the train set that it set up to play with I was done for.

I gave her the usually five-minute warning that we will be leaving but that didn't work. When the five minutes were up, I went over to get her and she had to do just one more thing, repeatedly. I finally said, "Enough...it's time to go!" So that started the downward spiral that lasted well into the night.

After telling her that if she did not listen she would lose Wii privileges she started coming but then insisted that I zip her coat. This is something that she can now do on her own but I agreed to.....while we were waiting in line. The kids section is in the back of the store and the line I was referring to was up front. Nope, that wasn't an acceptable answer to her.

I was bound and determined to get my way and she was bound and determined that I was not. So she fell to floor crying and whining about zipping her coat. I finally walked away and told her to follow....which she did not. I was in line at the front of the store and I could hear her all the way from the back. I got out of line, went up to her and told her that if she did not get up she was now losing TV time. This really sent her off.

I had to get her up off the floor, get her walking, while simultaneously telling her that she lost TV and Wii privileges (and any movies,) and telling her that I would zip up her coat in line. This just made her more mad and frustrated and she kept saying, "mom I just want to talk to you," or "mom, your not listening to me." I would reassure that I was listening to her and I would reiterate all the things she wanted to repeat to me over and over to show her I was listening.

I finally "won" and got up in line and zipped her coat but the hysterics continued. We finally left and I got her in the car (another big battle) and she was really mad. I don't even remember what she said but I started laughing. Then that made her mad and she said, "Don't laugh at me." I said I was laughing at what she said.

On the way home she was so mad she was yelling at me to turn off the radio to which I did NOT comply as I said the way she was asking me was completely inappropriate and I don't respond to that type of demand. She was really yelling, screaming and now kicking the seat (which was the passenger seat, luckily for her.) I put on my ear buds to my IPod and continued driving home.

She would occasionally yell my name to which I ignored and I told her that until she could calm down enough to talk rationally that I was not entertaining anything she had to say. She finally yelled, "Don't talk to me!" Needless to say at some point she fell asleep on the way home. Which I knew was the problem.

We got home and I was in Super-mommy mode of trying to defrost some chicken for dinner, clean a bathroom while that was happening and talk to a friend who called to chat long-distance. Makenna was barraging me with questions and I finally told her to go to her room and play with something. She complied and as I continued talking and cleaning I heard a SLAM of the door. This gave me great pause as I wondered if Chris came home early.

So then, as I continued talking, I went and looked out the window and saw my little independent, willful child walking down the steps. She had the audacity to leave the house without saying a word...and slamming the door on her way out!~

I quickly said to my friend, "I have to go my daughter just left the house." I ran downstairs and yelled out the door like the country hick I am, "Makenna! Get in here! What do you think you're doing?!?!" She nonchalantly replied, "I wanted to go outside."

I got her back inside and explained to her how she cannot just leave without saying something to me (or her dad if he was here.) I have to also add that a few times while shoveling snow a week or so ago, she'd take off and I'd find her walking down near the pond to which she got a huge scolding for. Her just leaving the house blew my mind. Plus, I have to add, I had the dogs to contend with making a mess in the house - so I was at my wits end.

Chris came home and we as a family had a discussion about what "listening to mommy" means and how complying is mandatory. Chris then went into this whole tiraid of how she embarrassed me in the store with her antics (and at the time he was saying this, I was thinking, I wasn't really embarrassed as I was too tired, just more frustrated). He then explained to her what embarrassed meant and she then blurted out, "Well mommy bare-assed me too." Once it registered in my tired brain what she had just said, I got up and left the table into the kitchen so as to not laugh at her again.

I guess some of this melt down could've been avoided if I had just agreed to zip up her coat at the spot she wanted but when you get two stubborn women and one has the power to wield their wishes more so over another...it's going to get ugly.

Family Illness

2011-03-29T12:51:00.000-04:00

For whatever reason, the passing of my grandmother has brought on some sort of illness in my family. I have some sinus infection going on, Makenna has a cold, my brother Josh was sick, his girls were sick, my brother Jared got sick and now his kids are sick, and even my mom was not feeling well.

It didn’t stop us from getting together, especially since my brother Jake was in town. We weren’t going to pass up an opportunity to visit with him. The timing was pretty good as we gave him a surprise birthday party (his birthday is in the beginning of April). We showered him with our illness, kids and some gifts.

Jake’s visit was short, (Friday to Sunday) but you can see that the kids loved being with him. We wish that he lived closer but maybe one day when he’s done with school and obligations, he’ll move back to the area.

On Sunday, I took the opportunity to talk to Makenna and her cousin Eli some more about great grandma and how she was a spirit with God before she came here to earth and how she received a body (the whole hand in the glove story…some will know what I’m talking about). Then I said how she’s now left her body to be back with Heavenly Father. I had them draw a picture of Jesus and Makenna also drew a picture of great grandma next to Jesus. I hope this helps her to processes it some more. I know she seems back to “normal”…translation…talking back, giving me a hard time, and being cute as ever. But there are times she still says how grandma is coming back again or thinks that we’ll be going to visit her.

I realized with grandma’s passing, that she was my last grandparent alive. It was kind of weird to think of it that way. I also realized that she was in her 60’s when I was born, which is something I had never thought of…ever…I don’t know why. She always seemed to be full of energy and never slowed down. Not that I think that if you’re in your 60’s you all of a sudden seem slow but this woman really just kept going and going until her body wouldn’t let her go any more. I think it was in her late 80’s that she finally slowed down.

Even though her short-term memory was pretty poor, she was still as funny as ever and caring about the great grand-kids and their well-being. On Sunday’s she’d constantly worry about Abbie (my Brother Jared’s little girl) and that she wasn’t getting any food. Even though she’s just over one and couldn’t always eat what food we had for the older kids and ourselves.

The day after she passed away, Chris and myself, and his parents went to Smucker’s Stars on Ice that was held locally at the Arena. I do like watching ice-skating and it was really neat to see some big named stars (even the Men’s Gold Medalist Evan Lysacek ). There was also Kurt Browning, Todd Eldredge, Sasha Cohen, Michael Weiss, and others. I loved it! Chris was not too thrilled but I think he secretly liked it.

Unfortunately, my camera’s battery was not charged and I was only able to get one decent picture and a video that’s choppy before it died. So I am only posting the picture of Kurt Browning as it was the only picture that came out decent.

Theresa Grosek 1/13/1910 - 3/23/2011

2011-03-29T11:35:00.000-04:00

Well, we knew this day would eventually come. I just wrote back in February’s posts about how we thought she was going to die and that she probably caught a “second-wind” as it’s termed. Well, her second wind lasted longer than I expected so when I received the call on Wednesday morning, (the 23rd,) that she had passed on, I was shocked.

The good news was that my brother Jared and his family had been with her the night before and she was happy and talkative and glad to see the great-grandkids. Then from what we’re told, she was talking all night to the nursing staff and in the morning they gave her a bath, and then went to get her breakfast. When they returned, she had passed on. I was happy to hear that she went happily and peacefully.

I know that she is so very happy to be with her mom, dad, brothers and sisters who had all passed on before her. She would frequently talk about how she misses them and that she was looking forward to seeing them again.

The bad news was that I happened to be home with Makenna that day…due to snow (yes more snow!) and she saw me break down and cry. She was a little bit shocked and unsure what to do and she came up to me and was trying to give me hugs. I explained to her that great-grandma had died and tried to explain the best I could what that meant.

We were able to go see her body in the nursing home so I went and picked up Chris who watched Makenna in another area of the nursing home while I said goodbye to grandma. When we picked him up, Makenna immediately told him that great grandma had died. He said, “yes she did….do you know what that means?” She replied, “She’s with Heavenly Father.”

When we got to the nursing home, my brothers Jared and Josh were there along with my grandmother’s two sons. After talking about plans of what to do and gathering some of her belongings, I took Chris back to work and Makenna and I went home.

Makenna would ask me throughout the day if I was still sad. I told her that I was sad but that I was okay and that it was okay to miss grandma. She then started saying things like, “you’re dying (meaning grandma,) and we’ll miss you, and we want you to come back. “ She also said, “Mommy misses great grandma,” and there was talk about Jesus in there. She kept telling me over and over how she’ll come back. When she went to bed at night, she said how she missed great grandma.

I took her to school the next day and I had Chris’s parents pick her up for me as I had things to do. When I came to get her they told me that she wasn’t happy and that she had a hard day at school. They handed me a note from school which said, “Makenna did not eat anything (turkey, plain pasta – which she usually eats, applesauce). Several children asked her to play and she said she wanted to be alone…Great Grandma died.”

I felt horrible. This just re-affirmed that I had to take her to school the next day, Friday, which was the day of the funeral. I partially wanted her to come to say goodbye, but I also wanted her to keep her routine and get back to normal as much as possible.

The services were very nice as her nephew, Jack Bendick , performed the service and some of my friends from church and otherwise, came to pay their respects. Even my brother Jake came in from Washington to say goodbye. I wished we could’ve had it on a Saturday as more people could’ve come but at the same time it was good as I knew Makenna was at school being taken care of.

At a lunch after the services, Jake, Jared, and myself were talking about our memories of grandma and it all boiled down to her selflessness towards us grandkids. Even when it was not necessary or could’ve gotten her into trouble with her husband, she still gave to us kids constantly. Whether it be money, food that we liked, games, clothes, helping us win in card games…and so much more…she gave it to us.

We knew that we were loved by such a wonderful woman who had endured so much in this life, both physically and emotionally. I’m so happy that I know she is happy with her family and free from a body racked with debilitating arthritis. That she will no longer be sad when we have to leave her to go to our homes as she can now constantly see us.

This is a video that was made back for her 100th birthday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na68Zs0cZJQ

We love and miss you grandma….but we know we’ll see you again.

Spring Here We Come

2011-03-29T10:52:00.001-04:00

Last Friday, March 18th, we enjoyed going to the park as a family, dogs and all, to enjoy the decent weather that is finally beginning to peek through.

The dogs loved being able to run and Makenna enjoyed getting her tricycle back out and enjoying the fact that she’s better at peddling and steering it. A note to all of those that we “run into” literally…we’re sorry. We’re still trying to teach Makenna to look at the road as she drives. Not at her steering wheel.

When we got to the playground area of the park, the dogs took a rest with Chris and I went around following Makenna. She convinced me that I was still a child and that we could go down slides together. Surprisingly, I agreed and more surprisingly I fit down the slides. Although, my equilibrium is definitely not what it used to be. I went down one of the twisty-slides and had to wait for a moment to have the world stop spinning when I got to the bottom. But I forged on and continued to go on more slides.

I also had to let Makenna know that this year she is too big for the baby swings. I think she was okay with that as she can get on a big swing herself now. Now it’s just teaching her the “swing” techniques.

The dogs, surprisingly, did not want to interact with other people or dogs. They cowered as other people came up to them and when one lady stopped with her three dogs to give my dogs chicken they just assumed to keep going. Of course, they had just had rabies shots and another shot of some sort, from the vets office and the female dog was not doing well with car travel. She got sick on the way to the vets and on the way to the park.

Makenna enjoyed her bike some more yesterday (Sunday) and Chris remembered that he had gotten her a bike helmet and surprisingly she had no issues about wearing it.

Then this morning, Monday, woke up to snow and sleet! Spring is such a tease.

Recycling Jesus

2011-03-21T13:02:00.000-04:00

The things that my child comes up with just continue to amaze me and make me laugh. This past week at pre-school, they were learning about recycling. The teacher had asked if we could bring in any recyclable bottles or cans and I came in bearing a very large bag of them along with another small bag. We tend to wait for special opportunities to off-load these on people instead of taking the initiative to get our money back and this was a perfect opportunity to do just that.

When I showed up with Makenna on Wednesday morning (3/16,) the teacher pulled me aside to tell me about the conversation that took place the day before. The teacher was talking to the kids about the importance of recycling and how these bottles and cans will be broken down and recycled into various things that we will use again, Makenna chimed in and said, “Oh, that’s like Jesus when he comes again, He’s recycled.” I had an astonished look on my face and I said to the teacher, “She said that?” Then I laughed as the teacher said that she also had a good laugh at that besides not knowing how to respond. Also, not to mention that her pre-school is in a Jewish run center and they celebrate Jewish holidays and follow Jewish customs regarding kosher foods and kitchens. That must’ve really thrown a wrench into her response. Although, I don’t think the teacher is Jewish.

She also continued to say that as they were sorting the various cans, plastic bottles, and glass bottles, that when some glass bottles came out from our bag, Makenna again had some “words of wisdom” as she told everyone how her daddy liked those bottles (beer bottles). With an emphasis on it as if to say, those are his precious bottles. It came across to me like daddy drinks a lot. That really had me puzzled as Chris honestly does not drink very often and when he does, it’s rarely in front of her. I guess the times he has must have really stuck with her.

The fun doesn’t stop there though…this morning Makenna woke up and came down to inform me that she has a headache and that it’s giving her “mumps and weasels.” I believe this ailment is from her Winnie the Pooh book when Winnie the Pooh goes to have a check-up and gets shots so he doesn’t get “bumps and weasels” and his friends promptly reply that it’s mumps and measles not bumps and weasels. So to be correct on both sides, Makenna has decided that she now has mumps and weasels. As the morning went on, she also had another ailment, “tushy.” When I explained that “tushy” is just another word for butt she told me that I was wrong and it had to do with her head. Then I thought; well now it all makes sense!

All of a sudden she started shaking her butt and saying, “stop it tushy, stop it.” Translation…she was yelling at her butt to stop shaking all over. When I asked her prior to leaving for school if she felt better and if she still had mumps, weasels, and tushy she told me that her tushy was better.

Phew!

Things That Start With "S"

2011-03-09T13:46:00.000-05:00

Namely the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Snow!
Since Saturday was relatively nice weather wise, we decided to go to the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade downtown. I’m not much for parades in a reality as you stand around and watch people walk by. This is equivalent to watching any sports car race like NASCAR….what’s the point?

But I figured it would be something nice to do and different and I can at least cross that off my list of things Makenna did as a child, like going to the circus and Zoo. Downtown was quite crowded to say the least and I found it hard to leave…not because it was physically impossible, which was part of the problem, but also because I was looking for a cousin who I knew was in the parade. I never did see her but I didn’t want to leave because I enjoyed listening to the bagpipers.

There were various groups that played them and I’m not sure why but to hear them play and play in tune I rather liked it. Maybe it’s from our days in Scotland (a mere 3 days,) but even Chris was saying how he’d like to learn how to play the bagpipes. I think listening to one may not be the same, especially if it’s from a person just learning how to play (I would liken it to torture,) but to listen to a group of them was quite entertaining.

Here’s some more pictures from the parade:

She’s too cute with words in her pigtails in this picture. She doesn’t let me do pigtails or pony tails too often so I have to take advantage when the mood strikes her

Feeding daddy some of her cookies

Having a little parade of her own

Then the Snow! I have to admit I was completely unprepared for this “blizzard of 2011.” On Sunday morning I took the minivan to church, telling Chris it was fine because there wasn’t supposed to be any snow (that I knew of)…to my shock and horror, on the way to church, I heard the forecast. Then after church I was even more shocked to see that it had started.
When I took the dogs out after 10pm on Sunday night, they just peed at the bottom of the steps (what we could find of the steps) and I told Chris at that time that we were in for trouble.

This is what we woke up to on Monday morning…an imprint of our door made of snow..almost up to the door handle.

Needless to say, the dogs did not want to go out whatsoever and against all my sensibilities, I had to allow them to go in the house. The cat on the other hand, HAD to go out (we don’t have a litter box,) and she was not too happy

As we finally cleared a path, we did get the dogs out, but put on their little jackets

Then the snow removal process really began. You can see by this next picture that the snow was as high as our landscaped wall which borders our steps

In this next one you can again see the landscaped wall in the background and how the snow is against it, but also look how high the snow comes up on the plow…just about to the top!

This is the door to our garage

Makenna took this crooked picture of me on our deck to show how it comes up to MY knees!

Then Makenna got bundled up and this is her standing in front of a snow mound – up to her tummy!

And the process to remove the snow from the back deck – in layers

It took Chris all day practically to remove the snow from our driveway and then rake it off our roof onto the just shoveled back deck (that I had shoveled) to then remove that snow. The plows didn’t even plow our roads until sometime after 10:30a.m. and Chris told me we had snowmobilers going up and down the road.

While Shoveling the back deck I was making a list of “Things not right about Snow” in my head. Such as,

- It’s not right if you have to shovel it in layers.

- It’s not right if you have to shovel it to another spot just to move it closer to its end destination as you just have to shovel that spot again and it now has more snow.

- It’s not right that as you shovel, the wind is blowing it back onto the spot you just removed it from and into your face.

- It’s not right for the weather to be nice and sunny and balmy later in the day after you’ve removed all the snow and exhausted yourself, just to have it melt.

- It’s not right to not be “packable” snow so that you can’t really make a snowman or snow fort or snowballs.

- It’s not right for the forecast to tell you that later in the week there’s a certain percentage that you will be getting more.

I could go on but those are the ones that really stuck in my head. Just know that there are other “S” words that crossed my mind that go with Snow! Like this "SUCKS" and "Sarasota, FL."

Snowman and Other Pressures

2011-03-03T13:20:00.019-05:00

Well another fun-filled week of yet again...snow. At least this time it was the nice packable, snowman-makeable snow. When I woke up last Friday and realized that I was not taking Makenna to school, I resolved to finally get out and make a snowman.

But first...some cleaning...with some help. Even though it slows me down in my process, I'm grateful she's showing interest in cleaning (as brief as it may be,) as I know the day will come without fail that she will no longer have an interest in any tasks I ask of her, especially when it comes to cleanliness.

Then on to making our snowman. I figured it would be easier to do it on the porch as there was plenty of snow up there that I had to clear anyways. You can see that I didn't go with the traditional "ball" of snow for the bottom, middle and top. It wasn't for lack of trying though. I'm just out of practice.

So it ends up looking more like Jabba the Snowman than just a jolly snowman. We used the "lion" hat we got in England for Makenna, Rocks for eyes and mouth, carrot nose (at least that's keeping with tradition,) and a scarf made by niece Brittanie.

We then decided on a fashion show and changed up hats. Now sporting the old-man farmer look is jabba the snowman:

When we put on Makenna's usual snow hat and gave it more of a modern look (if you can call it that):

I was actually quite proud that we did it until Chris came home and mocked the whole thing. Not to mention that we made it so that when you look out the sliding glass doors onto the porch you see it. Later that night I realized this was not such a good idea as you see something staring back at you in the dark.

The next day (Saturday,) was a birthday party for cousin Eli (who turned 3) and his sister cousin Abigail (who is going to turn 1).

I had to get this picture as it was so adorable....like the wisdom of the wise being passed down and intently listened to by the young (grandma Grosek 101 to Natalie who will soon be 2).

Pinata antics

The candy drops and mayhem ensues

I love how they're holding hands in this picture. Makenna truly loves her cousins, especially her cousin Eli...because he's the only one who does as she says.

Chris helping Abbie to exercise her walking feet:

Makenna actually took this picture and I had to laugh as it's Eli covered in chocolate:

As a last note, I realize I must be putting too much pressure on Makenna to be prepared for Kindergarten. She talks about it every week (if not every day,) about how she's going to be going to Kindergarten. I told her that we have to practice her zipping her coat (not really the zipping part as she can do that, the part where she has to put the zipper into the base to get it started,) and to tie shoes, due snaps and buttons and wipe her butt when she poops. I told her that no one at school is going to wipe her poopie butt so she's got to get better at it.

Well, this past week she's just about mastered the zipper part and happily states, "Yeah, now I can go to Kindergarten." As for the last graphic bit (pooping and wiping)...well this is where I realize the pressure is weighing on her mind. She came into the bathroom this week while I was going the bathroom and she said, "Mom, if you need help wiping, I need the practice so I can go to Kindergarten." I laughed and let her know I was good but thanks for the offer.

I guess it is true, the pressure on kids today is a lot more than when we were kids~

Make Me Feel Better!

2011-02-24T11:10:00.001-05:00

Update on the dogs…they’re still living…barely….enough said.

Update on my grandmother…She’s still living. Although on Sunday she was back on the oxygen tank, not sure why, but she was in her wheelchair and able to spend time with us.

I swear my name “mom” is being taken in vain. I must hear it upwards 20 plus times a day with no comment after. Just “mom?” repeated endlessly until I finally lose my mind and patience and say “WHAT!!!????!” “What is it that you want Makenna?!~?” I then tell her to stop saying my name unless she’s going to tell me immediately after what it is she needs to ask or say. What’s funny about this is that she loves playing Go-Fish but when the three of us play, she forgets to say who it is she’s asking for a card from. So we have to keep telling her to say, “Mom do you have” or “Dad do you have.” So it’s probably pretty confusing to her that we tell her to stop saying our names, unless we play Go-fish, and then please say our names.

Makenna is pretty good at expressing when her feelings are hurt. When Chris is really stern with her, she’ll usually break down and cry. This past Sunday was a great example of telling someone what you want and I couldn’t stop laughing.

We were sitting down to eat and Makenna had the bag of croutons. Chris took it away from her and she promptly yelled at him, “Hey give me that! I had that.” He then yelled back, ‘You don’t yell at me!” This resulted in Makenna breaking down crying. Through her tears she was saying, “You hurt my feelings.” Chris tried to explain to her that she is not to yell at her parents. Makenna continued with, “You hurt my feelings.” Then she said, “Make me feel better.” I got the biggest grin on my face and started laughing. I wonder where in life do we lose that ability to say right off the bat how someone made us feel and that they need to rectify it right there and then. I hope this is a quality she doesn’t lose…as hard as it may be to hear.

I’m also so impressed with how far Makenna has come with gymnastics and swim. She is getting strong enough to almost do the parallel bar by herself. When she thinks about it, she jumps on the spring board to vault right into a summersault. In swim she’s doing the backstroke much better and learning to dive.

She also loves to get up and dance anytime songs come on during her shows. I talked to her yesterday about starting dance classes in the Spring and she is all excited about the idea. Another thing that she’s really excited about is starting kindergarten. She talks about it all the time. We are trying to teach her how to do certain things on her own and we keep telling her she needs to know how to do these things so that she can go to kindergarten.

One in particular is how to zip her coat. She can zip it if we get it started but we are trying to get her to be able to do it all on her own. Yesterday she just about did it herself (the zipper wasn’t seated all the way down). It was down far enough for her to be able to start to zip it up and she promptly said, “Yeah! Now I can go to kindergarten!!”

Can I just say I’m excited for her but so sad at the same time? I look back at old photos and videos and while they put a huge smile on my face, they also make me sad for that little girl I once had. Maybe I should tell her to stop growing up and make me feel better.

Death and Dying 101

2011-02-15T11:01:00.000-05:00

This past Friday brought about the words I’ve been dreading…your grandmother is ill and is not expected to make it much longer.

When I found out it was in the late afternoon so I went and picked up Makenna from school and then dropped her off with Chris while I went over to do a bedside vigil. We were told she hadn’t eaten or drank anything for a couple of days. They had oxygen on her and she looked pale and more frail than usual. When she would wake up, she would usually talk with her eyes closed. My brother was told that she had said that she was ready to go. I can understand her wanting to leave this earth. She’s lived 101 years and misses her family who’ve already passed, which is just about all of them, and she hates it when we leave her.

I took a class in death and dying (best class I ever took,) and it said how that you should ask the person who they are waiting to see. This is so that if they are waiting to pass to the other side until they see someone that you can either arrange to get them there or let them know that the person cares and loves them. Plus, it helps to tell them that it’s okay to pass on. Also, that you should tell them that you will miss them, but that you will always think of them and your love for them. Sometimes they also want to hear that they are forgiven.

Knowing all this and doing it are two different things. It is incredibly hard to say any of those things without breaking down. I did it one other time with my grandfather who I was extremely close to and I just bawled as I said it. I was privileged to be there as he passed even though, at the time, I would’ve told you it was the worst thing to happen to me. Now I look it as a blessing to have been there with him.

So here I was in this predicament again trying to find the ways to say the things I felt needed to be said without turning into a blubbering fool. After my brother left and it was her and I for a while, when she was in one of her lucid moments, I took the opportunity to run through the list. The only thing I didn’t think of was telling her that she was forgiven. This woman who had many trials and has overcome hardships in many different ways, in my mind, is already forgiven for any small misdeeds she may have done.

Well here it is four days later and I have to say, she’s recovered quite well. I attribute that to my brother Josh’s quick thinking and running out to get her, her favorite food….crab. When I arrived on Friday he told me that he went down to the local Chinese buffet and picked up a to-go dish of shrimp and crab. When he brought it back, she woofed down the crab. Then later, I tried getting her to drink some water but she wasn’t too into it, and I found some soda that she couldn’t get enough of. She stated that it was the nectar of the gods. Josh also called my other brother Jared and had him come later with some more crab which she ate quite a bit of.

Between the three of us, we were able to get some food and fluids into her and on Saturday, she was back out of bed in her wheelchair. Then on Sunday we visited with her again and she looked like herself once again. She was alert, happy, and seemed to be doing well. I concluded that she was just sick of the food at the nursing home.

BUT…in my class they also talked about the “second-wind.” This is when the person seems to come back from near death and perk up and you feel that all is okay once again. Then suddenly they take a turn for the worse and pass on. I can only hope that this will not be the case, and that we have some more time with her but again, I realize that she has truly lived a long life on this earth and whatever is in God’s plan for her, we’ll be sad without her, but will look forward to seeing her whole once again.

The "Stupid" Police

2011-02-08T10:28:00.001-05:00

As Makenna’s language has grown, and expanded and more so in understanding, we’ve found one word that was in Chris and my vocabulary that we threw out there often in many instances was “stupid.” Over the past six months or so we’ve tried to watch our language as to not use this “swear” word of sorts.

In our defense, we tended to use it towards inanimate objects such as the tv remote (me) or something someone did or said (Chris). We found that Makenna a while back used this word towards people. She wouldn’t say, “You’re stupid,” but would just say “stupid.” It was generally said to us as we were putting her on the naughty step or as we reprimanded her for some infraction. This is what brought about a change in what we say.

We do occasionally slip up and it comes blurting out of our mouths and the “stupid police” or in other words, Makenna comes to our rescue to inform us that we have just said the world stupid. I think she feels this is her opportunity to say the word without repercussion as she’s just informing us of our wrong doing.

In fact, back when we said we were no longer going to say the word, Makenna cleverly found that by saying, “mom we don’t say stupid right?” was her ticket to saying it without getting into trouble. The problem was that she would say that phrase repeatedly and I would say, “that’s right Makenna, we don’t say that word, now stop saying it!” She would reply, “But mom, I’m just saying we don’t say stupid, I’m not saying stupid.” This little round robin would go on a few times until I had to say with a firm voice to stop telling me we don’t say the word.

She’ll now even inform us if someone in a T.V. show or movie has broken the cardinal rule. So yesterday she was watching one of her after school T.V. programs and they said “STUPENDOUS,” with the “Stu” part drawn out (STuuuPendous). With a gasp Makenna turns to me and says it like they did, exaggerated, and felt that they had said stupid. I tried to explain to her that Stupendous was a word that was okay to say. I then heard, “stuuupendous, stuuuupendous,” and had to chuckle.

You can also see by the picture that we celebrated daddy’s birthday at Grandma and Grandpa Jones house. When his actual birthday came, we happened to have a snow day and it was very difficult for Makenna to wait all day for daddy to come home so she could open up his presents. At least the day off gave me time to wrap them but as she gave them to Chris, she told him what they were prior to her opening them. There went the surprise.

We then celebrated again this past Friday by trying out a new place to eat called Mad Moose,” which was pretty good. They have oven brick pizza, which Makenna had, and BBQ type foods. It’s in a place that we used to go to all the time growing up (in our 20’s) called the Carlton and then L.I.E. When it was the Carlton it was a dance club type place then when it was the L.I.E. it was more of a place to go to hear bands. Chris and I tried to look around and see what they’ve changed and what they’ve kept from our “youth.” We both said we’d go back again sometime.

Gunner & Maddie

2011-02-08T09:58:00.001-05:00

Gunner & Maddie

Put this under one of those “What was I thinking?!??!!” categories. Having puppies has made me appreciate the listening skills of my child.

Now reflecting about why I would torture myself with not just one but two puppies, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve always wanted a puppy growing up and never had one. There was one brief stint in my 20’s when my mom had a dog at the house but I don’t count that as it wasn’t really my responsibility to take care of it and it was more a beast than a dog. It would wrap itself around a tree and then as you came to rescue it from its tangled mess it would magically untangle and jump all over you with it’s muddy prints thus causing you to curse and change your clothes, as it would typically do this trick prior to just leaving for work.

When this opportunity presented itself, going to actually see them in all their cuteness was just overwhelming and I wanted one. Being that we are away from the house for a majority of the day during the week it only made sense to get two. A brother (Gunner as named by Chris,) and his sister (Maddie named by Makenna). Maddie is all black while Gunner has some brown to him.

The mother was a relatively medium dog so we assume they won’t get too big but we don’t know who the father is. We think they’re a mix between a poodle and a Yorkshire terrier and maybe a Schnauzer. They are cute….when they’re sleeping.

When they are out and about, they’ve found that chasing each other around, growling, barking and making each other in pain is what fun is. But even more fun than that is driving me crazy by peeing and pooping everywhere! I keep telling myself it’s a learning curve and that we have to just be diligent in getting them outside. But holy cow! When I came home on Sunday from Church, Chris had already had them out once. I then took them out and within the next hour, they peed and or pooped four more times in the house! I feel like giving friends a stock tip and telling them to invest in Bounty paper towels and Resolve Carpet Cleaner.

Luckily the poop is usually small and easy to pick up with a paper towel and doesn’t leave a mess on the carpet. And yes, we do have newspaper down but they seem to use that when they feel like it. Short of putting a “new carpet” of just newspaper everywhere, we just try and put it in the spots they tend to go to the most.

Plus, I’ve bought them various chew toys and different types of bones to keep them occupied but it seems like everything else but those things are much more fun to chew. I swear I should lose a ton of weight just chasing them around to get them to drop whatever it is they picked up to chew or eat and or to have them stop chewing something. I sit down for five to ten minutes, I hop up to see what it is they’re now chewing on and make rounds inspecting that they haven’t left a mess anywhere.

A lady at the check-out at the grocery store said the best five cents she ever wasted was letting her dogs have a returnable plastic water bottle. I tried it yesterday and she was right! Besides the loud noise it makes as they are attacking and chewing it, it’s a great way to know what they’re doing. When it goes quiet is when I worry.

Maddie is the vicious aggressor. She beats up on her brother all the time. She’s usually the dominant, obstinate female…figures. Gunner is usually the one you hear yipping in pain. He’s usually on the bottom while she’s on top pummeling him into submission. Although he does chase after her and gives it back at times. The cat, who wants nothing to do with either of them, has whipped them into submission and they tend to cower near her. They got into her space about twice and after the second time they see she means business. The only time they tend to get more forceful around her is when they smell her food and realize it’s on the floor for the taking. I’m not sure how bad it is to have them eat cat food but they seem to like it a whole lot more than their own food.

They also are quite the escape artists. We put up a baby gate that we used to have for Makenna in an area in our bathroom so that they have a little room during the day to get out but they either squeeze out through the gaps or they’ve figured out how to climb the thing. They’ve gotten out a few times but we now close our bathroom door so that they can only do damage within that area. Yesterday I came home to find “presents” in our closet that’s attached to the bathroom and has no door. I was not too happy. Today I remembered to give them a chew toy that you put treats into to hopefully keep them busy. We’ll see if we were successful in keeping them contained.

We’ve also taken them for one round of their shots (they had some prior to us getting them). I decided to pick a place close to our house and it was expensive. As Chris and I left the appointment, he was already adding up the cost we’ve spent on the dogs. I don’t want to think about it.

Makenna enjoys them but is confused as to why when she wants to play with them and goes to get them, they run away. Yet, other times when she doesn’t want anything to do with them all they want to do is play with her. She’s helped a few times to take them out but with this cold weather and all the snow and ice she’d rather stay inside. So would I. I knew I never wanted to get dogs in the winter but that’s just how this worked out. We had a couple of snow days last week where Makenna had off of school so I just took off of work thinking it would be better for the dogs too as we hadn’t even had them a week yet and I could get some sort of schedule down with them. I found out I’d rather be at work. I was exhausted by the end of both days. They are so much more work than just having a child. I now see why my parents never had dogs while we were growing up.

It wouldn’t be so bad if they’d just go outside and not in the house. When we take them out, they don’t always go and then it seems shortly after bringing them in, they decide, “oh yeah, I guess I do have to go.” A lot of times they just fight each other outside and go digging around for cat poop or sticks, grass, leaves, etc., to eat.

I think I’m starting to catch on though. I think having free access to food is what’s causing most of our problems. We’d put out their dog dishes during the day while we’re at home and that just fuels their bowels. So I decided last night that after I get home from work, depending on the night and what we have going on, that after our first initial outing to do business, then they can eat/drink and I take them back out in about 20 minutes., then no more food or water until it’s time to go to bed. I was nervous about this thinking that I’d have a mess in their pen in the morning but it seemed to work out well. They were anxious to get out as usual this morning and I got them outside in time. Then I fed them some more and about 30 minutes later they went back out. Then out once more before leaving for work. I do leave what food was left from the morning meal in their pen for the day. So if I get this down, the next trick is to get them to stop escaping their pen during the day.

I’ve been working on getting them to sit and they seem to be getting the picture but once I start to give one a treat for sitting, the other jumps on top of the other to get the treat. One thing I know for sure, is that as soon as Spring comes, dog obedience classes are in store for them…and me.

Snow Angels and Sledding

2011-01-25T11:39:00.007-05:00

Last week provided some snow and weather warm enough to go out and enjoy it.

Part of our snow removal procedure is to shovel off the back deck. Why bother you ask? Well, if we don't our cat uses it as a very large kitty-litter due to her being lazy and most likely cold and wanting to get right back in the house.

So while I was shoveling Makenna decided to make a snow angel. Another thing I'm surprised she knew about and I'm guessing she got from preschool.

Then she decided, for whatever reason, to go in circles on her knees.

There was also a lot of snowball throwing even though it was more like shards of ice throwing as this was the day with the ice storm. You couldn't really get a good compact snowball but that didn't stop her from wanting to throw something at me. I think she feels it's a safe way to throw something at me without any repercussion. Not to mention fun. I also showed her how fun it was to get buried in snow by a shovel full of it.

She also did help shovel by pushing the shovel to the wood slats but that excitement quickly wore out.

So then we decided to go get the paper at the end of the driveway by using the "new" sled that she got for Christmas from grandpa Avery. It was actually a hand-me-down sled that her uncle Brant used to use.

She seemed to like it because I was doing the work and she was sitting and enjoying the ride. She did want to use it down a very small hill (that leads toward the pond) but I said that I wasn't going to the bottom and she'd have to bring it up herself. She decided to go down on her butt instead.

I was telling Chris that we needed to get one of those plastic sleds that can easily be carted around by someone her size. He said that the sled she has is great because she can steer it like her bicycle and it was a "true" sled. I had to remind him that she's four. He feels the plastic sleds are a death trap waiting to happen, to which I agree a bit, but life is not lived until you've flown down a hill in a sled with no control.

Our First "I Don't Love You"

2011-01-19T11:24:00.006-05:00

We had a holiday and a snow day this past week and I was elated. I rather like being at home during the winter as I feel safe and secure and warm.

Makenna and I enjoyed the snow day yesterday by going out and shoveling. I really shoveled, obviously, but she did help push the shovel and then I would lift it and heave the snow. She soon realized that it was more fun to pick up the snow and throw it at me then actually help me to shovel it. Of course, being that it was an ice storm and that she was throwing shards of iced snow at me didn't matter. Plus, I was the one with the shovel-full of snow, as she soon found out. Since we were well bundled and it was actually warm out, we enjoyed playing in it, throwing more snow and making snow (ice) angels and pushing each other down into it.

It was easy to keep busy now that we have the Wii and I broke out the fitness board that has a lot of different games and things to do. She now keeps asking to play mommy's Wii games. There's one where you move side to side and back and forth hitting numbers as you do, to add up to 10. I just let her do it and she eventually gets it to add up correctly. She tried the hula-hoop "game" but doesn't quite have the knack of getting her hips to go in a circle. She is starting to get better at the ski-jump game and did really well at the running game. I figure it's good exercise so it doesn't hurt to have her play them.

She also found the yoga section and it was very entertaining to watch her try to do the yoga poses. She would say, "Mom, look at me, I'm doing it!" To which I would smirk and say, "You certainly are doing something."

The thing with the Wii games is that it is also a powerful punishment tool. On Sunday at church we had an issue with behaving (being nice and sharing with our cousin Katie,) which resulted in a warning of the Wii being taken away for the day if it happened again. As soon as it did, and I swooped in to remove her from the Sacrament Meeting, she was immediately crying and yelling, "Wii, Wii, Wii." Everyone must've though she had to go to the bathroom.

While in the other room (where I take her to talk to her about her behavior and have her sit,) she was again trying to bargain with me about being able to play the Wii later. She even said she wanted to say she was sorry, which I told her was a good idea. So she said sorry but I still enforced the punishment. She was not too happy to hear that so it was our first, "I don't love you mom" comments. It was a bit upsetting to hear but I didn't take it hard. I know it was out of anger and frustration and I knew that given an hour or two away from me (as she was going to primary,) she would be calmed down enough. I was right. She was still upset but in a more calm way and even said, she knew she couldn't play because she broke the rules.

Since then we've had plenty of hugs, laughs, and I love you's - which is my favorite.

I had to close with this picture from grandma's birthday party. Makenna was "partied" out and fell asleep at the restaurant.

As we grow and learn

2011-01-13T13:05:00.009-05:00

Today is my grandmother turns 101. It's truly unbelievable. I didn't think she'd make it to 100 and I'm sure she's just as surprised. She definitely had a hard life growing up in the times that she did and having a "difficult" husband to put it nicely, but she ended up with some grandchildren that love her dearly and now has the ability to enjoy in the great-grandkids, even though she may not always realize who they are or remember their names.

Makenna is really excited that it's great-grandma's birthday as she thinks that there will be lots of presents to open that great-grandma will need help with. She doesn't realize that great-grandma is at the point in her life where family is the best present you could give her and that all other material things are soon forgotten about or not needed. Not that I didn't get her a little something.

Makenna was also anxious to make her a birthday card. Anytime Makenna hears of an opportunity where she can make a card, she jumps at the chance. This girl truly loves doing artwork. She is constantly drawing pictures of people (mostly "Katie" as she will tell you,) along with a rainbow over the person. Now she has a new accomplishment to add...she can write her name.

She, for some time was writing "MAN ANANNAN" We had to convince her that there was a "K" and an "E" in her name and a lot less "N's" and "A's." This past weekend we worked really hard on writing a "K" as she gets easily frustrated but she stuck with it and is now very proudly writing "K"s. Luckily mommy had a great idea for Santa to bring some pre-school workbooks for Christmas and she really enjoys working in them and practicing all her letters. We still have a hard time with "G" and "D" looks more like "P" and our "S" is usually backwards, but we're getting there.

She loves writ ting so much now that she also wants to write "Binghamton" and the street we live on. She's also writing her middle and last names. As we work on writing a letter she'll also tell me what other things start with that letter. For example, as she writes an "S" she'll tell me that "Sarah" and "Snake" start with S.

Plus, because of the pre-school workbooks, have been working on the different coins and what they are. Daddy told her that once she got them all right (penny, nickel, quarter, dime,) that she could take them to school. So she's been practicing and by the third day, got them down. It's amazing to me to watch how much she's learned just this past year (2010,) and now we're only a couple of weeks into 2011 and she's writing her name.

She also started a "sports class" at pre-school that she seems to really love. It's a class that will give her exposure to lots of different types of sports (basketball, hockey, baseball, gymnastics, etc.). Yesterday was the first class and whatever they did, I was told she did very well. I was shocked, but glad, that she picked the class. I gave her an option of T-Ball again, this sports class, or a dance class (which I figured she'd pick,) but she surprised me and immediately said the sports class. Then she asked me every day when her class was, and now she continues to ask me when the next class is.

Her swim lessons started again yesterday and I was even more pleasantly surprised at her progress. They put a swim belt on her with only one float (two is usually what she had on in the past,) and she did really well. I watched her swim out to the instructor with her face under the water and she would lift her head to get her bearings and then put her head back down and swim some more. She did this until she got to the instructor and then turned around and did it again back to the wall. I was just beaming.

The other thing that's getting better is her grasp of vocabulary. Not that she didn't already have a pretty good understanding of it already but now I hear, "Mom!? What are you doing in my room? Get out of my room. Get out, get out, get out!" I was stunned and said, "Listen here girly! You're only 4 - you don't have the right to tell me not to go in your room!"

The privacy in the bathroom has increased even more too. If she needs help, I need to come in only for that moment and then leave again. Last week she went into a public bathroom all by herself as I anxiously stood outside the door. I knew it was only two stalls and no one else was in there prior to me agreeing to let her go by herself. Although we did have one funny incident last Saturday.

We were at the mall in Burlington Coat Factory and she had to go to the bathroom. I took her in and "held" the door closed for her (for what seemed like forever,) as she went. Well, everyone who came in knew she was going and knew that she was going "number two." She was grunting away and you could hear her loud and clear. In between pushing noises, she would be singing or talking. I couldn't help but laugh and smirk and turn my head so as to not look at all the other people that had come in to use the restroom. I'm glad they had a few stalls as people would've been waiting for a long time.

Her grasp of other comments of ours have increased too. I've heard, "this is ridiculous," "oh come on," "that's not right," and "phew" now come out of her mouth quite a bit too. She also pretty much dresses herself all the time now and even argues with me about what she's going to wear. I'm to the point now where I have to ask if it's okay to buy her a particular item of clothing or footwear to make sure that she'll wear it. I really thought this happened a lot later!

It's great to see them grow, learn, and become independent but it happens way too fast! I want my little girl back some days so desperately.

Week after Christmas

2011-01-04T13:11:00.011-05:00

Well as I stated in the previous "Christmas" blog Makenna had the week off from school and Chris and I had off from work. After Monday's get-together for Christmas with my family that left a whole week of trying to entertain a four-year old.

I immediately made plans to have Makenna go over to her cousin Katie and Natalie's one day and for them to come up to our house another day. This worked out well as the next day, Tuesday, Makenna went over to their house for a few hours and this gave Chris and I a chance to watch a movie. Even though we watched one at home, it was nice to have quiet time together. Then when we picked her up, it was off to the Jones' for Uncle Mark's birthday.

On Wednesday, I took Makenna back over to Katie and Natalie's but I stayed too as some girls got together to watch a chick-flick. I really ended up enjoying that time as Makenna decided to take a nap on me. I just got to hold her for over an hour and feel her close. I don't take those moments for granted one bit. I love it and realize too soon it will be over. Not to mention she can barely fit on my lap.

Thursday was the day Katie and Natalie came over to play. That kept her quite busy and when they took a nap, she happily played her Wii. Then later she got what she terms as a "vacation" as she stayed overnight at grandma and grandpa Jones' house while Chris and I went to a party and then to meet up with some friends to play some games. Our one day early New Year's Eve Celebration.

Friday, Chris went to pick her up and took her shopping for a bit so I could get other shopping done and some cleaning done. Then for New Year's Eve we just all watched a movie together ("Coraline" which I DO NOT recommend for small children). This movie was a bit scarier than we realized. But we enjoyed eating popcorn and spending time together. We put her down to bed after 9pm and then just waited for the ball to drop.

So the week went by really quick and I was quite surprised when this past Monday rolled around and I didn't have any grumblings about going back to school. She saved it up for today. Right away, as soon as she walked out of her bedroom she started in about how she didn't want to go to school. I explained to her that she wouldn't be able to play the Wii or watch tv by staying home. Dad had to talk to her some more but she was finally willing to go. Now the next hurdle is getting her to go to gymnastics.

Ever since her Christmas program, she doesn't want to do anything else but "practice" for the show. She doesn't want to just go do her class. I tried to explain that her class prepares her for the next show next year so that she can do more but she's not getting it. I think dance classes come this Spring are definitely in store.

The Monday before Christmas ended up being lots of fun for Chris. He had to stay home with a very sick child. I was getting ready for work when I heard Makenna yelling downstairs. Then I heard Chris respond by yelling back to come down the stairs. About 15 minutes or so had passed and I was done getting ready and I asked Chris if she had come down and he replied that he didn't think so. I went upstairs to find Makenna sitting on the toilet with a handful of vomit in her hands.

I felt so bad for her. I think she was confused as the last time she got sick like this, she was just over two and probably doesn't remember. So she probably had no idea what was happening. She just was sitting there and said, "mom, I got sick." I yelled down through the baby monitor to Chris to come up and help me. We got her undressed, in the shower to wash off and I cleaned up the floor.

Luckily, or unluckily, Chris already had the week off so he stayed home and had to deal with the constant mess. I felt it was only fair as all the other times she's gotten sick like this he was M.I.A. He said that he got her "rhythm down" and knew that about every 40 minutes another surge would happen. So he'd get her sitting up and over the garbage pail. Her aim was still not great so he went through a lot of blankets and towels. But later that day she was feeling great. In fact she started dancing around, and then promptly felt ill again, but luckily didn't get sick. She did get a fever later in the night though. But by Tuesday she was doing fine but we still kept her home from school.

It seems as though her and a lot of other kids from church all got sick on Monday. We think at the Christmas party the Saturday before, they had all picked up something. What a gift! Luckily it ran its course in a very short amount of time and she was fine for Christmas.

Well, thought I'd add a few more pictures below. Most of are a gingerbread house that Chris did 99.9% of himself. I think Makenna helped .1% and I didn't have a hand in it at all. I think it shows his artistic abilities and shows he has a future as an architect:

Another neat gift Makenna got was this big playhouse that she can color herself. She has colored parts of it and daddy colored the roof. We've moved this up to her room now and all her stuffed animals get to sleep in it.

Christmas

2011-01-04T11:56:00.012-05:00

Well, I'm a bit behind due to the holidays. All three of us were "off" from work or school so it kept us fairly busy with no time to blog.

We went to our annual Christmas Eve's Eve party at a friend's house where Chris and I were able to see some old friends that we barely saw all year, if even at all. A lot of people marveled at Makenna and how big she's gotten and one guy, who has never seen her, thought she was in second grade! Heavens! She's tall, but not that tall (is she?). I mostly sat in a chair holding her and trying to get her to fall asleep to no avail. Too much going on and everyone checking to see if she was sleeping yet didn't help. On the way home she told daddy that everyone was too loud for her to fall asleep.

On Christmas Eve, we got to see Grandpa Avery and have a brunch and presents. Makenna got this really awesome Dora fold out couch that's just her size and loves it (you'll see pictures below). She sits on it quite frequently and constantly goes between leaving it a couch or pulling it out to a bed.

Makenna and I went to visit some extended family on my side (my cousin and her family) while daddy went to church services. Then it was home and to bed before Santa came. We made sure to leave out some cookies and milk for Santa to have on his long trip. Before going to bed we talked about little bit about what the day truly was (Jesus' birthday) and she even sang happy birthday Jesus before going to sleep.

Christmas morning, of which I have no pictures of, because I totally forgot and Chris was videotaping, went well. She was so extremely excited to first, see all the presents. She came racing into our room in a giddy tone saying that Santa had come and left presents. She may have also said something about having to go open them immediately but I was still in a sleep-haze and trying to wake up.

Chris then sent her to look at the cookie situation and that was the second thrill she received. She came back still in an excited voice and told us that Santa ate the cookies and milk - not just one but "all of them!" (Which were about 4 if I recall - and I think I ate two of those four). Then she said, "That's not right!"--One of her new sayings lately but quite funny when applied in this situation.

Chris then went and showed her from the window, the reindeer tracks outside in the snow which got her even more excited. After all the distracting, it was time to open up gifts. This was the year to tear through them. I remember last year was more like, open a gift, want to look at it, or play with it immediately and then refocus her on opening another gift. This year it was gift after gift after gift.

In fact, at the end, she looked up a bit disappointed, and said, "I didn't get a Wii." It was then we realized that Santa had magically left a Wii and had kindly set it up ahead of time so that we could play it immediately. All was right with the world again.

Let me tell you how scary it is that she can actually do really well at this Wii thing. There's a sword fighting game that she is really good at. In fact, many times she has beaten me, not including the few times I let her. She's picked up the other games fairly well too. She has beaten me at Ping-Pong and tennis and all I can do is laugh because I'm so shocked. On Sunday we tried boxing and she knocked me out! I was actually trying to win and she did it three times before I was completely out. I think there's something about it being able to pick up her "shorter" stature than mine. She does get frustrated at some games and wants to quit but we insist that she has to finish a game that she's playing with us.

I also tried out the Wii Fit that I got for Christmas and it was definitely a work out! It's been a little over a month since I went to the gym so this past week off, I started gearing back up for it and went downstairs and went on the bike and elliptical machine and then did this Wii workout. Let's just say the machine didn't always pick up on me doing my lunges and would keep me in that position for what seemed like forever and because of it, I was certainly very sore for the next few days. I have a work-out session with my trainer today and I told him to be nice since the Wii kicked my butt!

Later on Christmas day we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Jones' house and had a good meal and more presents. Since they have a Wii, she got to play some more with her cousins and practice up even more.

Monday was the celebration with my side of the family and that's where most of the pictures come from below. With all the days of opening presents, she's having a hard time understanding why she isn't opening up more every day. She kept asking during the week after Christmas and is now resigned to the idea she has to wait for her birthday. But that doesn't stop her from asking when her birthday is, or if every day is her birthday. Hope your Christmas was as fun and family filled as ours!

Great Grandma (who's almost 101) with Makenna and Eli

Picture with Aunt Jessica, Uncle Jared, and Cousin Eli (missing is cousin Abbey)

The "kids" craft table - I like how Walter is part of the kids table

Sitting on her Dora couch with cousin Eli

Now lounging on her Dora couch with cousin Eli

Holiday Pictures that Didn't Make the Cut

2010-12-16T12:46:00.009-05:00

Looking for that "perfect" holiday picture to send out to friends and family - these are some that didn't make the cut. Some you can see why, other's you'll wonder why you won't get them in a card as they are so cute! Well, being a biased mother, I think they're all cute.

I'm Waiting!

2010-12-16T11:43:00.013-05:00

Things are really starting to pick up now that we're getting closer to the holidays. Hardly a day goes by when Makenna isn't asking when Santa is coming.

This week, as usual, has proved to be a busy one. On Saturday I decided to make six dozen cookies for a cookie exchange. Why? Looking back...I have no idea. I certainly did NOT take six dozen back with me. I was grateful to get rid of them.

I decided to employ the services of Makenna. Luckily I didn't have to pay her money, yet, but I had to put up with one comment over and over - "I'm waiting!" She was standing on a chair next to the mixer and while I was reading the directions for the next ingredient or getting the next ingredient measured out, "I'm waiting!" would escape her lips. Imagine this for six recipes, and for some of those recipes, they had multiple steps and/or ingredients. I think I probably said those words in my sleep when I went to bed. Plus, it was said with a sense of frustration of someone who has better things to do with her time and she's trying to be as patient as possible, but her patience is wearing thin.

At one point, she did leave, I think during recipe three and said to contact her the next time eggs needed to be added to a recipe so that she could break them open. Of course the next recipe called for them to be separated so I had to have her break them carefully.

I was thoroughly exhausted after and then we had to get ready to go to Chris's work party at Roberson Museum. It didn't take me long to realize an error of my ways. I should've had her take a nap at some point. She was starting to get into break-down mode prior to leaving.

As I figured, though, she fell asleep on the way and we sat in the car an extra five minutes to let her sleep just a bit longer. This did seem to help as she was in a much better mood. But I think that could have more to do with the pizza she got to eat. She wasn't into looking at all the decorated the trees so much but she went along room to room with us.

We also got her into the planetarium show, which for her, was too long. She was ready to leave about two minutes into the lights being turned off. We told her if she could just be quiet and behave we'd have a surprise for her. I think it was a minute later when the lights came back on and she was asking for her surprise. We took her out and there was a Wii for her to play. She waited patiently for her turn to golf and she actually did really well. The long drives she could really hammer out, but the putting needs work. I can't wait until Christmas when she sees one under the tree. I don't think we'll ever be able to do or play anything else. At least she'll want to come home after school to play it. Now it's like pulling teeth when I tell her we're just going home and have no other plans.

We did get one picture taken which will be in our Christmas cards (I think). Don't hold me to it as it could change.

Monday was my mom's surgery and my brother Jared took her up. The surgery itself went well, but it was from the table to the recovery room that things went wrong. I guess they've now determined that my mom is highly allergic to any opiate type drug. She had already given them a list of drugs that she could not take and now morphine has to be added to the list. They used morphine to put her under and when she was coming-to it caused her heart to do wacky things. The top half started beating faster than the bottom half and they almost had to put her under again and shock her to get it back into normal rhythm. But upon hearing that's what they were going to do she said "NO" and eventually they gave her something else to get it regulated. She had to spend the night in the cardiac unit but she was released the next day.

We were very grateful that she was able to make it through and especially grateful that all the snow that was predicted held off so that Jared could get her up there and Chris could get her back. She's at home now recuperating and says she feels like a truck ran over her. Although she is up and moving around a bit better than before the surgery. Next will be the gall bladder surgery. Probably not for at least a month or so.

Here's some pictures from the weekend at Roberson:

The Good, The Bad, The Update

2010-12-06T14:20:00.008-05:00

The Good:

Makenna was in a gymnastics Christmas program this past weekend. One show Friday night, which she did well; considering all my fears of her sulking with a pouty face out on the floor or breaking down and crying for some reason like she did during the practice rehearsals (of which there were too many and too late at night for kids her age). I couldn't stop beaming and was so proud of how well she did.

She had two more shows on Saturday which Chris had to take her to. He had success with the afternoon show (even though they showed up about 15 minutes late - more on that later,) but I can't say I was too surprised to see him come home early from the evening show.

He came home exasperated saying, "I don't know how you do it." I have found this statement to be a tremendous compliment and a great thing to hear as he realized that managing a pre-schooler and her activities is not an easy thing to do. I guess she stepped down onto something that hurt her foot which sent her into a crying melt-down. Then it caused her to miss some parts of the show that she was in which further created a screaming melt-down with the final result of just leaving early before the show was over. Part of it was probably her being tired and hungry for some real food besides junk food. She woofed down some left over "chicken-love-it" (chicken manicotti) and then went to bed. He also realized his mistake in giving her a Gatorade-which is like sugar crack to a kid. I told him I NEVER give her that and don't understand why parents do at the gym. It's not like their expending so much sweat that they need their electrolytes back in balance. At least not the kids that are Makenna's age.

Then Sunday's show, after much talk and preparation in making sure that she'd have a better performance for her last show, went terrific. In fact they came home after 8pm! I was expecting them back around 6:30 or so, and it was quite a shock when it was much later. I noticed, and so did Chris, that during the performances that she was quite a "leader." She would go out before the other kids, or start to do a somersault before the other kids, and then get up and leave the stage before she was supposed to. It was quite entertaining. In fact, on Friday night, the owner of the gymnastics place, who was also running the performances, said she was quite a performer.

The Bad:

Things with my mom have been deteriorating. There's now more tests being done for different kinds of cancer besides the initial finding. Plus her back and knees are really bothering her too. She at least has a date set prior to Christmas for the first surgery.

I took her up to Syracuse last Tuesday (Nov 30th) and met with the doctor who will be performing the surgery. She said that they can do it by laparoscopic, which is good as the healing time is much faster. But she did go over the normal downsides of surgery and said that there's a 5% chance or less that they'd have to actually cut into her if things start to go wrong or if it's more involved then what they had anticipated. Knowing my mom's luck-let's all start praying that the laparoscopic works. The doctor also said depending, they may have to treat with radiation after but they'll wait the two weeks for the definitive finds of what stage she's in before prescribing that.

As for the back pain, her local doctor has decided that her gall bladder has to come out. No big deal, but that means another surgery. Her doctor doesn't feel her body can handle both surgeries at the same time. which means more time off and more recovery after. Plus a lot of doctor bills and co-pays which has been putting her in the "red" so to say.

Then to top it all off, her car broke down yesterday on the way to church and she needed to get it fixed ASAP as she had doctor's appointments today and another one in Syracuse on Tuesday with the anesthesiologist. So off to Sears she went and I was surprised that the price to fix it was not as bad as I had feared.

I just wish I could take her to her appointment this week to Syracuse and to the surgery next week but I can't. That brings me to the

The Update:

The day after taking mom to Syracuse for her meeting, I had to go to my appointment in Syracuse and have the egg retrieval done. I unfortunately have veins that like "hide" and that are not easy to get to and the nurses and doctors found this out as they were trying to put in an IV for the procedure.

They tried my left arm which hardly anyone ever has any luck with; even when they're just trying to get blood. I tried to get them to go to my right arm but all the blood I've had to give for tests over the past two weeks made them feel that vein was too over-used. Then they started looking at the back of my hand--which I hate! I begged them to try the left arm. So they tried and failed. In comes the next person to try in the back of my hand...fail. In comes the anesthesiologist who flips my hand over (inside of the wrist,) and I begged him not to do it but he was successful and I was in pain.

I was out pretty quickly but then when I woke back up from the procedure, they had decided to do an intra-lipid therapy which they've found to have some success with recurrent failure to implant. It's basically a white looking thick liquid made of egg and soy going through the IV (and burning as it does) for over an hour, adding more fat to my body through an IV.

You would think that they could just recycle the abundance of fat I already have but that was just my wishful thinking. I definitely felt it for the next couple of days. I felt heavy and bloated. I also find myself hungry all the time. Considering that I've had to eliminate all exercise since the Monday before Thanksgiving and being hungry all the time, I don't even want to get on a scale.

Then the next day I had an appointment with a Endocrinologist to get my Thyroid level down. She feels that since I'm on generic meds it's not working in regulating my thyroid. She has prescribed me the "real" stuff but said to finish out the other. She also said it should help with the weight gain I've had since getting on the meds as it's not really regulating my thyroid effectively.

BUT...something interesting was that before my extraction I weighed myself at the doctor's office. Granted I had fasted for over nine hours and had nothing on when I got on the scale, but the next day at the endocrinologists office, after the intra-lipid therapy, with clothes on and some food in me, I was 10 pounds heavier! IN one stinking day! Now I did NOT eat 10 pounds worth of food. So I think that intra-lipid stuff filled me up along with all the fluid from the IV.

The thing that amazed me the most is how God really has looked out for us in more ways then one with this process. When I knew the transfer was coming up, I was asking him repeatedly to let the transfer be today as I wanted to be able to be with Makenna during her shows this past weekend but today turned out to be a snow day and it would've been really difficult for us to get there.

Not only that, but I had made arrangements for Makenna to stay at someones house while we went up to Syracuse on Saturday for the implant. But due to a minor car malfunction, we had to run back home and switch cars which put us behind so we just took her with us. She luckily took a nap in the waiting room with Chris while I had the procedure done. For whatever reason, (of which I think they forgot about me,) they didn't take me in for 2 hours! So it was a good thing she was with us as we raced home and threw on her gymnastics outfit and Chris took her to her show, but she was a bit late.

Luckily I prepped him on Friday night and all day Saturday about what songs she was in and how to handle her between songs. Plus he said other mothers really helped him out. One of those same mothers helped him to realize it was time to leave when she was having her massive break-down Saturday night.

I took off all this week to rest and relax and of course, as I stated above, it's a snow day and Makenna's home with me. But we've been doing well and she took a nap, which gave me a chance to nap. She needed one considering how late she got home, and then we ate dinner and then she got up her usual time. She even asked if she could take two naps.

So we've made it through another week and it will be another week before we have the results of this latest round of IVF. We can only pray that it's in God's will for us to have another as it is ours.

One funny thing from Saturday night was when Chris was explaining to me how she had the break down and he said to her, "Why did you torture me?" She said, very emphatically, "Torture you? I didn't torch you! Why are you saying I torch you?" We both broke out laughing.

I'll close with some pictures:

This is called "webbing" and it's how they had most of the girls' hair for the program. I did not do this as I had no idea how (although I think I can do it now) but more so, there' s no way she'd sit still for me to do this.

In her "angel" costume - if she was only this sweet and innocent all the time

But it's more like this!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T09:47:00.003-05:00

I'm trying to tell myself to stay positive and write a lovely post full of giving thanks. I do have a lot to be grateful for. A wonderful family that I'm close to, a husband who, even in his massively over-protective ways, has the best wishes for me and supports me, and a beautiful little girl who makes me insanely happy even in times of frustration.

I had the opportunity of a lifetime to visit and live in England and see the many sights and wonders it has to offer and I truly miss it at times. I miss the friends I made there and watching my little girl grow up with the friends she made there.

I have a job in this uncertain economy and I have a husband who still has a job and I pray he continues to have a job in this next year. I have the opportunity to send my little girl to a great pre-school that she loves going to, I have a roof over my head, food for my stomach, and I have my health.

Even with all these blessings, God gives us trials and I have a couple on my plate right now that are proving a bit frustrating.

Many know of my struggles with infertility and that through IVF I was able to have Makenna. Not only that, but on our first try which was truly a miracle. Well many, many tries later and we have not had the same success. I seem to be strong through each trial and failure but little by little it eats away at me. I try and be positive and remind myself that many don't have any success and I've received Makenna.

We decided to have one last go around and we were going to start back early in the year (like around April,) but at Chris's insistence, I went to my regular OB/GYN to have them to do some follow-up routine type work to see if there was anything else we were missing. Through some testing, they found that I have hypo-thyroidism. This can cause, among other problems, an inability to have the fertility treatments work. After many weeks of trying to get it regulated and within an acceptable range, we were ready to start again. Then the OB/GYN here suggested an "Implantation Failure Study." We did this extra test figuring that it would help rule out any more reasons why IVF might not work. Those tests all came back fine.

After some more go-arounds with the Fertility office, I was finally able to start shots this month. Then the news yesterday from the doctor's...My thyroid level is way too high. They were still telling me to take the shots and medications and come to their office tomorrow but I don't see the point. Until my thyroid level can come back into normal limits, I don't know if we should continue down this route.

I had to call my OB/GYN here and ask them to up my dosage but they are not really in the endocrinology business and agreed to have me up it but also are going to set me up with an endocrinologist as soon as possible. In some sense I know all this is for my good and it's just teaching me patience of which I am sorely lacking. The OB/GYN here feels that the fertility drugs are probably inhibiting my pituitary gland from doing what it needs to regulate my thyroid so it's like I'm in a catch-22. I guess I just have to wait and see what the fertility doctor says tomorrow and go from there and if I have to wait longer, than so be it.

The other issue is that the dreaded "C" word has hit my family. CANCER. We don't know what stage but the doctor here seems to think that it was caught in the early stages so that the chances of it being anything too serious is most likely minimal - again another blessing I have to hold on to and hope for. The hard thing is that it's my mom. It would be hard regardless of who it hits but I was not prepared for it to be my mom. That's another trip up to Syracuse in less than a week to see what they say. At least I've been able to be comforted that this may be an easy fix, and that's what we're praying for.

Now back to blessings.....Last Sunday at church, Makenna was part of a Thanksgiving program and she had a line to say. But to my surprise, she had many lines to say and singing to do (with other kids). She filled in for other kids that were unable to be there. I was surprised at how well she got up in front of all the congregation and just said her lines with no fear or shyness. I hope that stays with her as she grows and has more opportunities for public speaking.

It's also a blessing to see her personality blossoming. Today, while looking at ads from the paper with daddy, (in trying to get ready for shopping,) she saw an ad for purses. I muttered how she has enough bags (bookbags,) and or purses to last her. Her reply, "I don't have enough purses!" (stated matter-of-factly). All I can say is that who ever is lucky enough to marry this girl better have a closet bigger than Imelda Marcos!

Just Be Quiet Mom!

2010-11-17T13:15:00.003-05:00

Ahh Yes, another wonderful comment now coming from my child's mouth. There's nothing like you talking all nice and calm to your child to help her calm down in a bout of frustration over not being able to draw a face the way she wanted to and have her yell back at you, "Just Be Quiet Mom!"

We obviously had a bit of a stern conversation about the proper way to speak to people, let alone her mother. Not that it has stopped her from saying that, but now she says it in a softer voice; enough to have me hear it but not enough to where she should get in trouble - so she thinks.

Again, I just hear this escalating in the teen years. I'm not sure if I'm the only one who hears their small children say things that immediately project themselves to the future and how it's going to be? Plus I can see a lot of me in her when she gets easily frustrated with things. I think that scares me more. I've really had to adjust my "patience" level.

At least, for the most part, we've had a better week. I did get a report from her school about her development. They check her Gross Motor Skills, her Fine Motor Skills, and her Language Ability.

No surprise here, but she scored above average on her language ability. I could've saved them the trouble and told them that! Or they could just come to my house for a day and see the conversations that take place (like the one above).

As for the other two, she's a bit below her age range, especially in the Gross Motor Skills area, such as running, jumping, etc. This shocks me because of all the different activities she's involved in (swim, gymnastics, T-Ball). Although, they said the same thing last year at her screening. I just assumed last year it was her not listening or paying attention to what was asked of her as being the culprit of a low score but now that it's happened twice, I had to look into it.

I asked both sets of teachers what they felt the issue was with her gross motor skills and both said that she seems a but clumsy. She trips over her feet, doesn't quite kick a ball, etc. One teacher even said that she could be standing against a wall and then the next thing they know she's on the floor and they have no idea why.

I felt like asking, "Does genetics play any part in your grading? Especially the female gene?" "Just look at my mother and myself, we'll tell you we're clumsy." After thinking about it, I guess they're right, she does seem to fall quite a bit but I attribute that to not paying attention to her surroundings and banging into things, or tripping over things, etc. I figured it's a spatial-relation issue - not recognizing her feet in relation to her body. Plus, she's so tall for her age, it could be hard for her to carry around her body. Not that it's freakishly out of proportion or anything but these were just my thoughts. As for kicking a ball...well, that's her parents fault. We don't go around kicking balls very often or encouraging her to, but now that we know there's a foot to ball deficiency we can work on that come Spring.

I like these reports to an extent. I like to see where she's falling short and needs work on but at the same time I feel like a "failing" parent. It makes me think maybe we need a Wii for Christmas and we can work on these things in the Winter (hint, hint..to my husband.)

They did notice a "mature grasp on the pencil" for her fine motor skills. So even though she's just a bit behind I guess all in all she's okay there. This past weekend she was writing her name by herself and got frustrated that she couldn't write the "K." I tried helping her but she just got more frustrated. I was just ecstatic that she wrote her name (in no particular order) all over the paper.

This weekend brought another birthday party, for her Uncle Jared who turned 30. She again was getting a bit miserable after a long day of gymnastics practice for her Christmas program. So during the day, I finally said, "That's it!!! Nap time!" She refused but still went up and promptly fell asleep for two hours. She definitely needed it...so did we! She had a lot of late nights starting last Tuesday and she had to be up late Friday for gymnastics practice too so by Saturday she needed to catch up on much needed sleep.

She at least was more compliant at the practice's. What was funny on Friday night was that during one of the songs, all the little kids come out and do there little thing and then they run off and the bigger kids are running and flipping and out runs Makenna onto the floor! I was stunned and frozen in fear. Another mom started pointing to the director and saying, "little kid! little kid!" and the director turned and saw her on the stage and got her off. At least she thought it was funny and cute. Unfortunately we have that same schedule of practice this Friday and Saturday so I hope we can have good results for that too. By the end of last Saturday's she had, had it and kept asking when we could go. I don't know how she's going to get through all the shows if she can't even put up with the practice!

I can see it now, "Makenna, hurry, get out on the stage, you're supposed to be on the stage!" Her reply, "JUST BE QUIET MOM!"

Four Year Old Hormones

2010-11-10T10:30:00.003-05:00

I don't know if there is such a thing as four-year old hormones - I mean, I'm sure she has hormones, but I picture the teenage hormones when you say the dread "H" word. People this past weekend have assured me that Makenna's fragile break-downs are attributed to her growing and hormones running wild in her.

Okay, well let's hope that does explain the mess she became over the weekend. I went to a spin-class on Saturday morning that my friend was teaching and I came home to a child in crying mode for whatever reason and her father said, "She's been like this for an hour, I don't know what to do or what her problem is." I thought, welcome to a preview of what's to come in about nine years if not sooner.

I tried talking to her to find out what the problem was and she was upset that we weren't at her cousin Katie's party...yet. After trying to console her I resulted to threats of not going to the party if she couldn't compose herself.

One thing she was having an issue with is why she wouldn't be opening up presents. Why it wasn't still her birthday and why she couldn't blow out the candles on the cake. I told her that if she asks Katie nicely that maybe she could help with both but that we wouldn't know that if she didn't calm down enough for us to go to the party to begin with.

We obviously went and Makenna was able to help open the gifts. In fact, Katie who is now three, was not opening them up fast enough for Makenna. She kept telling Katie that there were more gifts to be opened. It was as if she was frustrated that Katie didn't understand she could play with all her gifts later and didn't need to linger over them. There was ripping to be done and by gosh Makenna was going to make sure it was done in a timely matter.

In regards to the candles on the cake, Katie blew out her own candles but Makenna was okay with that and in fact cheered Katie's success in doing it. The next semi-break down was when it was time to go and all we were doing was going home. That was not acceptable. We had to be going somewhere else besides home.

We did go home and we played Chutes & Ladders while daddy did some work outside. Then she was able to go outside and help daddy do a few things so that made her day. I swear the two of them outside together doing things is so cute and warms my heart.

Well then the next breakdown was on Sunday at church. I was sitting in a class and the next thing I knew I had a sobbing child in my lap telling me that she missed me. Now while that's adorable and would make any mother's heart melt, I knew something else was up.

I took her out of the class and sat with her on the couch and tried to find the reason behind this crying jag. Come to find out, she had ripped her scriptures accidentally and even though Aunt Autumn taped them back together, she was still quite upset by the whole ordeal. I was able to show her that they were fine and it was only a blank page that ripped so it was really okay. Once I got her calmed down enough I got her back to her primary class.

People said to me after I returned to class, "Wow that must make you feel good." They were only going off of the "I missed you mommy" comment so they didn't know the whole story. But I mentioned how she's been a mess all weekend and that's when a couple of people told me about how it's probably her hormones. Wonderful.

I wish I could say the rest of Sunday went well but we had an incident at the nursing home. Makenna was trying to climb a bookshelf and there was a teapot set on the top and down it came along with a few books, of which one hit her in the head, and breaking the teapot into pieces.
We brought the teapot set home as Chris thinks he can glue most of it back together again. Makenna kept asking for the rest of the day to help glue it together but it's still sitting on our table waiting for that magical day of it being fixed.

One last "new" thing that Makenna has started now is making up words and then asking me if I can say them. So she'll say, "Mom, this frog is drizzy, can you say drizzy?" Then she waits for me to say her new word. If I don't say it right she'll say, "No..." and repeat the word again. Seems like my words coming out of her body again, except the words I try to get her to repeat are real. Maybe the next word she'll learn is HORMONES.

Halloween Fun?

2010-11-03T11:11:00.014-04:00

Friday at the church they had a trunk-or-treat which just basically means that instead of going door to door for Halloween candy, you go to people's cars. They usually have their trunks decorated and you go up and say the usual, "Trick-or-Treat" and you get candy. The nice thing about this is that it's all compact and in one area and you can be done in about 10 minutes or so. I also thought this was a good thing to do so that if Halloween was too cold, then at least Makenna would get some loot out of the holiday. Unfortunately to Makenna, this is not true trick-or-treating.

We went to the party inside the church and she had fun painting a pumpkin

And getting her face painted

And she loved her Tinkerbell costume

But when it came time for a game similar to musical chairs where you could win a cake--she was not into it. I have to admit I wanted it more than she did as some of the cakes looked scrumptious. It wasn't until the game was almost over, and had to be rigged so she would win and stop crying, that she finally participated and we won some cupcakes. All the good cakes were already taken by that point.

She was obviously in major break-down tired mode. By the time trunk-or-treating came about I went to our car to hand out candy and Chris took her around to the other cars...so I thought. he came back about 15-20 minutes later and said she got about nine pieces of candy of which three were from our car. He said she was so upset that he just had her in his car trying to get her to stop crying and calm down. I hurried and finished handing out what candy I had left and we took her home and to bed.

The next day we took her to a gymnastics practice for a show in December. She was supposed to also be there last night but I wanted her to enjoy the Halloween party - for what that was worth.

Unfortunately the practices are utter chaos and she was just as tired and miserable. I was getting really frustrated with her and with the process. I wanted an agenda of what happens when so that I could tell if she was supposed to out on the floor practicing a routine. As it was, I didn't see any kids from her age group or class there so I thought maybe we weren't supposed to be there. I asked repeatedly and they assured me that yes, she was supposed to be there.

Another problem is that there are so many things going on at once that the people directing the show don't know if every child who is supposed to be out on the floor for a certain piece is really out there so it wasn't until a minute or so into it that I'd be like, "Makenna, I think you're supposed to be out on the floor doing this." Then we'd try to get her out there and she wouldn't want to go. When everyone was off the floor then she'd go out and dance around.

Between not knowing when she should be out on the floor for a routine and her not wanting to when I did figure it out, I was about ready for a melt-down myself. We did end up leaving early because I figured if she's not going to do this then I'm not wasting my time sitting her arguing with her about it.

Later in the afternoon, she decided to dance around some more at home making me think that maybe dance is the way to go and that I should get her into it sooner than I had planned...but I'm not having her give up yet on gymnastics or this program.

Then on Sunday, Halloween Day, Chris's church also decided to have a trunk-or-treat and we got the same results as Friday's--refusal to go to the cars for treats. At least this time she wasn't crying. They didn't really have much in the way of games for her to do and it was all outside so after a while we left and went to her grandma and grandpa Jones' house. They graciously fed us dinner and Makenna had made up her mind to not go trick-or-treating at all. After a long weekend of trying to cajole her into doing it at cars I gave up and gave in and said that she could help her grandparents hand out candy.

The doorbell rang and a kid said, "trick-or-treat" and a spark went off in Makenna who decided that she wanted to go house to house. I said, "Okay, we'll just go down this street and then come back." I was setting my hopes low this time. We got out on the street and there were only a few houses lit up and one was "too scary" for her to go to so she agreed to walk a bit further onto another street. After about the fourth house she would keep asking, "Mom, can we go get some more treats?" Off we went onto different streets around the area. By the end we had a pumpkin bag full and it was a good ending to a bad start.

On a side note, earlier on Sunday, we went and visited my grandmother at the nursing home. They informed us that they were having a Halloween party and that the kids were welcome to come. They also said they were going to have a pinata filled with candy for the kids.

We went to the party and Makenna didn't want to hit the pinata at first as she thought it was going to explode like a firework and make a loud noise. She kept covering her ears as others hit it. Her cousin Eli took his little toy hammer and was lightly hitting the pinata which was hilarious to watch. It was as if he was trying to fix it. After a few hits by other kids, she saw that it wasn't going to be loud and she absolutely loved the candy falling to the floor and the free-for-all that ensued. Luckily they had another pinata and she got into whacking that one.

The funniest part of the weekend though was Makenna's answers to a couple of jokes that were told by staff at the nursing home. This lady was up front telling really bad Halloween jokes to everyone. The lady asked, "What is Dracula's favorite holiday?" Makenna loudly replied, "Ours is Sukkot." This is a Jewish holiday that she learned about at pre-school so when I stopped laughing and composed myself I said, "Wow, I didn't know we were Jewish." Then the lady asked, "Why did the mummy have no friends?" Makenna's reply, "Because he wasn't being a good listener."

Something she accuses me of all the time, and maybe she's right. If I had truly been listening, I would've let these little things go by this weekend without getting so uptight and let things fall into place themselves and probably would've enjoyed the weekend much more.

My Four Year Old

2010-10-27T12:02:00.010-04:00

I was lying in bed last night thinking, "Time truly does fly by." I remember people telling me when I was pregnant or shortly after giving birth that I really need to savor every moment as they grow up so fast. This statement could not be truer than any other statement that I've heard. Well, except for one I was told a very long time ago about how when I got older I would really enjoy sleep--that one is still the most correct statement I've heard.

Today is Makenna's fourth birthday and I can still remember all the joy and happiness that we felt when I was pregnant. In fact, I wish I could be that happy and joyous all the time. What makes me happy now is the smile and laugh of my little girl. I also love hearing her sing songs in the car. I can't get enough of it. Mostly because I love hearing her try to sing on key and say the words she thinks the song is saying. I wish I could write down every word that she sings so that when she's older she could see how she heard the words to songs compared to what they really are. It's really quite entertaining.

I struggle between helping her do things so I feel needed, and making sure she can do them on her own so that she can be independent. I still pick her up and hold her while I can, and for as long as I can, as I know the days are fast approaching that I won't be able to pick her up at all, nor will she want me to.

Every day I try and tell myself I will be a better mother today. Not too overbearing and nit-picky, but not too loose on giving directions and correction. When I do have a behavior to correct, that I will do so in a loving way, not in an angry frustrated way. Let's just say, I'm still working on that.

I tell myself that I will praise her for all her accomplishments so that she will grow up knowing that I pay attention and that I'm proud of her; that she will gain a sense of self-confidence so that when I'm not around she will think to herself, "My mom would be proud."

I hope that this year will be the year that she will take an interest in eating more vegetables and fruit without me having to bribe, threaten or cajole her into it.

I pray for her to be a strong young woman and to not fall away from her church but to rely on it to get her through hard times and struggles that she will face. That she will grow with a strong sense of moral value and truly know that she is a daughter of God who loves her. That she grows knowing that her potential is limitless if she believes in herself.

That is my wish for you my little princess who is now four years of age.

She did wake up this morning saying, "How did I get so big?" To which we had to laugh at because it just seems to happen right before our eyes without us noticing until we look back and see how far she's come.

Here are some pictures from her party that we had this past Saturday and a couple today:

You can see we had a Dora Theme (Here she is with her cousins Katie, Natalie and Stephanie)

She received many, many presents and this year she was
really, really, really excited by opening gifts

Her cousin Eli partied too much - and fell asleep standing up against the couch

Her "Happy Birthday" face today

A couple of gifts we saved for to actually open up on her birthday - TODAY~

Pumpkin Carving

2010-10-20T13:40:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures from Saturday’s pumpkin carving. Chris does the dirty work as he’s got more of a steady hand to do the actual carving.

Makenna helping to scoop out the "guts"

"Boo"

Who's face is scarier?

Swearing is Not an Option

2010-10-20T13:30:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday things got a bit hectic as I was trying to get Makenna ready and out the door for swim lessons, the phone rang and it was my Sister-In-Law telling me that their car was broken down at BCC and could we come and get the 5 of them.

I was torn between wanting to rush to their aid immediately and wanting to finish my task of getting Makenna to swim. I called my husband and asked if he felt he could go help them and he was obviously have a “day” of his own. We agreed that we’d have to switch cars to fit everyone in but since I was coming down right near where he works, we could switch cars and one of us could still take Makenna to swim while the other goes to help those that needed rescuing. Plus, there was a curriculum meeting at her school that Chris was supposed to be going to and this would mean that he wouldn’t make it.

I continue out the door, running late at this point, and what happens? I get behind a slow person on our road. This drives me absolutely bonkers! I tend to get a bit frustrated with people going slow on our road as it is but to add that we were late made me insane. The speed limit for our road is 45 most of the way and this person was maybe doing 35 and if we got to a hill, of which we have a lot, they’d put on their brakes and get down to 30.

I was so anxious that I was leaning forward in my seat, throwing up the fingers (not the ones you think,) showing a “four” then a “five” indicating that is the speed they need to be going. Granted it was raining, but it was not a heavy rain, not one that should cause someone to go as slow as they were.

I’m yelling, sighing, growling, and waving my arms around looking like a maniac and then just laughing as I was so frustrated. Makenna says, “Mom, it’s not funny.” I said, “I know Makenna but I don’t know what else to do but laugh because I’m so frustrated.”

I continue this maniacal ranting and laughing until FINALLY they turn. We get to the bottom of the hill, when I take a moment to call my husband to see if he’s called my family and found out that he had not yet done that. I was now really frustrated. I said, ‘They’re out in the rain for heaven’s sake…call them!~” He explained that he had someone in his office when I first called and was now getting to it.

The light turns green, I hang up and from the back seat I hear, “Come on! Let’s go!” As I look back I see Makenna leaning forward, waving her arms frantically imitating what I had just done for the past 4 plus miles. There was a car in front of us at the light but they had taken off right away and in fact zoomed away so fast that I couldn’t even catch up with them. But yet there she was yelling at them to move it and for me to pass them.

I then started laughing and saying, “Makenna, I can’t even catch them, “they” are going fast. “ “No, mom, pass them!” I tried to explain that the other car was the one that was going slow and this one was fine with me as its way ahead of me and that I needed to get off the exit.

Cut to yesterday as we were on our way home from gymnastics and we got behind a car. “Come on! Move it! Stinkin’ car, pass him mom.” I again reminded myself that it was darn good that I didn’t swear and explained that I can’t pass the car on the particular road we were on and that it was okay as they were at least going the speed limit. When they turned, I then heard, “Oh good, finally they are turning.” Something else I said last Thursday about that other car.

As for my family that night, they were able to get their car started after all, and get home which meant that Chris could go to the parent meeting at Makenna’s school, and we got to swim on time. It all worked out and I got some entertainment and another wake-up-call to be sure to watch everything I do around my little sponge of a daughter.

A Name By Any Other Would be "H"

2010-10-13T13:14:00.000-04:00

I was just thinking last night as I was in bed about how much Makenna has grown in so many ways. It is just amazing to me to look back at her pictures or videos and see how “mature” she is in a sense. I’m really excited to see her learn how to write her letters.

For over a month now she’s been writing the letter “H” on her own. She thinks for some reason that the letter “H” is in her name. This was even confirmed to me by her teachers last week. I took home one of many of her daily art projects and I could tell that at least the “M” for Makenna was done by her. So I asked the teacher, “Did she write all of her name on this?” The teacher replied that she had and I was shocked! Then the teacher explained that they had put the letters down with pencil and she traced them.

This shows you my lack of creativity. I had never thought of doing that. I was always trying to get her to just copy what I did. They then informed me that for some reason she feels she has an “H” in her name, to which I chuckled as I said, “I know and I don’t know why she thinks that.” This whole conversation happened in the morning at her first UPK class. Then later that day when I came to pick her up from her afternoon UPK, I get this little booklet that’s stapled together and says “Makenna’s notebook” (of which her name was clearly not written by her). I open the first page which has a title, “This is how I write my name” and underneath is written “H” – that’s it just “H” – I just laughed. I guess she got her way on that project.

This past holiday weekend was filled, as usual with things to do. I know she’s going on a class trip to the Pumpkin Farm and this time I wanted to “beat” them to it. Since she’ll go to Jackson’s Pumpkin Farm which is not too far away so I decided to go to Iron Kettle Farms which is in Candor. I hadn’t been there in quite a while and to my shock and awe, Chris had never been there –e ver. Nor had he ever heard of it. He was of the assumption that the reason he never went was because it’s a “money-pit.” I do have to say that there are a lot of things to do and of course the more interesting things cost. But we paid out a bit for a hay-ride and corn maze in which we could not figure out and gave up. Of course we realized we weren’t the only ones giving up so we didn’t feel so bad. It was easier to find where we came in then how to get the heck out.

Makenna aptly showing our feelings towards this corn maze

Enjoying the Hay Ride

Just a couple of the many displays

Love the Scenery - I wish the leaves were more vibrant but you get the idea

Trying to find the perfect pumpkin

Success!

I finally also started using the mini hand-held recorder to record Makenna singing. I was also listening back to some of the things I recorded while we were in England and I can definitely hear her accent from back then. It made me yearn yet again to be there and to have her still have that cute accent. I think this is also what had me reminiscing again last night about how quickly she’s growing. This time next year – she’ll be in Kindergarten!

Circus Comes to Town

2010-10-05T11:21:00.000-04:00

I finally got my wish. A telemarketer called on Thursday night and Makenna grabbed the phone and said, “I’ll get it.” I looked at the incoming number and saw that it was a telemarketer number and said, “okay.” The conversation went as follows:

“Hello?”
“Oh hi!” (said with enthusiasm as if she is talking to a long lost friend)
“No he’s at work”
“No she has a headache” (which I did)
“We’re watching Yo Gabba Gabba” (or whatever show it was at the time)
“Hello?” (Looking at the phone with a confused look)
“Hello?”

I asked her to give it to me and found a busy signal on the other end. I felt bad that they hung up on her but at the same time found myself elated that they had to talk to someone who really wanted to talk to them even if they didn’t want to talk to them…as if the tables were turned~

Yes, we attended our first circus with Makenna. It was a Barnum & Bailey circus but it was only one ring and it was more about magic tricks then the circus I remember. Although they did have elephants, lions, birds, dogs, and even cats doing tricks. I was surprised that they could get cats to do tricks but I guess a starving cat will do anything for a treat. I’m conjecturing that the cats were starving, I really have no idea.

We went an hour before the actual show as they allowed people to come and meet some of the performers and “have fun” doing different activities. Makenna wasn’t in to “having fun.” They were trying to get kids to come into the ring and dance and do a hula-hoop and jump rope. She sat clinging to us shaking her head “no.” We told her that was fine, she didn’t have to.

Then we got to our seats and bought a $9 box of popcorn and later a $7 lemonade – yes – they rip you off for every penny you’re worth! The show started and very shortly into it, a cannon noise went off and a firework of sorts went off and that was it – Makenna was ready to leave. She kept asking every few minutes, “Is it time to go?” Chris talked to her and found that she was afraid that the noise and fireworks would go off again without warning. He covered her ears for a while to help ease her fears.

Once we got over that hump, then it was the constant asking for the lions. I was unsure whether there would be any but thank goodness there was. There was still an occasional asking of if it was time to go but she seemed to enjoy it overall and was able to con daddy out of $20 for a souvenir while I was taking a bathroom break. Lesson learned here – don’t go expect to go to the circus and get anything cheap! At least she asked the next day if she could go to the circus again.

I’ve written in the past how she seems to like fast rides at fairs and she confirmed that to me this past Friday when I was taking her to pre-school. She saw a car ahead of me and said, “Mom, pass the car.” I told her I was planning on it and was in the process of doing it. She then told me, “good job mom! I like going fast! Now pass that car.” I told her I couldn’t as I had to merge into traffic to get off the exit. She said, “Oh, okay.” I told her dad this story later and he’s just “thrilled” (sarcastically said obviously).

She has also been in the habit lately of trying to get out to the car early so that she can “drive.” She’s sure to assure me that it’s only pretend driving. This pretend driving leads me to sit in the driver’s seat once I coax her out of it, to find my lights disrupted, my windshield wipers on and all the automatic doors open. But it also reminds me of how she used to do this all the time in England when she was younger.

She also wants to make sure that I let her close the automatic doors. She has a handle near her car seat that she can push and it will close. I warned her a week ago not to put her hands near the back end of the door so that when it closes she doesn’t get her hand caught in the door. I told her it would hurt really bad and crush her fingers. Yesterday, she got to experience what I told her about.

She had closed the door and unbeknownst to me until I heard the screams she had put her hand back there. I quickly fumbled to press the button to open the door and was scared and angry all at the same time. I got out of my seat and went over to her and looked at her hand which was red and a little purple in some spots. I felt it to see if I could feel any bones out of place and then asked her to make a fist.

As she was doing it, she was saying, “I can’t!” I was debated whether to take her over to her doctor’s or not but felt that if she could make a fist without any louder screams then was already coming out, then she was okay. I kept checking on her hand for the rest of the night and she was okay. She even said it was all better and this morning she tried to do a handstand so I figure all is okay.

I asked her last night, “What did we learn from this?” She agreed that putting her hand back there was not ever going to happen again. I also tried to reinforce that listening to mommy and all her silly warnings may also be a good thing.

She also started her new Pre-school class in the afternoons yesterday and the teachers said it went fine and she seemed to really like it too. I could tell she was pretty tired though. She was upset and confused as to why she couldn’t go back there again this morning. I had to explain she would go back, just after lunch but that she’d still go to her other class that she had been going to in the mornings and then her new class.

One good thing I saw already was that she drew an “M” on one of her papers. This is an accomplishment as I’ve been trying to get her to draw an “m” for Makenna instead of all the “H’s” she seems to be drawing like mad. I’m trying to convince myself that she was supposed to be called Makenna and not something with an “H” contrary to all her scribbling of them everywhere.

Okay Mudder

2010-10-05T11:16:00.001-04:00

We made it through the first week of pre-school without too many hiccups. She definitely can be a bit grouchy and irritable by the time her bedtime comes around when she’s had no nap but I try and remember this as she’s sternly telling me no or whining about this or that.

The one thing she doesn’t understand is why she has to go to bed when it’s not dark out. I explain to her that by the time we get through our routine, it will be dark. I also tell her that since she's had no nap means going to bed earlier. Of course, going to bed earlier also means more trips out of her bedroom during the night.

One night last week I think it was a total of four times out of bed and only one of them was really a plausible excuse of having to go to the bathroom. So ever since then, Chris and I stress that the only reason she should be getting out of bed is to go to the bathroom. She’s adhered to that pretty well. Although the other night she gave me a fright as I was watching TV and then all of a sudden I looked up and saw her sitting on the landing and I have no idea how long she’d been there.

To adjust to her schedule, Chris had to make changes in his too. He now gets up earlier and then gets her up and fed. While he’s showering, I get things ready to go and then when he's done getting ready, he gets her up and fed while I’m showering and getting ready. I like this routine as she’s much more agreeable to get up for him than she is for me. I then take back over as he leaves for work and finish the breakfast and get her ready for pre-school. Chris is then usually able to come home a bit earlier from work to spend some time with her at night before bedtime.

Of course, weekends are up for grabs as to whether she’ll have a nap or not. I planned on her having one this past Saturday but she had other plans and we just put her to bed early. Then on Sunday, I figured she’d get by without a nap but after spending time at church and then at my mom’s house, she promptly fell asleep on the way home. Chris brought her in to the house and she slept on the couch for another hour to two hours.

She started another swim class on Thursday nights so I bring her PJ’s and toothbrush so that we can get ready for bed after swim in case she decides to fall asleep on the way home. Another mother saw my ingeniousness and said that it was a good idea. Score one for me! Of course, Makenna stayed awake all the way home. Well, at least I was prepared.

I’ve also confirmed that Makenna really enjoys the company of older men. She always seems to gravitate towards men – whether it be wanting to sit on her uncle’s laps, or talking to them on the phone (asking to talk to grandpa instead of grandma,) or her after-care teacher. After pre-school she goes to drop-in and a couple days a week an older gentleman named “Geo” watches her.

She came home one day with a small stuffed toy and I asked where she got it and she said, “Geo gave it to me.” I assumed Geo was some kid and that she had absconded with this kids toy. So the next day we took it back and I couldn’t figure out who Geo was. So then another day when I picked her up, she said his name and then I realized that the toy had come from the classroom where she had been playing.

Well, twice now this Geo has told me how she doesn’t take any crap from the boys. He told me last week that one of the boys hit her, in the face, and he was going to step in but just as he was about to, Makenna hauled off and hit the kid back – three times! He felt it was appropriate for the kid to see that retaliation was just punishment in this case and then he said he took them both aside and talked to them. Then yesterday, he again told me how she doesn’t let the boys get to her. I was proud of this but also concerned – mostly for her cousin Eli. I think that’s why she has confidence in standing her ground is because she knows she can boss around her cousin, for now, and get away with it so she expects all boys to react this way. When they don’t – I hear about it.

Now on to other news…as you can see by this picture, Makenna helped her dad to mow the lawn. She really enjoyed it but it had to be cut short as one of the ear plugs she had in fell out.

Also, we have a new saying, which I quite like which is, “okay mudder (mother).” I’m not sure why it’s mudder but since the tone is one of acceptance and compliance – I don’t really care to correct her. I’ll take what I can get. “Makenna, time to come brush your teeth.” “Okay mudder.”

It’s better than the drama queen, whining, and yelling that usually occurs. If she falls or feels someone has just slightly touched her, it can turn into a whining free-for-all and that she’s “bleeding” and needs a plaster. Or it can be a yell-fest. She’ll even yell this at herself, or the body part, that has done her wrong. “Ouch finger, that was not nice..say you’re sorry!”

She’s also picked up singing again in the car which I absolutely love. I need to try and get that mini-recorder we had to tape her. What’s being sung and the words she uses are typically two different things and I find it so amusing. For instance, she really likes the song “Rubber Ducky.” Some of her lyrics.. Rubber Ducky when I squeeze you, you make toys (instead of noise), or “in the shovey” (instead of tubby or chubby). There’s other things too but that’s been the latest.

One last thing, more as a word of warning for anyone that calls us. She now knows how to answer the phone and does so often. When she feels the conversation is done, she’ll hang up – regardless of who you really wanted to speak to or if your conversation with her was done or not. The other day, someone called and she answered the phone. Then I heard her say, “oh hi!” as if she knew the person and she proceeded to tell them about how she was going to swim lessons and a few other things. Then she was going to hang up and I was saying, “wait, wait, who is it?” She said, “I don’t know.” I said ask them who it is, “Who is this?” She then told me a name I couldn’t understand and I had to pry the phone from her fingers before she hung up. It turned out to be someone for Chris. On other phone calls she has just hung up before I could get to the phone. I’m hoping one of the times she answers it’s a telemarketer.

Getting Kicked In The Head Leads To Changes

2010-09-30T11:07:00.000-04:00

I really need to keep a voice recorder or notebook with me as I constantly think of things that Makenna has said in the past that I want to write down to have her read as she’s older and see what a “pip” she is.

Back on Sunday September 19th, I was trying to get Makenna to the table to eat her breakfast after she had powered on my laptop. Me: “Makenna, come to the table to eat.” Makenna: “Mom, I’m trying to check my e-mo (e-mail).” Me: “You don’t get E-mo, now get over here and eat!” Her, begrudgingly coming to the table with a huge sigh as if I’m totally uncool and don’t get it.

Then while at church, the closing song was “Praise to the Man” and it was the first time I heard her sing along to a hymn, in her own words. When it was done she started clapping loudly and saying, “Yeah!” I quickly covered her mouth and she said, “What? I was just saying ‘yeah’.” I recall when I was younger I used to wonder why no one clapped after songs too, so it was funny to see her really do this.

Then last Sunday, September 26th, on the way home she was talking about all the animals that God created and she ended it by saying, “Mom, God has a great job.” I thought that was so cute. I love the innocence and thought process she goes through and wonder as she reads the Old Testament, will she still see God as having a great job?

On Tuesday, September 28th, I was bringing her home from pre-school and said to her as she got out of the car, “Makenna, I have a surprise for you.” She replied nonchalantly – “A pony?” I said, “Ummm, No.” Then after some thought I asked her, “Do you want a pony?” She replied, “No.” I was relieved at that. Not that I’d get her one even if she wanted one. I was happy that she was excited by the actual surprise of a knitted hat and headband (not done by me). She was wishing for snow to come at that moment so she could throw snowballs.

Later that night when I was trying to get her off the couch to go to gymnastics, she said, “Are you trying to make me mad?” I chuckled, and said, “No, I’m trying to get you out the door to gymnastics.” She just sighed and came to the car. I must sigh a lot without realizing it.

The biggest change coming next week is that she will now also be in a Pre-K class in the afternoons. Currently after Pre-K in the morning she goes to lunch and then to a “drop-in” where it’s unstructured and a “free-for-all” as they put it. It’s supervised but an issue arose on Tuesday where another friend of hers kicked her in the face. I’m not sure why this occurred but I guessed that Makenna was lying down and the little boy came over for whatever reason and kicked her just below the left eye. She’s had some run-ins with this boy on occasion but usually holds her ground.

Then yesterday they called me in to the office and suggested that for the price I pay for drop-in that they have a slot available in their afternoon pre-k and she could just go there instead. I agreed but I’m afraid it’s going to make her even more tired. I think they feel this is a solution to the issue which is fine because this is a different Pre-K class and it will hopefully make her even more ready for school and it also gives her another swim time and gym time.

On Monday, I had just signed her up for an eight week T-Ball class on Friday’s. They would pick her up from the drop-in and then take her to the T-ball class and then back to the drop-in after as it’s only about an hour and a half. So now they’ll just pick her up from her afternoon pre-k class.

She’s taken an interest in T-ball from going to her grandparents’ house. She loves going and getting the whiffle ball and bat out and whacking at it. We visited last week and found out they had bought a little “t-ball” set and she loved it and kept asking to go back to their house. So when I saw this class being offered I figured this will give her a chance to play it and learn more about it.

Sometimes I feel like I’m making her do too much, with swim, gymnastics, now T-ball and two pre-k classes. I was also thinking about enrolling her in dance but not until next spring. I figure by the time she’s five, she can better choose what she may want to do still or not do. I want her to have the opportunity to try different things but not overload her, or me – the taxi.

I Want My House to Be Like Sam's Club

2010-09-22T19:47:00.000-04:00

Now most of you who know us would probably say, isn't most of your belongings (clothes, food, electronics, etc.) already from Sam's club, so in essence, isn't your house Sam's club? True as that thought may be there is one thing I've realized I'm missing...little tasting stations.

I took Makenna on Monday to Sam's club to pick up some things and we tried some of the things as the different food stations. She did not hesitate once to try anything they had to offer. If you know Makenna, or have talked to me, you may know, that she is a picky eater. To see her not hesitate and eat a piece of chicken cooked in some spices, Talapia (fish), pizza (no stretch there,) and a Cliff Bar was amazing to me.

Especially the fish - since I don't eat it - I don't make it. But I'm all for having her like it. I almost bought some just to make it and have her eat it. Every once in a while, when we lived in England, Chris would get fish and chips and we'd get her to eat a bit of it with the the "It's chicken" statement. I might still go back and get some. I'll eat something else that night.

This was the second time she's eaten what was given to her at Sam's Club. At home I get an immediate, "I don't like that" (even when she hasn't tried it,) or a very firm "No." So tonight, when she wanted to eat a crouton - just a crouton, I told her that she had to eat a bite of cucumber. She said, "No! I don't like that," and she flicked it away with her hand. She even agreed to no crouton. Then I told her, "Pretend it's Sam's Club." That didn't work.

Maybe I'll just have to start paying people at Sam's Club to serve her vegetables on the side.

First Official Day

2010-09-13T20:45:00.000-04:00

Today Makenna officially started pre-school. She still goes to the Jewish Community Center but now instead of being in their Early Childhood Center, she's in their pre-K class. After class is done, since I'm still at work, she goes to what's called "drop-in."

This also starts the official end of naps during the week. I have a feeling weekends are still going to be nap-filled until she can really adjust without one. As I predicted, she fell right asleep on the way home. Of course, taking her swimming after picking her up probably helped speed up the process of her passing out. If it wasn't for her seat belt holding her in, she would've toppled right over onto the floor. I didn't know it was humanly possible to fold in half at the side but she seems to have mastered it.

This also now means a change in her bedtime routine. Usually we'd start to get her ready around 8:30pm and now I have to move it to around 7pm. This then means that dad, if he wants to see and spend time with her, has to come home earlier. Not that he'll be able to every night but so far, tonight, he was able to get home and eat dinner with us and then put her up to bed. This then also means, more free time at night. So far it's a bit strange as I keep looking at the clock figuring I should get myself off to bed but it's still early.

She seemed to like her class so far. I was nervous that I was going to have issues dropping her off to her new teachers, Jean and Dusty, but I think she had most likely met them several times previously so she at least knew who they were. She did request that we go in to her old class to say hello to her old teachers Rachel and Karen. "Mom, let's just stop in and say hi." I agreed and she was willing to then go off to her new class.

Since I don't see her teachers when I pick her up, I don't get the daily "attitude" report. So I guess I'll have to ask the next morning how she did and if there was back-talk or yelling that we have to address. In her previous class I would get these reports and then we'd talk about how we could better improve on the way home.

Her new back-talk comment, to me, has been - "stop it." Today at least came with a please, "Mom, stop it please." This was still said in an exasperated voice as though I had embarrassed her in front of her teenage friends and she's now mortified at my presence. I firmly told her that although I appreciate the please, the "stop it" comments have to "stop."

She was also following up the comment with, "You just told me three times." In my mind I was thinking three times was the minimum I was telling her things. Today's "three times" comment was mostly about coming closer to me so I could help her finish getting dress after swimming. So telling her something repeatedly was happening and then she'd tell me to stop it and that I had told her three times, in her exasperated tone. I realized that part of this was due to her being tired so I cut her some slack but for the most part, I told her tired or not, that's not how she talks to me. Plus, even though I have told her something three times, until she responds in the manner I'm expecting, I will repeat myself and the way she can remedy that is to respond appropriately on the first request.

I know I talk to her in an adult like manner at times, and then I wonder why I'm so shocked when she uses a vocabulary word in its appropriate context. The other day she said, "now it's ruined." I'm sure I've said this word to her but I was surprised she picked it up and used it correctly back to me.

More I realize through her actions and words how quickly she's growing up and I'm just not ready!

Fairs

2010-09-07T14:03:00.001-04:00

This past weekend, being the last holiday weekend before school starts was about “fairs” for our family of three.

We decided to take Makenna to the NYS Fair in Syracuse and for the most part it went well. She was a bit crabby here and there due to lack of a nap but she really enjoyed the various rides she could go on. She enjoyed this very lame, slow cow ride and wanted to go on it again and again. We limited her to one ride - for our sakes - although it was free so I don't know why we did that?!

She went through a bounce house and along the line got stuck somewhere and I could hear her crying in the distance. I asked the guy to go check on her and sure enough he found her and brought my tearful child to me. The guy said that she had gotten stuck somewhere and turned around and started coming back. Luckily a mother knows her child’s cry.

All three of us enjoyed a Ferris wheel ride that was in more of a round container than a chair with a bar holding you in. It was also nice because it was so hot and humid on Friday that being up in the air gave us a really nice breeze to cool off with.

She also went on a roller coaster, for kids, but this one was actually a bit faster and it had her go up a small incline and down so we were nervous about how she would be with that. As she came around from her first trip I heard Chris say to her, “oh honey, it’s going to be okay.” I said to him, she’s screaming with glee not fright. She really enjoyed it. Not only that but she ran right up to the front to get in the first car. Unfortunately, some other kids had already gotten there so she had to take the second car.

We also looked at the pigs and cows and chickens that they had displayed from the various people bringing them to be judged. I never knew there were so many varieties of chickens. We got stuck watching the ducks and had to pry Makenna away from them. She’s seen so many ducks in her short life span I don’t know why they’re such a huge fascination.

We got the obligatory chocolate milk, which Makenna didn’t want but it was pretty refreshing and tasty. We also sampled some cheese, had a horrible and expensive lunch and a pretty tasty ice cream.

We’ve decided that fairs are all about how much money you can spend on silly stuff. But that didn’t stop us from going to our local JC Field Days which is an end of the Summer ritual. Last night it seemed like everyone from New York was there – it was packed, even more than the NYS Fair.

There was more rides to go on and Makenna went on another roller coaster which was not as “elaborate” as the one at the NYS Fair but for some reason a lot more scary for her. I think because this one jerked her around a bit that she didn’t like it. The first time around she seemed okay but by the second pass we could see the fear and pout on her lips. When it finally came to a stop the tears came out. I felt like a mean mom as all the parents looked at us as if “who would put there small child on such a ride?” We soothed her with other rides more her speed and somehow got out of there without buying anything else.

She also talked about seeing the fireworks for a bit but when they came out, loud and banging, she was not a fan. She covered her ears and we helped cover her ears some more. We had to hold her and both of our backs are sore today because of it.

As for the rest of the weekend it was spent with family at our cottage. It was also a practice run for next week when she officially starts a no-nap preschool day. It showed us that we are not ready for the grumpy, whiney child that ensues with no nap. It also confirmed that she will be going to bed earlier than she does now.

There was a lot of fighting and arguing with her cousins and in one instance in particular, she was trying to take a nap, according to her, when her cousin Katie wouldn’t stop looking at her. Later when I tried to talk to her about it on the way home she said, “Well, I was trying to take a nap and Katie was bothering me.” I said to her, “maybe you could say in a nicer voice to Katie that you were trying to take a nap, could she please leave you alone?” She replied in an exasperated, irritated with your mother voice, “Fine, fine, fine.”

There was also a lot of yelling at me and others to “Stop it.” So now we have a new “swear words” of sorts to punish her with. I know we say it quite a bit to her so it’s only natural for her to say it back. It’s still the whole who’s the boss scenario being played out.

Needless to say there were a lot of time outs this weekend for yelling at us, talking back to us and general behavior issues. We’re still practicing on putting her in time-out just after one warning it just seems so time consuming.

If we as parents could just remember to punish her with words such as “yes I’ll do that willingly,” or “sure I’d love to,” or “anything you ask I’ll do,” instead of “stop it,” “calm down,” “knock it off,” I think we’d have a much more compliant child and one who’d yell at us in phrases we’d love to hear.

Another Night time debacle

2010-09-07T13:52:00.001-04:00

A few nights ago (back on Thursday 9/2) Makenna decided to make four trips to our room in the middle of the night. Needless to say we were not too happy. Only one was really an acceptable reason of having to go to the bathroom.

The other three had to do with her blanket. She refuses to believe that she is old enough and big enough to pull up the heavy hot blanket to cover herself back up. She also has decided that she has to be tucked up tight as a sardine in said blanket. So before we say our good nights we be sure to tuck her blanket in to all sides of her mattress to make it tight fitting around her. She’ll even test that it’s up to standard by pushing her feet to the sides to make sure that they don’t poke out and show our bad skills of tucking. I just tell her to pull her feet back in under the blanket and she won’t have an issue but this is not acceptable to her.

This whole tucking thing makes me nervous anyways because if a fire came along I envision her being bound to tight to the bed from her blanket, unable to get out. But I guess I’m wrong as shown by her frequent trips that night.

We were quite upset and frustrated and my solution was to move up to the next size bed. This is really a crib bed converted into a day bed at this point. The next morning, Chris decided to take a big sheet and fold it over twice and tuck that around the mattress and then put the blanket over the top of that. This seems to have worked…so far. Of course, last night she came down again but she had gotten out to go the bathroom, which she did on her own, but then needed someone to wrap her back up like a sausage in her sheets.

I swear I have the only child I know who gets worse in sleeping habits as they get older instead of better.

Family Reunion and Other Tidbits

2010-09-07T13:49:00.000-04:00

We went to the family reunion held in Niagara Falls this past weekend and it was a nice sunny, hot day which lent perfectly to Makenna enjoying the pool all afternoon. Since she barely slept on the way up I was incredibly nervous about how she would be attitude-wise but with the pool to distract her from any grumpiness – she was completely fine. Plus she had her cousins Brittanie and Stephanie to help keep her occupied in the pool while I mingled and talked with relatives and had way too much food.

I was also surprised when she didn’t immediately crash in the car on the way to the hotel. She actually stayed up and waited for me to turn off the light. I keep forgetting my little book light so that I can read so I had to cut my usual reading time way down so that she could sleep. I guess I should be glad that she’s not afraid of the dark and actually prefers no lights on when she sleeps.

An unwilling Makenna

I also wish she was a bit better behaved at the falls. After attending a morning church session where Chris’s dad was preaching (they had gotten married at the church 50 years ago in Niagara Falls,) we went to a relative’s house to change and grab a quick bite to eat. Then we were off to a Crocs store.

The moment I heard about the store I had to go. I realize some people think their ugly shoes but they are so darn comfortable. The only bad thing is that I have stumbled in tripped and even slipped in them but I lend that to my clumsiness more than the shoe.

The store definitely had some of the newer style shoe and not just the boat-looking shoe. The hard part to swallow was the prices. I looked at the discounted shoes which were anywhere from $5.00 - $30.00 but all they had was size 12. So off to the regular priced shoe and I couldn’t bring myself to buy another pair like I already have as they are still wearable, even if the bottoms have no tread any longer. So I opted for a sandal type shoe which I can wear to work and have done so about three days so far. And Yes…they are comfortable and somewhat stylish.

I also wanted to get Makenna a pair but considering it would be just as much as my shoes and again, no size in the sale rack would fit her, she had to go without. I thought I had found a cute pair of Winnie the Pooh ones but then realized they were close to $30 and I just can’t spend that much on a shoe that she’s going to outgrow in a few months.

So off to the falls we went and that’s when all her tiredness kicked in. We only stayed for about an hour and a half and that last half hour was eating an ice cream, or in her case, wearing one.

She seemed to like looking at them but couldn’t grasp why it was called Niagara Falls. The fall part kept tripping her up. She wanted to go on the other side of the railing and all I could picture was her falling all the way down and my heart just kept sinking. So it was probably a good thing we only stayed for an hour.

She was arguing with us in the car about how she wasn’t tired and in less than two minutes, she was sleeping. Good thing, she needed it!

The rest of this week has been our usual ups and downs but on Tuesday we enjoyed going to the CFJ Park again to ride the carousel horses and enjoy the spray park. It was definitely a day to go as it was so darn hot and I enjoyed watching her run around and getting wet. I even got in on it myself a little bit.

She shocked me yet again as I was changing her from her swim suit into her clothes again so that she could ride the horses again when she pointed out Wal-Mart to me. She said, “Hey mom, look, it’s Wal-Mart.” My immediate response was, “How do you know that!?”

It’s not a store that I frequent very often and I think I can recall taking her once before we left for England and once again before she was three. Maybe I took her there recently but I honestly don’t recall and it’s not a store we talk about since we don’t really go. I’m flabbergasted at how she knows that store is Wal-Mart. The only thing I can think of his maybe ads on the TV between her shows but I really am not sure. This doesn’t bode well for when she grows up and sees ads on TV of things she “must” have.

We also still have an attitude problem a lot of days and last night brought it to light once again why…”Mom, you’re not the boss!~ I’m the boss!” This just frustrates me to no end. I have to realize she’s exerting her independence but somehow she has to get it through her head that, that’s just not the case.

I know one way to help this is to try and be more firm in our discipline. I was so happy with my mom’s advice but then I have been slipping on it in a lot of instances. I even found myself counting to three this past week and Chris yelled up to me, “I thought we weren’t counting to three anymore.” That helped….Not!

So as hard as it is, I just have to be firm and not give three or more chances to get her to do something or stop doing something. Now on to practice it.

Planet Mickey Mouse and Viagra Falls

2010-08-27T22:36:00.000-04:00

Today had quite an interesting "flair" to it. In the morning, Makenna decided to take my IPOD which I'm always leery about and put it in her backpack. I told her I didn't really want it there but she said, "wait mommy, listen....I'll put it in my backpack, take it to the car and when we get there you can say "please" and I'll give it to you....okay?"

I reluctantly agreed. A few minutes later she decided to add another little trinket to her backpack and at that time I asked for my IPOD. She said, "You need to say please." "Please?!" "Okay mom, here you go, see wasn't that easy?" Easy, I thought, to hear myself coming out of your mouth? Not always easy, but usually amusing.

On the way to preschool I heard her talking about the planets and she started to name a few. I wasn't sure if she got this from preschool or if she got it from reading some of her books or cartoons. Either way I decided to go with it and we listed off all the planets (although I had a hard time remembering Mars was a planet and not a candy bar) and I still counted Pluto as a planet - I dont' care what they say. She got pretty good at naming them except Uranus sounds more like "your-eeee-aaahhhs." Plus, when I asked her later what her favorite planet was she decided Uranus was it - of course she picks a funny sounding one that has way too many jokes to go with it, but I digress.

When I picked her up later from preschool I decided to keep rolling with the whole planet thing so we started talking about them again. She then added Planet Mickey Mouse to go along with planet Pluto. I told her there wasn't such a planet and she wanted to know why. I have to admit I was kind of stumped with that one. She also added "space" and "planet" as planets. Those were easier to explain as to why they were not planets.

It was also cute to watch her tell her friends goodbye for the day after I picked her up. She was yelling their names and saying goodbye. Two of them (Aloina and James) came up to the fence and she told them goodbye and that she was going on waycation (vacation) and would see them next week. She stated it like she was informing them as if, "don't worry, I'll be back and all will be alright," kind of tone.

The last thing was as I was putting her to bed talking about the vacation we are taking. She asked, "Where we going mom?" I told her Niagara Falls. She said, "Viagara falls?" I said, "yup" and we'll have a grand ole time!

Night Time Crisis

2010-08-25T21:50:00.000-04:00

Makenna has just come across a new reason to get out of bed shortly after we put her down…her fingernails. For the past two nights she’d get out of bed around five minutes after putting her down to have a fingernail cut. Somehow it’s keeping her up and she’s unable to sleep.

I got smart and cut them all last night. I can’t imagine that she’ll come back at me that her toenails will now keep her up but I wouldn’t be surprised either. She’s usually pretty good about going to bed, and usually staying in bed, but lately she’s been on this kick of needing to be covered up again. Even if it’s only been five to ten minutes since we last covered her up. She’s even gotten up in the middle of the night, come downstairs, in the dark, to inform us that she’s uncovered.

We’ve taught her how to cover herself up but it doesn’t seem to hold water in her opinion. Anymore I let Chris handle all night time crisis. He’s able to get right back into bed and sleep. I on the other hand start thinking about how much time is left before I have to get up, all the things that I have to do in the morning, how I can’t seem to fall asleep like Chris and the list goes on.

Plus with her needing to go potty in the middle of the night, I’m not sure if I’m in for a marathon poop session or if it’s just a quick trip to pee and I’m not willing to find out. I figure it’s quality time with daddy anyways.

Hopefully this explains her grumpiness this morning in trying to wake her up. She was not willing to get up unless daddy came up to get her and I wasn't willing to wait that long. I then had to go down and wake up my "second child" who was not to happy about how I woke him up. I apologized and expressed my frustration. I went back up to get my youngest child and told her in no uncertain terms were we waiting for her daddy to get her up. This prompted shouts of "just leave me alone" and other unacceptable comments.

Off to the naughty step we went. The rest of the morning went better after this initial hiccup. She had a good day at pre-school and did fairly well at gymnastics. Unfortunately the "mouth" came back as we left gymnastics so she lost all the pennies she had earned for the day. We started giving her pennies for her piggy bank as a reward for being a good listener at pre-school and any time she is exceptional.

I figured I'd roll that reward over into gymnastics in trying to keep her focused. I told her for every section that she does well in (meaning stays on task and pays attention and doesn't start fighting or arguing with the other kids,) then she'd earn a penny. I planned on giving her the pennies until we started leaving and she again started being mouthy. I had just told her that if she talked back to me again she was going to lose them and about a minute later she mouthed off - so she lost them. She wasn't happy but accepting.

It was cute to later hear her say, as she was going to the bathroom, "Mom, leave me alone!" I stayed back out of the room and then I heard her yell "Mom?" Kind of like, a "where are you mom?" type yell. So here she tells me to go away and then in the next breath she's yelling to see where I'm at. Funny.

I forgot to mention that we got a letter from my brother Brant and unfortunately he had to return a couple of pictures that Makenna had made for him because of the sticky stuff that Makenna had put on it. I thought this might happen. Makenna's reaction was funny. She said, in regards to Brant being in trouble, "Mom?, can he say he's sorry?" If all of life's answers were just as easy as that.

Reminiscing

2010-08-24T13:36:00.000-04:00

This weekend seemed to be a lot about reminiscing. Friday was fraught with a lot of things to get done and not enough time. On top of a party for Chris’s work (which was really nice and had lots of yummy food,) we had to get ready for his parent’s 50th Wedding Anniversary Party.

I met a lady from our church (L. Smith) to decorate the church that Chris attends. She had all these great ideas for decorating and they came out great. One was to have Chris’s parents come up with some pictures to put on the tables for people to look at. This would be overlaid with a clear tablecloth so that people could still sit and eat and look at the pictures.

The funny thing is that Chris’s parents took to this task and provided us with way too many pictures. We still put about 90 percent of them on the tables though. It was neat to look back at pictures at even myself through the years that they had stock-piled. Joan also had her original wedding dress, shoes and some other nostalgic items. She even had the dress she was engaged in. I have no clue what I was wearing on that day, but the reason she remembers, from what I was told by someone else, is that she was engaged at her prom. That also expalined the fancy dress.

Another neat thing is their granddaughter Brittanie drew this picture of them on the dry-erase board, taking it from a portrait they had done a long time ago.

After we were done decorating we went over to his parent’s house where a majority of the family who were coming in for the celebration were hanging out. I grabbed what food was left and was ready to go after I ate it. I was exhausted and my feet ached. I was wishing for a personal masseuse at that point.

Saturday the 21st was the big day and I was nervous and hopeful that everything would go well, especially in regards to Makenna. People came for the open house portion from 1pm-4pm and it went well. We had enough finger-foods to keep people satisfied and ran out of a punch that someone had told me about which was delicious – obviously by how fast it went.

Chris’s father Jim introduced me to this one gentleman who looked vaguely familiar to me and when I was told he was a neighbor to them, which explained the familiarity. As I walked away I knew that wasn’t it. I went back and asked if he happened to be a teacher. He promptly replied, “Please don’t tell me you were one of my students!” I laughed and said I was. He was a math teacher at West Middle (S. Liberto)

I said one of the reasons I remember him was because he had kicked me out of class. He jokingly said, “You look like a kid who’d cause trouble.” I explained that he had walked in on the tail end of a fight where I through a snow-ball at a kid who had been harassing me. As I was the one finishing the fight with a snow-ball, I was the one thrown out. I was surprised that I actually remembered him and that incident.

I left around 2:30pm to get Makenna home for a nap so that she would be good for the dinner portion. It was a good brief break for me too. I think I did get a small cat-nap in there somewhere.

Back to the party around 5:30pm for the dinner portion which was from 6pm-9pm. We had it catered so it was a lot less work for us which was nice. It was just family and a bit more intimate. I think it went well and we had a lot of left over food. I was ready to collapse and wished I had a day to just sleep.

On Sunday I agreed to meet family and friends up at the cottage, even though it was a rainy day. After church Makenna and I went home, got things together and went up. One of our friends brought a 40 year DVD of Sesame Street. That was truly neat to see and I couldn’t stop watching as there were a lot of things on there I had forgotten about.

Makenna has never been huge into Sesame Street so I find it hard to justify buying this DVD but I just might – it was so nostalgic. I think because of running into the old teacher, and old friend from work on Thursday night, and this DVD that it set me up to reminisce quite a bit about a lot of different things. Not that, that’s bad but just interesting to look back and see where life’s choices have lead you. Hopefully in another 43 years I can be having my 50th wedding anniversary and reminiscing about this one.