Leaving the Husband in Charge
The husband came home early yesterday to meet with the guy who is drawing the plans for our remodel. After the guy finished up with his measurements etc., I left the Husband with the Little One so I could go to the world’s largest commissary. Yes, I was a little excited to check it out. If you have ever seen the commissary at Edwards AFB, you understand my excitement at going to a huge commissary (yes, I realize it’s just a grocery store!)
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So I got home from the commissary, which is just a giganormous grocery store, but cool none the less, and the Little One was taking a nap.
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After helping me unload the groceries, the Husband sits downs on the couch, lets out a sigh and says, “She is going to have a bruise somewhere.”
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I was like, “what are you talking about?”
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And he says well, I was just sitting here watching Walker, Texas Ranger (must be nice to just sit and watch TV while she naps, huh?) and then I heard a thud and she started screaming. So I asked the Husband the obvious question, “what happened?”
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He shrugs his shoulders and says, “I don’t know she was screaming, she wouldn’t tell me.”
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Apparently he got her calmed down and put her back in bed.
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When I got her up from her nap, I saw the “bruise” was actually a cut on her lip. I had her re-enact the incident and still don’t understand what really happened, all I know is she whacked her face on the shoe holder. I don’t know why or exactly how, just that the Husband is fired when it comes to doing the once-over after a thud and a scream!
The Joys of A Dog Door
We’ve been in the house for about two weeks now. I knew this was coming. I was hoping it would take a little bit longer, but alas it was not to be.
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The girls have discovered the joys of the dog door. They are playing with the lock on the back door (safe, I know, but it’s funny to listen to). The Little One locked the back door using the small keys for the chain on the gate while the Big One was inside. They are thrilled that the little keys worked ( I am not so happy about that!) So the Big One says, “it’s okay I can use the dog door.”
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To which the Little One starts laughing and says, “DO IT!!!”
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The next thing I hear is the Big One grunting and the flap on the door opening and closing. Meanwhile the Little One is cheering, “You can do it, you can do it, you can do it!! YAY!!”
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So now they are taking turns locking each other out and crawling through the dog door.
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Each time someone successfully makes it in or out of the house, they cheer, “We did it!!” a la Dora. I suppose I need to prepare a lecture on why we don’t play with locks now.
The Ants Go Marching One by A Thousand
Oh my gosh, we have been invaded!! When we first moved back into the house, there were some ants in the bathroom. I watched them march in from around the faucet. I got some spray and seemed to have eliminated the problem before it got out of hand.
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“Seemed” is the key word there. On Saturday morning we were getting ready to go to the park. It is so fun and exciting for us to be able to walk to a park; When we were living in the desert that was so not an option. So we were all fired up to get our shoes on and go play.
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I told the girls to get their shoes and socks on while I did the same. Suddenly I heard, “OH NO! This is terrible!!” from the Big One. So I went in their room to see what was so terrible and there were ants all over their shoes. I have a wooden shoe divider holder thing in their room with all of their shoes in it.
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Calmly I started squashing ants and realized we’d never get to the park at that rate, so I went for the spray again. I sprayed the shoe holder and all around it, then got some paper towels to remove the ant carcasses.
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I tried to find the source of the ants. I didn’t see a line of them coming from anywhere in particular. Then I noticed the Little One’s “church shoes” (that she wears all the time) were covered in ants. Upon closer inspection I noticed something in her shoes. It looked like a tissue. Now the Little One has had a cough and runny nose so she’s been using a lot of tissues recently. But she has also been using Boogie Wipes that Grandma bought for her.
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If you haven’t seen them, they are cool. They are soft, saline wipes that are gentler on the kids’ nose than a regular tissue. Problem is these new ones the Grandma found are grape scented.
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I asked some questions of the Little One and determined that her feet were “yucky” (because she wears her church shoes with no socks – EWWW Gross!) and she thought the Boogie Wipes smelled good and would therefore help her feet to smell better, so she stuffed them in her shoes.
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The only thing I can come up with is the ants are also attracted to the lovely grape scent and therefore invaded their room. Now my challenge is how to get rid of the ants without putting anything toxic in their room. {The Little One is a little too curious for any “ant traps” so I am at a loss.
Too Smart for Me
I am still in unpacking mode. It’s a pain. I hate it. You would think with all the moves in the last eight years that I would have it down to a science. And when you consider that I have moved into this house three times now you would think that I would have finished the task in no time. Not so much.
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I was working on the play room while the Big One was at school. I assumed that doing it with one kiddo was much easier than doing it with two. I was putting together these wire cube thingies. They are a pain to put together, but the hold the dirt cheap Ikea boxes quite well. And I needed my book shelves for my “office” (which is really a part of my kitchen, but that’s another story). {And just a note, those “dirt cheap” bins used to be red and blue and only 99cents each.}
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So I had moving boxes, paper, wire frames and pieces everywhere when the Little One insisted that she needed to get out of the playroom immediately. The conversation went something like this:
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Little One: “Scuse me Momma”
FixItMommy: “Ummmm, not right this second.”
Little One: “Momma, I need to get out.” {in an exasperated tone}
FixItMommy: “Do you NOT see the mess in here, I cannot let you out right now.”
Little One: “UGGGHHHHH! Mooooommmmmyyyy!” {hands on her hips}
FixItMommy: “I will be done in a minute and can make you a path out.”
Little One: “But I have to go pee!!!!!”
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At this point, I believe her and quickly drop what I am doing, make her a path and lead her out of the playroom.
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I kid you not, the kid then looked at me, grinned and said, “I don’t fink I haf to pee Momma.”
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Are you freaking kidding me? She has been potty trained for just a bit but has already figured out how to get my attention and apparently get what she wants.
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Little turd.
The Clothes Conundrum
It’s not even the end of the first week of school and the looks, snickers and strange looks have begun. No I am not talking about the other kids; I am talking about the other parents. And you know what? I don’t even care.
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For the first day of school, I selected the Big One’s clothes. On the second and third days of school, I “guided” her choices. So today on the fourth day of school I let her pick whatever she wanted. And boy did she pick a doozy of an outfit.
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She proudly came out of her room wearing hot pink, blue and green striped pants with a “matching” striped shirt. The problem is the shirt, while it has stripes they are pastel colors – purple, pink, yellow, and blue. I tried to convince her that the striped pieces would perhaps look better when paired with a solid piece. But she insisted that they were both striped, so therefore they matched just fine.
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I was too tired to really argue the point, besides who am I to squash her creativity? It’s not like she packed her own lunch full of cookies and candy. Or that she is playing with matches in the dead grass. She picked her own clothes and I let her go to school like that.
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GASP! Shocking I know. How could I let her out of the house like that!
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We walked to school just fine. The teacher who supervises the crossing guards gave us a big smile and winked as the Big One walked by. I think she understood. But as the kids were all lined up waiting for their teacher to take them into the classroom, I felt the looks and saw the smirks from the other parents. Some of them gave me the “you pick your battles” look while others were clearly shocked that I let my child out of the house like that. Seriously, they are five-years-old, who cares what she wears?
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And you know what someday when the Big One is an astronaut, an engineer or otherwise saving the world, nobody will care that she wears stripes and polka dots together!
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And for the record, her teacher made sure to tell me yesterday that she pulled out some puzzles for the kids to work on. The Big One picked an addition and subtraction puzzle and completed it with ease, something “most kids her age cannot do.” So there you go clothes snobs… Her clothes may not match, but the kid can do math!!
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The TV No-No’s
My kids are funny. They watch probably too much television, but I do my best to monitor what they watch. We watch a lot of Sprout, PBS and Nick Jr. For Sprout and PBS pretty much anything goes, but Nick Jr. is where we have some issues.
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I do not let my kids watch Sponge Bob or Yo Gabba Gabba. I don’t think Sponge Bob is appropriate for them and I just cannot stand Yo Gabba Gabba.
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The funny thing is more often than not when we go somewhere strangers will inevitably ask my kids if they like Sponge Bob or say something about Sponge Bob. I guess maybe because so many adults watch it, it’s the only “kids show” that they know.
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So yesterday we were at Target. The Little One picked out a new Belle toothbrush. The cashier, who was maybe 21 years old, was chatting with the Little One about her new toothbrush. The cashier went on to say that her son has a Winnie-the-Pooh toothbrush as well as a Sponge Bob toothbrush. At which point, the Little One gasped loudly and exclaimed , “my mommy doesn’t let us watch Sponge Bob! She says it’s a bad show!”
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To which the older woman who was behind us, jumped on the bandwagon and told the Little One that she had a very smart mommy. All the while the poor cashier was trying desperately to recover from the admonishment my 3-year-old just gave her.
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Oh the joys.
It’s Official, She’s a Big Kid Now
The Big One started kindergarten. WOW! Where did five years go? Sometimes the day-to-day chaos makes it seem like a week will never end, but looking back at the big picture, five years has gone by in a flash.
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I’m not going to beat around the bush, I cried. What are you going to do? The Big One didn’t notice my red eyes. And for the record the Husband worse sunglasses, but I know he cried too! The Big One’s teacher assured us that we were more nervous than the kids, had them give us all one more hug and then off they went into a whole new world of “big-kid school.”
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It’s such an odd thing for me to remember when we started the preschool adventure. We visited several different places, met with a few different teachers and made a choice where we wanted to put the Big One. For kindergarten we registered her at the neighborhood school and last Friday went and checked for her name on a big bulletin board to see what room she was in.
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I admit I feel a little lost. Since we just moved, there was no kindergarten orientation or open house for us to attend. I had never been to the school before yesterday when I dropped her off. (the Husband registered her while I finished wrapping up the move from the desert).
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I have friends who attended the school. Shoot, my own mother went to this school so I know the school is fine. It was just strange to send off her off to someone I have never seen before in my life. That leap of faith was hard for me. Several times yesterday I stopped to say a little prayer that she was okay, that she was having fun, that she was making friends, that she was following the rules.
Once the Little One and I picked up the Big One, my fears were a little bit relieved as I saw her smiling, sitting where she was supposed to and proudly telling me what my homework was. She told me she had lots of fun, despite being “forgotten” at lunch time. I’m not sure what happened but according to the Big One a few of them were missed when the kindergarteners were wrangled up from lunch to head to the playground. She told me she cried a little because she was sad, but she was okay now.
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And I really should know better than to worry about my little rule follower. When she got home, I asked her if she ate her lunch and she said no. She is one of the pickiest eaters around but I gave her a sandwich, yogurt, pretzels and a couple Girl Scout cookies as a special treat. I figured she would find something in there to eat. So when I asked her why she didn’t eat, she responded, “well at my other school if you don’t eat your sandwich, you don’t get to eat anything else. And I did not eat my sandwich.”
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So there you have it, the rules from her fabulous preschool have stayed with her. They taught her so many wonderful things and set the foundation for her success in school. I know better than to worry.
Just a Friendly PSA
Oh man, life is just getting in the way of blogging. Have no fear, my girls have done plenty of blog-worthy stuff but I just haven’t written it down yet!!
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I’ve been working on some freelance stuff for Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego. Make a note to buy a Kids’ NewsDay paper on October 19 if you are in San Diego!
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The BIG cake decorating convention is coming up really quick. Check it out. (no I am not a decorator, my sister is, I am just the PR schmuck for her) If you are in San Diego, you can see 500 cake and sugar art displays for $10 on Saturday, August 14 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or Sunday, Agust 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It’s at the Town and Country. There is even an amazing 13-ft tall cake depciting familiar places from around San Diego. You should come see it all!
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OH! And we are moving in about a month. Anyone want to rent my house?
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And finally my important notice for you today:
Always supervise the post-fingerpainting hand washing event!!
I’m not sure, but I think it was all the Big One?? What I failed to capture were the lines and splatters of paint that extended all the way down the sink and wall.
At least she used soap…
Fortunately it was after the prospective tenants left the house!
See It to Believe It
It takes a lot to WOW me! I guess I am always a bit of a skeptic, especially when something seems to good (or weird to be true). But today I am a believer.
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What has me so fired-up? Well, let me tell you a little story about the Little One. She loves to play dress-up. We have a bucket load of princess dresses that she rotates through. Those of you with little girls know those things don’t come cheap. We’ve been very blessed with family and friends who have gifted us these dresses. Yes, I am too cheap to buy them, especially the licensed Disney ones!
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The girls were coloring nicely on the white board side of their easel. The Big One drew a line down the middle so they could share it. I was in the kitchen making lunch, when I suddenly hear the Big One gasp and scream, “UH-OH!! <Little One> colored the wall and her PRINCESS dress!!!” Now normally I make the Little One de-robe before using the white board. I have heard too many stories dry erase ink not coming out of clothes, carpet, upholstery, etc.
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I called the Little One into the kitchen and saw the damage. She has several blue splotches all over her light pink Barbie princess dress. I’ve been having issues with her all week with these darn dry erase pens. She has colored the wall several times. (Of course, it’s not her fault. She says “the crayon just did that.”) UGH! Thank God for Magic Erasers is all I can say about the walls.
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Now onto the dress. I hit Google to try and find the answer to removing dry erase pen from clothing. There are a lot of suggestions out there: rubbing alcohol, baby wipes, bleach, etc. One that I hadn’t tried (or heard of before) was to use Murphy’s Oil Soap.
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In the past, I had tried all of the other “remedies” unsuccessfully. So I went to Wal*Mart and got the Murphy’s Oil Soap. I was skeptic. After all, the stuff is a yucky yellow color. It’s got an oily texture and it smells kind of funny. But I figured if it didn’t work, the dress was going in the trash anyway, so what’s the harm.
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I put the marked up portion of the dress in a bowl and poured a little Murphy’s Oil Soap on it and was instantly amazed at what was happening before my eyes. I saw the ink literally lifting up off the material and becoming a blue-ish goo. I hadn’t touched it, rubbed it or anything. After a few seconds, I scratched at the ink with my finger and miraculously the rest of the blue ink came right out. I was amazed.
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See for yourself:
{I didn’t get a real good one before I started because I figured it wasn’t going to work.
This was taken after I already got one splotch out – there on the left you can still see a bit of it.}
This is the ink magically coming out
{I admit I was very nervous that it was making it much worse}:
And look now, the ink is gone!!! A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.
Always Look Before You Sit
I’m telling y’all the Little One is going to be the death of me.
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All of you parents of little ones know that going to the bathroom alone is a luxury. I cannot even remember the last time I went pee without a child or dog following me. I don’t even bother closing the door anymore. That also means I rarely turn the light on. Really there is no reason, since the door is open there is plenty of light in there to do what I need to do.
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A little background, the Little One was watching me clean the kitchen floor today. I had a bucket and rag and the Little One noted how “shiny” the floor looked after I cleaned it. It was wet, not really shiny but in her mind it shined.
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So we were running a little late to pick the Big One up from preschool when I stopped to pee really quick on the way out the door. Again, I don’t turn the light on and rarely look at the toilet beyond checking that the seat is in the correct position.
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As soon as I hit the seat, I knew something was wrong. Now we are finally make great progress on the potty training front. I knew the Little One had gone potty a few minutes earlier, so as I pondered my next move, I tried to determine if she had peed all over the seat and that was why my butt was now drenched. The entire seat was wet though, so I was fairly confident that it wasn’t pee.
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Next thing, I knew the Little One appeared in the bathroom doorway and says:
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“Momma, isn’t the toywet nice and cwean?” (remember I am still sitting on the pot at this point)
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I asked her if she cleaned it for me. Yes, she had, she told me. I then asked her where she got the water to clean the toilet.
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One guess, where do you think she got the water?
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Yep, from the “toywet!”
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“Doesn’t it wook shiny, Momma?” she asked.
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Ahh, the joys.
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