Ashley's 11th Birthday 6.13.09

This year Ashley's birthday fell on a Saturday so we were able to have her party on her actual birthday. She chose to have it at the roller rink, which surprised her Uncle Stephen and Aunt Jennifer because after they took her roller skating the last time she swore she'd never do it again. Ashley originally wanted a mermaid cake, however that was close to impossible for me to figure out to do so we compromised and went with her 2nd choice which was a tiger. It didn't turn out the way I had wanted, but she still loved it and that's all that mattered. She had a blast! She had a good number of friends show up and they rolled around the rink for a good hour before her party started. They had pizza, soda and ice pops before we sang and had cake. Ashley got to open her presents and out of all of them her favorite was a cocker spaniel WebKinz from her friend Olivia.

Although I know it's part of life I still can't wrap my head around the fact that Ashley is 11 years old! It's so hard to believe that all this time has passed by and there's time I feel that I've missed out on things even though I've been there every day with her. She's growing up so fast and we can't do anything to stop it. I tease her all the time about her stopping but she always responds that she can't - she's supposed to keep growing. Why can't we just stop them from passing a certain age? I guess it's so we can look back and cherish our memories - but still, I wish I could just freeze time ..... Happy Birthday Ashley - We Love You!

Ashley & Jack's Graduation June 2009

In June both kids finished school. Ashley completed 5th grade and Jack completed preschool. Although Ashley completed elementary school, she did not have an official graduation like Jack did from his preschool. So the night of Jack's graduation I made cakes for each of them because we wanted to congratulate Ashley on doing a great job of moving on to middle school. We had a small party with family and it was a great time had by all.

Where to start

I can't believe how much time has passed since I posted last. I have been meaning to, but didn't really realize that it's been since May! Obviously a lot has been going on, and unfortunately with not updating regularly the cutesy little things are mostly lost - but I can still post the big things.

Culture or Corruption

About two weeks ago Ashley came home from school and in our "How was your day" discussion she told me that one of her teachers was going to be bringing in a movie for the kids to watch the next day. When I asked her what movie she told me "Newsies". Although I have it in my VHS collection it's never been one I put in for the kids to watch, however there are a few tunes that I have on the computer and sing along to regularly. So when she told me that they were going to be watching the movie I told her that was the movie where the strange songs that Mommy sings randomly around the house. I also pulled out the movie and showed her the beginning scene with one of the songs and she was really looking forward to it the next day. When she got home she said they didn't watch Newsies because another student brought in Shrek the Third. So again during our "How was your day" conversation she asked me if we could watch it when we got home. I figured it was a Disney movie, no problem - it would be fun to go down memory lane since I can't remember the last time I had watched it.

So when we got home and dinner was made we sat at the coffee table and put the movie in. I figured the kids would watch it and probably lose interest halfway through if I was lucky to make it that far. To my surprise they both LOVED it and they are now both randomly singing the songs from the movie. It has now become Jack's night night movie and he watches it every night. His favorite part is when the song "I'm the King of New York" comes on but since it's so far in the movie he never makes it that far. But he makes up for it because he sings the one line over and over again all day long. Although we're still working on his pronounciation. He sings it as "I'm the King of mumble York" but it's all jumbled together, it's cute to listen to. His other favorite part is when one of the characters is singing he does a motion with his hands which Jack imitates when he tries to sing that part of the song too.

Ashley has also now been exposed to "Singin in the Rain" starring the great Gene Kelly. So since we were on the musical kick she had asked about the movie with the "Yes Yes Yes - No No No" scene. Although we kept her up past her bed time, she was schooled in yet another musical. She enjoyed it, not as much as Newsies though.

I figured we'll give it some time for the kids to move past Newsies and I'll introduce their next musical. I think it's culture but John thinks it's corruption.

Lunch

For the past two days Jack has insisted on bringing "lunch" to school with him. The preschool he goes to provides lunch, which he is only there two days a week for so we never have packed. He took a gogurt, two packages of fruit snacks and a juice box yesterday and today was a danimal, fruit roll up, fruit snacks and a juice box. I helped him put them in a bag and when we got to school we put them in the refrigerator and he went out to the playground. He has these things he just does and it's better to go with the flow, besides - what harm is it if he brings some snacks to school right? If anything he can eat them and drink his juice on his way home. It hit me this afternoon after I picked him up from school, he wants to pack lunch for school like Ashley. He sees her pack her lunch every morning so he wants to do it just like her. Another step of independance ... this is happening all too quick for me. As much as I am looking forward to when he gets older part of me wishes we could turn back time.

Happy Campers

A few weekends ago John decided to get our camping stuff out of the attic and hose down the tents in the front yard. This immediately struck the kids interest and off the three of them went pitching a camp site in our front yard. I was at work so I came home to three fully pitched tents and two very excited children. For the remainder of the afternoon as we cleaned the tents and went through the old camping equipment both Ashley and Jack were asking us "Can we sleep in the tent, can we sleep in the tent?" It's so fun to see how excited they can get about something (in our minds) so simple. After the tents were clean and dry John put the large one on the back porch. Since Ashley and Jack had gotten distracted for a little bit later in the afternoon they thought that we had put the tents away. When we went into the house they saw it on the porch and immediately went to their rooms to get anything and everything they could to prepare for their camp out. We set up their sleeping bags, pillows, stuffed animals and portable DVD players and then plugged in the porch lights to give them some light. It lasted for about a half an hour with Jack until he saw a bug - then it was all over and he came back into the house and said he'd rather sleep in his room. Ashley the experience camper that she is begged to stay out there all night. Although the neighborhood is safe we still put one of the dogs out there with her to make sure she'd be ok through the night. Needless to say she had a blast and slept out there again the next night. We have since taken the tent down but she had a great time. Jack never slept in it - but they did play in it during the day and afternoons after school.

Spirit Week

Ashley is having spirit week at school this week which translates into each day the kids get to dress up to a specific theme. They have contests in their classrooms as some point during the day and the child who wins for their class gets to go downstairs to the lobby and play musical chairs. The one who wins musical chairs gets a prize.

Ashley really gets into it, it's so much fun! Monday was purple day so she wore a purple shirt, purple pants and purple & white socks. She said she almost won but another girl had done the same thing with her clothes but added purple shoes and purple make up. Tuesday was Hippie Day so we went full out (as much as we could). I didn't think it would be that hard to find a tie die shirt but I tell you it is very difficult! We went to a number of thrift stores and couldn't find a single one. But we went to one Monday night and found a shirt that would pass as a hippie shirt and a pair of jeans that had extra fabric at the bottoms to extend the bell style. I did her hair in a middle part, lent her my daisy sash and put dark eye shadow on. We had a lot of fun Tuesday morning getting her ready. When I picked her up at karate I asked how her day was and how she did for the contest for the day. She was over joyed with excitement that she not only won for being the best dressed in her class but also won the musical chairs game. Wednesday was PJ day and Ashley wore her favorite pajamas. She once again won her class contest and the musical chair game. She told me that most of the kids just wore T-shirts with pajama bottoms and she was the only one who wore her entire pajama outfit. Today is Missed Match day - we planned that one over the weekend. That one I think is the favorite for both of us.

Last year they did the same thing and after school we headed over to Grandma's house. I remembered when I was younger if I attempted to wear stripes with polka dots my mother would let me know her disapproval of my outfit and make me change right away. So we decided to have a little bit of fun with her. I told Ashley on the way not to say anything when we got to Grandma's house and see how long it took for her to notice the interesting outfit she was wearing. And if she did notice (which I figured would happen in the first 5 seconds of walking in the door) for Ashley to say "What Grandma? It's the latest thing, this is "in" now." So sure enough within moments of walking in the door and greeting my mother she noticed Ashley and said "What in the world are you wearing." Which my wonderful daughter responded to with exactly what we had practiced and even did it with a straight face! My mother looked at me in horror, it took everything in me to keep the laughter contained. We kept it up for a few minutes but then wound up telling her we were kidding. It was great fun, I think more for Ashley though.

I can't wait to hear what happens today at school with Ashley - I'm sure she'll win again. I mean who can beat this right?

Add to my list

Ever since Christmas has come and gone Jack has been asking for things. He sees commercials on TV, things in movies, toys at the store or sometimes his imagination will take over and he will ask over and over again if he can have the item he is focused on. We will tell him each time he asks "We'll see" or "Maybe" and then the latest "Easter is coming, maybe the Easter Bunny will bring it if you're good." which has created a new fascination for him. Since we did a list for Santa for Christmas we've come up with the Easter Bunny list. Now each time he finds something that interests him he will say to me "Mommy can we put that on my list." We started a list, but he's so spontaneous with his requests that we can't always get what he asks for added to what is on there. Now that we've started this we're not sure what to do after Easter. Maybe there will be a birthday list and since he's still learning time at school he won't understand there are 7 months between Easter and his birthday.

Purple Belt

On Saturday Ashley tested for her next belt in her karate school. She was so excited to do the testing and not nervous at all which surprised me. Since I had to work John texted me when she was about to do her sparring so I could get there in time to see her break her boards and her belt ceremony. I didn't want to miss anything so I headed out a little early and was able to catch her doing her last few katas and see her spar with 5 separate opponents. It's amazing to see how much she has learned and to see how skilled she has become. We also figured out why she doesn't fight as strong when doing her test sparring. She usually is up against one of her senseis and seems intimidated. Well Saturday she was up against another student who is a black belt and about her size. She fought so hard and so well - we were so proud! Then after the katas and sparring was over they lined up to break their boards. When she tested for her green belt she only had to break one board but for her purple belt she had to break two. They had the option to break one at a time or both at the same time. She opted to break one at a time. The first one she broke with her foot and the second she broke with her fist. She's one strong girl! Once all the boards were broken it was time for the belt ceremony. All the kids take off their existing belts and then the Senseis call them up one at a time to put their new belt on and give them their certificate. I love when Ashley gets her new belts, she always has such a grin of acheivement on her face!

Busy Tooth Fairy

If anyone out there is missing the Tooth Fairy that would be because she's been quite busy with Ashley and Jack over the past week and a half. On Valentine's Day we went to a friend's daughter's birthday party. They had a bounce house which the kids dove into right away. Well as is to be expected the kids got a little rowdy and Jack wound up getting bonked in the chin by another child. Normally this would not be a problem, however he had a loose tooth on the bottom. It wasn't quite loose enough to be ready to come out, but the collision between Jack and the other child caused it to come almost completely out. It was not a pretty site and we felt so bad for him, especially because he was supposed to be going to Ninja Nite with his sister later that day. We gave him some ibuprofen for the pain and headed home. When we got almost home he piped up from the back seat that he was feeling fine and wanted to go to Ninja Nite. So we took the kids and checked with Sensei (the teacher/owner) and he said it was fine that he would keep an eye on Jack and his loose tooth. Especially because there was yet another bounce house. When we went to pick up the kids sure enough Jack had lost his tooth. Sensei wrapped it up for us and we put it under Jack's pillow that night for the Tooth Fairy.

Now that a little over a week has passed Ashley was complaining that her mouth was bothering her a little bit. We figured it was because she has been a little congested but I figured why not check her mouth anyway because she said she had a loose tooth. When I looked in I found that two of her permanent molars were growing in, pushing out the baby ones and they weren't budging. That would explain her discomfort. So Tuesday morning I called the dentist to see if she could go in and have them checked out and see if we could let nature take it's course or if they needed to be pulled. Sure enough they needed to be pulled. Poor kid had to have both of them taken out but was quite the trooper. Daddy took her and said she did really well. Ashley told me that there were other kids at the dentist who were afraid so the dentist had them watch him pull Ashley's teeth and she said she didn't flinch, scream or cry - only curled her toes so the other kids couldn't see. So as a treat we took her to IHOP last night for pancakes (it also helped that they were having free pancakes so we all got a treat). So when we got home and the kids went to bed Ashley put her newly extracted teeth under her pillow for another Tooth Fairy visit.

Hopefully this will be it for a while, but we'll see. If you notice the Tooth Fairy missing again let us know.

Tradition Continues

While driving home on Monday after getting Ashley from karate Ashley and I were talking and goofing off a little as we always do. It was a little extra because Jack had fallen asleep in the back seat. After we entered our development she stopped and I asked her what was going on, if she was ok because I found it odd she just stopped. She said "I'm doing what Grandpa says you're supposed to do." It didn't hit me at first but then I realized, she had her hands folded in her lap and was looking out her window. What possessed her to do that I have no idea, but it made me smile.

It's gone!

This past Tuesday afternoon while Jack was home with John after school he was snacking. While snacking his loose tooth finally came out. Ever since we discovered his loose tooth we've been anxiously waiting for it to come out. I also had been watching extra close as it got looser and looser because I was afraid of him losing it in his sleep and swallowing it since it was a bottom tooth. I know that you cannot pull them prematurely because it will cause a lot of bleeding, so I try my best to let the loose teeth run their course and come out when they're ready. I remember Ashley's first loose bottom tooth it was very loose one night and when she woke up in the morning it was out and no where to be found. After searching her bed, pillow, covers, stuffed animals and everything else where it possibly could have fallen John and I concluded that she swallowed it. We left a note for the tooth fairy that evening and she was still able to cash in.

Jack was very excited to see me when I got home from work to show me the new found hole in his mouth. He also informed me that Ashley had helped him wrap his tooth in a napkin and put it under his pillow. I thought that was so sweet and then found that Ashley had also loaned him her Tooth Fairy pillow to put it in. Ashley got an extra hug that night for being such a great big sister. Although I had explained the Tooth Fairy concept to Jack previously when we discovered his tooth was loose Ashley gave him step by step information as they wrapped his tooth and put it under his pillow. These are the moments I know I will treasure as they continue to grow and the memories of them fighting will hopefully fade.

I was woken up the following morning to a very excited 5 year old staring me in the face with a big grin holding a dollar in one hand and a Tooth Fairy pillow in the other. Later that day Jack says to me "Mommy, I think I have another loose tooth!" Not sure if I like this idea ....

Loose Tooth

We have hit another milestone in the life of Jack. I meant to post this earlier but just never got to sit down to do so. Last week Jack discovered he had a loose tooth. He didn't quite understand it or know why he had it. He also wasn't very happy about it because it hurt when he bit into things now. I felt bad for him because he was just getting over a sinus infection that really tuckered him out. I told him about the Tooth Fairy and how once his tooth comes out we'll put it under his pillow and the Tooth Fairy will come and leave him money for his tooth. Once he heard that he was perfectly ok with having a loose tooth. He was so funny because as soon as I finished telling him his response was "Money? So I can buy things?!"

The camera was still in John's truck which he took to work today so I had to improvise with my phone.

Congratulations Ashley!

When John checked the mail on Thursday there was a letter from the Seminole County Schools for us. Inside was the letter we've been waiting for since December. It was our letter of notification that Ashley has been selected to attend Sanford Middle Magnet School. Ashley had gone to the open house with John back in October and came home so excited, practically begging for us to put in an application for her. It is a science and math magnet school. Ashley wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up and the school has special classes guided for this as well as other science and math professions. One of the science classrooms has two tanks that are stocked with fish that the kids have to take care of and learn about.

We were excited to share the news with her so we sat her down and told her we had received a letter. At first we were going to try to pull the "I'm sorry Ashley" trick and then surprise her with telling her the wonderful news. But as soon as I showed her the envelope she says to us "I know, I got in" so matter of fact. It turned out that her school was notified as well and the guidance counselor had told her that day at lunch. So our moment was a bit ruined but she is still very excited to have gotten into the school she was really hoping for.

Is Nana on the airplane?

Yesterday on my drive between getting children Jack and I were having our normal conversation of how his day was at school. When we were driving through one of the developments I cut through on the way to get Ashley an airplane flew overhead. Jack asked if that was our airplane which I told him it belonged to the airport. He then asked me, is Nana on the airplane? I told him no, she was home at her house. He said to me "I wish Nana was on the airplane and could come to my house. Can she come on Tuesday?" I said to him we'd have to talk to Nana and see and maybe one Tuesday she could come. He then says "How about we can go to Nana's house on Tuesday and then Nana can come to our house and she can come to Show and Tell on Friday." I told him we could try, but we could not do that this week but I'm sure Nana would love to come to Show and Tell one Friday. Maybe she can come when the week's letter is "N" and she could be his Show and Tell. Of course I get a boisterous "Ya!" out of the back seat with that suggestion. Now we just have to work out the travel arrangements I guess.

Double Days

While I was washing dishes today and I heard Jack clambering by the doorway, so I stopped and walked over because I was afraid he might hurt himself since he was climbing on the stools we have over there. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what he was trying to get so I asked him. He had found a small hand held fan that also is a flashlight. I had completely forgotten it was there, leave it to little ones with better memories. So I got it out for him and handed it to him and he turned it on but it did not go on. He then promptly told me we needed batteries. Although we got a lot of batteries for the toys for Christmas I was not sure if we had any left. So I told him we would check but we needed to open it up to figure out what kind we needed. Off to the garage he goes while letting me know we need a screwdriver. He says to me in such a definite and informative tone, one with four points. Since he knows where Daddy keeps them in the tool box and it's a safe location I decided to wash the last two cups I had in the sink. Also, our sink is in viewing distance so I figured it was ok. He starts looking through the drawer and pulls one out and shows me "It has four points Mommy." I tell him very good and he goes right to work trying to open the back of the fan/flashlight. He has a bit of a struggle and says "It's too big" then somehow he found that it just pops off in the back, no screwdriver required. How neat and convenient, at least in his eyes. After we realize the back just pops off he looks inside and says to me (again with the informative tone) "We need double day batteries, double day OK Mommy?" How cute, although he is 5 and speaking very well I love how he still mispronounces things. I've thought of just blogging with what it's supposed to be and how he pronounces it.

Still a Jersey Girl

The saying is normally "You can take the boy out of the city but you can't take the city out of the boy" or something like that. Many people have used it and altered the words to fit whatever the situation is at the time. This morning I realized you can take the girl out of Jersey but you can't take the Jersey out of the girl. The dogs were in the back yard and wanted to come in, so Jack went to open the door to let them in. I hear Ashley say to him "Wait Jack, you have to wipe Sugar's paws before you let her in." And although we have not lived in New Jersey for 3 1/2 years she still has a little accent at times and it's funny to hear. Instead of paws (sounding like pause) it came out more like "pwaws" with that extra w sound. I guess with all the transplants down here we won't be able to completely break her of it but she has started to pick up some native sayings. One night we went to Publix (our local grocery store) and they always have cookies for the kids. After the kids got their cookies from the lady at the bakery Ashley said "Thank you" but was looking at me. So I asked her, who were saying thank you to? In which she responded "Both of y'all". That made me giggle and of course have to share with Daddy after he got home from work that night.