dinner conversations

Last week we had cheeseburger soup for dinner. It is a potato cheesey vegetable loaded soup with ground beef in it. Rhys was scooping things up out of his soup.

"I've got celery." (pronounced Iiiiiiiiiiiive got cewawy)
"I've got a carrot." (Iiiiiiiiiive got a cawot)
He scoops up ground beef and says, "I've got a poopie." That he says right.
He gets a bigger hunk of beef and says, "I've got a big, giant, giant poopie."

The funny thing was, I don't know if he was trying to be funny or not. He was just thinking he was scooping up poop out of his soup.

Tonight, much like most nights, Ava decided she didn't like what we were having for dinner before she even knew what it was. So she says, "I don't like that. I wish it could be like in a restaurant and I can just have what I want."

During dinner....
Rhys: Ava, eat your food.
Justin: Rhys, mind your own business.
Rhys: Ava, just take a bite.
Justin: Rhys!
Rhys: It is my business. It is, it is my business.
Justin: No it isn't, worry about your plate.
Rhys: It is my business. (arms crossed)
Ava: It isn't my business. I don't have a business. I am just not eating.



Rhys really likes mini wheats, all the time. They are good breakfast foods, snacks, whatever.

Rhys: Ummmm....I want meee-whees. With a bowl. (long pause) and a poon.

yeah, real fast

Ok here is some follow ups.

Ava had her individual assessment/interview for Kindergarten. She had no real skills to work on for the summer. She is just supposed to continue to practice her letter writing so she doesn't get rusty. We are just waiting for them to call and schedule the family interview.

I finished Ava's blanket. She loves it, or so she says. I am pretty happy with it. I don't have a picture of it really finished, all flat and blocked after the washing.

I did make a pair of booties. They are kind of ugly. Ava is using them for her dolls. I have learned from them and now feel confident to make booties as gifts.

We have been sick lately. Ava had an ear infection last week, though aside from one night of complaining it was pretty much like she had a cold. Rhys had a flu like thing last week, fever, cough, snot. Everything is gone except for all the snot and a little bit of cough. I think Rhys has had stuff pouring out of his nose for the last month. I am pretty much ready for winter to be over. There were a few warm days that melted everything and let us play outside. It was a tease and just makes the rest of winter harder to deal with. I have never been a winter complainer, but now I am. The kids need a change of scenery.

so close

I am almost done with Ava's blanket. Hopefully in the next two days it will be finished. It will all depend on how much time I actually get to work on it. I am hanging out at home with sick little people. Ava just has a cold and cough but Rhys has a fever. Neither are sick-sick. Just enough to keep us home and keep them in full whining mode.

Ava has her individual assessment for kindergarten tomorrow. She meets with the teacher for about 20 minutes and they just play games to determine her skill levels. It doesn't make a difference as to whether or not she is accepted. They just want to know if there are areas she needs to work on before the fall.

Writing time is up. Rhys has decided it is a good idea to put a giant ball in the little tikes car and sit on it and get Ava to push him around. I don't see this ending well.

school days

A week ago Ava was the special person at school. That means she gets to bring in something for show and tell, bring the snack, and do all the special things that day in class, like be at the front of the line and other very important 4 year old things. She must have been slightly confused about the fact that this honor does not cross over into regular life. All morning she was saying, "but I am the special person!" "Rhys is trying to sit in my chair and I'm the special person." "Don't yell at me! You never yell at the special person!!!!!!!!" "Don't tell me what to do, I'm the special person!!!!"

*******

I am confused as to how this actually happened. I am sure every parent feels this ways, but this morning I am going to be lining up to turn in Ava's application for kindergarten. We have officially decided to send Ava to a local private school. Since until adulthood, I never really knew anyone who went to a private school and always thought our public school provided a good education, I find it still somewhat odd that we have decided to go with private school. Anyway I break it down, I know this is the right decision for our family. The state budget is going nowhere fast and that definitely doesn't mean amazing academics with small class sizes and art, music and foreign languages. I have been loving getting to watch Ava enjoy school. She comes home so happy almost every day. She talks about what they have learned and is excited to learn more. I really did love learning new things in school and I just want to continue to provide an environment for her that makes it fun to learn.

Then I start to think about the fact that she is going to be in kindergarten. She will be gone five mornings a week. I will be getting up, getting her dressed and ready for school five days a week. I will be dropping her off or setting up a car pool five days a week. Then I start to think this is possibly one of the strangest feelings ever. How did I get here? Carpools? Do people really do that? I thought that was just on tv. Seriously, there are going to be class parties, school volunteer hours to complete, fundraisers through out the year, all sorts of stuff. I just had my first child!!!!!!!! How can I already be doing the whole school mom thing? Ava and I are currently reading Farmer Boy by Laura Ingles Wilder before bed. Almanzo didn't go to school until he was 9. That makes a lot more sense to me!

This is a tale of sadness and woe

So I finally finished a project. I finished and sewed together the slippers that were supposed to be for Ava for Christmas in early January. I felted them as directed. It took three rounds in the wash to make them uniformly tight. They had great shape and looked cute. Here is the part of sadness and woe. They came out to be about an adult size 5 or 6. That means they are a little small on me and gigantic on Ava. Ava cried about it and huffed and puffed at me and told me what a huge failure I was. Really, she just huffed and puffed and told me that they were way too big for her and I did it wrong. I didn't do it wrong though. I followed the measurements and directions of the pattern, the pattern just must not have been for the correct size. That is really all there is to it.

This is one of the finished slippers. Ava has stolen the other one and bound it with rubber bands in an attempt to make it fit her foot so it was not available for the picture. Switching this over to a positive note, these bad boys fit quite nicely in my purse for when I go to other people's houses and need some slippers. It is ok, I don't mind walking around looking like a giant elf.

So on to my next project. I am chugging away at it and making quite a bit of progress. Since I have the goal of finishing 12 projects in 2011, I need to finish this in February, so I can be 2 for 2. (I am totally counting the slippers even though they were really mostly done in November and December, because dang it, I finished them in January and some projects take a long time. I am also counting my 3 squares I finished in January for my square project group for kids in Africa. Might have to cushion the total come November, so right now I am really at 4 for 1.) I am making a blanket for Ava. It is the Dream Catcher Baby Blanket out of Spud and Chloe sweater yarn. I am just past the halfway point with the squares. I have been sewing them together when I can too. I figure it won't be so daunting at the end and it will force me to not rush the sewing and will have an overall better result. I am getting much more comfortable with the mattress stitch so hopefully I will be more confident when I sew together future clothing projects. Anyway, here is a picture of what I have finished.

Status of the second set of slippers...sitting alone and depressed and not finished because since the child size slippers turned out to be adult sized, I am not sure what giant will be able to wear the "adult" sized slippers.

because I can

As you know, I like to do things for no other reason than I can. I think it is good to know how to do basic things on your own. Clothes don't always come from the store. Food doesn't always come from a box, can, or restaurant.

My newest endevor that I want to try. Making my own butter. I remember making it in kindergarden for our Thanksgiving party. I am slightly stumped at it only lasting for a week after I make it. Maybe I can freeze it? I don't know. I have just recently discovered the joys of butter over margarine much to the chagrin of my buttox, so I am no butter expert.

To be continued...

what I dread

I have a friend on facebook who has a daughter with a birthmark that matches Ava's and who also has glaucoma. We see some of the same doctors, so we compare notes and share information. We have also talked about our own feelings regarding being the mom's of these awesome little girls. I have only talked to her on the phone a few times and have yet to meet her even though she lives 2 towns over, but I have probably been more honest and open with her regarding my feelings than with anybody else.

Her daughter is also in preschool this year. Ava had her laser treatment on the 30th. My friend's daughter had her laser treatment yesterday. She was feeling fine and went to dance class last night. She wanted to go to school today even though her mom wasn't going to make her. You never know just how bruised up and purple they will be after a treatment until you walk back to recovery. It depends on how wide the laser beam was, how many joules the machine was set for, etc. The other little girl had a treatment in October which didn't leave her very purple so her classmates kind of got eased into it.

They were standing in line ready to go to their classrooms and a couple of her classmates were asking her about her face. Her mom was there with her and they answered how they normally would. "She just had a laser treatment." Very basic stuff since she was talking to 4 year olds. Then the kids in the other class started laughing and pointing and making a big deal about it. Then the little girl started to cry. Then the mom started to cry. The mom was so upset and still crying when she was talking to me on the phone after she got home. She was upset that she cried in front of her daughter and wasn't strong for her, wasn't the example she thought she should be. I didn't have any words of wisdom for her. I just told her I would have cried too.