Good Week

This is the second full week of school and I've finally gotten back into my groove with extra activity.  Having a couple of hours without the girls I've found myself hitting the gym a few times a week during the "down time".  I still have MiniMuffin for one day so its really four days that I have the chance, but that's definitely more than before!  The girls have been having good school days.  Ballerina has been so sweet.  The second week of school she befriended a new student who was, in her words, "very shy and doesn't speak English".  Yesterday she came home with a sticker on her dress and I asked her about it, and her day.  She told me about accompanying a classmate to the nurse's office.  She really is a kind girlie.  She is learning so much in school too and informed me that she will learn to read "really soon".  At the rate she is going, she's not wrong.  I'm grateful that her speech is finally getting some special attention at school.  Up until now Ballerina's speech wasn't "a severe problem" to warrant speech therapy.  Since there are some sounds that she didn't quite outgrow beyond Pre-K, she is now going to have speech twice weekly - Hallalujiah!  She is upbeat about getting speech.  She was slightly jealous that her little sister, Songbird, saw a whole pack of therapists this past year, including speech.  She knows exactly why she has speech and is proud of her progress.
As for Songbird, she seems to be doing well at school.  Its so hard to tell because when I pick her up after three hours she seems pretty tired and quiet.  I wonder if she's quiet all day.  The teachers tell me she knows all the words to all the songs/rhymes.....that's for sure!.....but I wonder if she just perks up after I leave and then wipes herself out on the playground right before pickup.  I don't know.  The cute news on the school front is that Songbird has a little "boyfriend".  At three years old she hasn't really played WITH other children in a cooperative way, just yet, mostly near them.  However, in Songbird's class there were two boys who started with her, and one apparently has become quite attached to her prescence.  LittleMan's mother was leaving the school when we arrived late the other day.  She said, "Oh Good, Songbird's here!"  She told me that LittleMan didn't want her to leave until Songbird came.  When we picked the kids up in the afternoon the teachers were observing that LittleMan only wants to play with Songbird and is her little "protector" on the playground - so SWEET!  As for her interest in LittleMan, she often talks about his toy truck.....  I guess she's broadening her horizons....she's usually just interested in the "pretty dress" as she calls outfits that she admires.  Our little fashionista!
Today I drove past the little church in downtown and was surprised at the sight....a little Kris Kringle looking man dressed to the hilt in his bagpiper finery playing away on the front lawn which was crowded with people on folding chairs.  The tiny front lawn is surrounded by an old fashioned wrought iron fence which was draped with the banner "Concert Today".  Usually their concerts are held INSIDE the church....but when it comes to bagpipes, outside really is best.  It was a great day for a farmer's market, which is where I was headed after finding a parking space.  In the garage a very nice woman pointed the way to her spot, which was close to the entrance and then handed me her ticket stub with four more hours left.  Very nice!  I only needed two and tried to find someone to pass the favor along to when I left - post farmer's market and gym.  Alas, nobody else was looking for a space around that time....another time!
The farmer's market is really different when I'm not toting around two kiddos in a stroller.  I was really glad to not have to maneuver the orange beast through the narrow rows today, the place was packed.  I like to do a circuit around the market once before I start to make my purchases.  This gives me a good idea about what's for sale, and who's got the best deal.  I'm noticing that there are many more baked goods tables and even more nut tables - what's up with that?  The farmer's market is getting a little upscale with the guy who only sells gourmet olive oils and all the prepared foods, but there are still lots of veggies and fruits - the basic farm stuff!  While I duck the tables with the cheap magnets and plastic toys and slide past the stands with fake purses and knit hats, I also have learned which food tables must be skipped.  There is one table where it seems like the fruit "fell off the truck."  I'm not implying that its stolen fruit - but that perhaps the fruit actually fell off the truck and the vendor put it back on, intending to sell it all! 
Well, tomorrow I have a tight schedule.  I'm still planning to hit the gym but I can't linger and take my time getting home to hit the showers.  I am watching MiniMuffin for an hour and need to be home to play with her!  BakerBee is participating in a focus group, and MiniMuffin will hang with me for a bit.  So, its off to bed for me.  Songbird will wake us bright and early!
Heather

Monday Monday

So, today is the first day that I have both Ballerina and Songbird in their school schedules AND I have their baby cousin MiniMuffin - right now she is in the pack-n-play in my room yelling loudly....MOMMY....then she squeals it.....she is hysterical!
I have had MiniMuffin on Mondays for over a year and we've had to adjust our schedules accordingly whenever school or summer breaks change things.  This morning we did pretty well.  I was at the bus stop with the girls waiting for Ballerina's bus and was ready with hubby's keys in my pocket in case MiniMuffin's mama arrived and could do the carseat swap.  But, we are now out and back to the apartment so early that I am surprised that it isn't later!  My sis, BakerBee has to pop Ballerina's booster off the seat and replace it with MiniMuffin's carseat.  This afternoon I will be shuttling Songbird to school with MiniMuffin, return home for a few unprecedented hours alone with my niece and then pickup Ballerina and Songbird in quick succession.  If we are able to pull that off with nobody being late, we're doing well!
I am waiting for MiniMuffin to finally fall asleep!  Thankfully Songbird is asleep already - this will be good for lunchtime.  I felt terrible last week to wake her from her nap so that she could eat lunch before school.  She seemed pretty tired when I picked her up from her day away from me.....a tiny bit was probably the naptime interrupted.
Our Mondays with MiniMuffin have definitely been something my girls look forward to.  We dub the days Girls Club.  There have been challenging moments....like the times that Songbird and MiniMuffin want to play with the same toy.....Songbird does NOT like to share with her cousin!  But there are many sweet moments - when they all play "ring around the rosey" or all attack me with hugs while screaming "HUUUUUGGG!" at the top of their lungs.  We have a lot of laughing and lots more mess, but lots of fun!
We've come a long way from the first babysitting day where BakerBee came into my room to wake me up because she was there before I was up!  ACK!  In all fairness though, we were only back from China a week or two with Songbird and it was the first day hubby went back to work after the big trip.  I was tired!  But we made it through the day.  Thankfully God invented Naps!!!
I'm listening out for MiniMuffin.....who sounds suspiciously quiet now.....I think she finally dropped off....phew!  I think I'm going to take her mama's reccomendation to wait until I return from dropping Songbird at school to feed her - otherwise she will get her nap interrupted.
Oh, wow, just looked at the clock - I'll have to wake up Songbird in about 15 minutes to get lunch into her before its time to go! 
I guess its just as well that I have no blog followers to date - this was a most BORING post!
Heather

First Day of School

Today was Ballerina's first day of Kindergarten.  This is not the first time she's stepped inside a classroom - last year she was in Pre-K.  This is the first FULL day of school and she EXPECTS to learn how to read this year - so its a pretty big deal!  Ballerina asked me when she would start putting words together, I asked that she give her teacher a few days before she expected to form words and sentences.  !!!!  I pray that this teacher can set the pace for Miss Ballerina as she is ready to move 'fast forward'.  Songbird missed her sister as soon as we got in the car to drive to the Parents' breakfast.  She asked where she was.  I'm not sure she realizes that when she wakes up from her nap that Ballerina will still be at school.  She was showing signs of enjoying the mommy & daddy time as we left the breakfast and drove Dave back to work.  I'll have a little more quality time with Songbird before its time to drive her to school.  Thankfully Dave is working in town today, so he will come with me to drop off the second of our babies at her new preschool.  I thought tears would wait until they were both in school, but after Ballerina was happily boarded on the bus and we got into the car, the tears started to flow.  My baby, my sweet Ballerina girl is in school full time and she has a whole day away from me.  I'm sad, but incredibly proud of her.  She is facing Kindergarten with enthusiasm that she can barely contain.  She is ready to attack the subject of reading.  She's already recognizing lots of words and I know she will soak everything up like a sponge.  I hope she makes some good friends and I'm eager to hear her "full report" when I pick her up this afternoon.  She has a special way of describing her activities and I'm looking forward to her first observations about Kindergarten.  Now, I have to wake up Songbird so that she has a good lunch before its time for her to spend a few hours away from her mommy.  She did well with the one hour orientation yesterday, but this will be a bit longer and I'm not sure how things will go.  I'd lean toward "just fine", but when I pick her up, I'll find out!  What will I do with myself for two hours?  I'm sure I'll figure something out!
Heather

The Countdown....

We are at the end of our countdown.....one more day until school begins!  I'm excited for my girls, but sad at the same time.  I'm not completely ready to send my baby off to preschool.  Its only a few hours, but they're hours where I'm not there with her!  Our little Songbird is going to have a lot of fun, but I'm still working on bonding and hope that this doesn't set us back.  As for Ballerina, she is SOOO ready for Kindergarten.  She actually said to me recently that she might be a little shy on the first day - but I think she was just throwing me a bone.  Every time I've brought her to a kids-only type class, she has enthusiastically joined the action right from the get-go and happily waved mommy away!  She is looking forward to the bus, eating lunch at school and learning to read.  I'm going to be waiting at that bus-stop for her classic, chock-full of information, report.  Last year her first week was filled with details like where the blocks and books belong, who she sat next to during snack, who wasn't listening to teacher and who was crying.  She is ready for more challenges and I'm hoping that she enjoys Kindergarten as much as she enjoyed Pre-K.  She really had a great teacher last year.

Awash in Girl's Clothes!

Today I'm at my mom's for the Labor Day holiday.  I'm taking advantage of the time to sort through all the clothing I've stashed in mom's attic.  Getting rid of all the 2T and below and putting them aside for a clothing swap/clothing donation.  I am holding on to one pair of pjs that both my girlies wore - mostly in China.  Dave used to say Ballerina was on "Team Low Fat" when she wore those.  There was a patch on one sleeve depicting a carton of "low fat" milk.  We have good memories of the girls in those pjs.  Going through all the stuff that the girls wore brings it all back - the sweet toddler moments swishing around in dresses and crawling around in feetie jammies.  The beautiful blue princess coat that the girls wore MAY get one last wearing before passing it along to baby cousin.  Songbird will NOT try it on for me though, so I'll have to wait and see.  I think she's just not ready to accept the colder weather!  We've recently purged a bunch of toys too and I'm glad to know that there are people who need what the girls no longer do.  Dave found out from a co-worker that she sends clothes/toys to a friend, overseas, who brings the items to families on her visiting nurse rounds.  We also have passed toys along to some of Songbird's therapists for use with other children.  The apartment is going to be a bit more crowded when we change up the girls room to accomodate a bunk bed - we need all the space we can get!  Allright, enough procrastinating - I need to finish sorting all the clothes!!

First Post

I've always been the one who scribbled my thoughts and observations in a real, full of pages, paper bound journal. I've dabbled in online blogging when my daughters' arrivals into our families were on the other side of the world and I wanted to share their introduction to our family with our wider, extended family and friends. I've always written the most when I've traveled. Its the time when I find the most interesting happenings and differences - when I'm outside of my regular routine and surroundings.
So, here's to finding interesting happenings and differences even when I'm NOT traveling.
But, in the next year we definitely plan to be on the other side of the world again.
In addition to our Monkey and our Dog, we hope to meet our Tiger sooner than later!
Heather