First Day Of School!

This one is happy.

This one is mad.

And that little one in blue, he has no idea what to do.

Sophie dog

This week PJ is at Chinese camp.  One of her teachers has bought a new, very tiny, very cute and very cuddly little puppy.  She brings it to school.  She carries it with her in a small satchel like a little baby.  The kids get to hang out with it at recess.

PJ is dog crazy.  She has wanted a dog for an entire year and hasn’t changed her tune.  I told her when she was 10 we could buy one.  That’s when I would be ready (hopefully).

So when PJ came home from camp on Tuesday and saw that adorable dog, she WANTED A DOG all over again 10 fold.  So, she decided she was going to ask the teacher if she could buy the dog for $100.00.  She was even going to buy the dog with Chinese money she had gotten from her Papa (it was no where near $100.00).

We discussed the fact that her teacher was not going to sell her the dog, no matter how much money she had.  She didn’t care, she wanted to try anyway.  So I let her, why not…what hutzpa!

When I came back to pick her up at the end of the day she was crying.  I couldn’t figure out why, short attention span had forgotten she was going to ask to buy off the dog.  Then the teacher came over with a cute little smile and giggle and told me that PJ asked her if she could buy the dog from her.  And now, because she didn’t get that cute little cuddly bundle of doggy love, she was sooooo sad.

So she wrote me this note.

The big payoff

Ever since summer started, our basement-tv room-kids play area, has been a disaster area.  It was beyond just simply cleaning it up.  It needed to be cleaned out.

That said, last week when it rained, we got to it.  I brought out the 70 qt storage bin and the 16 qt storage bin and a garbage bag.  CT got his own bins, KP and PJ shared a set.

The kids filled the large bin with large toys and the small bin with small toys and anything broken went into the garbage bin.

Each bin had a price tag associated with it.  Large bin, $5.  Small bin, $1.  Gargage (paper grochery bag) $1.  Once we had gone through all the toys and the bins were filled (several times), we bagged them up, put them in the back of the van and dropped it all off at Good Will.

Then we went to Target with the money they had made and they each got to buy ONE new toy.

From the mouth of babes

This past weekend, this is just a sampling of some of the things I heard my kids say:

KP:  This is the best Earth in the whole world. (This said just after shoving a fist full of Sour Patch Kids in his mouth).

PJ:  When I’m old enough, I’m going to get my nose pierced like Auntie Shannon AND get my belly button pierced.  (This said at the lunch table, just because.)

CT:  I’m gay.  I’m a gay baseball player!  (This said while sitting at the dinner table with the WHOLE extended family while celebrating Adam’s 38th birthday.)

What a good mother teaches their daughter

PJ is six.

How did she get to be this age and not know how to do the girlie pullover?  You know, when you are wearing a one piece swim suit and have to go to the bathroom.

You don’t take the whole wet thing off, you simply pull it over.

I’m proud to say, as of today, my daughter now knows how to complete this very important summertime task.

Who taught you?

The Passage of Kindergarden

It was right here, in this moment, the moment that was drummed up the night before by email saying ever so casually that you might want to come and see the teachers hand out certificates to the students.

It was as I was standing there, taking this photo, that my eyes swelled up with tears and all the emotions of making this major decision to send PJ to Chinese school came flooding back.

It was a hard decision, a leap of faith. Not all our questions were answered but we jumped anyway.

And as we jumped with a little bit of unease, she took hold with all her might and soared.

Hen hao PJ, hen hao!

We’ll be FINE

This morning while Adam was getting dressed, PJ and I were hanging out on the bed and the following conversation took place.

PJ: Are you guys married?

Adam: Yes sweetie, we’ve been married for almost 14 years.

PJ: Wow, that’s a long time. You can die now.

Me: (laughing) Hopefully we’ll be around for a while.

PJ: It’s okay, I can walk to Hope’s house and CT and KP can go over to Sam’s house. You know, because Peter’s there (Peter is 4).

PJ’s favorite birthday present EVER

Heeeeeeeeeres Whiskey!

Yes, PJ named her hamster WHISKEY.

In where I confess to killing the fish

Yeah…I did it. I killed Cherry.

Not on purpose mind you. I just kinda kept watching the water go down and forgetting to fill it up so the aerator would fill the 1 gallon pink tank with fresh air for sweet Cherry.

Instead, she puffed up, looked almost fuzzy, lost all her color and suffocated to death on old tank water.

Looking on the bright side, this is our first family pet death. You know…this is a good opportunity to feel loss and learn how to handle it, right? So we gathered around the toilet, said nice things about Cherry and her life and then flushed her into fishy heaven.

Once that suction took hold of her lifeless body, PJ fell completely apart.

Cherry, I’m sorry. You were a very good pet. See ya on the other side.

What a weekend…

Friday:

Ears

Birthday dinner out with jewels from Erika.

Saturday:
First Communion #1

The Spring Sheering

First Communion #2

Sunday:

Half Marathon

PJ’s 6th Birthday Party

And then…and then I slept really well.  Only to be woken up by PJ’s new hamster in the middle of the night running and running and running on it’s little squeaky wheel FOR HOURS.

The story of the hamster to come later.