My new 1st grader!

Well I sent Amberlyn off to her first day of first grade at her new school today! She was SO excited! Last week we went to go meet her teacher. We got to the school, went to the multi-purpose room to get her bus-route, and then into the corridor to find her name on the bulletin board to see who her new teacher was, Ms. Weygand. We met another little boy there who's in her class. I heard his mom tell him that Ms. Weygand was his teacher as well, so I told Amberlyn to go introduce herself to a new friend. Before we made our way down the hall to her room, I checked the board for all the other 1st graders in our ward, and ALL FOUR of them are in the OTHER 1st grade class! But the little boy who lives two doors down from us, Yuuki, is in her class, so at least she'll know one person.

Down the hall we went to find room 421. We signed in, found her desk, and she explored the classroom while I filled out some papers. Her teacher had a scavenger hunt for the kids! They had to say hi to the class pet, Bob (a spiral shelled snail), guess how many marbles were in the jar, have a cookie and juice, and go say hi to the teacher. Amberlyn took notice of the giant alphabet rug, the library center, and all the new friends!

Yesterday we got her backpack all ready. We loaded it with pencils, crayons, notebooks, glue sticks, tissues, hand sanitizer and much more. Then we got her lunchbox ready, a new Hello Kitty bag with a matching thermos. The teacher allows water bottles at the desk, as long as they don't sweat, so we filled the thermos with ice water and set it on the counter for few hours to test it out. No drips! She was so anxious that we got her lunch all packed right then and there, except for her sandwich, and put it in the fridge.

After dinner, she took a bath, cleaned her room, and tried on two different outfits to see which one matched her new pink sparkly shoes best. Such a girl! She got a story from mommy, a blessing from daddy, and off to bed she went.

We woke up this morning on time (a great relief since I'd had a very realistic dream that we were almost an hour late on the first day of school, and I was overjoyed to wake and find that is was just a dream!). She made her bed, got dressed, we said prayers and had a breakfast of scrambles eggs and toast. I fixed her sandwich and added it to the grapes, juice box, pretzel sticks and treat that were already in her lunch bag. Then we fixed hair, brushed teeth, and selected earrings, (white butterflies) and set out to the bus stop. I couldn't find my camera this morning, so I had to use my cell phone to grab a quick picture in front of the house.

I'd debated letting her ride the bus or driving her for the first few days. She was insistent on riding the bus, so I called a friend in the neighborhood to see if she was going to let her 1st grader ride the bus on the first day. She said she would, so I decided to let her go. I told Amberlyn to walk with her friend to class, since her room was right next door.

The bus stops at our corner next to the mail box, then swings around and makes another stop at the park around the corner. The mailbox is a bit closer, but her friend, Cambri was going to be at the park, so we headed over there. We arrived in plenty of time, but Cambri wasn't there yet. I told her to sit near the front so the driver could see her, and soon we saw the school bus circling around to the park. I was getting nervous, because her friend wasn't there yet. I reminded her of where the classroom was, and what to say in case she got lost. The bus stopped right on time at 7:43, I gave her a hug, told her to have a great day, and that I would be here waiting when she got back. Then while fighting back tears, I watched her get on the bus. (sorry, I'll really try to find my camera to take a better picture.)

Denver and I waved as they pulled away, with still no sign of Cambri! Oh no! Thank goodness Yuuki was there too. He went to the school last year, so he probably knows where to go. While Denver headed for the slide, I walked to the bench and let myself cry for just a minute. My little girl is big enough to ride the bus by herself! I have to admit, that I really wanted to get on the bus with her, walk her to her class, and sit outside the door all day.

A few minutes went by, and Cambri and her mom and brother pulled up to the park! She said they'd been fixing hair and taking pictures and didn't make it in time! She was just going to drive them, and she'd have her daughter watch for Amberlyn.

Denver and I headed back home after a few minutes of playing at the park. We called daddy to tell him that she got on the bus okay. I can't wait for her to come home and tell me all about her day!

Swim!

Amberlyn & Denver are both taking swim! They love it! Denver hasn't quite gotten the concept of arm & legs at the same time, but he likes it none the less. Amberlyn was the same way when she first started swimming, but then one day it clicked, and she's been a fish since. I'm just waiting for Denver's "aha" moment, so he can take off too. They'd been going to Miss Jenni, but Amberlyn learned everything she had to teach her, so last summer I put her in a more advanced class. She learned diving and some different strokes. This summer I put her in a similar class, closer to home. She loves it! The pool has a waterfall but they turn the water off during swim. But the underneath makes a great cave, and they're learning to dive off the top! Denver is still going to Miss Jenni, hopefully he'll "get it" soon, and we can move on!

Spring Recital

Amberlyn had yet another great dance recital! She did such a good job, and looked absolutely adorable in her costume! Here's just a few pictures. We're going to see my dad on Wednesday for some professional ones (the dance studio charges WAY too much for theirs) which I'll post later. And here's a quick video! ($25 to purchase a 3 hr DVD of students I don't even know is ridiculous! I only want the 3 minutes with my kid in it!) She's the second from the right.


(Before you press play, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and hit the pause button to stop the music, so you can hear the video.)

Bribery

The Easter Bunny didn't come!!! Well, not here anyway, but he found us at Grandma's in Tucson. He wanted to leave an activity book for each of them as well, but didn't necessarily want to have to buy one for each grand kid. He keeps looking for an opportune time to leave it here, but couldn't come up with an explanation as to why it was late.
Hmmm.... well what do you know! My kids just found a note from the Easter Bunny tucked in Amberlyn's unmade bed! It says that he tried to come deliver a gift, but their room was too messy to leave it! He said he'll try to come back a little later to see if he can find a clean room to leave it in. It's sort of working, but they distract each other so much. Hopefully by tonight it will be clean enough, and when Amberlyn gets back from dance, he will have come. We'll see....

Bunny Mask

Here's a little Easter craft project I made. I would submit it to Sugardoodle or The Idea Door, but I can't figure out how. You will need:

a copy of the picture

crayons

scissors

tape or glue

one popsicle stick per mask.

Optional items are cotton balls and one mini marshmallow per mask. You can cut the marshmallow in half lengthwise and glue the 2 halves to the teeth, and cut the cotton balls up (optional) and glue them to the cheeks/face.

Color the pieces, cut them out, including the eyes. Tape/glue ears to the back of the head, and tape/glue a popsicle stick to the back from the nose down, so the kids can hold it up to their face.

Enjoy!

(right click to print)

Too much T.V.

"Help! Heeeelllpppp! ¡Ayúdeme!!!!!!!!" (uh-yoo-duh-may) Denver yells from his bedroom. He has been playing in his bed, and is now tangled in the sheets. It takes me back to when Amberlyn was that age. She would yell to be let out of her high chair, "Help! Heeeelllpppp! ¡Ayúdeme!!!!!!!!" I think they've been watching too much Dora & Diego, what do you think? (I should mention here thet ayudeme is spanish for help me)

I think the tv influence is high in our house. Denver is Mr. Propaganda. He's the reason advertisers have commercials. He'll come bursting into my room exclaiming, "Mom!!! We gotta get wunna those!" When I ask him what we 'gotta get', the response is "Skechers!" or "Apple Jacks!" or whatever he's just seen. He's not picky though. Pretty much anything he sees he thinks he has to have, even if it's not child-related in any way, like, "Mom, can we get Oxy Clean?!" Me, "Denver, we have Oxy Clean." Then he replies with an all knowing "ohhhhhh."

Right now, Denver's feeding me Froot Loops one at a time as I type. I quickly munch them from his fingers, pretending I'm going to eat his hands, and he laughs. He has a great laugh.

It's a good time of day. My kids are usually pretty good during the day. But it's usually somewhere around 6:00 I begin to lose patience. That's about the time I begin to realize why some animal mothers eat their young. That's the time that bedtime can't come soon enough. Thank goodness I have Bunko tonight, and my brother will deal with them.

Denver has disappeared........too quiet........

Aaahhhhhhhh! Powder all over the carpet!

And so it begins......

Freaky Fish

Can I just say that my fish freak me out? Not in a eewwww slimy fish kind of way, (well, that too) but they have me paranoid. I'm paranoid that they're gonna die. The two big goldfish like to hang out on the top of the tank. Every time I walk in the room, there they are, just chillin', at the top of the water. I keep thinking they're dead. I know goldfish aren't supposed to live all that long anyway, so I just keep expecting them to croak. I don't really know how old they are, as we got them from a friend (thanks Lisa!), so whenever I walk into the room and see the fish at the top of the tank, I have to go over and make sure they're still alive. I kind of feel like a new mom again, in the sense that I'm always checking to make sure they're still breathing.

Then there's the sucker fish. He's nasty. He's this fat, whiskery, grey monster lookin' thing that just creeps me out. He kind of makes me mad because he won't stick to the side of the tank like he's supposed to. Instead, he hides in his cave. What good is a sucker fish if he doesn't do his job, and clean the tank? Also, I think he's a hypochondriac. He has this attention getting behavior, and turns himself upside down. Now, I've always been taught that an upside down fish is a dead fish. I think he knows this, and totally does it on purpose. I'll walk by and see him at the bottom of the cave, upside down with his nasty mouth wide open, like some movie corpse. They I get all grossed out and think he's dead, and tap on the tank to get him to move. Then he'll flip himself over and go stick himself to the inside of the cave again, and mock me. I can totally hear his snickering as he jeers at me and laughs, "hahaha, I duped her again! She's such a sucker!"

Stupid fish.

On the other hand, they're totally mesmerizing. Do you ever go the the dentist or doctor and just sit and stare at the fish? Even if you don't have an appointment, do you just want to go in there and watch them? (umm.... me neither....I was just checking....ya...) Fish are relaxing. I think I read somewhere that they even lower your blood pressure. Matt mocks me too, for going over to stare at them. They're just.......so.......ummm...... what was I saying? Sorry, I was staring at the fish.

Anyway. That's my fish rant. Do your fish freak you out too?

The things they say...

Me: "Amberlyn, how many cheese roll-ups do you want for lunch?"
Amberlyn: "Umm.... two!"
Me: "Denver, how many cheese roll-ups do you want for lunch?"
Denver: "FIVE!!!"
Me: "You can have one, or two, how many do you want?"
Denver: "One."

****

I spied denver sitting on the table, driving his cars up & down it.
Me: "Denver can you get off the table please?"
Denver: "I can't. I'm tooooo busy."

Out of the mouthes of babes

*Denver and Amberlyn are playing in the backyard. They have given each other new names, from Team Umizoomi, (Nick Jr.). Amberlyn is Milli, and Denver has decided that he's Geo. They've named me Bot. I'm not sure if I should be insulted by that or not.

*A few days ago they were racing over something, probably to see who could finish their snack the fastest. Denver finished first, and raised his fist in triumph, and yells, "I wiiin! You loooose!" Amberlyn, obviously hurt by this defeat, says, "Mom, Denver's calling me a loser!" Denver, the politician that he his, says, "I'm not calling you a loser, I'm calling me a winner!"

Happy Birthday Scoobs!

Today would have been Scooby's 26th birthday. Sadly, we held his funeral 4 years ago today, on his 22nd birthday. But, I've decided that being sad is silly, we can mourn on the anniversary of his death, but birthdays are for celebrating life! So, funny stories about Scooby!!!



One day when he was....10 years old?..... my mom got a call (or was it a visit?) from the Mesa Police Department, telling her that Scooby had been caught skateboarding on the roof of the elementary school! (I swear that boy was a regular Bart Simpson!)



When he was in high school he would leave his stereo on when he went to school. Not so bad, but I was working late hours at the airport, and trying to sleep in the mornings. I was constantly yelling at him to turn it off, and he was constanly being a teenage boy, ignoring me, or telling me to do it myself. I warned him to turn it off or else...! Of course he ignored me. So one day after he went to school without turning off the stupid stereo, I went in his room, unplugged it, and carried it to the attic. Later I got a phone call at work, as he demended to know what happened to his prized posession. I told him that I had warned him, and he wasn't getting it back! He said "Fine! Then I'll just take something of yours!" I told him to go right ahead, there's was nothing that mattered to me. All day I wondered what he would take. The only thing I worried about was the little teddy bear that Matt (boyfriend at the time) had given me for Valentine's day. All day I fretted over "Fuzzy", and hoped that he would be okay.When I got home from an early shift at work, I headed for my room, praying that Fuzzy was still there, and was astonished to walk in and find.....my king sized bed was MISSING! (but Fuzzy was fine, thanks for asking.)

We love you Scooby, and all your craziness!! Happy Birthday!

The error of my ways

I realized that all the funny little things that the kids say are the things I used to blog about. That is, until Facebook came along. I had vowed never to join the ranks. I revolted as long as I could, swearing off all forms of non-blogging communication. I shunned Facebook, and I despise the "tweet". But I have succumbed to the taunting of the crowds. Yes, they sucked me in with their pretty lights and shiny objects. Now instead of a blog entry, all the cute, funny, things the kids say have ended up on my Facebook page, leaving my poor little blog neglected.

I feel bad for my blog really. Sometimes I can hear it, faintly in the night, softly calling out my name. And as I scroll down the list of favorites on my computer screen, there it is, staring at me, as I navigate my way to my bookmarked Facebook page. It stares with a dejected little face, trying desperately to gain my affections again. "Don't you love me anymore?" it asks. "Did I do something wrong?" it sadly whispers. I feel guilty really, ashamed of my behavior. My blog has been such a good friend to me, and here I am, hurting it so badly. I didn't try to, it just happened. It was the excitement of something new that led me astray.

My friendship with Facebook started as just that, we were just friends, acquaintances really. Then our bond strengthened, and our time together was more and more. Soon my blog was asking, "Are you going to be long?" I began making excuses to my little blog. "Oh, it's just this one little comment," and, "I promise I'll only post this tiny little thread." And as our love affair grew, so did my lies. "I swear your the only one, I'm just playing a virtual game. It means nothing to me, really." Soon, I was spending all night with Facebook, too tired to blog anymore, and in the early light of day, I would hear my blog say, "I waited for you. You never came."

I suppose it's guilt that's brought me back. Maybe it's knowing how loyal my blog has been, just sitting there, waiting for me to return. And as I write, I can hear it whisper, "thank you," and I smile, knowing that my blog can offer me things that Facebook can't. I suppose Facebook and I will still be friends, but the pretty lights and shiny objects have faded some. Oh sure, every once in a while it will try to entice me again with a new game or a new friend, and sometimes I am swayed. But I will try to remember who stood by me, loyally waiting for me to realize the error of my ways. Oh faithful little blog, how I've missed you.

Remembering Scooby

Today is February 3rd. 4 years ago today my brother Cheston passed away suddenly, at they young age of 21, almost 22. His nickname was Scooby, and everyone who knew him, loved him. We remember him today. Visit the Facebook group, Remembering "Scooby" - Cheston R. Berry, and leave a comment for him.

We love you and miss you Scooby! We can't wait to see you again!

Hey, look! I'm alive!

I guess I've been on an unintentional hiatus! I love Facebook, but it kills the world of blogging! I'm really going to try to update my blog more!

Photo shoot contest!

So I went to high school with a guy named Trevor Dayley, who is an amazing photographer! He's hosting a contest for a free photo shoot! Check him out at http://www.trevordayleyblog.com/!