Wrong foot

Tomorrow we are going to Disney World. But tonight, Daddy picked up the kids and said "Ok. We are going home and we will eat dinner and then take a bath and then go to bed and then get up and get dressed for school." John responded and said "I think we are getting started on the wrong foot!"

Spanish words

Tonight while John was reading a book, he stopped and said "Do you want to hear a Spanish word I say a lot?" We couldn't say no to that. So then he said "Elefante!" (For those who don't know, elefante is Spanish for elephant).  Daddy and I giggled. Then John said "Wanna hear another one?"  We say "Yes!"  And he says "Equis!" We asked John "what does that mean?"  He said "I don't know. I think it's a letter!"  He may not remember anything but he is definitely learning a lot in Spanish class. Also, Equis is Spanish for the letter X.

Golden rain tree

Last week John had a special program at school where he learned about the golden rain tree. He asked me "Do you know about the golf rain tree?" I told him no. He said "Well they are amazing!" He then proceeded to tell me everything that he learned. "Did you know that we have 10 of them at our school? And do you know why they are called golden rain? That's because they have flowers that are yellow and they look like rain. And you know what? They aren't even supposed to be here. They are from China. I wish I could go to China. You know why? So that I could see more golden rain trees!" 

The next time I picked John up from school, he showed Gillian and I one of the golden rain trees. Now every time Gillian sees a tree she says "Look! It's a golden rain tree!"

Bread

Daddy was in charge of homework tonight, so I took Gillian to the food store to pick up some bread. I asked her to get on her shoes and coat. She did both but then added sunglasses to her outfit. It was dark out, so I said "Gillian, you don't need them. The sun isn't out." Gillian said "No. I need them." She put them on and we walked to the car. She wore them in the car and until we walked inside the store. She pulled them off and said "I no need them inside!" 

When we walked in the store, I said "We need to get bread." Gillian said "Maybe we could get something else." "Oh really?" I said "Like what?" She said "I like donuts!" That's really all it took to convince me to buy donuts. We found her some chocolate frosted donuts and I got the bread. Next, we picked up some ice cream for Daddy. Gillian carried her bag with the bread and the donuts to the car and from the car to the house. She walked in the house and said "I back! See what I got!" Good thing it wasn't a secret. The kids then had a few donuts for dessert and it was time for a bath. Love my quality time with my little girl. 

packing

This weekend, we started packing for our trip to Disney World.  I asked Gillian what we should pack for our vacation.  She said "A bath-ingI  suit, some clothes.  And blankets.  And maybe a baby."  I asked her, "A baby?  Are you sure?"  She nodded and said "A baby.  A baby blanket and a bottle too!"

We laid out all of Gillian's clothes on her bed, so we could get an idea of what else we needed.  Gillian saw all of her clothes on the bed and I could see that all she wanted to do was jump on her bed.  I told her "Do not touch the clothes on your bed.  We are getting everything ready for our trip and I don't want you to mess up our piles."  Gillian nodded and smiled.  I turned around to find her something to wear.  She was grinning and touching the edge of the bed with one finger.  I said "Gillian, I told you not to touch the bed."  She smiled and said "I can touch here, cause I not touching the clothes."   

What color is your car?

Every time I pick up Gillian from school, she asks me "Is this your new car?"  I say "Yes" (I have had this car since May, it isn't exactly new).  She then asks "What color is it?"  Every time, I say "Black, you know that."  And then we will drive a little while and then she will ask "What color is your car?"  I don't know why she is obsessed with it, but I answer her every time.  Daddy told me that yesterday on their way to school, Gillian asked Daddy "What color is your car?"  Daddy replied "Gold."  Gillian said "Gold?  Like Antonio?"  Daddy said "What?"  She said "Like Antonio, the gold ninja."  Obviously, they have been watching too much Power Rangers.   

The Spider

I picked up the kids tonight from school.  As we were leaving John's school, John said "There's a spider in here."  It was pretty dark in the car, so I said "Are you sure?"  John said "Yea.  I can see it.  Mom!  Get it out of here!"  I was driving, and told him "I can't get it out now."  I opened his window to try to help the spider go outside.  John was very scared, and kept saying, "It's coming closer."  Gillian said "Oh I see him.  Him's so cute!  Aww he doesn't want to go outside.  He's cold.  Close the window!"  John got mad and said "No Gill!  I'm afraid of him.  I don't want him in here."  Gillian giggled and said "I not afraid.  Him is cute!"  John now even more mad at Gillian, said "Everyone is afraid of something!  I'm afraid of spiders."  Gillian said "Not me! I not afraid of nothing!"  John said, "Everyone in the whole world is afraid of something.  Even Mom and Dad!  But sometimes you have to face your fear.  Cause if you don't then it will control your life!" 

ABC Reader

In September, I signed up to be a reader for ABC, Atchison Book Club, at John's school.  ABC is a program, where once a month a parent comes to school and reads a book to a class.  I was told by some other members of the PTA, that this is a popular program and gets filled up quickly.  But I was very excited to find out that I was selected to be a reader.  I had a little training about a month ago and I waited and waited to find out what day I would be assigned.  I found out on Tuesday, that I actually got assigned two days, one day in May and today. 

I got to school, and read the November book and walked to John's classroom.  I knocked on the door and I heard Mrs. Belena say "Look who's here!"  John came running and opened the door for me.  I walked in and said hello to the class.  Mrs. Belena directed me to the reading nook in the classroom and gave me a chair to sit in.  All the kids sat on the floor in front of me, except John.  John got to sit in a chair next to me.  I showed the kids the book and read the title "Veterans: Heroes in our Neighborhood."  I stopped and asked the kids if they knew any veterans.  Their hands shot up and I heard a lot of Grandpa, Poppy and even a Daddy.  I opened the book and read the first page.  As I put the book down to turn the page, my little assistant sitting next to me, turned the page.  I read the entire book.  The kids were so attentive and John was so proud.  He sat next to me and turned every page.  After I finished, we stopped and talked about what we liked best about the book.  John actually turned to his favorite page.  It was about a veteran that is now a firefighter.  John said "I like it because he is so brave!" 

I had a great time reading to John's class.  I am looking forward to going back in May!   

Juan

John had Spanish class today. He told me "I learned how to spell my name in Spanish today!" Intrigued, I ask "How?" He says "J....U....A....N!" I giggled and said "Oh your name in Spanish is Juan."  He said "No. It's John! But I'm not sure how J U A N spells John!" 

While he was doing his homework, he said "I'm going to write J U A N on the top. That's how I'm going to spell my name now." I explained to him that he needed to spell his name the correct way and that Juan was to only be used in his Spanish class. He wasn't too happy with my statement, but he didn't complain too much. 

morning snuggles

I woke up this morning and there was a little girl in our bed.  I'm not sure when she joined us, but there she was snuggling Daddy and I.  I got up to get in the shower and told her "Don't worry, Daddy is here with you."  But she started to cry.  I asked her what was the matter.  She said "I want Mommy!"  Daddy tried to comfort her, but she cried.  I picked her up and hugged her and told her again "I have to get in the shower, but you can snuggle with Daddy."  She said "I go to my bed."  I brought her to her bed.  I got in the shower and got ready for work.  I went to get Gillian ready for school and she was sound asleep.  I'm sure she was exhausted from all of her late night adventures.  Daddy got her dressed and he asked her "Why did you come into our room?"  She said "There was something on manket."  "What was on your manket?"  She said "A starfish."  We are still not sure when she climbed into our bed or why she climbed into our bed.  But it was nice to get some early morning snuggles with our favorite little girl.

  

reptiles

I took John to a birthday party on Saturday.  It was for one of his friend's in his class, Thomas.  Thomas had a reptile party with Rizzo's Reptiles.  John was very excited about seeing the reptiles.  "Except for the tarantulas!  I don't like them." he told me.  When we arrived there were quite a few of the boys from John's class there.  And they all gathered around Mr. Joe from Rizzo's Reptiles.  He told us that he would be showing us animals and some we could touch and others we couldn't.  The first animal Mr. Joe took out was two small corn snakes.  He put them into Thomas' hands and Thomas walked around and showed all the boys the snakes.  A couple of the other boys held the snakes.  John touched them, but didn't hold them.  Next, Mr. Joe took out a tarantula.  John was not happy to see the spider.  He stood up next to me and didn't want to even look at it.  Lucky for us, the tarantula was not passed around and no one got to hold it.  Then Mr. Joe took out a hedgehog.  He was all white and super cute.  He asked the boys if they knew of a famous hedgehog.  Someone finally said Sonic the Hedgehog.  Since Sonic is super fast in his video game, Mr. Joe put down the hedgehog to show us how fast they really are.  Well he wasn't too fast.  John and all the boys laughed.  We got to see a baby alligator, a blue tongue skink, a California king snake and big bullfrog.  John got bored after the skink.  He kept asking "Are we done yet?  They should have told us how long this would be."  I had to keep him quiet so he didn't upset the birthday boy or his parents. 

Finally it was time for the last animal.  Mr. Joe asked for some help from a couple of the dads.  They stood there while Mr. Joe put a huge constrictor in their arms.  It wasn't a boa constrictor.  I don't remember the type, but he was a constrictor.  The snake was really big.  John stayed in the back of the room with me.  He kept whispering "I'm not going to touch him.  I'll stay with you."  Mr. Joe let the boys hold the snake by laying the snake down on their laps.  After a few rows of boys got to hold the snake, John got closer and closer.  Finally it was only the parents and a couple of kids left in the basement, and John was brave enough to get close.  I am so proud of him.  He faced his fear and held the snake.   

    

Adventure with Uncle T

Once again, since school was closed on Friday, I asked Uncle T if he would be interested in watching John for me.  Uncle T said "Just John?  During the day?"  I answered yes to both of his questions and he said "Okay, dress him warm.  We have work to do!" 

Uncle T came to pick up John on Friday morning.  Uncle T already had a truckload of split firewood.  They were going to bring it to Mr. Matt's house.  I headed to work and the boys headed over to Mr. Matt's house.  Miss Brittany texted me to let me know that John was hard at work stacking firewood.  When Mr. Matt got to the office, he also told me that John was working hard (for like 20 minutes).  He also said that he asked Johnny "I heard you are going on a trip."  John put up his little finger (as if to tell Mr. Matt to wait a second), then he responded "Nineteen days!"  Mr. Matt then said "How about I take Aunt Missy's ticket and it would be you, me, and Uncle T in Disney?"  John again raised his little finger to Mr. Matt, thought about it for a second and said "Well I'd have to write Mickey a letter and I don't think he knows you!"

The boys ran a few errands and then headed to the dealership so Uncle T could pick up his paycheck.  When I saw John, he came running over to me.  I asked how his morning was going.  He said "Great!"  I asked him if Uncle T fed him breakfast.  John said "I got a sandwich and milk!"  I asked where they were going next.  Uncle T said "Maybe to get some lunch.  And then to get wood.  John how much wood do we need?"  John said "We need eight pieces for a birdhouse!"  And off they went onto their next stop. 

Later I received a picture message from Uncle T. 

 

That's John in a Dizzy Dragon.  It could only mean one thing!  The boys stopped at iPlay America.  Aunt Missy was a little surprised to see John by himself on the ride.  Uncle T said "John wanted to ride solo.  He's a big boy now!"  John went on a few rides and got to play some games too. 

 

After iPlay, they got something to eat and then went to Uncle T's house to build a birdhouse.  Uncle T got two kits to build two birdhouses.  Uncle T used a tack nailer to help move the process along.  They made the first birdhouse and John convinced Uncle T to use a hammer instead.  Uncle T told me "After my thumb got hit a couple of times, I asked him if we could do it my way."  And they finished the second birdhouse with the nail gun. 

 

 

John had a great day with his Uncle!  Thanks Uncle T!  



Adventure with Grandma & Grandpa

I asked Grandma and Grandpa if they could watch John on Thursday (since schools were closed for the teacher's conference).  Grandma told me, "Well Grandpa has to take Aunt Betty to the airport and I have to teach Aunt Betty's class for the rest of the day.  But John can either go with Grandpa to the airport or with me to school."  I talked to John and he said "Airport!" 

On Thursday morning, John came running into our room.  He was all smiles.  He said to me "You know why I am up so early?"  I said no.  He said "I get to go to an airport for the very first time today!"  I dropped him off at Grandma's and Grandpa's.  He was still excited.  He couldn't sit still.  When I was getting ready to leave, he started to put his jacket back on.  But Grandma stopped him.  She explained that it would be awhile before they needed to go to the airport, but they had some small adventures planned for the beginning of the day. 

Their day consisted of going to the beach and checking out the heavy equipment being used for moving sand and rebuilding the dunes.  He got to stop at Leggetts where Grandpa had to look at a couple of video games.  And John also got to play a couple rounds of golf too!  They also stopped at St. Denis.  I don't remember what they were doing there, but they stopped at St. Denis and John got to go inside the school.  They went to the ice cream store and John helped pick out an ice cream cake for Grandpa's birthday.  Then they went to Aunt Betty's school, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and John got to meet her class.  Grandma stayed to teach the class and Grandpa, Aunt Betty and John headed to the airport. 

Grandpa told me that John had one responsibility at the airport.  John had to remember that they parked in section 403.  So from the parking lot into the airport, John said "403, 403....403."  Then in the airport on the way up the escalator, John turned to some guy walking past them "403!"  John is a very big helper.  I asked him to tell me about the airport.  He said "It's really big!  There's a lot of people there!"  He also told me "And the planes were bigger than the car!"

They got back to Grandma's house and John helped Grandma with dinner.  He got to cut the carrots.  He said "You know!  With the carrot cutter!"

I am so thankful that John was able to spend the day with his grandparents.
   

the moon and the sun

Tonight leaving school, Gillian said "It's dark outside.  Is the moon out?"  I asked her if she could find the moon.  As we got in the car, she said "There it is!  I see it!  Mommy, you see it?"  I told her I couldn't look for it while I was driving, and I asked her to describe it to me.  She said "It looks like a feather."  I guess that makes sense.  Tonight it looked like a thin crescent. 

As we were driving to get John, she told me "The moon and the sun are my friends.  They like me.  They know I help fix your washin' 'chine!  They follow me.  Him is my friend!"  A few weeks ago, Daddy picked up Gillian from school and the two of them went to a local appliance store and bought a part for my broken washing machine.  In the car that night, Gillian told Daddy "The sun is following me.  The sun is my friend.  Him knows I gunna fix Mama's washin' 'chine!"  Daddy and Gilly did fix my washing machine that night, and weeks later she remembers that she declared the sun and the moon her friend because it was following her in the car. 

Candy

We have quite a bit of candy in our house from Halloween.  Every night after dinner, the kids raid the candy bucket.  They are each allowed one big candy bar or two small pieces of candy.  Tonight, the kids each picked two small bags of plain M&Ms.  John ate all of his M&Ms but Gillian took her time.  We were still waiting for her to finish when it was time for the kids to take a bath.  John said "Gill hurry up and eat your L-a-Lems!"  Like usual, I made him say it like ten more times.  He doesn't have much patience for me anymore.  And he asked "Well, what are they call?"  Before I could answer, Gillian said "Nem-Nems!"  I taught him how to properly pronounce M&Ms, after I got a video of them saying it incorrectly.

going to the doctor

Gillian woke up around 3:30 this morning coughing.  Daddy calmed her down and got her to go back to sleep.  Daddy had today off and he told me this morning that he thought Gillian should stay home from school today.  He thought that her cough was really bad.  John only had a half a day of school today and we had previously scheduled his annual exam for this afternoon.  When I got to work, I called the pediatrician and asked if we could bring Gillian to John's appointment.  They had no problem with adding Gillian and Daddy took both of them to the doctor's office this afternoon.

Gillian went first.  Dr. Yee directed all of her questions to Gillian.  She asked "What's wrong?"  Gillian said "I coughing.  I coughing a lot!"  Dr. Yee asked "Is the cough worse at night?"  Daddy said "Yes."  Gillian said "Yes.  I cough at night."  Dr. Yee prescribed an antibiotic and a cough syrup. 

Next was John's turn.  John was a big boy during his appointment.  Dr. Yee directed all of her questions to John.  He was very polite and answered all of her questions.  He got weighted and measured.  In one year, he has grown 3 inches and gained 5 pounds.  He also had to get his flu shot (the first time he had a shot in his arm).  He was scared, but Daddy held him tight and Dr. Yee was quick.  He didn't cry.  He was tough.  I'm so proud of him.  While John got dressed, Dr. Yee took Gillian down the hall to pick out lollipops for both of them. 

When I got home, I asked them about their adventure at the doctor's office.  John said "I got a shot.  It hurt really bad, but it doesn't hurt now."  Gillian said "I didn't get any needle-shots.  But Johnny did!  I got a lollipop!"

The Batwing Megazord

John had half a day at school on Friday and he spent majority of the day in Time+.  I picked him up first and in the car he told me that he and two other boys came up with a great idea during Time+.  He told me: "Someone read a book about teeth.  And we decided that we would make the ultimate fighter.  I will be a narwhal and someone else would be a shark and the other guy would be an elephant.  And we would be rich.  Wanna know how we are going to be rich?  Well the elephant would work on cars, because he could lift them up.  I would tie a string to my tooth and catch fish.  And did you know that shark loose their teeth every day?  Well he would just put his teeth under his pillow and the tooth fairy will leave him money."

I thought this was the end of the story with the narwhal, elephant and the shark.  But it didn't end in there.  He talked to me the entire car ride to go and pick up Gillian.  The car ride from school to home.  And when he saw Daddy, he told him all about his idea.  He also decided that the three of them could combine to become a "Megazord."  After dinner, he sat and drew out plans for a "Batwing" and some weapons that each of them would carry. 

Today, he decided when all three of them combine into the Megazord, and use the Batwing they become "The Batwing Megazord."  I'm not really sure I understand all of his logic.  But I am glad that he is using his imagination.        

Halloween 2013

Halloween was a little different for the kids this year. 

Gillian was able to wear her Minnie Mouse costume to school on Halloween.  TLC normally has a parade in the morning and then Gillian's class had a party in the afternoon.  She had a huge bag of treats when I picked her up from school.

John, on the other hand, wasn't allowed to wear his Ninja costume to school.  He had to bring it to school and then the kids all got dressed in their costumes before they had an indoor parade.  Luckily, John's costume wasn't hard to put on and he really didn't need a lot of assistance.  He told me that they also had a party with snacks and each of the kids in his class got to decorate a little pumpkin. 

We picked up the kids from school and headed to my mom's house for trick-or-treating.  We stopped for a quick picture in front of Grandma's house and then we were on our way.  Gillian stayed behind the boys at the first house.  Since Sandy ruined Halloween last year and the year before that she was too small to really understand anything, it was Gillian's first real year for trick-or-treating.  It didn't take her long before she was running ahead of the boys to get to the next house.  She was polite and always said "Thank you!"  We were about five houses from Grandma's when I realized that we should change her shoes.  She was wearing her little Minnie Mouse pumps and they were really slowing her down.  I finally got her to change into her sneakers, about two blocks later.  She is a very determined little lady. 

We got to one house and lady that answered the door offered candy to the adults.  We all politely said "No thank you."  John said "It's okay, they just take it from us when we get home."  Wow, thanks for giving away our secret!

At another house, Gillian met another Minnie Mouse.  I'm not sure which one was more excited, Gillian or the little girl.

At yet another house, John went to the door, rang the bell and said "Trick or Treat."  He was able to pick his candy and came running back to us.  Before that lady closed the door, John shouted to me "Mom!  I got the orange kind.  The ones you like!"   

We stopped at Olga's house (a long-time neighbor of my Mom & Dad).  She let us come inside and she had a big tray of candy.  We told the kids, "Just one piece."  Olga said "No, it's okay they can have a few because I think I am done for the night."  John probably took three or four pieces of candy.  Gillian, on the other hand, kept taking pieces of candy and putting them in her bag.  I was busy talking to Olga, when I looked back at the kids there was a big empty spot on the tray by Gillian.  She probably snagged ten pieces.  Sneaky little girl.

We got back to Grandma's house and had some yummy soup and brownies for dessert.  Overall a pretty awesome Halloween!