Better than we could pray for

I'm In-de-pend-ent.

2012-02-10T21:03:00.004-06:00

Tonight at dinner I asked Sam who she wanted to put her to bed. This is usually a rhetorical question as the automatic answer is always "Mommy."

She surprised us, however, and said, "Um...Samantha do it." We asked her a few times, rewording the question and she just looked at us like we were idiots. She insisted each time that she was going to do it. We even tried to explain in terms of her routine, "Well, then you don't want any books?"

"I read myself." She explained.

We laughed and agreed, knowing that it was going to fall through when it actually came to it as she is a BIG time cuddle bug at bedtime. Just today, in fact I was wondering when we'd be able to wean her off the required rocking that we have to do to get her to settle down before bed.

I guess she read my mind and was up to the challenge.

So two hours later she is still insisting that she is going to do it. We set the timer for her to read books for herself, when it beeped she called for daddy to say prayers with her and she hopped into bed.

And. Has. Not. Made. A. Peep.

I'm not sure if I'm ok with this new act of independence, but for now I'm just calling it her anniversary gift to us.

Irony

2012-02-02T21:18:00.006-06:00

Planned Parenthood is up in arms about loosing their Komen funding...which they claim is ignoring all their work they do to prevent breast cancer...
And yet Planned Parenthood promotes and distributes contraceptives...which increase the risk of breast cancer... it may be "slight" but the carcinogen level is the same as asbestos, tobacco, and solar exposure which most people take pretty seriously.

Wouldn't that be like a tanning salon getting upset for loosing funding for skin-cancer prevention?

Reading?

2012-01-25T20:16:00.003-06:00

I have 7:00 written on my hand and my seven's have that extra line through the middle. Sam pointed to it and insisted, "F-O-O...that spells Zoo!"

I can't decide if I'm impressed or not...

Toddler Radar

2012-01-17T17:12:00.005-06:00

So, I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been a little absent from the blogging world. I've been able to paint, unpack, do laundry, vacuum, grade papers and even clip coupons because Sam will play and run and entertain herself for the most part. But the instant I sit down at the computer I get this:

(taken a few moments before I posted this)

accompanied with demands to "see pictures of me!" and "look a ______!" or just "Moooooooooommie!!!!"

The Shiner

2012-01-08T18:38:00.001-06:00

Oh, no! What happened Sam?!
"I fall down at Miss Jane's."
Oh, you poor thing!
"It's ok, it's still there but it doesn't hurt."

Planning

2011-12-21T23:43:00.000-06:00

If we have no hiccups and manage to complete one project a month, we should have the house just like we'd like it by April 2013. Which is also when we'd like to have baby #2.
And, while we're at it, we hope to win the lottery by then too.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T20:58:00.005-06:00

We close on the house tomorrow but I couldn't resist posting the Thanksgiving Highlights!

My parents hosted, I think the final headcount was 20.

We greeted.

Some matched.
We feasted.

While others played.

"I'm gonna eat your ears!"

Then we recharged,

to play,

Sing,

And read.

Then I went shopping until 4:30am and got my Dyson for $140. It's so awesome it makes husbands want to clean everything with no prompting:

This Kid Cracks Me UP

2011-11-20T13:17:00.003-06:00

*Walking out of the bathroom*

"WHoooeee! That's a big one. I get TWO gummy bears!"

Here's to No More in at Least Four!

2011-11-04T22:26:00.004-05:00

Remember this post?

Well, we couldn't help ourselves.

We close on the 28th!

This is move number 4 in 2.5 years.

In other news (as is evidenced in the picture), Sam boycots her naps about 1/2 the time now.

Yes, this DOES really happen

2011-10-29T13:15:00.002-05:00

And I'm lost as to why the parents think it's ok to do so.

So much to say...

2011-10-13T23:56:00.003-05:00

And so little time.
It takes my laptop 7 minutes to boot up, so I'm squeezing in a cute story:

While at the park I was talking to another mom about baby signing. I said, "Sam knows lots of signs too...Sam, can you sign 'Park'?"
The sign for park is to fingerspell it, but Sam just flicks her fingers around. She did so and then proceeded to sign some of the letters she has mastered announcing them as she gets her fingers in the correct position:
"R!" (her favorite)
"E!" at this point the other mother was very impressed
"F!"
I was beaming with pride. Not only did she just show off her letters, but she remembered how to sign refrigerator! (finger-spelling REF)

She finished her talent show by exclaiming,
"That spells PARK!"

Fly on the Wall- Classroom Edition

2011-09-16T16:55:00.002-05:00

student: "Sra. Lepper, how do you say 'I hate this?'"

me: "Eres bonita."

student: "ERES BONITA!"

me: "Gracias!"

Goal for the Next Three Weeks

2011-09-14T16:03:00.001-05:00

Find time to breathe.

Three Musketeers

2011-09-05T19:34:00.000-05:00

Aug 2009

Jan 2010

(out of order) Aug 2011

Too many cooks in the kitchen?

Nah!

Two Peas in a Pod

2011-09-03T19:52:00.002-05:00

Not only is this a quick progression of Sam and Audra's playtime together, it also shows just how SLOW my daughter's hair is growing.
(Note Audra's pigtails in the last one)

Two Worlds Collide

2011-08-27T20:08:00.004-05:00

Sam's diction has improved exponentially the past two weeks. Jer came home from Europe and was floored that I didn't need to translate anymore. She still has trouble with L's (Laundry is "draundry") but for the most part she is spouting off full and complete sentences that are clear as day.
Like tonight, for instance. We are reading "The Jungle Book" and we get to the page where Mowgli runs away. She sits straight up, puts her face close to the picture of him running off into the jungle and yells,

"Oh no! Be careful of the cars!"

First Day of School

2011-08-18T14:11:00.004-05:00

Started the car to take Samantha to "daycare" and the "check engine" light came on.

Dropped Sam off at friend's house and she was sobbing as I left.

Did everything I could to keep from crying myself as I drove to school.

Someone was in my parking spot at school.

First class was crazy. I told the students that their homework was to bring their supplies, but I forgot to tell them that the dictionary they can order through the school...and they don't need that by tomorrow...crap.

My hands finally stopped shaking after the first period.

I was in my second classroom late.

I have two native speakers in Spanish I...not sure why...

Said, "shit" instead of "sheet" at one point...not sure if the students caught it...

On the drive home babysitter told me that Sam finally decided to play and have some fun with the other kids.

Car guy says it's the catalytic converter, just wait and see if the light comes back on.

End craziness, repeat tomorrow?

"Smart Fish Swim in Schools"

2011-08-11T20:14:00.007-05:00

That is the slogan for Swimtastic.

They are amazing!

My big fear for Samantha has always been drowning. While kidnapping, choking, running into the street are all things that I am careful of, drowning is where I step into the realm of paranoia. Mix in a child who loves water- but has no idea that she needs to hold her breath- we decided to splurge and signed her up for classes. She was the only one in her toddler swim class, so it ended up being private lessons!
She has become quite the little fish, spending more time below water than above it. Her teacher, Hannah, says she'll say, "Bye Miss Hannah!" and let go. When she pulls Samantha back up, her face will still be under water, looking at all the toys on the floor of the pool.

Bath time no longer involves toys.

All she wants are these.
I do realize that there are toys in the bathtub. They were tossed in but never played with.

Yes, they are more expensive than other places, but they are worth EVERY penny.

A Taste for Torture

2011-08-07T23:34:00.004-05:00

Jer left for Spain today for 17 days.

Sam went from 2 hr naps to flat out refusing to nap. Yesterday.

Jer got a part-time job at the High School where I'll be working doing tech support 2 days before he left.

School starts in 11 days.

MY classes start here soon...I should probably figure out when exactly...

Jen is visiting for 2 weeks (SQUEE!!).

Sam will be doing trial runs at "day care" this week.

During my last shift at the restaurant I somehow managed to pick up 2 shifts the next two weeks.

And all I can think about is "Boy, I'd love to buy a house and have another baby..."

It's like I ENJOY torturing myself.

Quotes from this Morning

2011-07-22T08:14:00.006-05:00

"Can Mommy help you with that?"

"No, I by SELF!"

"Are you ready to go bye bye?"
"No, I busy."

"Daddy isn't here."
"Oh, Daddy garden."
"No, Daddy went to ride his bike."

"Samantha, whatchya doing?"
"I poopy."

"Would you like some strawberries?
"Um, yes, I think so."

Did You Know

2011-07-21T09:40:00.000-05:00

That coloring on a sliced apple with a dry-erase marker will cause it to stop working? Permanently???? No? Well, now you do. So when you give your child a dry erase marker, make sure all apples are out of reach.

My Two Cents

2011-07-18T21:09:00.004-05:00

Although I've cut down our grocery bill from $120/week to $80/week (would be $60/week if it weren't for the darn packets) I've been waaaay busy and have gotten behind on my couponing. My goal is to get the bill down to $60 a week once the school year starts. That being said, a fantastic scenario fell into my lap today and I had to take advantage of it, busy or not!

So, here's how it rolled out:
Back in May I bought 40 Duracell batteries for roughly $18 from Staples. It was AFTER the purchase that I realized I would be getting a $20 store credit, not a mail in rebate. I was annoyed, as we never shop at Staples, but whatever. We needed the batteries and I figured we'd buy toner there when we needed it.

This past weekend I had seen some awesome items for sale at Staples but was annoyed that I hadn't received my rebate yet, as this would be the time to use them.

Fast forward to today, Staples sent me a $20 rewards coupon in the mail. Now, I have to really give kudos to Staples here. Apparently they'd already e-mailed me the coupons, but I hadn't redeemed them yet, so they sent me paper copies telling my they were about to expire!

After doing some quick math, I made a list of everything I could get without having to pay out of pocket (ie under $20), loaded up Samantha and headed to the store.

Now, can you pick out the error in that last sentence? No? It's the part where I loaded up Samantha. She could have stayed home with daddy, but I decided to get her out of the house. I need to remember that this is my hobby and doing such silly things as bringing my daughter along makes it stressful. Like giving me many false alarms so I'll race her to the bathroom, only to have her sit on the toilet with her hollering "No!....No!....No!"

She's not peeing, protesting, or even answering a question. She's just fascinated about her echo in the stalls.

Anyway, where was I?

So I loaded the following in the cart:

and the total was $20.02

That's right! My .02 really is worth something!

All along I was thinking this was only going to give me more store credit- but when I got home I realized that I'm actually going to get a rebate check for $13.98!

Summary: 40 batteries, 2 reams of paper, 2 paper hole punches, 4 highlighters, 2 dry-erase marker boards, 200 note cards, 5 RSVP pens for $4.04 out of pocket.

Lesson Learned: do not take child to Staples

What I Say vs What She Hears

2011-07-17T13:48:00.000-05:00

"Samantha, don't take mommy's pen. That's rude." All pens are called "rude" now.

"Here, let me put a pin in your panties." Now she thinks panties are fair game to use her pen on.

Three Years of the 4th

2011-07-08T10:21:00.002-05:00

'09

'10

'11
(Look how healthy Jeremy looks now!)

"Psh- Stay at Home Mom's Don't Work!"

2011-07-05T09:20:00.007-05:00

No, we don't! We sit at home all day blogging, eating bonbons and watching our children play. If you contain them to one room, nothing ever gets dirty.

Like today this morning. It was chalk full of bubbles!

My wonderfully trained child ran to the bathroom to blow some bubbles. They were very hard bubbles- "Hm, lots more water for her today...hard bubbles are no fun," I thought to myself.

I beamed with pride- she's so smart, blowing bubbles in the bathroom at such an early age. I don't even have to prompt her anymore!

As she toddles off to play I think to myself, "I'm so glad I don't have to wash the bubble containers anymore." Being a stay at home mom, it can be very inconvenient to have to wash those bubble containers. Now I can relax all day.

As I check the calendar to see if we can attend an afternoon of relaxing and playing with friends my child starts squealing in frustration. I turn around to see a pile of runny bubbles on the floor. And my child's foot. And she's trying to get them off by stomping around, leaving lots of bubble prints on the carpet. Shoot. Those hard bubbles were just holding back the runny ones.

"Oh no! Bubbles in the bathroom, Samantha!" I swoop her up and whisk her to the bathroom- a mere 5 steps from where we are.

In those split seconds Sam manages to spread the bubbles more by flinging the patch of bubbles off her foot and then reaches down to try to wipe off the bubbles with her hand.

Then her immediate instinct to wipe her hands off kicks in and she wipes her hands on her belly. I get her into the bathtub and she begins grabbing random parts of the tub in an effort to help me balance her.

The water is running, but the bubbles seem to be spreading faster than I can contain them. Sam finally calms down, allowing me to take over. I'm able to wipe the source of the bubbles, which is a feat in itself as my daughter's bubble maker is like a vice grip when you try to clean it.

With lots of bubbles floating in the bathtub I finally get her out of the tub. In the 6 inch trip from the tub to the sink she manages to touch more bubbles and, again, instantly wipes them on her belly. "Samantha!!" I sigh.

We then stand in front of the sink and wash her hands and belly with soap. With the bubbles still soaking in my carpet I ignore my child's demands of "Sahtha do it!" and quarantine her to her room while I pop the rest of the bubbles.

As I begin my trek to the fragrant bubble piles my child-that-never-wants-to-get-dressed squeals that she's cold and wants clothes. I quickly throw a dress on her and tell (again) her to stay in her room.

I manage to pop the rest of the bubbles, scrubbing the carpet thinking, "In my year at the restaurant and three years teaching, I've never once had to pop someone elses' bubbles."

So, for those of you who are jealous of us SAHMs or are looking forward to becoming one, just keep in mind that you have to really like bubbles. And bonbons.