Most Certainly Not

Elvis in Da Hizzouse

(For those of you who asked, yes I did remove a post.  Not because I no longer feel that way, but because when read in isolation--as I'm sure it could be--it could be taken wrongly and be hurtful.  So, it's unpublished until maybe later.  But THANK YOU for commenting, e-mailing, etc.  It is appreciated).

Meet Elvis.

He is a Shelf Elf.

His job is to hang out, observe, and record the happenings of a household during the days before Christmas.

During the night, he makes a trip to the North Pole and, in the morning, he returns and places himself somewhere new in the house.

It's up to the kids in the house to find the elf in the morning and then to remember that he is always watching.

My boss at the law school procured this elf for my household after I mentioned I may need some reinforcements for Christmas behavior this year.  There are smaller versions (more like figurines), but she found them "creepy" and liked this version because he is soft and squeezable. 

She sent him home with me today in a zippered bag.  I didn't say anything to the girls about him, but during our visit to the doctor's office with M2, he decided he'd better get to work.  When we left the car, he was still in his bag.  Even when I went to the car to retrieve the cell phone I'd inadvertently left in the car, he was still in his bag.  However, when we left the doctor's, there he was, sitting smack in the middle of the backseat...waiting.

M2 took to him IMMEDIATELY.  It was not two seconds and he was named.  M1 offered "Elfis", but M2 decided "Elvis" was better.

Elvis joined us at M1's band concert.  M2 regaled her classmate with the story of her new elf friend.  And, even was so thoughtful as to take an extra Rice Krispie treat for Elvis when we left the house for the concert.  He must have eaten it because there was not a spare when we arrived at the school.

Elvis enjoyed the concert.  M2 then insisted on taking him to bed with her.  She figured he could stick around until he had to report back to the Big Guy at the North Pole.  She is looking forward to seeking him out tomorrow.  I warned Elvis this evening that he may wish to seek a high post as the dogs may become a little to interested in him if he settles himself too low to the ground.

Of course, you need to keep this a secret because M2 does not want anyone but Daddy, Mommy, and M1 to know right now.  She is very excited about having this magical secret and, although she may share it at a later date, she likes the idea of Elvis being her own, personal elf.

This is very fun and her caretaking of Elvis is adorable.

MacArthur Park

Remember that song about a cake in the rain with green icing and being upset because you might never have the recipe again?  Sometimes, cakes are like that.  So glorious and then, they just aren't because it rains...or you drop it on the floor.  Either way, stink-o.

M1 had her birthday party Saturday evening.  The girls had a great time.

We had 8 total party goers who each decorated their round cake.  They had all kinds of icings and decorator tips to choose from and received some tips from a caketician after they had a chance to fill their bellies with pizza.

M1, in her very perfectionist fashion (where does she get it?) made and then corrected something that took her cake decoration outside the 'vision' she imagined in her mind.

You can't even see the flub, but it involved the section of her cake where the lime green star is outlined.  Her cake turned out great, as did the cakes of her friends.

One cake in particular could have been taken from the party room and put into the case in the front of the bakery and sold for a good price.  The little girl who made it was very deliberate and quick in her work. 

She was on an abbreviated party schedule as she was a part of the cast in a local production of The Nutcracker.  She came in full make-up and partial costume.  I was so glad that she had a chance to eat pizza and finish decorating her cake before she had to leave.  We even had a chance for M1 to open her present which was very fun--a dessert book with little implements to help make the recipes.  Can't wait to give some of those a try over Christmas break!

M2's experience at the party kind of symbolizes our day-to-day experiences.  She was very excited about the party. 

She told me exactly what she planned to put on the cake and I only noticed slight modifications to fit in some of the cool things that the cake decorator showed them at the start of the party.

She wasted no time getting started.  She was very quiet while working.  She didn't want any help. 

She wanted to do it all by herself.  Some of the piping bags were huge so I  would hold it up lightly while she handled the business end of the piping bag with her two, little hands.  On the smaller ones, though, she could maneuver things all by herself and put the icing exactly where she wanted it to be.

Her design started to take shape pretty quickly.  She had made a house with windows and a chimney with smoke coming from it. 

She put a Christmas tree on the side and then piped in decorations on it.  There were snowflakes in the sky and a star or the moon (I was afraid to ask) in the sky too. 

She also paid very close attention to the cake decorator's demonstration of how to make a penguin.  She made her own penguin on the top of her cake and put a pink bow on its head.

While the older girls slowed down, finished their cakes and moved on to the cake eating, present opening and giggling, M2 just kept working.  Very diligently she made more decorations, told me what she was doing as far as her design, and then would shyly accept the comments from the older girls, me and M1's dad.  She was a very busy kid.

Finally, she finished and her cake was amazing.  A true representation of how M2 thinks--brilliant  colors, layers of images, a complete story.

Just look at the edge of her cake. 

She meticulously dotted icing around that cake's entire edge. 

Not only did she make a border, but she dotted the side of the cake as well.

Once she finished, she joined the older girls at the 'eating table' and had a little cup of ice cream. 

She did not eat her piece of birthday cake, but we sent that home with M1's dad as a consolation prize for not being able to take home a fully sized masterpiece from the evening's event.  She was so proud of herself and her cake.  She asked me if she could send a piece to her Daddy.  I, of course, said "Yes."

The party assistant dutifully boxed up the cakes and stacked them on a counter alongside the far wall of the room.  The older girls went outside to look at wedding cake samples.  M2 and her friend remained in the party room and became a little rambunctious.  I had settled them down and then started puttering around with packing up presents, etc.

It was then that I heard a huge THUD.

I whirled around to see M2 standing next to the counter where the cakes were stacked and her cake upside down on the floor, half out of its box.  Apparently, she wanted to gaze upon its loveliness again and, in doing so, had pulled the cake too close to the counter's edge.  This caused the cake's weight to shift in the box and it shot out the unsecured side of the cake box.

M2 crouched to survey the damage.  She tried to convince me that it was 'okay.'  I told her that the 5 second rule doesn't work when you aren't at home and we'd need to leave the cake at the bakery.  Her face was very red.  She didn't cry.  She didn't yell. 

She just swallowed it.

Like she's been swallowing everything for six months.

But, just like her cake, the cracks are starting to show.  Crumbs are falling off.  Pretty little things are being smashed and distorted from the force of the fall.  She is spending a great deal of her day on the verge of or recovering from a come apart.

Tonight was one of the very worst.  I will spare you the gory details.  Sufficed to say, she scared me.  She made me mad.  She made me sad.  And, she threatened the Mac.  These are all things we do not do.  She also asked that she be able to take her bath in the morning because she wanted to go to bed--7:15 p.m.  I obliged and I pray that tomorrow is better.

I'm calling the pediatrician in the morning.  She has had a nagging cough for some time and nothing I'm doing seems to help.  No other symptoms.  No one else has caught it.  I also want to have some tests run to see if her blood levels, etc. are okay.  Then, we may need to see if there is someone who works with little kids whose parents are deployed so that she can have someone to talk to on the regular. 

Because she isn't talking to me.

Thou Shalt Not

Last night as I was attempting to fall asleep after staying up entirely too late (somehow I think sleeping for a nearly entire 24-hour period didn't help) and caught a show on History International on the Ten Commandments.  Did anyone else's childhood understanding of the Ten Commandments involve a distilling of "Thou shalt not bear false witness..." into "Don't lie.  Ever."

Maybe my family was alone in that, but no lying was a pretty big thing.  It is not to say that we didn't' try.  Maybe once.  It's not to say that we didn't crank out some fantastical stories about mythical adventures when we were preschoolers.  However, lying was not cool.  Lying by omission, though we aren't Catholic, not cool either.  Full disclosure was a good rule.  Avoiding things you'd have to fully disclose, though, much better.

Last night, I received an e-mail from M2's teacher.  This is the first actual written account of bad behavior I've received even though she has had a couple days where she has been on yellow rather than green.

And, no, I was not pleased to read that she has been talking when she shouldn't, that the chattiness prevents her from finishing her work as she should, that she has been mouthy in class and that she had to have her desk moved completely out of chatty range to remain on green yesterday.

But, the part that bothered me most involved something that happened earlier in the week.  I only found out about this because the events of the day ended with her being on yellow.  And, when I questioned her about the yellow calendar day, she told me.  Without the yellow, though, I would not have known.

Basically, M2 had something in her possession that I didn't think was a good idea.  She had a small, bound notebook in which she's drawn pictures, but had also written sentences.  Some were fine.  Others involved her classmates' names.  Nothing bad just things like Janey loves Jack.  When she showed the book to me, I asked her if she'd had that at school before and she told me she had.  I told her not to take it to school because if someone found it and read it, she'd be embarrassed and would get in trouble.

"But, it's my private journal," she said.  My response?  "So?"  And then I went on to tell her that if someone found it, they would read it and then all the bad consequences were a given.

Perhaps I was having flashbacks to my own first grade class.  I had the cutest little notepad as a kid.  It had a big, red truck at the top.  I had written on one of those sheets of paper that I loved a particular boy who was older than me, but whose brother was in my class.  I folded the paper and used it as a bookmark and then promptly forgot about it.  I took that book to school one day when the teacher said she would read some of our books.  When she opened mine, the paper fell into her lap.  "What's this?" she said.

It took me a minute to remember what it was, but once I did, I just wanted her to put it back in the book or in the trash.  To this day, I do not know what possessed her, but my beloved first grade teacher opened that paper and read it out loud.  I, honestly, do not remember what happened, but I do remember feeling like an uncomfortably hot spotlight was shining on me and the only face I remember seeing was the horrified face of the boy whose brother's name was on that note.  My heart beats faster thinking about it even today.

So, I was determined not to allow that to happen to M2.  It was an inappropriate use of that journal to be sure, but when you're 6, it's sometimes hard to appreciate that. 

After learning what was in the book, it was the next day or the day after when we were loading up for school and I saw M2 with the book in her hands.  "What are you doing with that?  You are NOT to take that to school, remember?"

"I know!" she yelled in that tone that makes me want to swat her behind.  "I'm only taking it in the car so I can color in it!"

Off we went to school.

And, when I went to sign her calendar that night, her day was yellow.

When I asked her why, she was distractedly stringing bead necklaces with her sister and she replied, "Oh, she took a book from me."

"What book?...that book I told you NOT to take to school?  EVER?"

Yeppers.  That's the one.  Sitting on the teacher's desk ALL WEEK this week. 

I'm not sure what you do with this in a six-year-old.  If my husband were here, I can tell you what he would do.  Lying is something he simply does NOT tolerate.  He would have given her a very stern talking to, probably implemented an overly harsh punishment and looked upon her disappointingly for a week at least. 

Me?  I'm teetering between thinking the talking to I gave her last night is enough and waving Santa off when he flies over in a couple weeks.  There is probably a happy medium in there, but I'm missing it.  If she were a teenager, I know exactly what I would do.  But, it doesn't translate well to a 6-year-old level.

I don't care how sad you are that your dad is gone.  I don't care if it makes you feel all bad inside and you want to scream at the world.  You do not lie.  Ever.  Totally and completely unsat and I, for one, am damn sick and tired of dealing with this behavior by myself.

M1 is eleven.  I have not ONCE had a behavior report sent home about her.  Not once.

Dip in a new gene pool and this is what you get, I guess.  I'm just over it.  

Oh, and I should add that I did make her write an apology note to her teacher that she hand delivered this morning.

Back From the Brink

Holy Moses but yesterday was weird!  I woke up fine and took the girls to school, no problem.  By the time I arrived home, though, I had the overwhelming urge to lie down before I fell down so I did.  I thought, "Oh, I'll just rest a few minutes" and zonked out for two hours.  I woke to the ringing phone (which was one minute short of a set alarm ringing) and realized I felt like garbage, my head hurt and my body ached like no one's business.  I was upright for probably an hour total yesterday.  I went to get the kids and returned to bed.  I got up to be sure they made it to bed okay, IM'd with the husband for a few minutes and then straight back to bed.

This morning, I felt like a normal person so I took the kids to school, came home and got ready for work.  And, here I am.  Going to need to eat something in the very near future, however, as I have some catching up to do from yesterday.  Thank goodness I have chicken in the crockpot again today so I don't have to worry about cranking out the entree when I get M2 home from basketball practice at 6:30.

The weather is ridiculous today.  Wind like you wouldn't believe and a temperature so low I could freeze my face off!  Thank God we do not have the snow, however, as I am wholly unprepared for even the slightest wisp of that white stuff.  Not ready.  Not ready.  Not desirous in the LEAST. 

M1's birthday party is Saturday.  Thank goodness we planned it at a place that does everything for you.  I have to find some undivided time with the kids so we can decorate our tree finally.  I would also like to clean up my ancient trombone before I take it to my hometown on Friday night to play in my high school's alumni pep band.  That should be a riot.  My lips will probably never be the same.

We are t-minus 8 days from our court date.  The coffee fundraiser is humming along.  Hubs' care packages arrived well in advance of Christmas and with plenty of time to enjoy the little tree we sent.  He made his own star for the top.  Can't wait to show the girls the photos of it. 

Tighten that Belt!

I didn't mind tightening my belt so much when it was a byproduct of running.  When it comes to the budget, though, I'd just rather not.  It isn't like we live extravagantly.  Far from it.  However, I think our household is programmed to be experiencing the fruits of Hubs' labor this time of year given the holiday schedule with the Parcel.  Unfortunately, Ft. W is on a "fixed income" this year and at this point, it isn't quite all it's cracked up to be given our usual December bottom line.  It also doesn't help that my job status is quite different than in years past.  Although I will say that even when unemployed during law school, we had much more breathing room than we do at the moment.

This week I have to send out the mortgage and my law school loan payment.  Then, I need to go pay for M1's birthday party taking place at a local bakery.  We look forward to yet another dentist appointment on Monday and the girls' tuition payment at the end of next week.  Those are our major fixed expenses with a sprinkling of uninsured dentistry to sweeten the pot.

In the spirit of frugality, I've not spent a dime this week except on gas and postage--necessities.  The lawbrary has free coffee during exam week (which began Monday) so I'm taking full advantage.  I plan to buy eggs tomorrow because I can make pancakes for dinner and scrambled eggs for M2 later in the week if she turns her nose up at the planned meal.  We have not eaten out (and we won't) maybe until after the New Year.  I'm determined to have a cash only Christmas and that's going to take some fancy shell games!  Tonight, M2 had a Boboli mini pizza while M1 and I had grilled cheese and yogurt with granola.  It was so good!  I make a mean grilled cheese.

I'm also putting adoption grant applications into the pipeline.  We're hoping we might be able to snag one.  Every little bit helps.  We had a couple friends stop by our latest fundraising effort and purchase some coffee.  Our goal for our coffee sales is $1000 in proceeds. 

We raised $34 since going live this morning.  Not too shabby. 

I'm also trying to get to know the pastors at my church personally so that we can apply for the adoption grants that require a letter of recommendation from our pastor.  I have a meeting with an associate pastor next week.  It has been really difficult to cull all the information necessary to apply for grants when I don't have another set of adult arms and legs in the house.  I never imagined how hard that could be, but it has been!

The wind has been howling outside.  We are supposed to be in for it tomorrow with a high wind warning being issued for the entire day.  I cannot even allow myself to think about losing electricity.  It's too cold for that and I would not have the slightest what to do.  I suppose I will figure it out if I must.  Until then, I'm going to bed and get some sleep.  I'm a weirdo, but I love sleeping when the wind is blowing and rain it falling.

Happy Monday Isn't An Oxymoron

At least it wasn't today.

I knew when I was able to put dinner in the crockpot before heading out the door that today had a shot at being a good one.

I finished my new lawyer training requirements today with my final meeting with my mentor.  So, any additional CLEs I do are icing.

Work went fast, but I finished a lot.

I picked up M2 around 4:15 and we came home to do some things while M1 stayed at school for basketball practice from 5-6.  M2 and I made Kool-Aid and had a snack.  We picked M1 up at 6, picked up some frozen cookies from my friend, Kim, that I'm going to vacuum seal for her adopted soldier, and then came home.  The girls and I sat at the table and M2 suggested the prayer they use at school as a good one for us to use tonight.  No bickering during dinner (amazing) and I only had to holler at them once between dinner and bedtime.  A record.

Tomorrow, 5 for Hope will go live with something exciting.  Facebook will feature a link if you're a friend there.  Otherwise, be sure to visit 5 for Hope anytime after 8 a.m. and see what we're up to now.

I have heard from my husband and all is well.  Funny how my itchy rash and hives went away pretty quickly after the communication occurred. 

Looking forward to tomorrow!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Ft. W has a tree. 

We went to church this morning, ate breakfast and then set about cleaning the house.  I had to take a 10 minute coffee break (I went to get coffee) when the girls would not stop with the bickering.  When I returned, things simmered down some, but not 100%.  M2 did do an awesome job in my room.  She had wanted to go clean the bathroom and after about 20 minutes, she came and asked me to come check her work.  When I walked in my room, the little turkey had straightened up the bedroom, made my bed, dust mopped the floor, etc.  She really can be a sweet pea when she puts her mind to it.  She even let me give her a big, long hug as a thank you.

I looked up the tree farm where we usually go buy our tree.  It's open daily from 9-5 so I determined today was pretty much our best bet for buying a tree.  I found our tree holder in the garage and re-learned how it worked.  We then set off in the truck to buy our tree.

The tree farm was busy, but not as busy as it was last year.  We ended up in a pretty sweet parking spot (thank goodness) and came upon an open wagon for our cut tree not long after that.  I grabbed a saw and the girls and I crossed the busy road to go to the field full of trees on the other side of the road.  When we arrived there, I realized I had not asked anyone price, etc. and had no clue what trees would be the best deal.  So, I pulled out the cell, used my navigator to find the farm and call it.  We found out we were near the $15, need-to-clear-these-trees trees.  Bonus! 

We wandered around and it was not long before M2 had identified a tree she thought would be perfect.  M1 and I agreed.  Hubs always made the actual sawing look so easy.  I was surprised when I climbed under the darn thing only to find that it is NOT easy.  I'd also forgotten how pokey the trees are--actually received quite a nice cute on my face (I didn't feel it, but M1 looked at me, horrified and said, "Mom!  You cut your face on the saw!"  Um, no, dear.  On the tree.)

Not long after I'd begun to think I'd made a monumental error in judgment, a couple happened by and the man said, "Are you in need of some assistance?"

I openly agreed I had not a clue and he replied, "I could kind of tell as you're going about that all wrong."

Ah, memories.  It was like Hubs was there!

I explained that my husband usually does the honors but he's in Iraq for the holidays. 

The man set about hacking down the tree with his wife and me holding it for good measure.  We hoisted it onto the wagon & he chopped off the bottom of the trunk so we would have a nice, flat bottom.  The wife collected the little round piece of trunk and told the girls they could make an ornament if they wanted and they could send it to Hubs.

Very nice people.  The couple said they hope Hubs comes home safe and soon and to thank him for his service.  I thanked them for theirs in our tree chopping.  Santa will be good to those two, I know.

We paid for the tree, had it shaken (my favorite part!) and then baled so it was easy to transport.  When we arrived home, I reviewed the directions for the tree stand.  Then, I hefted that entire tree into the house, placed it in the stand, locked it into place, filled the holder with water and then cut the strings so it could become comfortable.  It looks great!  Maybe by this weekend we will have it decorated.

Aside from my facial laceration, I have a splinter in my index finger.  Not bad for a day of lumberjilling, if I do say so myself.

Decorate Thyself

Today was a total bust.

Don't even get me started.

First, I e-mailed M1's basketball coach last night to let him know we were cutting it close to make it to pregame with M1's band concert commitment.  I thought the game was at 11.  This morning, I had a note in my inbox from the coach (cc'd to the other parents and including my original e-mail) saying that SOME people were apparently still using the incorrect schedule and the game was, in fact, scheduled for 4:00.  I had 4:00 on our refrigerator calendar and my personal calendar, yet, I listened to M1 when she told me the game was at 11.  I replied to the coach's e-mail so he would know I'd gotten the game time, but also mentioned that I wasn't sure if it was some people or just me that was being a goofball, but now everyone ELSE would know it was me given that my e-mail was included in the note.  He replied later, apologizing for hanging me out to dry, but telling me he worried others were thinking the wrong time too. 

But, that makes me crazy.

Then, we went to M1's band concert (5 songs, about 20 bars per, 15 minutes total) and it was nice.  Then, the girls shopped in the Secret Santa Shop at the festival.  M2 picked out a special gift for someone and she is pretty darn stoked to give it to her.  I was surprised by it, but she explained why she bought what she did (originally it was for me, but then she though better of it) and why she had decided on the recipient.  Should be interesting.

Because the game was at 4:00, I needed to hit Target to buy the gifts for our Angel Tree kids from church.  As we looked around, M1 took a good look at the tags we'd pulled from the tree.  The gifts were due back to church YESTERDAY.  Sigh.  I seriously hope there will be some way to get the gifts where they need to go or I will cry.  Again.

While at Target, I decided I might as well outfit the girls for Christmas Sunday.  M2 had REFUSED to allow me to even talk about a dress, but I convinced her to at least look. 

When she saw this  one, she said, "If I were going to wear a dress, I would wear this one."  In the cart it went.

And, here is where I need to mention what a ripoff it is that Christmas dresses for little girls are sleeveless.  Of course they want you to purchase a sweater or jacket, however, they NEVER stock those well and, if there is an appropriate sweater, it doesn't come in the right size you need for your particular kid. 

Today, that was the case for both girls.  I went to the toddler girls section (which also carries size 5's) and found a little velvet bolero jacket for M2. 

I made her try it on while in the cart.  She was wearing a sweater and the jacket still fit, so I figured with bare arms and the thin satiny material of the dress bodice, the result would not be any bulkier.

We also had to buy tights and a pair of black dress shoes for M2 because she does not routinely wear either.  In fact, most of her dresses are so comfy and casual that she can wear them with her white tennies to church.  I frown on tennis shoes at church, but I also frown on buying dress shoes that no one wears.  I kind of hope M3's feet are similar in size to M2's so they can share shoes.  We might actually wear a pair of dress shoes out if that's the case.

M1 took a little more time choosing her dress given that she liked nearly every one on the rack.  She finally settled on a black one with lots of detail.

The top of the dress is black, satiny material.  There is a sash accented on the front with a small amount of bling.  Then, the satiny skirt has an intricate, lacy black overlay.  Very pretty and subtle--like M1 herself.

I'll tell you, I saw puh-lenty of trashy and cheap looking Christmas dresses and I thought, are we going to church or to Happy Hour in these things?!  Disgusting and I can't imagine who would spend good money on such rubbish for their little girls.  Pretty sure even though Jesus would still love a hoochie mama, He'd rather you cover your parts for his birthday service at church, especially if you're a minor.  Just sayin'.

We headed to the women's section to see if we could find a cardigan for M1's dress.  She tried on an x-small black cardigan and it hung on her.  On a rounder, they had women's bolero cardigans.  A really fine gauge black one looked promising, but the smallest size was a medium.  I had her try it on anyhow and it fit perfectly.  I think it was supposed to be 3/4 length sleeves and because it was a bolero, it hit her near her waist and the sleeves went right to her wrists.  Success!

After Target, I decided we should go eat at Holly's to try and straighten out this mess of a day.  I also texted my friend, Kate, to see if I could bum a ride to the mechanic's to pick up my car from his lot.  To make a long story short, I misunderstood her text.  I thought we were going after M1's game, but she had told me she'd be at our house at 2:00.  Where was I at 2:00?  Running.  Yeah,  how nice of me.

I needed to run.  I did two miles today without even really thinking about it.  That's when I know I'm out of sorts.

Kate was nice enough to come by after M1's game and the girls and I stopped at Starbucks on the way home.  I had a gift card.  I also tried a caramel creme brulee latte for the first time.  It was yum.  AFW was right!  We also had a DVD in the mail featuring a snippet of M3.  Folks, that girl needs me to get there.  No snap in the eyes, looking tinier and less 'shiny' than I remember.  Sooo very over the waiting.

I truly hope tomorrow is better.  And, I'm so thankful I'm not a doctor and that I wasn't on call today.  Can you imagine?!

Little Readers

It's hard to have a blog when little people in your house know how to log on and read whatever you write.  At Christmas time especially it would be fun to be able to toss out things that I'm thinking about surprising them with or that they put on their lists for Santa to bring.

All I know is that I'm very thankful for Santa this year.  Usually, we give the big guy some slack and pick up quite a few things on the girls' lists or other stuff we know they would like (or that they asked for too late for Santa to bring).  This year, though, we're busy filling cavities and muddling through, so Santa will need to bring his A game.

M1 has put an American Girl doll on her list.  She enjoys the magazine and spends hours looking through the catalogs when they come. 

A few weeks ago, she had a play date with a girl at her new school.  This little girl collects American Girl dolls and the two played with them that day.  It's all M1 has talked about since then.

Rather than one of the historical dolls, M1 liked the idea of the "Just Like Me" dolls.  You can select skin tone, eye color and hair style and color. 

This is the one M1 thinks resembles her the most and she's asked that Santa bring the doll with earrings too.  I think it's nice that the dolls can have pierced ears like their owners.

M2 wants a lot of smaller things.  A crib for her doll babies, a practice soccer goal, a new basketball.  She said tonight, "I pretty much want everything but uhcept for food because we already have that."  Good to know that her wish list is so potentially expansive.

In other news, M1 is already doing some pretty serious geometry in math class.  Unfortunately for her, she cannot engage her mother's tried and tested method of passing geometry (dating a senior football player who was good in math) as she is only in 5th grade.  My boss suggested I try to find an older student by talking to the math teacher who might want to earn some spending money by working on problems with M1 during after school.  Tonight, I read the new school newsletter and it is an answered prayer.  There is actually a service project group of students who will offer help to kids grades K-8 who need some extra help or who want to challenge themselves with more difficult things.  The tutoring will take place at school on M-W-F right after the dismissal bell for about an hour.  Amazing.  And, the best part?  FREE.  We could use some free right now.

Tomorrow promises to be busy.  M1 has her first band performance at her school festival tomorrow.  We then have to race (literally) to make it to her 11:00 away basketball game.  Once that's over, I'd like to take them back to the school festival so they can shop in the Santa Shop.  Gifts from $1-$10 and they can take an envelope in with their money/check to pay.  I think that would be a nice way to handle their gift giving desires without breaking the bank.

We also have to shop for our Angel Tree kids' gifts because they are due at church on Sunday.  After church, I'd like to go buy our Christmas tree.  We'll see!  It's going to be COLD.

A Flicker of Familiar

Today it rained nearly the entire day.

It was chilly and icky and I wanted to stay home.  Well, actually, I wanted to go running, take an extremely hot shower and THEN stay home.  I have a meeting with a student tomorrow morning which will prevent me (again) from running before work.  I'm considering mapping a run near the girls' school so that I can leave a little early from work, park at the school and then run the neighborhood adjacent to the school before picking them up.  We'll see how it works, but this not running is driving me insane.

M2 was on thin ice when I picked the girls up tonight.  I very calmly told both of them in the car that we simply were not going to continue on the way we had been.  And, that they had one week to get themselves in order.  I told them that so far, I have not been sharing the particulars of their behavior with their dad--for numerous reasons.  However, given that recently, I had heard the youngest say, "It doesn't matter because Daddy won't be home for a long time", I realized I may need to haul in some heavier artillery.  Perhaps Daddy hearing a little and reminding them to behave wouldn't be such a bad thing.

For M1, that's all I had to say.  No reminder necessary.  I even heard her telling M2, "Didn't you hear what Mom said?  One week!"  M2 may not be sure what Daddy will do or say, but she seems sufficiently interested in avoiding the conversation.

My friend, Kate, followed me to the mechanic's so I could drop my car for service.  We had a nice conversation on the ride home and her poor little boy thought the girls were going to come play.  He cried for a LONG time after they dropped us off.  I heard him telling M2 in the backseat, "I just love you so much."  He REALLY likes playing with her and they have a fun time.

Hubs is on another mission.  So, no IM or phone call expected for perhaps over a week.  Not enjoying that.

After we got home, I made dinner and the girls "folded" a basket of laundry.  But, I'm not complaining.  It is a decent job and it was just underwear, socks and t-shirts anyhow.  Tomorrow, they can put it away.

We ended up lying in my bed watching Pixar's short films on ABC Family.  M2 eventually let her guard down and cuddled with me.  She was downright snuggly.  M1 and I welcomed 'Nice M2' back to the fold and told her that we were happy 'Mean M2' had taken the night off. 

I have been praying for some kind of peace or sign for DAYS (maybe weeks now?) that there will be a break in the clouds.  Tonight, it was almost normal feeling.  The girls giggling at the movies and lying snuggled on the bed with me.  I'm pretty sure we all needed that.

Feeling considerably less doomed.  Would feel better if it were closer to the 18th, but one day at a time.