Oh, my poor sad, little neglected blog …

I have a good excuse for being away, really I do. I’ve been eating, breathing & sleeping all things nursing for the last year … but now I’m 3 weeks away from graduating!!! I’m ever so slightly a little bit excited.

I’m pretty sure this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. This year I’ve done 3 semesters of 22-24 hours of nursing classes, plus 24 hours a week in our “main” clinical PLUS specialty clinical rotations on top of that. I think I squeezed a couple of hours of sleep in there somewhere.

But now that I’m within spitting distance of the finish line … I’m SO glad I went this route. And I’ll have a BSN to boot. I plan to get my master’s degree at some point, but I have to find my nursing specialty niche first.

I would have never done it without major, major support from my husband, kids and extended family. My husband … God bless him. He’s done a lot of dishes, laundry, house cleaning, homework, cooking and general tending of the kids. And he’s done a really good job at it.

My kids are ready for me to be done, especially Mikaela. It breaks my heart every time she tells me she misses me or asks me to play (and I have to say, “no, I have to study.”). I want to take them to Disney next year to say “thank you” for sacrificing Mommy for a year. Or maybe to make up for my guilt. I still think it (going to nursing school) was the right thing to do, and I know we’ll all be better for it in the long run, but God, was it ever hard.

People that went through this accelerated program last year told me that everyone has a breakdown at some point. Mine hasn’t come yet, but I have a tendency to have a level head in a crisis and fall apart later. I may just take my NCLEX (the nursing board licensure exam I have to pass to earn my license), then go sit in my car and cry.

If you are considering attending an accelerated nursing program, especially if you have kids, feel free to email me and ask questions. I can give you info on Texas Tech’s one-year, web-based, BS-to-BSN program as well, if you’re interested in that. You can reach me at jayandmelanie AT hotmail D0T com.

Deja Vu All Over Again

This is turning into an annual tradition: January day-in-the-park-with-the-kids photos! Gotta love central Texas!

Here is this year’s picture:

And here is Jan. 2009′s picture and Dec. 31, 2007′s picture.

… or whatever

I often doodle while on the phone. Mikaela sat down at my computer desk today and discovered one, saying: “Woah, mama! This is a nice cookie! Or a table. Or a puffer fish.”

Conversations

While driving by a ranch:
Mikaela: Mama, can you roll the window down so I can talk to the cows?
Me: baby, I think those cows are too far away to hear you
Mikaela: I can just yell …

Gabriel: Kayla, where’s my toy?
Mikaela: ….
Gabriel: Kayla, hurry up and tell me, I gotta go to the bathroom weally bad!!

Mikaela is falling asleep on the couch …
Me: Mikaela, the couch is not your bed, get up and go to your own bed
Mikaela, sleepily: but the couch is soooooo comfortable!

Mikaela, walking outside into a stench:
Whoo, it’s dees-gusting out here!

Gabriel: Mama, how does God make the rain fall?

Gabriel, to Grandmother: do you know Jesus?

Done

Well, the longest semester ever is finally over. I finished my third semester (since starting on my second degree) on Wednesday and I’m thoroughly enjoying my break.

Mikaela has been at home with me this week. I pulled her out of her private school because we can’t afford to keep sending her until I get a job. I’m really enjoying spending time with her and teaching her again. This week we worked on fractions, reading and ending consonant sounds, among other things. She is one smart kid.

Gabriel is still in public school, and I’m wishing more than anything I could put him back in private school. He is being picked on again and he just generally doesn’t like it. He never had a single problem at his private school (the same one Mikaela went to) … oh, how I wish I had a job so I could send them both back there.

I actually just went on a second interview for an administrative job at a local hospital. The pay is decent, but probably not enough to put both kids back in private school. I guess I’ll have to see if and when I get my first paycheck….

I had a really good feeling about the interview. I felt like I really connected with the interviewer. I should hear back early this week … so please say a prayer!

So, in the meantime, it’s going to be Mikaela and I hanging out at home. With the fact that she will be old enough to attend the public school next year … this will probably be my last time at home with her. I’m trying to savor it. It’s already been hard watching them grow up so much this year – moving from the ABCs to reading, leaving Playhouse Disney and PBS Sprout behind for iCarly and Spongebob … making insightful – sometimes even witty – observations every day; oh, my babies aren’t babies anymore. (I think that last sentence wins the prize for ‘worst run-on ever,’ but I’m too tired to fix).

So, I really have no immediate agenda other than trying to find work and enjoying my time with my kids. I have an online class starting next January, then it’s time to wait until I start an online nursing program through TX Tech in early 2011 (or if I don’t make the cut, 2012). Of course, Lord willin’ and creek don’t rise.

Speaking of the Lord – I’m in a phase of trying to figure out where to plug in at our newish church. I’m really bad about over-committing and then disappointing (in the realm of church, anyway). I can’t believe I just admitted that … that was painful. I guess part of it stems from frequent past sickness, and also from saying “yes” to things that I was not at all interested in doing (usually after some arm-twisting by another party). Don’t get me wrong … the blame lies with me. But the bottom line is, what do I get involved in? What I’m good at? What the church needs most? I know I obviously need to seek God’s direction in the situation, but it often seems like it’s hard to hear Him on matters like that.

Jay has committed himself to this church more than any other church we’ve attended before – he is their percussionist/drummer. He has no backup, so he’s there for long hours during the week for practice and also on Sunday for both services. I’m so proud of him, though … he’s really putting his gifts to use!

Looking ahead

So, I’ve finally narrowed it down. I want to attend Texas Tech’s one-year, online BS-to-BSN. It was really my original idea, and after looking at lots of other options, I’ve come back to it. I need to take one more class, pathophysiology, which I will complete in the spring at Austin Community College. I also need to complete a medical terminology course and become a certified nursing assistant. I will apply in the fall of 2010 and hopefully get in for their 2011 program. And if I don’t get in, I will look at my options again. For now, unless God smacks me on the head and tells me to do something else, this is what I want to stick with. I’m so tired of being overwhelmed with all the options.

In the meantime, I need a job. I mean, really. Please Jesus let me get a good job. Anytime you think about it, please say a prayer about this. I’m trying to keep my head up and leave it at God’s feet, but month after month we’re not making ends meet. Still, God hasn’t let us starve, so I’m not worried per se … I’ll just be glad to finally be through this tunnel, let’s just put it that way.

One more month and I will be done with this semester. So, with this 2nd college career, I’ll have anatomy & physiology I and II, microbiology, science of nutrition, computers in health, statistics and lifespan/human growth & development under my belt. I’ve had A’s in everything but statistics, and that’s looking like it’ll be a B. I can’t wait to see what my cumulative GPA combining both degrees is.

Anyway, blah blah blah. The kids are doing well. Both are learning to read pretty well … I love to watch them progress. They crack me up every single day. And now that I’m finally getting a break away from them – they’re in school while I’m in school – it’s making our time together much better. Before, I NEVER got breaks. Pretty much just mommy-mode 24/7 for almost 6 years. I very rarely ever got a date night or girls’ night out. Not to say that Jay isn’t a big help … but still. I am definitely not feeling guilty about putting my kids in school vs. homeschooling them because we’re all thriving and our time together is much more quality time than it was before. I appreciate them a lot more now. Amazing what a little distance will do for you!

I still have nights when I’ve got homework and they’re playing together – but I love the fun times we do have together. This is a fun age for both of them. I love the questions they ask me and to see their creativity and sense of humor emerging. It makes my heart happy.

Changes and ruts

So I’m midway through my fall semester at the college I go to. I’m taking microbiology, statistics and lifespan/human growth and development (a psychology course). I have A’s in micro and psych … let’s not talk about statistics. Well, I’m doing okay … just not quite at an “A” level. :/

I’ve been busy with that and my part-time anatomy lab aide job at the school; I’ve also been desperately looking for another job, to no avail. I can’t understand why I can’t seem to find work; I’ve been looking for a long, long time. I get an interview here or there, and even second interviews, but I can’t seem to close the deal. I think I interview really well, too … but I just apparently keep coming in second. Can I even tell you how frustrated I am?

I can’t even find work at Wal-mart or Target. I’ve applied all over the place. Please, if you’re the praying type, pray something turns up soon.

Anyway, unfortunately, my lack-of-a-job forced me to pull Gabriel out of the private school he was going to and put him back in public. At least he’ll get free speech therapy there, and I’ve heard really good things about his teacher. But it’s still a bit heartbreaking to have to make a decision like that.

After this first week, Gabriel really seems to like it, so I’m feeling somewhat better. Mikaela is still at a private school because she is still too young to attend public. She is doing really well and keeping up with her classmates, who are a year older than her.

We are wading into the homework years with both kids, so our afternoons and evenings are abuzz with their homework, my homework, and getting things ready for the next day. How do people fit in lessons and other activities?!?

Sorry I don’t have anything more interesting to say. My days are long and I’m tired and more than a little emotionally weary. Hopefully things will look up soon …

There’s no reasoning with a sick child

Both kids have bronchitis and fevers. Today, sniffling through a 102-degree temperature and cough and looking quite pitiful, Mikaela asked: “Mama, can I go ride my tricycle?”

I replied, “No, baby, not today – you’re sick. Why don’t you go play in your room?”

Mikaela: “I don’t feel like it. I’m too sick.”

Kids’ school

So, the kids are both in kindergarten this year, I’m sure I’ve mentioned. They’re attending a private school and boy is my pocketbook hurting! But the kids seem to be doing great.

They’re using the ABeka Christian curriculum, the same that I grew up using. I love it. Right now they’re working on their handwriting and bringing home homework to practice. Oh, boy that’s like pulling teeth. Slowly but surely they’re getting it, though.

The teacher stopped me the other day when I was on my way out the door to tell me how well my kids were doing and that Mikaela was doing just fine in Kindergarten (she’s 4 but they allowed her to start on K early), and that Gabriel was doing a good job also. That made my heart happy. At least if I can’t teach them myself, they’re in a good, nurturing Christian school with a very small class size and a veteran teacher. I’d love to homeschool again sometime in the future, if only our finances would allow me to do so. I guess we’ll see how that pans out.

Handling sibling rivalry

OK, dear readers … I’m up to my eyeballs in sibling rivalry. My kids argue frequently and it’s driving me NUTS.

I know it’s “normal” for kids to argue, but it’s severely disrupting the peace of our household and I’m getting really tired of it. Some (most) arguments start because one of them is trying to boss the other around. Others start when the kids deem a situation to be unfair or inequitable. For instance, a couple of weeks ago Gabriel inherited several boxes of nice toys from my husband’s boss, whose boys had outgrown them. Mikaela threw a fit that Gabriel got new toys. I explained the situation to her – that we didn’t buy them, that someone gave them to us, and she poutily replied, “well, Papa should have bought me some girl toys too.” Land sakes.

Anyway, it’ s getting old. I don’t necessarily want to punish them, I want to teach them how to work out their disagreements without losing my mind. Any insights or book suggestions?

Interview with Mikaela

I interviewed the kids today for posterity. Some of their answers were hilarious. Here are Mikaela’s responses to my questions:

Interview with Gabriel

I decided to interview the kids today, to get a snapshot of where they are developmentally and to see what funny things they would say in response to our questions. Here is Gabriel’s interview:

Summer summary – kids and pets

We now have 4 pets. FOUR. Yes, we are indeed insane.

We’ve had our sweet, lazy Daisy, a long-haired dachshund, for about a year now. She’s become a family member. This spring, we added two gray tabby kittens – buttercup and lilly – to the mix. And just this week, we were given a puppy by my husband’s boss. One of her parents is a mini dachshund, the other is a regular dachshund. But whether she winds up being mini or not, she is short-haired. We named her Violet.

So we have 4 female animals, all named after flowers. They’re all getting along amazingly well, and they have a grand time romping in the backyard together. Now if we could just get the newest addition housebroken!

Anyway, here are some pictures taken this summer of the kids and our pets. Enjoy!

The kids

Oh, my babies have grown this summer. Other than the 6-month stint at a newspaper when Gabriel was 2 and Mikaela was not quite 1, this summer was the first time I’ve been away from them for any length of time each day. In a way it was a welcome break from the monotony of dirty dishes, whining and sibling rivalry; in another way, I felt like a part of me withered as I know we are turning a page in my children’s lives and I can’t go back and edit the previous pages ever again. As much as I believe in homeschooling, I’m not sure it was the best choice for us for many different reasons, the biggest one being that we absolutely have to have a second income to make ends meet. I have nothing but respect for moms who do homeschool, though, and I have more than a little wistful feeling that I wish it had worked out.

The school the kids are at this year, they are already familar with: it’s the same place as the daycare they went to all summer. It’s a small, private (Christian) facility that provides pre-K through first grade – as well as after-school care. The class sizes are wonderfully small and their teacher has 30 years of experience and the sweetest disposition. I’m really excited and have a good feeling about this year.

I actually went up to the school to talk to the kids’ teacher yesterday, to give her a bit of background on both of my kids. I told her about Gabriel’s disabilities and diagnoses, but that he has come an awfully long way. I asked her to help me help her to help him. (got that?) I want her to tell me the things he needs extra help in throughout the year so he doesn’t fall behind.

And I told her about Mikaela: she catches on to things quickly but can be really lazy! I hate seeing that in her personality and want to know how to get rid of it. For instance, when I read a book to her, I stop to let her sound words out, for her to almost always say: “no, mama, YOU read it.” Of course, that’s one example of many. If she can con someone into doing almost any job for her, she will do it. I can’t tell you how often I ask her to do something, to have her try to delegate it to Gabriel. Or often she’ll tell someone who doesn’t know any better that she “can’t” do something or “doesn’t know how.” She pulls this with her dad pretty often. She was demanding that he buckle her into her carseat well after she knew how, saying, “Papa, I can’t do it!”

The conniving shows that she’s pretty smart, but it’s obviously not good! She has her good qualities, too, and she can be an absolute sweetheart when she wants to be. (We’re working on encouraging that. )

Both kids are sounding words out and trying to write. They need some help still but I love to see that they’re progressing. Both kids but especially Gabriel loves playing with those alphabet magnets, and he’ll spell out all kinds of words, asking us to see if he spelled it right. We were pleasantly surprised when Gabriel sounded “Puzzle” out correctly the other day. I’d put a lot of effort in trying to teach the kids to read, and teaching them phonics, this last year but it seemed like a lot wasn’t sticking. Well, maybe it just took a while to soak in.

Conversations with the kids

The kids are cracking me up lately. Some recent examples:

Mikaela: “mama, adults can do whatever they want?”
Me: “well … no, not exactly … if we break the law the police will arrest us.”
Mikaela: “no, not that kind of things, I mean can adults touch breakable things?”

Mikaela pointed out the car window, identifying a ‘cow’ we drove past, when Jay mentioned that it was actualy a ‘boy cow,’ a bull. Mikaela replied:
“Boy cows say (in a deep voice): moooooo! … girl cows say (in a high voice) mooo!”

Gabriel gets on obsessive cleaning jags, which to my neat-freak husband is a good thing. I hate that he feels compelled … but it really IS nice to have such a willing helper. He’s turned into a bit of a slave driver, though. Last night, he said he would clean his room and Mikaela’s room. Then he went into the kitchen with Jay, pointing to the sink full of dirty dishes. “Papa, can you clean those dishes for me?” Jay replied: “aw, do I have to right now?” I laughed and said maybe we could teach Gabriel how to wash the dishes. Gabriel, who was still standing there, exasperatedly said, “I got enough things to do around here!”

And don’t you forget it! :D

The kids were arguing recently as follows:

Gabriel: uh-huh!

Mikaela: unh-uh!

Gabriel: Mikaela, you don’t know everything. You not the boss.

Mikaela: you not the boss either, Gabriel

Gabriel: Mama’s the big boss!

And don’t you forget it

We were in the car on the way to the doctor (I’m sick again … shocker) today and Mikaela had just apparently noticed her beloved stuffed doggie’s spots. This is the conversation that followed:

Mikaela: my doggie has spots! he’s sick.

Gabriel: your doggie already had spots

M: did not

Gabriel: yes

M: did not

Gabriel: YES MIKAELA

M: you don’t know everything, Gabriel.

G: I played soccer and I have a trophy.

Update on the kids (‘baby book’ post)

It’s been a while since I’ve updated on the kids!

Gabriel is now 5 years and 7 months old. He can write his letters, although he often gets a few of them backwards (especially “N” and “S”). He has taken quite an interest in writing things and spelling lately – just yesterday he tried to write “please” in chalk on the driveway. He spelled it “Pes,” and when I showed him how to spell it correctly, Mikaela looked at the word and told me it needed a “Z” on the end. Smarty pants.

Anyway, Gabriel loves playing with our alphabet magnets and is getting pretty good spelling simple words by himself. I wish I could say the same on the reading and math fronts … he still struggles to count to 20 without mistakes, and his reading is going VERY slowly. He knows the letter sounds, he just has a hard time putting them together. I am giving him some room on this, though .. it could really be part of his processing issues.

His speech continues to get clearer. He is understood about 90% of the time by others … a day I thought would never come! We’re still working on proper sentence structure, i.e. saying “I need to go to the bathroom please” instead of “I hafta go bathroom.”

His curiosity and sense of wonderment thrill me. I have a lot of hope for his future. He asks a lot of questions lately about where things come from, what things are made of and what the purpose of things are (what are eyebrows for? where does (tap) water come from? what’s this made of?)

His sensory integration/hydrocephaly/speech/add/ocd issues … I’m really beginning to think he may just be a bit of an odd duck, but not to a severe degree. I mean that I don’t think he has nearly as many issues, and nearly as severe issues as I thought he did. Thank God. That really did not come out well … but do you know what I mean? He is a sensitive child, and almost all of his lingering issues revolve around that. So I guess I’d say his problems are now emotional, and even then not really out of the range of “normal.”

He does have a few hangups. He hates having his hair changed. If it’s spiky he gets upset and sometimes cries. He HATES getting water in his ears and often fights me in the shower if that happens. And he still has some mildly “OCD”  tendencies, but I think they’re really more in the range of someone who is a perfectionist, just like his dad.

Mikaela has more good days than bad. She sure can cop a major attitude though. I shudder to think of her teen or even her tween years. You woudn’t think my tiny 25-pound 4-year-old could slam a door with such ferocity. I swear one of these days it’s going to fall off its hinges. And of course she gets punished for it … but she does it anyway.

Mikaela is now 4 years and 3 months old. She is still tiny … but she’s finally in a size 3, so I know she’s growing! Honestly, I need to re-weigh her. She must be going through a growth spurt, because she eats all the time right now.  I mean, seriously. She eats 3 meals and possibly even up to 5 snacks a day. Maybe more .. I guess I should count! I have to struggle to make sure she’s eating healthy snacks, though … at least for most of the snack times. She sure does love junk food!

Mikaela is smart. She’s definitely reading, although I would still call her a beginner. She is bad about guessing instead of reading the word. She is trying to write and spell just like Gabriel, although I think Gabriel has her beaten in that area so far… and I guess he should since he’s older.

Mikaela loves going onto starfall.com and playing their beginning-reader games. She knows how to get to the site, click around to where she wants to go, and close the page down afterwards. Gabriel enjoys playing on that site as well.

Mikaela is super cute. Pictures never do her justice. She’s just so petite and adorable (OK, I’m biased, I know) … but seriously we get comments from strangers everywhere we go. It really honestly makes me nervous that she attracts so much attention. I don’t take my eye off of her in public for a millisecond … and I’m sure I won’t until she’s much, much older. But anyway back to her cute-ness … she also has this very girly high-pitched voice that my mom always says sounds so cute every time she calls. My mom got a shock when we were in TN for the wedding though!

My parents, kids and I had to stop off at Wal-mart so I could get some camera memory the day before the wedding. I decided to leave the kids in the van with my mom while my dad and I went in. Well, I don’t know if the kids forgot my mom was there (she was sitting behind them) or what .. but they pulled out their rudest, crudest potty humor. In front of my very proper mother. Thankfully, she thought it was somewhat funny (or so she says), but I was mortified.

Back to Mikaela … I really want to get her involved in dance lessons or soccer or gymnastics soon. She’s never had the opportunity to do anything like that and I really think she would enjoy it. Anyone have any advice for activities for this age?

My babies

Bluebonnets

Taking your childrens’ photos in the bluebonnets is a time-honored central Texas tradition. I’ve been trying to scout out a good location for this year’s pictures, and just yesterday I found a decent-sized patch off of Shell Road near TX 195 in Georgetown. I got some good pictures this year, mostly because my kids are finally old enough to bribe.

Here’s a look at this year’s photos, along with bluebonnet photos from the last 5 years:

Cute update

Today I was working with the kids on their phonics ladders (a la aBeka curriculum, the same I was learning when I was their age). When I got to the F’s phonics ladder (fa, fe, fi, fo, fu), Gabriel said I sounded like a giant. LOL.

My germaphobe tendencies must be rubbing off on my children. I almost always break out the Germ-X or Wet Ones after we leave the grocery store, or really any large public place. So, when we left Wal-mart today, after the kids strapped themselves into their carseats, Mikaela piped up: “Okay, now anna-tize my hands.”

This afternoon, we went driving around, looking for a bluebonnet patch to take the kids’ photos in (it’s an annual central TX tradition). We found one, and we were trying to arrange the kids “just so,” when Jay decided bribery might make things go more smoothly, so he promised them suckers if they cooperated. In the car and on the way back home, Gabriel asked if we could hurry home and get a sucker. We asked why, and he said, “cause you got some hungry kids back here!”

Long time no write

Wow, has it really been two weeks? What a slacker I’ve turned into!

Homeschooling is going pretty well. We’re about a third of the way through How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Mikaela is picking it up more quickly than Gabriel is. Each day we also read a book together, trace letters, trace numbers, have a Bible lesson and a science lesson. Crafts and cutting practice get thrown in the mix almost daily as well. We spend about an hour to two hours, depending on the day and their attentiveness. Sometimes Gabriel is totally spaced out, which obviously slows us down.

This week at our homeschool is animal week. We’re covering the following concepts:

• Animals live in different habitats, in different places in the world
• Animals come in a wide range of sizes
• Animals’ coverings protect them from temperature and predators
• Animals need food, shelter and water
• Animals move in different ways
• Animals can be classified
• Some animals lay eggs, some animals have babies
• Animals eat different food
• Some animals build homes
• Some animals hibernate, birds migrate
• Some animals are nocturnal
• Some animals provide products we use

… we’re covering those topics by reading an array of books, watching animal DVDs we rented from the library, doing animal experiments and activities from my Macmillan Early Science Activities kit, and hopefully we’ll be able to go to the zoo this week as well.

I love this stuff.

Aside from homeschooling, I am trying to get a degree plan written up by a couple of our local community colleges. Hopefully once I get the finalized degree plan it will help me to make my decision about which nursing school to attend. This decision is making me nuts, and I’m ready to have a solid plan in place. I am a goal-oriented person and I hate when things are up in the air like this. I’ll keep you posted.

Mikaela’s new room

As one of her birthday presents, we gave Mikaela a “girly” room. Jay did all of the work by himself. I think he did a great job!

Cheater!

Hi-ho-cherry-o from Melanie Plemons on Vimeo.

Winter blahs

I am eagerly anticipating spring. I hate this time of year, where there’s really nothing else to look forward to. Thank God I live in TX, where spring often starts in late Feb.

Let’s see … what’s new? Well, for one, I’ve been on my facebook a LOT lately with status updates, so blogging has kinda fallen by the wayside. Sorry about that.

Homeschooling is going well. I’m working really hard to make it fun. Makes for lots of planning, but the kids are enjoying it. Instead of doing a lot of worksheets, I’m trying to do activities. Like simple science experiments, math and phonics games, and dramatic interpretations of books. It only takes us about an hour or an hour-and-a-half, 4 days a week, and they are learning an amazing amount. The kids like it so much, they ask each morning when we can have school (as soon as mommy has her caffeine). Oh, if only they would always be this excited about learning …

I am looking forward to having a set curriculum, with pre-made lesson plans, to work from. That will take a load off. Like right now, I know I have to plan for this next week, and it’s a little overwhelming.

I always kind of dread Sunday afternoons, because there’s so much I want to do to prep for the week ahead, and I almost never get it all done. Ideally, I’d like to finish and iron all the laundry, have the house spotless, and have the lesson plans ready for the week. Usually, I just settle for getting the laundry washed and writing the lesson plans.

Back on things to look forward to – Mikaela’s 4th birthday is next month (Feb). We’re hoping to have a nice little family party and give her a girly room, finally. We got a comforter (see pic below), and we want to paint the walls a light greenish color, paint her bed white, and maybe hang some stuff from the walls or ceiling. She’s never had a room done up nicely – she didn’t even have a home to call her own until she was 9 months old (we were living with family). I’ve been wanting to give her a girly room so badly, and now we’re finally doing it. I’m so excited.

The “Baby Book” post

I’ve been really bad at updating this blog with my kids’ milestones and anecdotes from their lives. I’ve been even worse keeping a written record, as in their “baby books.”

So, here goes:

Mikaela is almost 4. She’ll be 4 in just a little over a month. She can write her name legibly, she knows all the letters of the alphabet and their letter sounds (both upper and lower case). We’re still working on short and long vowels, though. She is learning sight words and we’re working through How To Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. She’s doing pretty well. She can almost count to 20, although she tends to get confused sometimes between 13-18. I know, we need to work on that. She can cut with scissors and glue with a glue stick, but is still working on it. She knows her colors and shapes. Her deductive reasoning is getting better by the day; she’s also pretty good at answering questions about a book I just read.

Mikaela loves to sing. She also LOVES to dress up in her dress-up clothes. She changes clothes and shoes all day long. When she plays with her dolls or stuffed animals, she “talks” for them in a sweet high-pitched voice. She likes to watch movies and TV, but I’m only letting her watch a little bit each day. She really likes shows that are “live action” as opposed to animated or with puppets – like Drake and Josh, iCarly and Full House.

Gabriel is doing well at 5 years and 3 months. His speech is still choppy and full of mispronunciations, but he almost always gets his point across now. There’s very little that we don’t understand. Other people can’t always understand him, though.

He adores building intricate cities using blocks, action figures and his Geo Trax trains and other various toys. I mean, he could seriously spend hours in one sitting getting it just right. He comes unglued when Mikaela knocks anything down. He also loves playing with his action figures and will mix them up – Darth Vader might be fighting Buzz from Toy Story, for example. He also enjoys movies, but always asks “is there a bad guy in it?” – meaning, he likes the action movies. Especially Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean. Academically, he’s doing pretty much everything Mikaela is, although we need to work on his lower-case letters. He still has trouble gripping a pencil and scissors properly, but he works at it.

The kids play cooperatively pretty darn well these days. Oh, the imaginations they have. It’s fun to watch and listen to. They build cities together, using her toys and his. They play “birthday party,” which involves one of them standing outside the door to their room and saying “ding-ding” as if they were ringing a doorbell – and the other one opens the door and says, “surprise! Here’s your presents!” – to which the other says, “oh, wow!” … They play Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which I haven’t really figured out, but I know it involves a lot of running back and forth from his room to her room and a lot of costume changes for Mikaela. They play “knight and princess,” where they both dress up in their respective costumes and he chases her around, screaming. (Someone needs to tell him the knight RESCUES the princess.) They also play “monsters” which also involves a lot of running around and screaming. They play hide-and-”sink” (which I always call to them: “SEEK, it’s SEEK not sink!”), where one counts and the other stays hidden for about 30 seconds before coming out and revealing themselves, giggling. They also play a lot with Mikaela’s dolls, pretending to teach them in school, go to the doctor, or the grocery store. They also play a lot with Mikaela’s plastic food, setting up grand feasts.

At 5, Gabriel is average in height but skinny. He wears size 5 pants with a belt, but he could stand to go up to a 6. Gotta get that boy to gain some weight, though. He is still pretty darn picky, although he will generally try something new these days, instead of pitching a temper tantrum about it.

At almost-4, Mikaela is still teeny. She wears a 3T shirt and is in some strange limbo-world of a pants size. She has really outgrown her 2T pants, but is too skinny and short for her 3T pants. I wish there was a half-size in there somewhere. At her last doctor’s visit, she’s still under 30 pounds… but she’s so short, she is proportional. I’m pretty sure this kid’s not going to see 5 feet.

Two skinny kids … goodness, you wouldn’t believe how much they eat in a day. Mikaela says she’s hungry about every 2 hours. She’s a grazer. Gabriel will eat fairly large quantities of what he likes, but will not eat much at all if he doesn’t like it. I only wished he liked healthier stuff. :/

Busy builders

My kids love building things, especially Gabriel. They set up elaborate “cities” with blocks, hot wheels cars, all kinds of action figures and animals, Gabriel’s GeoTrax trains and whatever else is handy. I took these yesterday. I think Gabriel did most of the building:

In this last one, this is what happens when a boy and girl play together. This is the Indiana Jones German soldiers’ jeep, being driven by Hello Kitty. It appears that Hello Kitty is a bad driver – it looks like she stomped on the brakes and all the my little ponies went flying.

Deja Vu

Today was warm – almost hot. We took the kids to the park – almost exactly a year from when we took them during a warm spell last winter.

Things no one tells you about parenting

You never wake up in the morning thinking, “I’m going to have to stick a magnet up my child’s nose today to retrieve a stuck toy.”

But such is the life of a parent. Let me start back at the beginning.

Mikaela received a Dog Trainer Barbie set for Christmas – complete with a Barbie-scale dog and its accouterments. Including tiny, raisin-sized things meant to serve as both dog biscuits and poop, depending on which end we’re talking about. Fun stuff. (See photo below.)

Anyway, the little poop/biscuit pellets are magnetized, and Barbie has a magnetic pooper scooper that she can pick them up with. How clever. Jay mentioned that he’d like to have been at the meeting where this concept was pitched to management.

So, Mikaela has been playing with this playset a lot. Last night after she went to bed, she suddenly started screaming hysterically. Jay and I both ran into her room, and it took us a couple of minutes until we were able to decipher what the problem was … she finally pointed to her nose and said something about a toy being stuck. We got the flashlight and peered up there, and there it was: one of those magnetic pieces of poop, wedged.

We tried various methods of getting it out, finally getting a stronger magnet out and shoving it way up her nose. Thankfully, it worked. Can you imagine the stories the ER doctors would’ve had to tell … I’m sure they’d have had a good laugh. Thankfully it didn’t come to that point. And thankfully we can laugh about it now! Heaven sakes… what will this child do to give me gray hair next?

ha.

Me (sorting through dirty laundry): Mikaela, what is your Snow White costume doing in the dirty laundry? Did you pee on it?

Mikaela (pondering): mmmm … probably.

Gross

We were at Garden Ridge recently and the kids had to go to the bathroom. As Gabriel’s not old enough to go in the men’s restroom himself, I let him go in the women’s room with Mikaela and I. When we walked in, Gabriel sniffed and said, “It smells like the cafeteria.”

I guess the lunchroom food hasn’t changed much since my days in school.

We’re Back

I am back from my trip! We got in from our Thanksgiving trip early in the a.m. on Monday; I decided to let Gabriel skip school that day so we could all sleep in. It was nice. I spent the rest of the day trying to clean, unpack and do laundry.

Yesterday was Jay’s birthday, so we were busy celebrating it – and putting Christmas decorations up. Today he had to go back to work after 8 days off – I know that’s got to be hard to get back in the swing of things after that long! Unfortunately, his break could have been much better. He’s had bronchitis for over 2 weeks now.

Anyway, our trip was nice! We both had a really nice time, as did our kids. But for some reason, the drive there (to Birmingham) through east TX, Louisiana & Mississippi seemed much shorter than the route back through TN and Arkansas. So, like I said – we drove in to Birmingham, spent the night there Tuesday night, then drove to the Knoxville, TN area to my sister’s house on Wednesday. My kids are at a fun age to be enjoyed by family, so we had a pretty fun time. One of the days, we went to the Knoxville Fantasy of Trees, where the kids did Christmas crafts, rode a carousel, and got to see lots of beautifully decorated trees and gingerbread houses – all to benefit the children’s hospital. While there, we also baked Christmas cookies and had “early Christmas,” with the kids opening their gifts from my parents and sisters’ family. Oh, and my sister fattened us up all week with her ridiculously wonderful cooking.

We stayed in Knoxville until Saturday mid-day, then drove to the Nashville area to see my sister & brother-in-law and their daughter. That evening, we had a sitter come over so we could go out to celebrate Jay’s birthday. We went to McCreary’s Irish Pub in Franklin and had fish & chips … it was fun. Our friend Eric, who we haven’t seen in forever, got to go with us – although, we missed his lovely wife who couldn’t make it because of a cold.

Sunday morning we got up and drove back home. We started out at 9:30 a.m. and made it home at 2:30 a.m.  It was a long, long, hard day. It was rainy, which made travel very slow. I don’t ever want to see Arkansas again.

Your guide to preschooler-speak

Possible answers to the question “what are you doing?” – and their meanings:

“I don’t know.” : come running.

“Um …. nothing.” : come running fast.

“Cleaning my room.” : walk out of the front door; you have somehow found yourself in the wrong house.

Let me rephrase

Gabriel and I were sitting down yesterday, going through my photos. I pulled out an old one of me holding two kittens, I think in 2003. He asked where they were, and I told him “we had to get rid of them back in Tennessee.”

He looked startled and said, “You can’t leave those cats in the sea! They be scared!”

Loooong day

We had a long day today, but a good day for the most part.

This morning I decided to keep Gabriel home from school, partially because today was just basically going to be a play-day anyway. I was still on the fence as of this morning whether I was going to try to dress the kids up and go anywhere… and then my friend Becky called me with a great idea of what the kids could be … David and Goliath!

We already had the armor, although Gabriel borrowed the arm guards and the helmet from Becky’s son; the “robes” were oversized T-shirts that we had; Mikaela’s headdress I got for $2.50 at Goodwill; their belts were my honors tassels from my high school graduation. Mikaela’s staff was a plastic candy-cane bought at the dollar store today – and I ripped a pillowcase into long strips of material to cover it and make it more staff-like. I spent a total of $3.50 out of my pocket for their getups … which makes me want to do cartwheels. And I think they made a very good David and Goliath, if I do say so myself.

So back to our day – after Becky called, we went to her house and did paper pumpkin crafts, carved a pumpkin, and made fall-shaped cookies. I had to laugh at Mikaela, my fearless child, half-buried in the cavernous, upturned pumpkin – she was the only one who would dig the seeds and innards out. It was a lot of fun.

Tonight we went to a church carnival, where the kids went on a cake walk, bounced through a bouncy-house, and played lots of games. And of course, got lots of candy. By the end of the night, I was carrying Mikaela’s headdress, Mikaela’s staff, Gabriel’s helmet and arm-guards and both kids’ shoes. We were all exhausted but the kids sure enjoyed themselves.

Recovering

We’ve all been battling bronchitis, me the worst (as usual … it’s awful, every fall) – but I think things are looking up.

I’m slowly getting back in the groove with Mikaela. We had a good home-schooling session this morning – working on math worksheets, listening to a book on tape (and following along in the book), and having a reading lesson. She is doing so well with her reading! I’m still working out of “How To Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons,” a book I would recommend to anyone, especially anyone unsure how exactly to go about teaching phonics/reading.

It’s been a particularly rough last two weeks with the kids, probably partially because they weren’t feeling well, but they’ve been pretty awful nonetheless. Trying my patience at every turn. Sassing me and being disrespectful and disobedient and such. And of course, each time they are appropriately and consistently disciplined. At some point, I’m going to see the fruits of my labor … right?

Tonight I’m going to court to try to talk my way out of two tickets – one for “running a stop sign” (I paused!) and another give at the same time for not having my address changed on my driver’s license since I moved a year ago. Hope that goes well and I don’t have to cough up too much $.

I’m annoyed at Gabriel’s school right now. For one, there’s this: I pulled up to the school yesterday to pick him up and he was not out in front like he usually is. My heart started racing as I scanned and re-scanned all the kids’ faces … and no Gabriel. I calmed myself with the thought that perhaps he was in speech or OT. I rolled my window down and asked where he was – just at the moment a teacher’s aide ran up with him in tow. He had gone in line with the bus riders and it was not noticed for several minutes. I don’t know if he actually got on the bus or not. When he got in the car, he looked terrified and said, “I lost my parents!” I know I could make a big deal about this, but obviously he wasn’t being watched well.

The other thing is this coming Friday. We’re not really big on Halloween. I personally don’t think it’s a big deal to get dressed up and go to a fall festival … or even trick-or-treating at friends’ homes. But I think it should be up to the parents, you know? Well, Halloween stuff has been shoved down the kids’ throats at school all month long … Gabriel’s coming home singing about witches, which I definitely don’t approve of. Anyway, I got a note home saying to “send the kids in their costumes” on Friday for a day full of fun, including a halloween parade around the school. Well, this really hacks me off for two reasons – the first I already said, it should be up to the parents whether to celebrate or not, and to turn it into a major school holiday is just wrong. Secondly, we live in a low-income area … what about the kids who can’t afford a costume? They’re going to feel left out. I wasn’t planning on doing anything this year, partly because I don’t really have the $ to shell out for a costume, but now I’m faced with this dilemma. I may just let Gabriel stay home that day.

I voted

I voted for the first time today. Woohoo.

On my way to vote, I had this exchange with Mikaela:

Mikaela: “Mama? Where we goin’? We goin’ to pick Gabriel up?”
Me: “No, I’m going to vote.”
Mikaela: “I want to go on the boat!!!”

Field tripping

Gabriel’s class went on a field trip to a “pumpkin patch” today, and Mikaela and I went along. The “patch” consisted of pumpkins arranged on pallets outside of an Episcopal church…. not exactly what I was hoping for, photo-op-wise, but oh, well. Gabriel got to ride the bus for the very first time, and Mikaela and I (and a caravan of other parents in their cars) drove behind it. The church was very pretty and had a very old-looking courtyard decorated with fall mums, pumpkins and gourds. There were rows of seats set up, and a lady that worked there at the place put on a little show. It was nice enough, but I’m not entirely comfortable with all the Halloween-y stuff. Jack-o-Lanterns I can live with, but I could do without the witches and wizards. I digress.

So after the show, she kids were filed into the Episcopal church to look at the beautiful stained-glass windows. The same lady who’d put on the show pointed out the Mary, Joseph and Jesus figurines up near the altar and asked the kids if they had any questions. I was kind of shocked that this was allowed for a public school class … but hey, I’m not complaining!

After that, the kids were filed back outside, where they took pictures in the “patch.” After that, we all drove to a nearby park where the kids ate their lunches and played on the playground. The problem there was that the restrooms were locked and when Mikaela has to go – Mikaela has to go. There ain’t no holdin’ it. So, I snuck her (don’t you love my grammar?) around the side of the restroom building, pulled her pants down halfway, and held her up with her legs out of the way. She managed to pee all over my feet. After she’d finished, I was walking barefoot, flip-flops in hand, trying to shuffle my feet through the grass to get them somewhat wiped off … and then I walked right through a sticker patch. I’m sure I looked like the three stooges stumbling around. Oh, the things you don’t realize that fall under the umbrella of “motherhood” when you sign up for it!

I still wouldn’t change a thing.

Croupies

The kids and I have our annual fall upper-respiratory infection. Gabriel had it first and is on the mend; tonight Mikaela woke up crying with the infection’s telltale barky cough. Right now she’s on the couch with the cool-air humidifier right next to her.

Despite our hacking, we are going on a field trip tomorrow. Gabriel’s class is going to a pumpkin patch and I’m going along and taking Mikaela. Gabriel’s teacher is so laid-back about me visiting and bringing Mikaela with me … it’s really nice. Anyway, I hope I get some good photos.

There’s not much news to report. I’m keeping busy with the kids, the house, church and friends. Gabriel is enjoying school, and Mikaela is doing well with her homeschooling lessons. I am about to start Before Five In a Row curriculum with her and I’m really excited. I’ll let you know what I think after we get started!

5 years

Somehow, my baby is five years old. Gabriel is now “officially” five – since 3:14 (CDT). It’s hard to believe I’ve been a parent for five years now. Could I say five one more time? And for all of you out there playing a drinking game, Maverick.

Seriously, back to Gabriel. This has been an amazing last year. I’ve gone from panic and despair at his developmental delays to – more recently – elation at how quickly he’s catching up. We had a teacher meeting yesterday and his preschool teacher and I are both amazed at how well he’s doing. He still needs to improve on his speech and motor skills, but otherwise, he is right there with his peers. His teacher said he did “appropriate things at appropriate times” and that he re-directed very well when he gets off task. I just couldn’t be more pleased. I went into this whole pre-K thing with fear and trepidation, but his wonderful teacher (who is a devout Christian) has put me at complete ease. Now next year, I may hate his teacher and wind up pulling him out and going back to homeschooling … but for right now, I feel like this is the perfect thing.

So, yeah … Gabriel is five. I still can’t really wrap my brain around it. Maybe it’s because he’s been behind his peers until very recently? It’s been easier to think of him as a sweet innocent baby. But he’s growing up on me. I just couldn’t be more proud of him. He loves school and he loves playing soccer. He’s even started trying some vegetables (be still my beating heart!). He’s definitely learned to stand up for himself this year … so now I have TWO bullheaded children. Somewhere God is laughing heartily.

Gabriel this morning, playing with his toys (notice that Papa seems to be enjoying himself as well!!):

Gabriel

Gabriel is doing well in school. Today he switched from half days to full days – and he seemed to do just fine with it. His teacher is really great and has taken an interest in him and his development … and I’m sure that makes all the difference.

Gabriel is advancing all around. He is doing much better with his motor skills and his speech. Anyone can understand him now – not so just 9 months or a year ago. He’s worked so hard and I’m so proud of him.

Untitled from Melanie Plemons on Vimeo.

Mikaela

Mikaela is a snowflake. It’s hard to believe sometimes that she’s only been on this earth for 43 months. She is so smart and funny and fearless … and on the flipside sneaky and manipulative. But hey, let’s talk about her good side.

She makes me laugh every day – no, more like every hour these days. Especially her vocabulary, which continually shocks me. I mean, it’s hard knowing what’s “age appropriate,” since Gabriel was still using mostly unintelligible one and two-word phrases at this age…. but she seems like she’s doing really well.

Last week we were out in a public restroom and she was in the stall with me. She voluntarily turned herself around and faced the wall, saying, “I give you some privacy.”

Her fearlessness continues to amaze me. She held a bearded dragon today without batting an eye. Gabriel screams about bugs and she stomps on them, it cracks me up.

Oh, and she’s observant. Too much for her own good sometimes! This Sunday I had the lazies and a stuffy nose. Jay was pretty sick, as was Gabriel – and I had just planned on staying home as well. Mikaela looked at me and said, “You not sick. Get up and take me to church.” (!) Nothing like having your bluff called by a three-year-old!

I’m trying to get back in the homeschool groove with her. I had her work on a page that showed different fall items – a scarecrow, a pumpkin, corn, etc. Each item has three letters under it, and the student has to circle the beginning letter of the picture (s for scarecrow, etc.). I had to help her some, but she did pretty well. We also worked on tracing her numbers and counting out beads, talking about fall and drawing a fall tree, and tracing her name (she can write it without tracing but she needs a lot of work on her penmanship and spacing). I still need to give her a reading lesson. I guess I should get on that seeing as though it’s bedtime. Where do all the hours go?

Free at last

I just ‘fired’ the rotten little boy I’ve been watching after he intentionally peed and pooped in his pants (3rd time this week) … this time, in Mikaela’s baby doll car seat. I’ve endured 6 weeks of disrespect, defiance, rudeness and extreme hyperactivity. I had just had my fill after what he did today.

At the same time, I felt bad. My personality makes me not want to disappoint people. I’m something between an overachiever and a perfectionist. I broke the news as gently as I could, then I gave her the numbers of two other local babysitters that I’d found on craigslist. Apparently this was not the first time he’s been “kicked out” of someone’s daycare.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do with all of my free time now (ha). I’m sure I’ll get back to a better homeschooling schedule with Mikaela. And I hope I’ll be picking up more freelance work now that we’re entering the ‘end of the year crunch’ at the magazine I work for.

Shoe Fetish

My daughter has a thing for shoes. I mean, REALLY. She notices them like an adult would. If you are wearing shoes she deems “cute,” she will tell you. She asks to buy shoes when we’re in the store. She puts shoes on each morning – even if still in her PJs – and will change into different pairs throughout the day.

So yesterday, we went into Payless to find a pair for Gabriel and possibly a pair for her too. Unprompted, she told the sales lady, “I’d like a pair of black shoes.”

Then, Mikaela looked over to the rack, where a pair had caught her eyes. Picking them up, she gushed, “OH! Look at these!” She then looked up at the sales lady and said, “I’d like to buy these!”

Ha

The boy I babysit, R, is having a hard time pronouncing certain words:

Me: R, do you want ketchup or mustard on your hotdog?

R: mustahd and checkup

Me: ketchup

R: checkup

Me: keeetttchuuupp

R: yeah, that.

Teaching Charlie Brown to Read

Random thoughts of the day

This is going to be a busy and rather odd week. This week’s babysitting responsibilities include my usual two kids, plus a friends’ grandmother and a bearded dragon. There’s no punchline there, although it sounds like there should be. Other stuff includes Gabriel’s soccer practice and game, and a benefit yard sale I’m hosting Saturday. Oh, darn … I just realize I double-booked myself on Saturday. Argh. I’m not good at this busy schedule yet!

Aside from all that, I’m still working with my kids to try to teach them a thing or two. We’ve been doing fall-themed worksheets this week to celebrate the first week of fall; I’ve also been working with both of them on lessons from “How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.” I’ve apparently been pushing too hard on it, though, because Gabriel looked up from the lesson to say, “Mama, my reading is making my head hurting.”

I feel bad for neglecting this blog. I long to write, but after watching the kids and everything I have to get done each day – my brain is just too fried for it. Hopefully this season (the babysitting part of it, anyway) is going to be a short one!

Cute-isms, vol. 348

Gabriel had run into the room, tattling for seemingly the hundredth time of the day: “Mama, Mikaela just …”
Me: “NO tattling.”
Gabriel, indignant: “I not tattling! I just telling!”

Mikaela was holding a movie in her hand, looking at it intently.
Jay: “Mikaela, do you want to watch that?”
Mikaela: “Sure do!”

Gabriel: “I want some ant stickers!”
Me: “You’ll have to wait, I don’t have any money right now.”
Gabriel: “BUT I WANT SOME.”
Me: “Do you have any money?”
Gabriel: “No. But you have to get some.”
Me: “And where am I going to get this money from?”
Gabriel: “A cash register!”

Fulfilling my destiny

It’s official. I am a soccer mom.

Gabriel has started playing in one of the local towns’ Parks & Rec leagues, and today he played his first actual game. It went about as well as you’d expect from a bunch of four- and five-year-olds. For example? In the last photo below, that’s my son kicking the ball towards the wrong goal, and one of the coaches holding her hand up, telling him to turn it around. Honestly, most of the game he ran far behind the pack, or stood staring off at the game on the next field, not paying attention. The coaches had to call his name every play to tell him to watch the ball.

It’s okay, though .. it doesn’t feel super-competitive and I don’t think he’s being picked on. Hopefully his soccer skills will improve in the coming years before either of those two things happen.

Well, I SAY it’s okay – but I hope the other parents aren’t in super-competitive mode already. I mean, not that I should really care, because I’m doing this for Gabriel, because he says he likes it, and because I think (well, I hope anyway) that it will help with his gross motor and skills and attentiveness. I guess we’ll see.

She’s got it all figured out

Mikaela and I were outside a neighbor’s house today, talking to the neighbor when a kitten walked by. Mikaela stooped down to pet it and asked me if she could have one. I told her that she should ask her father.

Later on, I overheard Mikaela play-acting that conversation out: “Papa, can I have a kitten?” (switching to a deep voice): “No!”

——

When I was relating this story to my mom, Mikaela overheard and wanted to talk to her about it. My mom asked what she would give the cat to eat and drink if she had one, and Mikaela said, “cheerios, chips and pink water.”