Okay summer...I think I'm over you already.

I was really looking forward to Chloe being out of school so I could have my (lazy) mornings back. 

But that was a silly pipe dream of mine.

I don't know what I like less, having to get her to school by 7:45 AM, or having my entire morning taken up with swim lessons to turn her into:

But here is me having a positive attitude about it:

Chloe is on 2 swim teams.  She practices at one pool from 9 until 10:00 AM.  And then we go to another pool from 10:45-11:30 AM.  She has swim meets Saturday morning and Thursday night.  Oh, and more swim lessons on Tuesday night.

And as you can tell from my skin, I just love the sun and the surf.

But here's me having a positive attitude about it:

                 Don told me that if I am a good Mommy this summer and take Chloe to swim lessons (with a positive attitude), he will take me to Disneyland this summer.  Yes, I am 5. And yes, the incentive is working.  However, he might need to throw in some spending cash for the positive attitude bit. 

So Macie does A LOT of wandering in her bathing suits (what else is new), and I just basically sweat.  I am thinking of getting my own ballerina bathing suit and just wearing that around everywhere.  Like to swim meets and practices and stuff. 

In other news, we went to an Aquarium on Memorial Day with about 2 million other people.  And they had these things that are a closterphobics nightmare (see above). Also the small enclosed hole, smelled strongly of B.O..

And...Macie stood in a big jaw.

Summer is here. Already?

Chloe had her last day of school on Thursday.  This year flew by.  I remember the first day of school.  I was a mess.  I couldn't believe Chloe was already going to school.

And now she is in first grade. What? How does this happen?

Chloe was really sad for the school year to be over.

She cried and said she was going to miss her teacher so much, and that her teacher is moving to a different school.

It made me sad too, but I guess that is part of life, learning to deal with change.

I am glad to have her home for the summer.  I am going to have to keep her entertained though.  And by golly, this summer I am getting out of dodge and escape the heat...once a month! That's my goal.  We'll see.  When it comes down to it, leaving town is a lot of work.  And I change my mind.

Chloe is going to be on swim team.  I am suuuuuuuuper (not) excited about sitting by the pool all summer.

In other news, I went back to my roots.  My hair roots that is.  It looked a lot lighter with all the red highlights I had put in.  But I missed my old hair.

So I dyed it.  It was met with mixed reactions.  Don prefers it really dark.  But Chloe kept telling me I had made a mistake all day.

"Why didn't you like red anymore? I thought you liked red hair?  I thought you wanted to have red hair like me?  Your hair is black now.  I don't like it. Mom, why did you make your hair black?  It looks weird." etc.

In truth I hated it the first couple days too.  I grimaced every time I looked in the mirror because I thought I looked like a member of the Addams family. 

Well this is neither hair nor there. ; )

I am getting used to it again.  It's funny to have to get used to something that you have had your whole life.  I keep asking Don.  Was my hair really this dark before?

 Also, I got to see my "Mom" friends.  One has already moved and the other one is in the process.  I am sad to see them go, but happy for their having new adventures. 

Welcome summer!

Last night I came home and found this note on the kitchen counter.  It just made my whole day.  I asked Don what happened, and he said the kids were horsing around (after he asked them to stop) and Chloe gave Macie a bloody nose.  Chloe evidently felt bad and wrote Don a note:
"I am sorry to make a bloody nose.  I hope you forgive me.  I love you Dad.  I love Dad. Please. "
I asked Chloe what the picture meant next to "plez."  She told me it is a "please" sign.  (she said her teacher taught them this.) I have never heard of a please sign, but maybe I am just not with it.

Chloe turns (1)6.

Chloe FINALLY turned 6 last Saturday.  She has been breathlessly awaiting this day since the day she turned 5.  Her request was for a "Princess Fashion Party."  I shortened that from a "Princess Fashion Tea Party."  I know my limits.  Even though I tried very hard to make things as simple as possible, it still ended up being exhausting.  This might have been because a mild case of the stomach flu made me feel like I was in the first trimester of a pregnancy, and the only thing I really wanted to do was lay on my soft bed in my underwear while I let the ceiling fan lull me to sleep. 

Also, Don and I made the mistake of thinking that going boating in the morning the same day as the birthday party, was a good idea.  It was not.

Chloe's cousin spent the night Friday, and the morning of her birthday, Chloe threw up.  A few times.  I asked her if she still wanted to go boating (by this time Don had already left with his friend to go pick up the boat).  She said she didn't want to miss out on all the fun, so I picked her up some saltines, gingerale, and gatorade, and like magic she was feeling better.

The boating trip had it's own list of set backs, the biggest being that we waited around for an hour waiting for our husbands and the boat to arrive at the lake, only to find out that the lake was full and there was a 3 hour waiting list to be able to launch your boat in the water.

So then we ended up driving another 45 minutes to another lake.  Once on the lake, our children did what children do best, cry and complain about pretty much everything.  My friend's son was literally so freaked out by falling in the water off the tube, that he pooped his pants. And Chloe and her cousin are still convinced that they almost drowned.  And Macie acted like the clown from "It" was making faces at her all day,  and refused to sit anywhere other than my lap.  (Later late evening she had a fever, so I bet she wasn't feeling well all along. Poor Macie.)

Despite all that, we still managed to have fun, because well, we were on a boat, with our fun friends.

But we decided that next time, there will be no children allowed.

We didn't end up getting home until 3:30 PM and the party started at 4.

So I had a half hour to bathe everyone and to finish setting up for the party.

I believe the girls loved the party and that is the only thing that matters. 

(But I think I am birthday partied out for a couple years)

 We had a nail station.

 And a make-up station.

 And a hair station.

 And A LOT of really cute, really excited, little girls.

 And we played a dress up relay race that resulted in a lot of crying and chaos. 

 And then Chloe opened her presents.  That took 1.5 minutes.

 Macie stole the suckers. And you'll notice...never let them go.

And then we had dinner.  I watched as Don spent an hour carefully infusing the hamburger patties with garlic and onion.  We also had smoothies.  The kids seemed to really appreciate the smoothies.  But poor Don, all his hard work went mostly unappreciated.  Chloe said she wanted hamburgers, so we had hamburgers.  I think the adults enjoyed their burgers though.

 Chloe also really wanted a Pinata.  And it took a long time for that thing to crack.  We really wished there was a 12 year old boy to help out.

 Macie wasn't able to put her all into the swing being that she had to keep track of her 2 lollipops.

 Oh look, there's Macie again, unwrapping candy.

 Didn't I do an amazing job decorating this cake?  Oh you didn't know that I am super talented and crafty?

 Okay, okay.  I bought the cake.   

Chloe had to close her eyes and redo her wish because she forgot to do it before she blew out the candles. 

Great picture, don't you think?

I think all of Chloe's birthday dreams came true.  My love for her makes me do crazy things.  Not illegal things, just things that are not good for my health.

But she's worth it.

(Next year we are just going to go out to eat)

P.S. She woke up the next morning and had a 2nd go round of the pukes.

I've been thrown up on before, but I have never had the opportunity of using my hands for a puke bucket until now.

I have arrived. 

Mother's Day

I had a lovely Mother's Day.  We had our traditional Mother's Day lunch at Leonore's house on Saturday. And Chloe also "lost" her first tooth.  Apparently you don't tell Grandpa Rey that you have a loose tooth because he will yank it out unexpectedly. 

Losing her tooth was quite traumatic for Chloe. Tears have been shed over the loss of her lower chomper. And she worriedly asked me, "What will happen if I lose all my teeth and then I can't chew my food?"

  In fact she hasn't even turned it in to the Tooth Fairy yet.  Don told her that she has to give up her tooth to the tooth fairy if she wants her money.  But she cried and said she didn't want the tooth fairy to take it and turn it into magic.

So then I said that we could just write the tooth fairy a note and ask if she could just leave the tooth and also some money. (Brilliant idea, me thought)

However, Don nixed this idea and privately told me that this is how people grow up and can't make decisions. "You can't have your cake and eat it too," he says.  Apparently it is our job as parents to teach our children this crappy life lesson. pfft.   "If you can't make a decision about a tooth when you are 5...you can't pick a major when you are 18."

And since I couldn't pick a major when I was 18, or decide if I wanted to get married at 23,  I think he might have a valid point.

She told me today that she is ready to turn the tooth in so she can get money for Disneyland.

Is the tooth fairy doling out 100 dollar bills these day?

Because if so, I might pull a few of my own teeth out.

Ever since Chloe lost her tooth, she has been speaking with a lisp.

And to be honest, I miss Chloe's non-lispy voice.

So Sunday Don was a superstar husband.  He got the kids ready for church and made me lunch and did A LOT of dishes.  And he even took Macie home from church to change a nasty diaper.  Now I know he loves me.  He will do anything to get out of a changing a poopy diaper.  And he bought me a delicious pie.  So it was a nice, nice day.

I am so grateful for my children who have made me a Mother. One of the things that was hard to wrap my brain around after my Mom died, was that I had no one to call "Mom" anymore.  And I so missed that word and everything that it meant.  I am so grateful that I have that word back in my life, and it is used, it seems like, a billion times every day.  I love being able to repay all the things my Mom did for me, back to my own children.  And in that way, part of my heart has been healed, and I feel connected to her.  Because motherhood is a chain that can never be broken. There is nothing in the world as strong as a Mother's love for her children.
I also thought about my friends yesterday who find Mother's Day to be a difficult day.  Friends who have lost children, or can't have children for various reasons, and really feel that void in their life. And other friends who have lost their Mothers as well. I want them to know their value as a woman.  Motherhood means so much more than physically bearing children. I have had many mother figures in my life, and obviously they did  not physically bring me into this world.  But they have been "mothers"-they've supported me and loved me and comforted me like only a woman can.  I don't mean to sound trite, I know that nothing can replace a child or your Mother.  I just know that everything will work out in the end.  And women are just...awesome.

Field Trip

Yesterday I chaperoned Chloe's kindergarten class on their field trip to Stuffington Bear Factory.I learned some things about Teddy Bears.  I learned that Stuffington is one of 2 teddy bear factories in the United States.  (As a fellow chaperone whispered, the other 6000 are in China).  I can't imagine who they sell their stuffed animals too...Etsy? Just kidding.  But seriously.  Actual people cut out all the materials by hand.  And actual people sew them all together.  All the kids got to make their own teddy bear.  Picture "Build A Bear" ...but not as nice.

I got to ride on the bus with Chloe.

It was a big day for Chloe yesterday.  She also had a birthday party to attend.  So we went to Target.  I cannot keep up with my children at Target.  They touch everything.  They want everything.  They take greeting cards and slide them under the display thingee...which by the way, are physically impossible to retrieve.  

Chloe made a point to show me the "fancy" things that Emma loves.  These are the dolls on her shirts.  And the fancy skull on her lunchbox.  "See Mom, She has a bow and eyelashes.  That's what makes it fancy."
um, no. Chloe WILL NOT be participating in this strange monster/zombie trend.
I protest such nonsense.

P.S.  Macie fell asleep late afternoon yesterday for 6 hours.  Luckily she woke up at 10 PM and was ready to start her day!  I spent most of the night trying to sleep while she tried to wake me up.  She brought me a box of macaroni and cheese.  At 3 in the morning.  I would have killed her, but she told me "I wuv woo" for the very first time...at midnight.  Oh really? Well then why are you torturing your Mother with your cuteness in the dark abyss of night?