Can I just "look" at them

Teetering on the steps just to get a closer looksy.

whine whine

Millie wants her new sisters, the hamsters, in the worst way. She is getting bolder. First she just sat looking at them. Then she whined and got closer. Then she jumped on the cage or tried to bat their exercise ball around. She's having a heck of a time getting in at them. The hamsters are totally unfazed by her. They had better never get loose, though. Then all bets are off for Millie. Emily laughs at me as I tell Millie that we don't eat our hamster sisters. They are not a snack. :)

Dr. Dolittle's got nothing on us

Goldie and Sandy- as close up as they'll let me be.

Their new digs.

Our pet for two stinky days- Shelly

This is how it started. Millie started barking wildly at something in the yard. It was a turtle. After many anguished pleas to keep it, we caved. We went to Target to get a proper house for it. Then we got it food and later some fake plants and slate. Well, this turtle was having none of it. It looked miserable. It kept clawing to get out. It also smelled worse than an athlete's socks after a big game. Much worse.

Emily begged us to keep it. But it was getting sick so Jay and I put it back in the bog we think it came from. Feeling bad for the kids, we bought them two hamsters and all their accoutrements while they were at school. The girls came home and were only mildly amused by the hamsters and upset about "Shelly" the turtle. They felt a bit better when we told them that she was happier in the bog.

Well, these new hamsters are dumb as posts. They refuse to go up this one tube to get to their food. The other tubes have been well traversed. Being the worriers that we are, Jay and I kept placing them by their food and putting peanut butter in the tube. Then one bit Em as she put her finger in the cage. Sigh.. Oh and Millie just sits by their cage and whines.

Hopefully they will get used to us and not want to get away whenever we come near them. Does anyone have experience with these critters?

Birthday adventures

Tara's day started with a trip to the playground. Then we got lunch at a Chinese restaurant. She was treated to a little plate of diced and rolled cucumbers and carrot cake by the waitress. Tara liked that. Then it was off to the toy store. She got just what she wanted thanks to Aunt Dee, Uncle Jim, Tom and Sheri.

On to the house where she played and played and played with her new toys.

The girls and I had a few rounds of Connect Four, Guess Who and Crazy 8's. Emily started laughing so hard when we played Connect Four and declared that I couldn't do diagonals. I didn't go for that. She has a very infectious laugh.

Right now she and Emily are blowing huge bubbles in the kitchen, still wearing her birthday hat.

Millie is a bit freaked out by the all the hubbub and is sleeping by my feet.

What a beautiful sunshiny day.

My dad got a 1995 Buick Roadmaster yesterday. He has been wanting one for a long time. I'm happy for him.

Almost 7

Tomorrow Tara turns 7. Today I went to a breakfast with Mom thingy at school. I spent my time between the first and third grades. Then we went back in the afternoon with a cake for Tara and treat bags that I made for her classmates. She was so happy to have all the attention. She got her birthday hat and pencil, which all kids get on their b'day. She really wanted that.

Tomorrow we are going to the toy store to spend some birthday money and gift card. They are burning a serious hole in her pocket. Then she wants to go to a Chinese restaurant, much to the joy of her father.

It was a happy day.

Then I ate Cheerios...

This is one of those "And then I ate Cheerios" entries. Boring for everyone else. Feel free to stop reading. It's going to be boring. Consider yourself warned. :)

Jay and I went and saw C.S Lewis's Prince Caspian today. Jay was in his element. When I was pregnant with Tara ( not knowing yet that she was a girl), Jay suggested naming the baby's middle name Aslan. That was vetoed. I know that Shawn and Kirk would have been on Jay's side. Thank goodness Tara was a girl. Otherwise, she may have gotten a wacky name. Anyway, the movie was amazing to watch but I was so tired, I started to fall asleep in the theater! Jay nudged me. How could I fall asleep?

Now I have some time to study for my praxis and read for fun. The problem is that I have learned over time to speed read in order to get through my college subjects. Now I speed read through books. It's like eating too fast. I am not savoring the books anymore. I'm ruined! Ok that's a bit dramatic. ha ha

Over 20 schools have my application. No calls. Nada. Maybe they haven't started the interview process yet. I hate the waiting.

I've been sewing a cover for Jay's hot tub. I'm basically just covering some Styrofoam with marine vinyl. I've tried all kinds of needles. It's as thick as leather. My fingers have about fallen off. One half of it done. I am not looking forward to the other half. It was so thick to sew, that I punctured my fingers from the other side of the needle trying to push it through. I tried thimbles, taping my fingers. Who knew it'd be this tough?

The Cheerios were delicious.

Beautifying

pre-haircut: Mom says, "No bangs!"

Goofing around with Sharla.

All done!

I took mom to get her hair done today. She hit it off instantly with Sharla the stylist, who is a sweetie. I took before & after pictures, although the pictures don't do justice to how cute her hair really looked at the end!

I noticed that mom was much easier to transfer in & out of her chair. This is because she has been working hard in physical therapy on her core strength. Go mom!

Millie Starr

All clean. She's really filled out since we got her.

Playing with Jay.

Then she dug holes in the ground. Evidence. :)

Millie got groomed today. She looks and smells fabulous! We washed all her bedding, too. Now she sleeps with Em every night in a little dog bed. She is the most obedient dog I've ever seen. And I've had about a hundred dogs pass through my life. She loves to dig holes, her only vice. Now there are pictures to prove it.

What would we do without our Millie. Now Emily, previously terrified of dogs, wants to be a vet. That alone proves that Millie is one heck of a doggy.

Birthdays math and worms

Today is my brother's birthday. Happy Birthday David.

Today Tara was talking about her upcoming birthday. She has waited all year long, seeing all the other kids having their birthdays at school and turning 7. She really wants to be 7.

Tara went out to play today and came in all excited that she'd found an earthworm. She moved it. Why? I asked. "Mom, the ground is no place for a worm!" Oh I see.




Emily and I played with some math facts today. She was talking about her "learning strategies" for some of her facts. She knows the "new math" that kids are being taught today as well as the old algorithms. Kids are taught a lot these days.

Guess who?

Christmas! I was 4 or 5

My favorite picture, at my Aunt and Uncle's wedding. My

mom made our outfits. I was around 2

with my older brother, David
Check out our groovy seventies house!

Me at four years old. I was such a bad tap dance student the teacher told my mom not to bring me anymore, since I wasn't ever going to learn it. Yep, that really happened. That's ok. I remember that tutu and it was really scratchy . :)

DONE with the semester dance

DONE. Deep happy sigh of relief. All classes done. Now nearly a month of no school until the summer term starts. I will most likely never have to take 5 classes at a time again. Since last May, I've finished 15 classes and 45 credit hours. I signed up for the Praxis II. I am applying to schools. All the loose strings are getting tied together. Only two more classes this summer and one class at night in the fall. Then my master's will be officially mine.

The girls are going to McKinley Museum tomorrow with their Brownie troop. Tara came home today excited about another activity at the same time- a party tomorrow at her,,,,,, uh um boyfriend's house. First of all Tara, who's your boyfriend? Oh, he's Kenny with the yellow teeth mom and he loves me. Oh really? Well, he doesn't know he loves me yet, says Tara. Well my precocious 6 year old daughter, you're going to a Brownie function and not to your boyfriend's house for a party, mkay! BE A KID!

Emily came out of her room with eyes that looked like raccoon eyes. It was obvious that she'd gotten into my make up. But she denied it and denied it. The evidence was right on her face! It was bed an hour early for the lies. She needs to know that a lie is going to get a worse consequence than the bad behavior that she was covering up. That's hard to teach a child.

These kids are in a big hurry to grow up.

Goofy sister conversations

It's crunch time. Finals.

Aside from that, I have been trying to look for work and take care of hearth and home.

The girls just finished eating dinner. I made them mac and cheese and tuna sandwiches. I then walked around cleaning and straightening and the girls quickly forgot I was there and started chatting about their school and teachers and getting in trouble. I listened without looking like I was listening. They are so cute. They talked about when kids got in trouble on the playground, in art, wherever. Their conversations are so cute and so innocent. They talked about how one teacher is the best because she gives popsicles to them. They talked about chipmunks and webkinz and how a kid wrote hambooger instead of burger on a paper. Fits of laughter....

Tara told me recently that she couldn't imagine a day without her sister. It melted my heart. Sometimes they fight like they are bitter enemies but mostly they get along just fine. It's fun to see their relationship develop right before my eyes and prying ears. :)

Fridays rock.

It was a truly beautiful day. The sky was gray but I don't care about that. Last night I got some grades back on projects and I did well. What a relief. Now it's on to one week of finals.

I got a new book. It was a splurge for me. I don't usually buy things new. I am thoroughly enjoying it. It's a silly book Celebrity Detox by R. O'Donnel. But I like her and think she's interesting.

I watched tv. Always fun for me. Saw Jay, always fun.

Subway for dinner. No cooking, no clean up. Millie is sucking up to me, right now. She wants some of my sandwich, and she knows I'll give her some.

It's Friday so there is no pressure to get homework done with the girls. They can just play. We can dance and hang out. Tara can give me bear hugs. I love those. Emily can make lists of things. She loves to make lists. Lists of her toys, of presidents of her friends.....

Sometimes the smallest pleasures are what we remember.