School Day

Since it never dropped below freezing last night, the roads looked decent and we escaped with a 2 hour delay today.

I like 2 hour delays. That means the girls don't go until 10 am. So today everyone slept in until 8:30 which was needed after a weekend of later-than-usual bedtimes. I made chocolate chip pancakes instead of the usual cereal or toast. Both girls got fancy double french braids instead of a quick brush and a bow. They even got to watch a bit of some cartoon before heading out the door.

And I didn't have any meeting or anything beyond a quick grocery run so I spent the day tidying the house and packing up some stuff for the school's rummage sale. Molly even carpooled to dance class so I was free until 2:50pm.

Great day all around.

(Mollyism of the day: She was singing a sweet lullaby-type song that she learned today. When I told her it sounded nice she said "Of course - Am I the most precious singer you've ever heard or what?" She's precious all right! She uses the funniest words - not what you'd imagine a 4 year old would come up with!)

Here We Go Again!

We were forecast to get some freezing rain today with areas

north of the city getting up to an inch of snow.

The sleet started at 9:15am.

Ummm . . . here are the girls and our neighbor at 1pm.

That's a bit more than freezing rain! About 6" more actually. Needless to say the girls were thrilled even if it meant that Brenna had to miss a scout event today that she was looking forward to. She loves the snow so this was a fair enough trade for her!


It was good heavy snow - perfect for playing and building. The kids set out to make the world's biggest snowball and came pretty close. This is about halfway . . .

They (with some help from the photographer!) eventually got it as high as Brenna's nose before it got too heavy to roll.

We finished the day with a birthday party for their friend who luckily lives right down the street so the show went on despite the weather. So now we wait to see what the decision will be for school tomorrow. The road crews got a late start clearing things so the kids may have a day off potentially or a 2 hr. delay at least. I'm hoping for just the delay though so their dance classes aren't cancelled too. The teacher promised photos of Molly's class' costume and I really want to see it!

Getting back in the groove . . .

the girls are back to school and we're getting back into action again. It's this time of year when I realize that I've really overextended myself though. Brenna has 4 field trips with scouts in March so that's a lot of hassle dragging Molly around or trying to do carpools. I've tried to back-burner all of my scout duties for a while because now I'm in auction mode for the girls' school. I do most of the business end of things for this huge fundraiser which is on March 24. Even Dean knows that I'll be stuck to my computer between now and then! I enjoy it though and it's a way to dust of some skills that I sometimes feel don't get used since I'm "only" a stay-at-home mom. The other big thing on my plate is a photo book that I'm doing as part of Molly's class' auction project. I know I never signed up to be on the Class Project team since I know full well how busy I am during auction season but the room mom swears my name is on her list! Anyway, we're doing a bookcase with little pictures and signatures of all the kids and having each child donate and inscribe a favorite book to add a starter collection to the shelf. The big book though will be a hardbound photo book called "The ABCs of PreK" which I'm doing with my digital software. I have a page for each letter with photos specific to the kids, classroom and school for each letter. It's been fun to stage all the photos and it will really be a nice memory book. For exaple the receptionist keeps a drawer of lollipops for little ones who come in with their moms. Since 98% of Molly's class are siblings of older students, they all made countless trips to Mrs. Kelly for a pop to keep them quiet while the mom filled out forms, volunteered, etc. So instead of just putting in a clip art "L is for lollipop" I took a photo of her holding some - much more personal! I got a great picture today of Molly and a friend with their hands on their knees for K. The cute part is they were both wearing skirts, ankle boots and funky tights so it's a colorful shot. It's been a fun project but I have a list of 2 dozen photos I still need to stage and I hate busting into the classroom to do it. I want to make sure I get all of the kids represented in an equal number of photos though. Remind me again why I take all of this on? Oh yeah, because I love my kids and I love having this time with them to be able to do it! Even if they won't remember any of it when they're older. I'll just remind them!

Oh yeah, the kids! All is well and they are doing great. Molly is happy to be back at school with her friends. Brenna is happy they didn't have a spelling test "even though the spelling state for the week is Utah and that's a whole lot easier than Massachusetts!" She will be celebrating Thinking Day on Friday with her scout group. That's a day that scouts worldwide study international things and reflect on scouting worldwide. She's especially excited because our troop chose Germany and Canada to study and her cousin Emma sent a package with goodies from her Sparks Girl Guide troop that Brenna gets to give out. It's been a great activity - even if I've spent 2 weeks trying to get 30 Canadian dollar coins only to find no bank, credit union or currency exchange can get coins. Argghhh! I draw the line at calling the Consulate!

So that's the long-winded version!

Sign on the dotted line . . .

Molly has been learning all of her lower case letters in school so her latest hobby is writing her full name on any slip of paper she can get her hands on. She grabs every one of those little subscription insert cards in magazines and fills them out. Today she was even kind enough to fill out the envelope for the Archbishop's Appeal at church - conveniently checking off a $25,000 donation! - good thing I intercepted that!

Earlier today she was filling out some credit card applications that came in the mail when she started making rows of numbers. I was quizzing her to make sure she could properly write every number when she said, "Watch this - I can do something cool!" She started making a capital S and drew two lines through it. "See Mom, this is the way I make cash!"

I have no idea where she learned it but it could be a good thing. She's going to need that cash when her subscriptions, donations, book-of-the-month clubs and credit cards all start coming!

If God wanted to punish me . . .

He really didn't need to do it by sending the kids 3.5 consecutive snow days! Oh yeah, you heard right - no school AGAIN tomorrow! Because the county hasn't been able to effectively plow away 2 inches of snow (well, and maybe there's some ice too but it's not that bad!) New Englanders like me were not meant to move to the Mid-Atlantic. We just have no patience for this.

(please note the depth of the snow!)

Our schools operate on a county-run system. Our county is long and ranges from higher elevations way outside the city right up to the DC line. If a flake falls out there in the boonies, we're all affected. It's especially hard for us when 95% of our school kids live within 2 miles of the school and our roads are clear.

So then imagine my surprise when I opened my datebook to reschedule yet another day and realized that Monday is ANOTHER DAY OFF! Who created these holidays? Arghhh! So when the kids go back on Tuesday (and so help me God they WILL go back!!!) they will have had 4 hrs. of school in the previous week. They're also at their snow day limit now so anything more starts cutting into summer vacation.

So now I'm trying to come up with a plan for tomorrow. Today we loafed around and went to freinds' to play for a while. Maybe we'll do some hard-core sledding on the big hills behind a nearby school - since Lord knows we won't be DISTURBING anyone!!! Right now the girls are thinking they're cool by having "a sleep-over" on the pullout sofa in the downstairs family room.

Honestly though I really don't mind these days. They are playing nicely together and we're all enjoying the downtime. And the best part - everyone gets to sleep in!

Be My Valentine

Despite not really feeling like Valentine's Day since the girls didn't pass out cards or have parties at school yet, Daddy did surprise us with flowers. I fussed over them a bit telling the girls what each flower was. Suddenly Molly threw herself at Dean and said "Thank you Daddy, these flowers just made my day!"

No doubt that her comment was what made HIS day!

Snow Day . . . and another . . . and another . . .

We knew it was going to come eventually and sure enough, here's winter! School closed early on Tuesday as a storm moved in and stayed closed today as the snow and ice continued coming overnight. We really didn't get a lot of snow but it is frozen solid and the plows were having a hard time getting things done. Now everything has iced up enough that they've already called off school for tomorrow. It's getting really windy and many streets still aren't plowed so it's the right decision.

So needless to say I have 2 happy gals! They don't realize that Valentine's festivities are on hold although Molly is well aware that she'll be missing her "girl of the day" honor tomorrow (but I'm happy not to have to be making 2 dozen cookies to send in for snack!)
They were out sledding most of the late morning/early afternoon and then I took them with me while I did some work on the school auction. Conveniently I was meeting at a house where one of Brenna's classmates and her kindergarten age sister live so the girls all got a big playdate out of it.

Then only downside is that they were scheduled for a half day on Friday and Brenna was supposed to be going skating with the Girl Scouts in the afternoon. Because of the snow days the school will now be having a full day on Friday so skating is a bust and I'm not sure how they can reschedule it. Oh well - small price to pay for the extra day of sledding she's getting tomorrow!

Gotta Beer?

We went out to dinner with my in-laws tonight and Molly was getting silly. She was playing with my father-in-law's beer bottle, whistling into it and getting too goofy for my liking. Sure enough, as she's playing she tips the bottle back and gets the last little teaspoon right in her mouth. Her eyes bug out and she spits into her napkin saying "Blech, blech, blech!" Of course we're all laughing at her when she says,

"But it wasn't me! It was the beer's fault!"

Good God! Like that's an excuse any parent wants to hear! It was pretty funny tonight because it was just so innocent, but I saw a glimpse of a potential future and I'm not ready for it! Here I've been blaming Dean for all my gray hair but I think the true culprit is a mere 4 years old.

Can I say it again? God help me.

Good thing I love my girls . . .

Because it looks like I'm going to have them around forever!

Molly recently announced that she's never getting married. She's also never having kids so she can stay with me forever. That prompted Brenna to agree wholeheartedly that she was never going to get married either. Then she added that she's never going to get a job either!

Just what every mother wants - spinster daughters who are unemployed to boot!

God help me.

100 Days!

Tune: "The Ants Go Marching One by One"

We've all been counting one by one, Hoorah! Hoorah!

We've all been counting oh what fun! Hoorah! Hoorah!

We started with the number 1 and now 100 days are done,

Hooray! Today's the 100th day of school!

We started counting up to 10, Hoorah! Hoorah!

To 20, 30, 40, then Hoorah! Hoorah!

To 50, 60, 70 then, to 80, 90 and now is when

Hooray! Today's the 100th day of school!

We started with a number low, Hoorah! Hoorah!

And one by one we made it grow, Hoorah! Hoorah!

We started with a number low,and now it's grown to 1-0-0,

Hooray! Today's the 100th day of school!

Buzz Buzz

Poor Molly still has bees - ahem, hives. They pop out at odd times and in odd places - the sides of her thighs, both shoulderblades, the tops of her feet, under her chin . . . not the typical places one usually gets hives. So back to the pediatrician today - but not for the hives. Oh no, the hives were secondary to the infection raging on her finger. Why me??

Last week she had a cut that got a bit infected. I cleaned it up and bandaged it and she went flying downstairs to Brenna yelling “Hey Bren! I had a confection on my finger!” Brenna asked what a confection was and Molly said, “I don’t really know but isn’t it cool that I had one?!”

Well it wasn't cool today. After looking fine for nearly a week it flared up badly today so back we went to the pediatrician. He didn't have much to say about the hives since she didn't have them while we were there (it's as if she can produce them at will - which given that this is Molly wouldn't surprise me!) and I can't come up with any obvious link. But we did score some ointment and Augmentin for the infection. At least her eyes looked good. We got the drops in time there and they never went beyond the watery stage, thank God.

Well naturally "the bees" came back tonight and left me wondering if I can give her Benedryl along with the Augmentin. Guess I'll have to call the dr. AGAIN tomorrow!

Wasn't the bubble bath . . .

Granted both girls were home today on a snow day (on a 1 loaf "Nuisance Storm" on the Bread-O-Meter!) but Molly would have likely been home again anyway. More hives - all down her legs and on her back and shoulders. I thought it was the bubble bath from the other night (we discovered as a baby that she's allergic to aloe and asparagus - it wasn't until she reacted to both independently that we found they're from the same plant family. Since onions and garlic are also in that family and we sure didn't want her to be allergic to those, we kept her away from all of them in hopes she'd outgrow it. She seemed to as she hasn't had any other problems since and I'm not really vigilant about soaps and creams anymore.) but 2 days later it's still happening. I'm racking my brain but I can't think of anything she's using or eating that's different.

Poor kid - she just scratches and says "Oh no, I have more bees!" I guess when I called them hives she made her own mental connection. She's a funny kid.

Storm's coming . . .

We're expecting snow tonight and our weatherman busted out his official chart - the "Bread-O-Meter." It has 10 loaves of bread numbered from 1 (Nuisance Storm) to 10 (Run for Your Lives!) Give the mid-Atlantic tendancy to over-react to snow, it's really a funny sketch.

Tonight's snow only rates a 1 so we'll be okay. I have bread, milk and toilet paper!

Of course a day off would be bad since Molly has been out all week already. She was sent home Monday with a fever (that she actually didn't have) but later in the day it was obvious that she did have conjunctivitis. Come 3AM we discovered a bad reaction to some bubble bath and she was covered in hives and scrathcing like crazy for 2 hours. So she bought herself another day off today. She claims she's okay though. She stayed home "to keep Mommy company all day."

Superbowl Sillies

Having 2 girly girls means we don't watch a lot of football in our house. But today we made a casual dinner and settled in front of the tv to watch the first bit of the game.

Quotes of note:

Brenna: "Who are you rooting for, Miami Colts or Chicago Bears?"
Dean: "Miami is the Dolphins and they're not playing this time."
Brenna: "Oh. I like Miami though. I'll root for them instead of the Colts."

Brenna: " Whoa! Annapolis had a big tumble there!"

Molly (seeing a player down on the field) "Is he dead?"

Brenna: "Is this the last Superbowl for this year?"

That was about all Dean could take so we stopped the torture and put them to bed!

Scout Sunday

Today our church celebrated Scout Sunday with record numbers of scouts at all levels. This is the first year they've brought Girl Scouts back to our school and we have 81 girls in grades K-4 involved now. So Scout Sunday is a time that all the school Boy and Girl Scouts as well as all of those in the parish who attend other schools come together for liturgy - nearly 170 scouts total! Brenna enjoyed singing with the choir (she's in the center under the microphone) and wearing her uniform. The opening procession of flags was very moving. The 39 girls I worked with over the past several months received their Family of God medals and had them blessed. It was a lot of work and a lot of coordination but all in all in was a nice service. Brenna was especially excited with the gorgeous patch they received for participating. Time to get the iron out again I guess!

"Spiritual Carwash for the Soul"

That's how our one-of-a-kind Fr. Woods described making a confession when Miss Brenna celebrated her First Penance today at our church. She was excited and very well-prepared - how could she not be with a priest like that working with them in their preparations! He's wonderful with the kids and combined with her fabulous Gr. 2 teacher who has been in this "business" for many, many years, the kids really enjoyed the whole occasion.

Today she woke up at 7:00 AM and stayed quietly in her room for a long time. When I finally went in to see what she was doing I found her making a written list of her sins "to help (her) remember" she said. Mind you she'd been at it for about 30 mins. but only had 3 things on her list. I told her to keep working!

Everything went off without a hitch though and all 78 kids made it through without incident. Next step . . . First Communion. But first we need to make it through Scout Sunday tomorrow. Stay tuned . . .

Talent Show

The girls did a super job today in the Talent Show! The whole show was a lot of fun and it was nice to see the kids enjoying it so much. There was everything from dancing and singing to magic tricks, electric guitar and mime - with some gymnastics and break dancing thrown in for good measure. I think it's safe to assume Brenna will want to try out again next year!

Catholic Schools Week

This morning the girls' school held a Mass to kick off Catholic Schools Week. Molly was selected from PreK to take part in the Rose Procession. Traditionally they open this Mass with representatives of each grade and the faculty carrying roses as a symbol of their patron saint, St. Therese.

She did a great job and was so excited that she wanted me to take photos of her ater Mass with the rose bouquets on each side of the altar. Brenna was asked to represent her class as well. However we politely declined since Molly had already been asked and we agreed that, in fairness, another family should be represented. And with Scout Sunday next weekend, Brenna will have her moment in the sun then anyway. So now they are ready for a fun week of school activities including an Open House and the Talent Show.

Hooping it up

Brenna decided to do a winter CYO basketball clinic again this year. She's not a big b-ball fan and she willingly admits that it's "not really my sport" but it's a fun activity for a Saturday morning and all of her school friends are there. Frankly, I think she's just in it for the T shirt! (this year's shirt is the red one - it says Little Flower Hoops on the front which she thinks is a riot!)

Don't Say It!

We had a really funny incident this time last year when the little boy next door was here playing. His mom came to get him and although I love them both dearly, I often wonder if perhaps she thinks I'm the worst parent ever. (Then again, she leave her kid here so I must be okay!) She's older than I am and he is their first child (and back then an only) so she's much more particular in her parenting style. For example, she'll tell them all the reasons they shouldn't be walking on the stone wall between our houses. I simply yell "Don't come crying to me if you fall!" You know, things like that which prove I'm a horrible mom.

Anyway, she and I are chatting and the kids are playing (a bit rowdier than usual) upstairs. Brenna comes down looking nervous and announces, "Molly just said the SH word." Hmmmm. Now I'm mentally saying the SH word because my neighbor is sitting right there and of course I have to follow through on this so that she doesn't completely think I'm hopeless as a parent ! I was wondering where this came from because neither Dean nor I swear like that but then again, she could have heard it from someone else. Also I didn't think Brenna even knew there was a bad SH word, but then again she can spell and it doesn't take a brain surgeon to sound that one out! I asked her to tell me what Molly said but she started shifting from one foot to the next in that "Please don't make me repeat it" action. So I ask again and tell her it's okay to say it just this once. Brenna, her cheeks as red as apples, says "She said 'Shut Up'." My neighbor and I did a great job trying not to laugh but I was dying inside. See, in a house with, by comparison, two pretty mellow girls - this was about the worst thing one of them had ever said. We later found out Molly heard it from the movie "Annie" and we had a nice chat about how it wasn't a swear word per se but it still wasn't a nice thing to say.

A year later, Molly still remembers this. The only trouble is she's determined that it's the same for all "negative" words that Mommy doesn't like her saying such as hate, stupid, or pretty much anything said with a nasty tone. The second problem is that, because she can't spell, Molly calls them "PH words." Dean will say something is stupid and all we hear is
"OOOOooooo Daddy said a PH word!" I'll complain that I hate grocery shopping and then I'm the nasty person who uses PH words. We were having lunch with some of her classmates when one of the boys said something was dumb. Molly came marching over to the adults declaring that "Quinn used a PH word!" You could see the wheels turning as the other moms tried to figure out just what he had said that was so offensive. I'm just enjoying this silly little quirk now because soon Molly will be able to spell - and will discover the truth about her good friend Pheobe!

OOOOooooo! Even her name is a PH word!