Sunday, July 31, 2011
Photo Booth
Jer and I have been looking at all the pics Riley took using Photo Booth on the laptop. Here is our favorite one:
Like an Episode of "Modern Family": Good Cop, Bad Cop
So remember the episode about Phil, the fun dad, and Claire, the not-fun mom. They try to switch places and it totally goes wrong. Well, we lived out that episode today only in not-quite the same manner. More in the usual roles: Jeremy, the fun Uncle, and Jess, the not-fun Aunt.
Not the entire day - just the night time routine - which I'll explain at the end. This is just the foreshadowing part ;)
Day was good! We went to church this morning. It was awesome because Madi was able to sit with five friends who were in her camp group and she was super excited about seeing them all. This was part of the reason we wanted her to go to camp - to make better friends at church - and it's great to see that this is happening!
We came home for lunch, some Pocket Legends playtime on the iPod and to hang out for a little while. Then we went to my parents' house where the girls went swimming for a long time and had some ice cream treats. And pizza for dinner. Then we came home which is when the real fun began.
The night routine has always been the same - get on pjs, brush teeth, go potty, do devotional with Riley in her room, then read book in Madi's room with Madi and pray together. We've been thinking it'd be great to start doing devotionals separate with Madi so that she can get more alone time with each of us as well as more in-depth Bible study for her age. We have been having Madi leave her iPod downstairs to charge at night for a few reasons. The main one being she was playing too many games on it and watching videos off of YouTube (which I'm not comfortable with as there are too many not-ok videos out there and we can't monitor that if she's in her room alone). The stimulation from them was keeping her up very late at night and she was waking up super early in the morning due to not sleeping well. Since she's kept it downstairs, her sleep is much deeper and better and she's sleeping well.
So our new routine of doing devotionals separate was going to start tonight. She hasn't had her iPod upstairs since coming back from camp two nights ago. Enter the episode: Good Cop, Bad Cop. Jer and I had agreed that the iPod would stay downstairs once we came up for night time. Madi knew this, but asked Jeremy if she could play Pocket Legends with him (which would mean iPod would go upstairs). Jer responded with "we'll see." Madi said "Like Maybe?" He said "Well possibly." So we all started the night time routine.
Right as I'm taking Riley into her room to read, Madi says "So Uncle Jeremy I'm going to go get my iPod" and bolts down the stairs. So I looked at Jeremy like "What? Huh?" and totally confused. He does a sheepish grin and says "We're going to play some Pocket Legends." And I said "What? Huh? Why are you playing that? I thought we talked about how the iPod was going to stay downstairs for nighttime. That it was going to help her sleep to not be playing games and now you're changing your mind." And then we talked about how the nurse with Riley always said "Begin as you mean to go on." Basically meaning that whatever your expectation for something is, set that expectation from the beginning so that you're not having to change your mind later. I was totally mad because we had agreed on a certain way of doing it, he was all set to do it and then decided to change his mind because he wanted to play his game. And then I looked like the Bad Cop for Madi and she was mad at me. However, she knew the rule in the first place and chose to find his weak spot (his love for his games) and was able to work him until she got what she wanted. So I wasn't very happy about that either. So I was the bad cop tonight. She put the iPod back downstairs and Jeremy had to wait until later to play his game. I'm definitely one for consistency and doing what we say we're going to do. Usually Jer is on this as well, until it comes to his games.
I figure if we want her to get used to keeping her iPod downstairs, we need to be consistent about it. Don't mind them having fun with the game at all, but considering they played it for hours today, bedtime can stay bedtime. At this point I'm more annoyed at my husband than anything for making me out to be the bad guy and going against what we had agreed on. So I'll stop my rant :)
Will definitely be watching that "Modern Family" episode again. Related to it before, but will probably laugh incredibly hard watching it a second time!
Not the entire day - just the night time routine - which I'll explain at the end. This is just the foreshadowing part ;)
Day was good! We went to church this morning. It was awesome because Madi was able to sit with five friends who were in her camp group and she was super excited about seeing them all. This was part of the reason we wanted her to go to camp - to make better friends at church - and it's great to see that this is happening!
We came home for lunch, some Pocket Legends playtime on the iPod and to hang out for a little while. Then we went to my parents' house where the girls went swimming for a long time and had some ice cream treats. And pizza for dinner. Then we came home which is when the real fun began.
The night routine has always been the same - get on pjs, brush teeth, go potty, do devotional with Riley in her room, then read book in Madi's room with Madi and pray together. We've been thinking it'd be great to start doing devotionals separate with Madi so that she can get more alone time with each of us as well as more in-depth Bible study for her age. We have been having Madi leave her iPod downstairs to charge at night for a few reasons. The main one being she was playing too many games on it and watching videos off of YouTube (which I'm not comfortable with as there are too many not-ok videos out there and we can't monitor that if she's in her room alone). The stimulation from them was keeping her up very late at night and she was waking up super early in the morning due to not sleeping well. Since she's kept it downstairs, her sleep is much deeper and better and she's sleeping well.
So our new routine of doing devotionals separate was going to start tonight. She hasn't had her iPod upstairs since coming back from camp two nights ago. Enter the episode: Good Cop, Bad Cop. Jer and I had agreed that the iPod would stay downstairs once we came up for night time. Madi knew this, but asked Jeremy if she could play Pocket Legends with him (which would mean iPod would go upstairs). Jer responded with "we'll see." Madi said "Like Maybe?" He said "Well possibly." So we all started the night time routine.
Right as I'm taking Riley into her room to read, Madi says "So Uncle Jeremy I'm going to go get my iPod" and bolts down the stairs. So I looked at Jeremy like "What? Huh?" and totally confused. He does a sheepish grin and says "We're going to play some Pocket Legends." And I said "What? Huh? Why are you playing that? I thought we talked about how the iPod was going to stay downstairs for nighttime. That it was going to help her sleep to not be playing games and now you're changing your mind." And then we talked about how the nurse with Riley always said "Begin as you mean to go on." Basically meaning that whatever your expectation for something is, set that expectation from the beginning so that you're not having to change your mind later. I was totally mad because we had agreed on a certain way of doing it, he was all set to do it and then decided to change his mind because he wanted to play his game. And then I looked like the Bad Cop for Madi and she was mad at me. However, she knew the rule in the first place and chose to find his weak spot (his love for his games) and was able to work him until she got what she wanted. So I wasn't very happy about that either. So I was the bad cop tonight. She put the iPod back downstairs and Jeremy had to wait until later to play his game. I'm definitely one for consistency and doing what we say we're going to do. Usually Jer is on this as well, until it comes to his games.
I figure if we want her to get used to keeping her iPod downstairs, we need to be consistent about it. Don't mind them having fun with the game at all, but considering they played it for hours today, bedtime can stay bedtime. At this point I'm more annoyed at my husband than anything for making me out to be the bad guy and going against what we had agreed on. So I'll stop my rant :)
Will definitely be watching that "Modern Family" episode again. Related to it before, but will probably laugh incredibly hard watching it a second time!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
O Happy Day
Madi really enjoyed her time talking with everybody. Major was adorable with his "hi hi hi hi hi hi!" and it was sweet that Micah was crying due to missing her.
We had a fairly low-key day. The girls played and did quite a bit of time on the iPod and computers. Has been so hot here so there's not much to do outside. We didn't leave the house at all today.
Not too much to say.... ummmm....
The girls were so cute doing cartwheels, walking on their hands and doing fun gymnastic stuff in the playroom. We were supposed to rate them on their things, but Julia kept pushing her stroller into them - ha! They took it well. Then Julia started turning in a circle in the middle of the room and giggling. Then the girls finished their show for us.
We ate salmon and noodles for dinner. And then showers and baths for the girls. Did our devotional together and Madi and I read together tonight. Then we were super silly and lay on our backs on her bed with blankets over our feet and hands so it was like a tent. We prayed like that and then came down so that Madi could talk with you. But you were gone so she talked with Marcus - was so cute.
We had a fairly low-key day. The girls played and did quite a bit of time on the iPod and computers. Has been so hot here so there's not much to do outside. We didn't leave the house at all today.
Not too much to say.... ummmm....
The girls were so cute doing cartwheels, walking on their hands and doing fun gymnastic stuff in the playroom. We were supposed to rate them on their things, but Julia kept pushing her stroller into them - ha! They took it well. Then Julia started turning in a circle in the middle of the room and giggling. Then the girls finished their show for us.
We ate salmon and noodles for dinner. And then showers and baths for the girls. Did our devotional together and Madi and I read together tonight. Then we were super silly and lay on our backs on her bed with blankets over our feet and hands so it was like a tent. We prayed like that and then came down so that Madi could talk with you. But you were gone so she talked with Marcus - was so cute.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Back from Camp!
Madi had a great time at camp. She made some new friends and learned some neat songs. She said she loved the dramas and skits. MythBusters sounded like a lot of fun - it was the breakout session that she attended each day.
The only thing she didn't like was all the walking. Being on TWU campus, they were walking between building constantly.
She did get to go swimming both days. Which is good since they didn't shower the whole time (ew!) but that's what camp is about. Fun and dirt and more fun! :)
They had a party the last night. The girls danced and sang. Madison performed "Sk8ter Boy" and she said they called her Madison Montana.
I'll have her tell you more about it soon.
The only thing she didn't like was all the walking. Being on TWU campus, they were walking between building constantly.
She did get to go swimming both days. Which is good since they didn't shower the whole time (ew!) but that's what camp is about. Fun and dirt and more fun! :)
They had a party the last night. The girls danced and sang. Madison performed "Sk8ter Boy" and she said they called her Madison Montana.
I'll have her tell you more about it soon.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Off to Camp KidJam!!
The day is finally here. Madi has been counting down for several days and woke up very, very early (5am) this morning. She enjoyed talking with you and we stopped at WhataBurger to get her a taquito before going to the church.
We tagged her bags, did the lice check where we met her counselor - I believe her name is Karen - and took her to her room to meet up with girls in her crew. Her friend Skylar is also going to camp, but is in G6. Madi is assigned group G4. They'll be taking school buses to the camp and then have some activities this afternoon followed by church tonight and then time in their rooms.
I'll post more once she is back on Friday and I'll have her write you some of the things she learned and experienced this week as well.
We tagged her bags, did the lice check where we met her counselor - I believe her name is Karen - and took her to her room to meet up with girls in her crew. Her friend Skylar is also going to camp, but is in G6. Madi is assigned group G4. They'll be taking school buses to the camp and then have some activities this afternoon followed by church tonight and then time in their rooms.
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| She was eating right as I took this one. |
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| Madi and her counselor |
I'll post more once she is back on Friday and I'll have her write you some of the things she learned and experienced this week as well.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Last Day Until Camp!
Madi started an hourly countdown today for camp! She's so excited! And completely packed. I gave her the list from online and helped her with some of it, but she picked out her clothes and packed the bag herself.
We went to Walmart this morning. Blah - nothing too interesting there. Came home, put Julia down, did more laundry, more dishes, made lunch, and played all afternoon. The girls had some fun computer time and watched a movie. It was 106 here today, but felt like 112. Jeremy's car was reading 117. Crazy hot so we stayed inside.
So sorry we missed your calls. The problem was that the iPod was switching her to a network other than ours and the signal was hardly there so you weren't able to connect with her. In fact, the first two calls you made never even showed up on her history on the iPod. She had hardly any signal for the last one and the iPod was going in and out of signal. I called Dad and asked him to call Madi on it tonight to make sure it's working. Jeremy took the iPod, found the issue, and fixed it. Madi was able to talk with Poppi and Grammy for a little bit and the problem is now fixed. Technology is great when it works right! Sorry it hasn't been today.
Since it's Madi's last night before camp, we have the movie "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" from Netflix and Madi and Jeremy are watching it tonight. I'll double check her bag in the morning just to make sure she has everything she needs. Want to make sure nothing is forgotten. I'll leave to take her to the church around 10:30am and she'll check in by 11:00am. Should be an awesome time for her.
Unless there is a problem or she gets sick or something, I won't be in touch with her. They don't allow electronics. I'll let you know if I hear anything. Though I'm not expecting to. She's going to do awesome! If there's anything you want to chat with Jer and I about, feel free to Facetime us. We'll have her iPod charged and here. Otherwise I'll post some pics of her time tomorrow and have her write you and fill you in on Friday afternoon/night if she's not too tired.
We went to Walmart this morning. Blah - nothing too interesting there. Came home, put Julia down, did more laundry, more dishes, made lunch, and played all afternoon. The girls had some fun computer time and watched a movie. It was 106 here today, but felt like 112. Jeremy's car was reading 117. Crazy hot so we stayed inside.
So sorry we missed your calls. The problem was that the iPod was switching her to a network other than ours and the signal was hardly there so you weren't able to connect with her. In fact, the first two calls you made never even showed up on her history on the iPod. She had hardly any signal for the last one and the iPod was going in and out of signal. I called Dad and asked him to call Madi on it tonight to make sure it's working. Jeremy took the iPod, found the issue, and fixed it. Madi was able to talk with Poppi and Grammy for a little bit and the problem is now fixed. Technology is great when it works right! Sorry it hasn't been today.
Since it's Madi's last night before camp, we have the movie "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" from Netflix and Madi and Jeremy are watching it tonight. I'll double check her bag in the morning just to make sure she has everything she needs. Want to make sure nothing is forgotten. I'll leave to take her to the church around 10:30am and she'll check in by 11:00am. Should be an awesome time for her.
Unless there is a problem or she gets sick or something, I won't be in touch with her. They don't allow electronics. I'll let you know if I hear anything. Though I'm not expecting to. She's going to do awesome! If there's anything you want to chat with Jer and I about, feel free to Facetime us. We'll have her iPod charged and here. Otherwise I'll post some pics of her time tomorrow and have her write you and fill you in on Friday afternoon/night if she's not too tired.
So Blessed
There's a line from a Hillsong song that says "So blessed I can't contain it." Well, we have been amazed at what several families have given Madisen - and in turn all of us - as far as giving clothes, shoes, books, etc... It has been just amazing. We weren't expecting anything more and then today happened.
Jeremy went in to work and Karen, his boss, brought in two trash bags FULL of clothes, books, shoes, and roller blades. There were 16 pairs of shoes, countless t-shirts, sweatshirt outfits, skirts, and beautiful dresses. I tried to get pictures to show how much there was. Not sure it does it all justice. Madi was jumping up and down and Riley was having her bunnies skate in the roller blades on the floor. There were so many neat items and the clothes are in mint condition. It's incredibly beyond anything we had ever expected. And we are literally at the point of not being able to "contain it." Jeremy got more hangers on his way home and we'll need a bin for some of the winter clothes that can't be used at the moment so we can store them under her bed. One of the neatest things is that there are a variety of sizes and most of it will be perfect for winter. A very blessed girl indeed.
We often do a "high/low" point of the day. Something that a counselor recommended during a sermon sometime last year and it just opens the communication for talking about how the day went. We've done it with Riley for a while now. Madi's high point was the clothes and things. Riley's high point was, in her words, "my best part of the day was when Daddy brought home all of the clothes and things and shoes for Madisen. That was was my best part." Thought it was very sweet that she was so excited for Madi as well. And Madi was incredibly appreciative and excited.
Jeremy went in to work and Karen, his boss, brought in two trash bags FULL of clothes, books, shoes, and roller blades. There were 16 pairs of shoes, countless t-shirts, sweatshirt outfits, skirts, and beautiful dresses. I tried to get pictures to show how much there was. Not sure it does it all justice. Madi was jumping up and down and Riley was having her bunnies skate in the roller blades on the floor. There were so many neat items and the clothes are in mint condition. It's incredibly beyond anything we had ever expected. And we are literally at the point of not being able to "contain it." Jeremy got more hangers on his way home and we'll need a bin for some of the winter clothes that can't be used at the moment so we can store them under her bed. One of the neatest things is that there are a variety of sizes and most of it will be perfect for winter. A very blessed girl indeed.
We often do a "high/low" point of the day. Something that a counselor recommended during a sermon sometime last year and it just opens the communication for talking about how the day went. We've done it with Riley for a while now. Madi's high point was the clothes and things. Riley's high point was, in her words, "my best part of the day was when Daddy brought home all of the clothes and things and shoes for Madisen. That was was my best part." Thought it was very sweet that she was so excited for Madi as well. And Madi was incredibly appreciative and excited.
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| Most of the shoes |
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| Roller blades |
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| Pants and sweatsuit outfits |
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| So many shirts... and hardly any of them ever worn |
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| Dress on the right was never worn either! |
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| Gorgeous! |
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Summer, Summer, Summer
Countdown has begun here:
One day until camp
Three more weeks until I am back at work - Madi will spend a few nights and days with Kathryn and have a few playdates during that week
Four weeks until Madi and I start school and the girls start at their Montessori preschool
Almost five months until Christmas - Madi is keeping track of things she wants to ask Santa for. Among them are a laptop, Justice gift cards and an iPod charger.
Today was pretty good. We took the braids out of the girls' hair and they went with very crimped hair to church - looked very cute. We went to church and Madi learned about perseverance. Their description is "Perseverance is refusing to give up when life gets hard." Very fitting timing for the lessons at church. Madi has really missed you guys and there have been some things that we're continuing to work on with her to grow her - same stuff as before: manners, attitude, behavior - and she's growing a lot. And growing sometimes hurts and is hard. Perseverance is definitely a great trait to have and it's neat how it has tied right in with lessons she is learning here.
Both she and Riley told us the memory verses that they are learning at church. Riley's is "Trust in the Lord with all your heart." Madi's has motions and is "Those who trust in the Lord will receive new strength. They will fly as high as eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not grow weak." Isaiah 40:31
Madi was able to do it while jump roping during the service. She sat with a few girls that she knows and is very, very excited about camp. She said she's excited, but a little nervous too. Which completely makes sense.
After church, we stopped by Target to pick up some sandwich stuff and fruit and chips as well as an aluminum water bottle for Madi to take to camp. It was the only item that she didn't have and needed. Then we went over my parents' house for lunch and to spend some time with them. The girls had some drawing time with my mom while I took Julia upstairs with my Dad and Jeremy so she wouldn't destroy what they were doing. Madi created a dress out of paper for Riley and Riley made an aisle so that they could walk down it to get married.
The girls had Tin Roof ice cream with strawberries and hot chocolate sauce. We stayed for a few hours and then went home.
Once we were home, we did some laundry, the girls played on the computers, Jeremy made dinner and we just chilled as much as that is possible when you're chasing Julia everywhere. Literally. She's a mover! :)
Tonight we read the stories of Esther and the Fiery Furnace (Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego). I put Riley to bed and Jeremy had time with Madi. He's still up there with her so I'll be sure to go up and tell her that you'll be calling in the morning. She isn't allowed to bring any electronic devices to the camp - their rule, not ours - and so she won't have her iPod with her. She'll be back from camp at noon on Friday so hopefully the two of you can connect that night or Saturday morning our time.
One day until camp
Three more weeks until I am back at work - Madi will spend a few nights and days with Kathryn and have a few playdates during that week
Four weeks until Madi and I start school and the girls start at their Montessori preschool
Almost five months until Christmas - Madi is keeping track of things she wants to ask Santa for. Among them are a laptop, Justice gift cards and an iPod charger.
Today was pretty good. We took the braids out of the girls' hair and they went with very crimped hair to church - looked very cute. We went to church and Madi learned about perseverance. Their description is "Perseverance is refusing to give up when life gets hard." Very fitting timing for the lessons at church. Madi has really missed you guys and there have been some things that we're continuing to work on with her to grow her - same stuff as before: manners, attitude, behavior - and she's growing a lot. And growing sometimes hurts and is hard. Perseverance is definitely a great trait to have and it's neat how it has tied right in with lessons she is learning here.
Both she and Riley told us the memory verses that they are learning at church. Riley's is "Trust in the Lord with all your heart." Madi's has motions and is "Those who trust in the Lord will receive new strength. They will fly as high as eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not grow weak." Isaiah 40:31
Madi was able to do it while jump roping during the service. She sat with a few girls that she knows and is very, very excited about camp. She said she's excited, but a little nervous too. Which completely makes sense.
After church, we stopped by Target to pick up some sandwich stuff and fruit and chips as well as an aluminum water bottle for Madi to take to camp. It was the only item that she didn't have and needed. Then we went over my parents' house for lunch and to spend some time with them. The girls had some drawing time with my mom while I took Julia upstairs with my Dad and Jeremy so she wouldn't destroy what they were doing. Madi created a dress out of paper for Riley and Riley made an aisle so that they could walk down it to get married.
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| The aisle |
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| The Dress |
The girls had Tin Roof ice cream with strawberries and hot chocolate sauce. We stayed for a few hours and then went home.
Once we were home, we did some laundry, the girls played on the computers, Jeremy made dinner and we just chilled as much as that is possible when you're chasing Julia everywhere. Literally. She's a mover! :)
Tonight we read the stories of Esther and the Fiery Furnace (Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego). I put Riley to bed and Jeremy had time with Madi. He's still up there with her so I'll be sure to go up and tell her that you'll be calling in the morning. She isn't allowed to bring any electronic devices to the camp - their rule, not ours - and so she won't have her iPod with her. She'll be back from camp at noon on Friday so hopefully the two of you can connect that night or Saturday morning our time.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Time with Poppi and Grammy and Kaki and Tripp and Mamaw
Today was somewhat busy and yet, I feel like we hardly did anything at the same time. This morning I picked Madi up from her sleepover. She said the movie was really good, they got a lot of candy and had donuts for breakfast, went swimming in Charidy's pool until midnight and did a Wii game called "Just Dance." Sounds like it was a fun one!
Madi went with Poppi to visit Mamaw again today. Of course Mamaw LOVED seeing Madi :) And Madi enjoyed her time there as well. Then she came home and played on the iPod next to Uncle Jeremy. She was quite tired after being up late last night and still waking up so early. Kathryn and Tripp came over to hang out and see everyone. Tripp was dressed like a fireman and Riley dressed up like a princess. Go figure! :)
Tonight we ordered pizza and then had the girls take a bath while Madison took a shower in her bathroom. Madi wanted to have her hair braided so that it would be crimped really tightly. And Riley loves to be just like Madison - really looks up to her - and so I did her hair that way too. Tried to get as many small braids as I could without spending two hours doing it. Took a while so Jeremy read the Bible while the braiding was being done.
Will be fun to see what their hair looks like in the morning!
Madi went with Poppi to visit Mamaw again today. Of course Mamaw LOVED seeing Madi :) And Madi enjoyed her time there as well. Then she came home and played on the iPod next to Uncle Jeremy. She was quite tired after being up late last night and still waking up so early. Kathryn and Tripp came over to hang out and see everyone. Tripp was dressed like a fireman and Riley dressed up like a princess. Go figure! :)
Tonight we ordered pizza and then had the girls take a bath while Madison took a shower in her bathroom. Madi wanted to have her hair braided so that it would be crimped really tightly. And Riley loves to be just like Madison - really looks up to her - and so I did her hair that way too. Tried to get as many small braids as I could without spending two hours doing it. Took a while so Jeremy read the Bible while the braiding was being done.
Will be fun to see what their hair looks like in the morning!
Friday, July 22, 2011
Sleepover!!
The day has arrived. Madi has been so excited about today. She said she wishes she could skip to today and then skip to Tuesday for camp! Poppi and Grammy came up from Killeen to spend time with Madi and Riley and Tripp and Jules for Poppi's 60th birthday party. The got here around lunch time and took Riley and Madi down to see Mamaw. Madi made her a crane origami. Not sure if I'm telling that in the right order, but it was an origami crane. Looked awesome! They spent time down there for a while and then drove back here.
I took Madi to Charidy's house for Charidy's birthday sleepover. Should be a blast for her. She was all excited. There are seven girls over her house tonight and Madi knows almost all of them. They are going to the movies to see "SoulSurfer" and then having cupcakes at Charidy's and probably staying awake for a long time :)
I took Madi to Charidy's house for Charidy's birthday sleepover. Should be a blast for her. She was all excited. There are seven girls over her house tonight and Madi knows almost all of them. They are going to the movies to see "SoulSurfer" and then having cupcakes at Charidy's and probably staying awake for a long time :)
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Cooking :)
Today was great! Madi started her day off playing some iPod games and then talking with you! We had some play time in the playroom and ate breakfast. We had all the ingredients for banana bread, but hadn't made it so we decided to make it today. Wow - these girls are turning into quite the little bakers!! They took turns mixing and stirring and cracking eggs and measuring ingredients. It turned out soooo incredibly delicious! Julia ate half a piece by herself :)
The next week or so is full of really fun and exciting events so I knew that Madi wouldn't have time to do any studying other than on Monday next week. So I gave her the option of doing IXL problems such as Roman Numerals and some other items (12 sections total) or doing multiplication (zeros through twelve multiples). She chose multiplication. Which is awesome because she's doing sooo good at it! I figured it would probably take about an hour. So she went to work on it and finished the zeros through the nines in 45 minutes. Then she took a break.
She and Riley played. I reminded her to go finish. She said she didn't think it was fun. I told her that not everything in life will be fun, but that attitude and effort go a long way in making progress (feel so very old just writing this as I remember my parents telling me similar things... when did I get this old??!! hahaha). She tried the multiples of 12 and was having a hard time with them. On IXL, your goal is to get to 100 percent by answering the questions. If you get one wrong, you lose quite a bit of points and have to answer even more questions. It's excellent for working at skills you need help on and helps identify trouble spots as well as things you're doing amazing on. Madi had missed a question or two on the 12's and was getting frustrated. So she got very teary and came into Riley's room with us. I told her to take a minute and just relax. I asked her a few questions. And encouraged her that maybe now wasn't the right time to do it so I let her play with Riley for 30 minutes. Told her that she'd still need to finish them because perseverance in the midst of frustration is a good habit to form - as is knowing when to rest to try it again. She said she didn't want to do it and mentioned not having to do things this hard before. I told her that she can't give up because it is hard and that she had done harder examples with Jeremy and probably in the Philippines as well.
So she was given a 20 minute "warning" and a 10 minute "warning" (nice ones, not mean) just to help her know when it was coming. After 30 minutes, she came down and focused on it. Got it done in 30 minutes and did a great job. I gave her a hug and told her how proud I was that she worked through it. She said she didn't like it - to which I repeated the persevering stuff - and just told her that it's a good lesson to learn to not give up and to keep trying. She smiled and then went in to eat dinner. She really worked extremely hard on it today.
She has said that her friends have asked her why she has to do school work over the summer and I explained that it is because her summer is longer than theirs and we don't want her to lose what she has already learned. And added that it is because we care and that it's the same thing Riley and Julia will have to do as they get older. 30 minutes a day won't kill her. I told her it will make this year easier in math and that her hard work will definitely pay off. She's doing so great on her math - you'd be so proud!
In case you want to check on what Madi has done on IXL, here is the info:
www.ixl.com
Username: colladomadison
Password: grant60
She's been doing the third grade information to review and to check to see if there is anything that wasn't covered that we need to cover in the next few weeks. Riley is doing the pre-K and Kinder information. The chart I use in the "student overview" - make sure the grade is Grade 3 and her info should pull up. You can see the time she's worked on math, what she got wrong, what skills she has chosen to work on. Really awesome site. She'll be using it at school next year as well. Everything is online so you can see it anytime - even her grades (I'll get you the log-in once I have it).
Madi was able to talk with Poppi for a short time today right after finishing her IXL. We had tacos tonight and Madi was able to play some computer games. She had a really great day today!!
The next week or so is full of really fun and exciting events so I knew that Madi wouldn't have time to do any studying other than on Monday next week. So I gave her the option of doing IXL problems such as Roman Numerals and some other items (12 sections total) or doing multiplication (zeros through twelve multiples). She chose multiplication. Which is awesome because she's doing sooo good at it! I figured it would probably take about an hour. So she went to work on it and finished the zeros through the nines in 45 minutes. Then she took a break.
She and Riley played. I reminded her to go finish. She said she didn't think it was fun. I told her that not everything in life will be fun, but that attitude and effort go a long way in making progress (feel so very old just writing this as I remember my parents telling me similar things... when did I get this old??!! hahaha). She tried the multiples of 12 and was having a hard time with them. On IXL, your goal is to get to 100 percent by answering the questions. If you get one wrong, you lose quite a bit of points and have to answer even more questions. It's excellent for working at skills you need help on and helps identify trouble spots as well as things you're doing amazing on. Madi had missed a question or two on the 12's and was getting frustrated. So she got very teary and came into Riley's room with us. I told her to take a minute and just relax. I asked her a few questions. And encouraged her that maybe now wasn't the right time to do it so I let her play with Riley for 30 minutes. Told her that she'd still need to finish them because perseverance in the midst of frustration is a good habit to form - as is knowing when to rest to try it again. She said she didn't want to do it and mentioned not having to do things this hard before. I told her that she can't give up because it is hard and that she had done harder examples with Jeremy and probably in the Philippines as well.
So she was given a 20 minute "warning" and a 10 minute "warning" (nice ones, not mean) just to help her know when it was coming. After 30 minutes, she came down and focused on it. Got it done in 30 minutes and did a great job. I gave her a hug and told her how proud I was that she worked through it. She said she didn't like it - to which I repeated the persevering stuff - and just told her that it's a good lesson to learn to not give up and to keep trying. She smiled and then went in to eat dinner. She really worked extremely hard on it today.
She has said that her friends have asked her why she has to do school work over the summer and I explained that it is because her summer is longer than theirs and we don't want her to lose what she has already learned. And added that it is because we care and that it's the same thing Riley and Julia will have to do as they get older. 30 minutes a day won't kill her. I told her it will make this year easier in math and that her hard work will definitely pay off. She's doing so great on her math - you'd be so proud!
In case you want to check on what Madi has done on IXL, here is the info:
www.ixl.com
Username: colladomadison
Password: grant60
She's been doing the third grade information to review and to check to see if there is anything that wasn't covered that we need to cover in the next few weeks. Riley is doing the pre-K and Kinder information. The chart I use in the "student overview" - make sure the grade is Grade 3 and her info should pull up. You can see the time she's worked on math, what she got wrong, what skills she has chosen to work on. Really awesome site. She'll be using it at school next year as well. Everything is online so you can see it anytime - even her grades (I'll get you the log-in once I have it).
Madi was able to talk with Poppi for a short time today right after finishing her IXL. We had tacos tonight and Madi was able to play some computer games. She had a really great day today!!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Hanging with the Aunts
Today was a good day. We hung around home this morning and took a short trip to Wallyworld to get some hangers, Eggos, and a few other odd items that were needed. Julia screamed the entire time - very, very loudly - but thankfully, it was a happy scream. We just laughed and smiled as we went. An older gentlemen even started mimicking her and laughing.
For her school work today, Madi did a pre-writing activity using M.Word and then transferred what she wrote into three cards in cursive. We had her write three thank you letters to the three families that gave her clothing, shoes, etc... We'd been meaning to have her do it for a while, but after getting more items from the Buckley family, it was a great time to have her do it. I let her choose the cards she wanted to write them on and she did a nice job.
We met Kathryn and Tripp at Willow Bend for some play time. The kids all loved it and I'm sure it was great for Madi to see Kaki. It was nice for me to have some adult time too! So thank you Kathryn!!! We completely forgot to bring the library books to Kathryn so she came to our house to get them. I feel like I've lost a whole section of my brain now that I'm juggling three kids and since I hadn't written down anything or moved the books downstairs, I just completely forgot. We went to Michael's for a short trip - as short as it can be when wrangling two pre-schoolers, a toddler and a tween that are all wanting to grab things and look for things to buy.
Then headed home. We're having chicken with ravioli and fresh green beans for dinner. Then the usual night routine! Madi is super excited about camp next week and it will be an amazing time for her. She has a busy weekend ahead with Charidy's sleepover and time with Poppi/Mamaw.
For her school work today, Madi did a pre-writing activity using M.Word and then transferred what she wrote into three cards in cursive. We had her write three thank you letters to the three families that gave her clothing, shoes, etc... We'd been meaning to have her do it for a while, but after getting more items from the Buckley family, it was a great time to have her do it. I let her choose the cards she wanted to write them on and she did a nice job.
We met Kathryn and Tripp at Willow Bend for some play time. The kids all loved it and I'm sure it was great for Madi to see Kaki. It was nice for me to have some adult time too! So thank you Kathryn!!! We completely forgot to bring the library books to Kathryn so she came to our house to get them. I feel like I've lost a whole section of my brain now that I'm juggling three kids and since I hadn't written down anything or moved the books downstairs, I just completely forgot. We went to Michael's for a short trip - as short as it can be when wrangling two pre-schoolers, a toddler and a tween that are all wanting to grab things and look for things to buy.
Then headed home. We're having chicken with ravioli and fresh green beans for dinner. Then the usual night routine! Madi is super excited about camp next week and it will be an amazing time for her. She has a busy weekend ahead with Charidy's sleepover and time with Poppi/Mamaw.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
On the Hamster Wheel
Well, just the usual today! Girls went to Kami's house where they built a giant fort on the stairs using blankets. Not sure if they built the fort anywhere else, but I do know that they had a ton of fun. Kami said all was good.
A friend of mine gave Madi three bags full of clothing - mostly winter clothes and dresses. Total blessing!!! She tried on a few dresses and they look great on her. She was very excited! As were we! :)
These are two of the dresses that she was given. The first one is her favorite! I think she has grown at least an inch or two taller since she got here. Beautiful as always!!
We had dinner together and then did our usual night routine - change into pjs, brush teeth, potty break, read Bible, and then break so that each of us took special time with one girl. Madi and Jeremy are still upstairs reading at the moment.
Tomorrow the plan is to meet Kaki and Tripp at Willow Bend. Will be really nice to hang out with them and to get the girls out of the house for some play time.
A friend of mine gave Madi three bags full of clothing - mostly winter clothes and dresses. Total blessing!!! She tried on a few dresses and they look great on her. She was very excited! As were we! :)
These are two of the dresses that she was given. The first one is her favorite! I think she has grown at least an inch or two taller since she got here. Beautiful as always!!
We had dinner together and then did our usual night routine - change into pjs, brush teeth, potty break, read Bible, and then break so that each of us took special time with one girl. Madi and Jeremy are still upstairs reading at the moment.
Tomorrow the plan is to meet Kaki and Tripp at Willow Bend. Will be really nice to hang out with them and to get the girls out of the house for some play time.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Lost Tooth!
Madi lost her bottom tooth today! At lunch she was having a hard time chewing and then there was blood on the napkin while she held her tooth. She said it hurt and I told her to just keep working at it. Better to have it out than have it uncomfortable for several days while trying to eat. So later this afternoon it came out!
Today was pretty good. We've had several late nights with late bed times and lots to juggle during the day so Jeremy and I have been tired. And this is without working outside the home. Fall will be interesting for sure...
I took the girls to Target today to return an unused can of formula. We bought tons of fruits - blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and a mango for Madi. She was very excited to eat mango again. We had to get Julia more food as well so as we were walking toward her stuff, I noticed a 75% off rack in Madi/Riley's area. There were leggings of all different colors for only $1.24! So we picked up several pairs for the girls. Will be useful for under skirts or by themselves with t-shirts around the house or whatever. Definitely can't beat that price!
We came home and the girls watched Tangled while Julia slept. I was working on a blanket for a friend who is having a shower in a few weeks. Had lunch and then Madi did an assignment that Jeremy gave her. She had to use Pocket Legends off her iPod and write - in cursive - all the weapons and things from the game.
Being that is was very hot and muggy today, I decided to treat the girls to Paciugo (Italian Gelato) to cool off. Little did I know the A/C was not working there. The gelato was still cold, but we were burning hot sitting and eating it inside. They had the doors open to allow a little breeze to come in. Madi loved the gelato!! Her favorite was the mint chocolate chip. She had "Cookies and Milk" and Waffle Cone something or other - don't really remember the name.
We're still working on the thankfulness and gratitude side of things. When we went to Target, she didn't say thank you for buying the pants. But when we got home, pouted that she didn't get a black pair when she asked if she had a black pair and I let her know they didn't have any black pairs in her size. She didn't say thank you for the gelato and instead said that she wished she had Grande size instead of a Small size. We had a talk with her about it recently because she will smile or get excited about things, but very, very rarely says "thank you." This is a big deal as she'll be going to a sleepover on Friday night and to camp next week. We explained to her that if she hears someone else say "thank you," that she can always tag on and add "Thank you" after hearing it. It is something she has to consciously think about and work on or it will affect whether she is invited to playdates or sleepovers.
I'm sure it sounds as though we're being hard on her. Being thankful is a big deal to us and showing it means that she is grateful for what she has and what she is being given - whether material or with friends or opportunities or whatever. We are being asked for many things from her and when she is given things, she continues to ask for more without every saying or showing that she appreciates what she already has. So it is hard to not get frustrated with the lack of gratefulness when there is also the abundance of wants. I hope this doesn't come off wrong. Just want you to know what we're working on with her and why.
This afternoon for an hour and a half I helped my friend Katy so the girls had a sitter. Julia cried for a long time because her teeth hurt. Once I was home, Madi said "thank you for the pants" as the girls were finishing dinner as I told Jeremy about going to Target. Was glad to hear that she was thankful. The girls ate their dinner and then we did their night routine. As the four of us read the Bible together (story of Jericho tonight), the girls had a really tender moment together. Riley looked at Madi and said "I love you Madi." And gave her hug. Madi said "I love you too." Then Riley said "Your hair is so pretty." And she stroked her hair over and over. Then Riley told Jeremy she loved him and they hugged and Jeremy buzzed his lips on her face so she laughed. So Riley went over to Madi and buzzed her lips on Madi's face and the girls laughed. Was a very sweet moment to watch the girls like this.
Madi started another new book tonight "My Only May Amelia." First chapter was cute.
Today was pretty good. We've had several late nights with late bed times and lots to juggle during the day so Jeremy and I have been tired. And this is without working outside the home. Fall will be interesting for sure...
I took the girls to Target today to return an unused can of formula. We bought tons of fruits - blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and a mango for Madi. She was very excited to eat mango again. We had to get Julia more food as well so as we were walking toward her stuff, I noticed a 75% off rack in Madi/Riley's area. There were leggings of all different colors for only $1.24! So we picked up several pairs for the girls. Will be useful for under skirts or by themselves with t-shirts around the house or whatever. Definitely can't beat that price!
We came home and the girls watched Tangled while Julia slept. I was working on a blanket for a friend who is having a shower in a few weeks. Had lunch and then Madi did an assignment that Jeremy gave her. She had to use Pocket Legends off her iPod and write - in cursive - all the weapons and things from the game.
Being that is was very hot and muggy today, I decided to treat the girls to Paciugo (Italian Gelato) to cool off. Little did I know the A/C was not working there. The gelato was still cold, but we were burning hot sitting and eating it inside. They had the doors open to allow a little breeze to come in. Madi loved the gelato!! Her favorite was the mint chocolate chip. She had "Cookies and Milk" and Waffle Cone something or other - don't really remember the name.
We're still working on the thankfulness and gratitude side of things. When we went to Target, she didn't say thank you for buying the pants. But when we got home, pouted that she didn't get a black pair when she asked if she had a black pair and I let her know they didn't have any black pairs in her size. She didn't say thank you for the gelato and instead said that she wished she had Grande size instead of a Small size. We had a talk with her about it recently because she will smile or get excited about things, but very, very rarely says "thank you." This is a big deal as she'll be going to a sleepover on Friday night and to camp next week. We explained to her that if she hears someone else say "thank you," that she can always tag on and add "Thank you" after hearing it. It is something she has to consciously think about and work on or it will affect whether she is invited to playdates or sleepovers.
I'm sure it sounds as though we're being hard on her. Being thankful is a big deal to us and showing it means that she is grateful for what she has and what she is being given - whether material or with friends or opportunities or whatever. We are being asked for many things from her and when she is given things, she continues to ask for more without every saying or showing that she appreciates what she already has. So it is hard to not get frustrated with the lack of gratefulness when there is also the abundance of wants. I hope this doesn't come off wrong. Just want you to know what we're working on with her and why.
This afternoon for an hour and a half I helped my friend Katy so the girls had a sitter. Julia cried for a long time because her teeth hurt. Once I was home, Madi said "thank you for the pants" as the girls were finishing dinner as I told Jeremy about going to Target. Was glad to hear that she was thankful. The girls ate their dinner and then we did their night routine. As the four of us read the Bible together (story of Jericho tonight), the girls had a really tender moment together. Riley looked at Madi and said "I love you Madi." And gave her hug. Madi said "I love you too." Then Riley said "Your hair is so pretty." And she stroked her hair over and over. Then Riley told Jeremy she loved him and they hugged and Jeremy buzzed his lips on her face so she laughed. So Riley went over to Madi and buzzed her lips on Madi's face and the girls laughed. Was a very sweet moment to watch the girls like this.
Madi started another new book tonight "My Only May Amelia." First chapter was cute.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Sunday
Another hot one day here. We all went to church this morning. Madi made three new friends which she was excited about. After church, we gave Madi her iPod back. Then we had lunch at home.
Jeremy and Madi were able to spend quite a bit of time together playing Pocket Legends on their iPod/iPad together at the same time. Was cute to hear their conversations about it as they played. Then we went over my parents house for another swim. We have a few videos on Madi's iPod of her swimming so we'll try to get them on here for you to see. Haven't had much time to do that yet and keep forgetting when we do actually have time.
After swimming, we came home and the girls both went on IXL to do some math practice. We ate dinner together and then the four of us read the Bible together. All in all, a good day today.
Jeremy and Madi were able to spend quite a bit of time together playing Pocket Legends on their iPod/iPad together at the same time. Was cute to hear their conversations about it as they played. Then we went over my parents house for another swim. We have a few videos on Madi's iPod of her swimming so we'll try to get them on here for you to see. Haven't had much time to do that yet and keep forgetting when we do actually have time.
After swimming, we came home and the girls both went on IXL to do some math practice. We ate dinner together and then the four of us read the Bible together. All in all, a good day today.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
There's a first time for everything
Today began late. Jeremy was going to mow the lawn and was thoughtful to let me sleep a little past eight a.m. as we'd been up past midnight last night. He walked in the room around 8:15 to say he was going to mow, but I remembered having a piano student coming in fifteen minutes so I got dressed, headed downstairs and got to the last stair as the doorbell rang. He watched the girls during the lesson and then I hung out with them while he mowed the lawn in the awful, awful heat. Thankfully, he wasn't out there longer than an hour and kept only the outside part done.
The girls are all totally stir-crazy. It's too hot out to go anywhere or do anything outside. They want to play different things at the same time and Julia is running everywhere in the house so it made for a tough week overall. Today they all seemed to hit their level of "let me out of here!!!!" at the same time. So we took them to my parents house to go swimming!
The girls had a really great time in the pool. Madi stayed out with my dad and Jeremy while my mom, Riley, Jules and I went in. Riley said her cheeks hurt (sunburned) and Julia had had enough of being held in the pool. When everyone else came inside, Madi sat at the table to play on her iPod by my dad and Jeremy was standing doing something (probably on his iPad :) and the rest of us were in the living room.
Now to share the rest of what happened today, you have to have the back story. Yesterday I let Madi choose when during the day she wanted to do her shower and study time and which order she wanted to do it in. She chose to do it in the afternoon. Totally fine by me. Because Kenzie had spent the night on Thursday night, she only did ten minutes of study time on Thursday so I had told her that she'd do more study time on Friday. I let her know that she'd be doing an hour and she did 40 minutes of it on www.ixl.com - an awesome math site for kids as well as 20 minutes of cursive.
IXL is a great program. Madi goes on and logs in to the site and then chooses the math she wants to work on. She is given different goals to attain. I am able to log in and view what she has worked on, how many minutes she worked on the different sections, what she got right/wrong (specific problems), what kinds of improvement is being made and an overall view of how things are going.
So getting back to the "back story" - Madi talked with Mason in the late morning for about 30 minutes. She asked him to call back in an hour as she'd finish her studying and stuff by then. They exchanged emails so that she could Facetime him and talk that way sometime. She wanted to call him back later in the day. Since she had chosen to take her shower and study in the afternoon and she'd already talked to him, I told her that we'd see whether or not she could call based on her attitude with her studies and how focused she was when she did them. She asked again to call him. I said we'd see, but that we didn't need to call him now. She wanted to check his email address to make sure it was right so I let her do that quickly before we went upstairs. However, I let her know that she would not be able to call him and that she could not Facetime with him right now. She asked "Not even Facetime" and I said "No" and told her that she'd chosen her shower and studying in the afternoon so she needed to do those things first. I took the girls into the playroom while she took her iPod into the shower as she always does so she can listen to music.
However I didn't hear any music and I didn't hear any running water. I was playing with the girls and kept listening for both - didn't hear them. Mind you, I didn't want to tap on the door and double check on her - wanted to give her time to do whatever she was doing and decided to ask her when she got out. 20 minutes went by and finally I heard the water going. Her shower ended and she appeared in the playroom about 20 more minutes later. Over 40 minutes for the entire thing.
I asked "Hey Madi - do you mind me asking what took 20 minutes before the shower?"
She told me she had to go to the bathroom (shared more specific about what she was doing). I said "Ok." And left it at that. Wanting to trust her, I didn't pry. I figured that if it was something else, I'd find out later.
Now back to all of us sitting in the living room today:
We finish swimming and Madi checks her iPod. She notices that she missed a few calls from Poppi and somehow it is brought up that Mason was on the list of people called or people who had called.
I ask "Did Mason call you?"
She says "No, I called him."
So I ask "Well, when did you call him? I don't remember you calling."
She says very softly "I called him in the shower."
The conversation was going on as she is dialing Poppi's number. He answers right after she gives me the information and I was not pleased. It meant that she had not shared that she had disobeyed what I asked her not to do and that when asked what took her so long, she shared going to the bathroom, but left out that she was calling Mason. I immediately had her get off the phone with Poppi so we could talk it out. I was very stern with her and let her know that I was disappointed that she chose to disobey what was asked of her as well as not telling me when asked what she was doing before taking her shower yesterday.
She was very quiet. She did say that she was not able to get through to Mason. But I told her that the point was that she called when told not to and that she was sneaky about going into the bathroom to do it when she thought I wouldn't know. Madison sat at the table for a few minutes. I went into the other room to think things through and Jeremy came in a minute or so later. We talked for a few minutes to decide how to handle it. We decided to let Madi think about it and that we would talk with her in private once we got home tonight. We didn't bring it up and we didn't stay mad at her the rest of the evening. We carried on and all of us played together (hide and seek) and then went to dinner.
When we came home, I put Jules to bed and then the four of us went upstairs and got ready for bed. The girls brushed their teeth and we all read the Bible together. Jeremy and I told Madi that she could draw or read or whatever, but that we'd get Riley to sleep and then both of us would come in to read and talk with her.
Riley kept having to go to the bathroom so I told Jeremy that maybe we should let Riley rest for a little while while we had a talk with Madi. We talked with Riley and she was totally fine. So we went in to have a talk.
I started the conversation by going back over with her what had happened yesterday - the shower, the Facetime/phone conversation about not calling - and then talked with her about why I was upset with her choice to call. Jeremy and I explained that she has many things that she is being trusted with - her bike rides, her room, her iPod, her things, camp, her friends, etc - and that she proves she can be trusted with them or she proves that she can not be trusted with them. We told her that the things she has are blessings and they are incredible things to have, but they are not mandatory and she is lucky to have them. She doesn't have to have them. We talked with her about how there were two things that were very frustrating: 1 - that she chose to disobey and 2 - that she chose to lie and cover it up.
Madi then stated that she didn't lie about calling Mason. She said that she just didn't tell us. Jeremy shared that if she was doing something she wasn't supposed to and left it out of her story on purpose, it's the same as lying about it because she didn't tell the whole truth. So I shared a story with her about something I did when I was about her age that fell into the guidelines of "not telling the truth" and told her how my parents reacted. We had a good talk that had a mix humor and correction. Of course, she's smart and she understood it.
All in all, it was a really great conversation with Madi. We let her know that we loved her and that we want to be able to fully trust her with the things she has. Our choice in disciplining her in this matter and in helping her think through her actions was that she will not be able to use her iPod until tomorrow afternoon after we get home from church. Mind you, we told her that if you or Poppi call, she will definitely be able to talk with you. She just can't play games or listen to music or look for apps on it until tomorrow afternoon. The reason we chose this was because we told her that she is trusted with it and needs to use it wisely and it was the device that she chose to use to call Mason when she was told not to. She understood why we were keeping it - though she didn't like it. We ended the night by reading a few chapters of a book and praying together.
So that was our day!
The girls are all totally stir-crazy. It's too hot out to go anywhere or do anything outside. They want to play different things at the same time and Julia is running everywhere in the house so it made for a tough week overall. Today they all seemed to hit their level of "let me out of here!!!!" at the same time. So we took them to my parents house to go swimming!
The girls had a really great time in the pool. Madi stayed out with my dad and Jeremy while my mom, Riley, Jules and I went in. Riley said her cheeks hurt (sunburned) and Julia had had enough of being held in the pool. When everyone else came inside, Madi sat at the table to play on her iPod by my dad and Jeremy was standing doing something (probably on his iPad :) and the rest of us were in the living room.
Now to share the rest of what happened today, you have to have the back story. Yesterday I let Madi choose when during the day she wanted to do her shower and study time and which order she wanted to do it in. She chose to do it in the afternoon. Totally fine by me. Because Kenzie had spent the night on Thursday night, she only did ten minutes of study time on Thursday so I had told her that she'd do more study time on Friday. I let her know that she'd be doing an hour and she did 40 minutes of it on www.ixl.com - an awesome math site for kids as well as 20 minutes of cursive.
IXL is a great program. Madi goes on and logs in to the site and then chooses the math she wants to work on. She is given different goals to attain. I am able to log in and view what she has worked on, how many minutes she worked on the different sections, what she got right/wrong (specific problems), what kinds of improvement is being made and an overall view of how things are going.
So getting back to the "back story" - Madi talked with Mason in the late morning for about 30 minutes. She asked him to call back in an hour as she'd finish her studying and stuff by then. They exchanged emails so that she could Facetime him and talk that way sometime. She wanted to call him back later in the day. Since she had chosen to take her shower and study in the afternoon and she'd already talked to him, I told her that we'd see whether or not she could call based on her attitude with her studies and how focused she was when she did them. She asked again to call him. I said we'd see, but that we didn't need to call him now. She wanted to check his email address to make sure it was right so I let her do that quickly before we went upstairs. However, I let her know that she would not be able to call him and that she could not Facetime with him right now. She asked "Not even Facetime" and I said "No" and told her that she'd chosen her shower and studying in the afternoon so she needed to do those things first. I took the girls into the playroom while she took her iPod into the shower as she always does so she can listen to music.
However I didn't hear any music and I didn't hear any running water. I was playing with the girls and kept listening for both - didn't hear them. Mind you, I didn't want to tap on the door and double check on her - wanted to give her time to do whatever she was doing and decided to ask her when she got out. 20 minutes went by and finally I heard the water going. Her shower ended and she appeared in the playroom about 20 more minutes later. Over 40 minutes for the entire thing.
I asked "Hey Madi - do you mind me asking what took 20 minutes before the shower?"
She told me she had to go to the bathroom (shared more specific about what she was doing). I said "Ok." And left it at that. Wanting to trust her, I didn't pry. I figured that if it was something else, I'd find out later.
Now back to all of us sitting in the living room today:
We finish swimming and Madi checks her iPod. She notices that she missed a few calls from Poppi and somehow it is brought up that Mason was on the list of people called or people who had called.
I ask "Did Mason call you?"
She says "No, I called him."
So I ask "Well, when did you call him? I don't remember you calling."
She says very softly "I called him in the shower."
The conversation was going on as she is dialing Poppi's number. He answers right after she gives me the information and I was not pleased. It meant that she had not shared that she had disobeyed what I asked her not to do and that when asked what took her so long, she shared going to the bathroom, but left out that she was calling Mason. I immediately had her get off the phone with Poppi so we could talk it out. I was very stern with her and let her know that I was disappointed that she chose to disobey what was asked of her as well as not telling me when asked what she was doing before taking her shower yesterday.
She was very quiet. She did say that she was not able to get through to Mason. But I told her that the point was that she called when told not to and that she was sneaky about going into the bathroom to do it when she thought I wouldn't know. Madison sat at the table for a few minutes. I went into the other room to think things through and Jeremy came in a minute or so later. We talked for a few minutes to decide how to handle it. We decided to let Madi think about it and that we would talk with her in private once we got home tonight. We didn't bring it up and we didn't stay mad at her the rest of the evening. We carried on and all of us played together (hide and seek) and then went to dinner.
When we came home, I put Jules to bed and then the four of us went upstairs and got ready for bed. The girls brushed their teeth and we all read the Bible together. Jeremy and I told Madi that she could draw or read or whatever, but that we'd get Riley to sleep and then both of us would come in to read and talk with her.
Riley kept having to go to the bathroom so I told Jeremy that maybe we should let Riley rest for a little while while we had a talk with Madi. We talked with Riley and she was totally fine. So we went in to have a talk.
I started the conversation by going back over with her what had happened yesterday - the shower, the Facetime/phone conversation about not calling - and then talked with her about why I was upset with her choice to call. Jeremy and I explained that she has many things that she is being trusted with - her bike rides, her room, her iPod, her things, camp, her friends, etc - and that she proves she can be trusted with them or she proves that she can not be trusted with them. We told her that the things she has are blessings and they are incredible things to have, but they are not mandatory and she is lucky to have them. She doesn't have to have them. We talked with her about how there were two things that were very frustrating: 1 - that she chose to disobey and 2 - that she chose to lie and cover it up.
Madi then stated that she didn't lie about calling Mason. She said that she just didn't tell us. Jeremy shared that if she was doing something she wasn't supposed to and left it out of her story on purpose, it's the same as lying about it because she didn't tell the whole truth. So I shared a story with her about something I did when I was about her age that fell into the guidelines of "not telling the truth" and told her how my parents reacted. We had a good talk that had a mix humor and correction. Of course, she's smart and she understood it.
All in all, it was a really great conversation with Madi. We let her know that we loved her and that we want to be able to fully trust her with the things she has. Our choice in disciplining her in this matter and in helping her think through her actions was that she will not be able to use her iPod until tomorrow afternoon after we get home from church. Mind you, we told her that if you or Poppi call, she will definitely be able to talk with you. She just can't play games or listen to music or look for apps on it until tomorrow afternoon. The reason we chose this was because we told her that she is trusted with it and needs to use it wisely and it was the device that she chose to use to call Mason when she was told not to. She understood why we were keeping it - though she didn't like it. We ended the night by reading a few chapters of a book and praying together.
So that was our day!
Friday, July 15, 2011
This'll be a short one
Today in a nutshell:
Time with Kenzie this morning - ate pancakes and fruit
Madi had her first piano lesson this morning - new books and all. Learning how to hold her hands at the piano and learned a few new songs in the "black key" position. Will learn note names next week.
Madi was able to talk to Mason today so that was good.
The girls built a house out of the table and couch using cushions and blankets and things. They spent a lot of time just playing in it.
Study time consisted of 40 minutes on www.ixl.com with math skills by grade. She was able to review what was learned in third grade here and take practice tests. I am able to view her results in different graphs to see how much time she has spent on the areas (multiplication, division, etc...) and how many minutes she is spending in each area. As well as which areas take her longer to do, how many problems she is getting correct/wrong in each area and where she has "gold medaled" and met the expectations. One of the best parts is that it is a thirty day trial so we can do it every day through August 13.
We had tacos for dinner with turkey meat - Madi seemed to like them quite a bit.
I went to the Girl's Night Out at church where we had henna tattoos, did Zumba, got our eyebrows/upper lips done by Just Stringz, and took goofy pictures in a photo booth. Super fun! So Jeremy had the girls tonight. He said that Riley, Madi and he all fell asleep in Riley's bed.
Time with Kenzie this morning - ate pancakes and fruit
Madi had her first piano lesson this morning - new books and all. Learning how to hold her hands at the piano and learned a few new songs in the "black key" position. Will learn note names next week.
Madi was able to talk to Mason today so that was good.
The girls built a house out of the table and couch using cushions and blankets and things. They spent a lot of time just playing in it.
Study time consisted of 40 minutes on www.ixl.com with math skills by grade. She was able to review what was learned in third grade here and take practice tests. I am able to view her results in different graphs to see how much time she has spent on the areas (multiplication, division, etc...) and how many minutes she is spending in each area. As well as which areas take her longer to do, how many problems she is getting correct/wrong in each area and where she has "gold medaled" and met the expectations. One of the best parts is that it is a thirty day trial so we can do it every day through August 13.
We had tacos for dinner with turkey meat - Madi seemed to like them quite a bit.
I went to the Girl's Night Out at church where we had henna tattoos, did Zumba, got our eyebrows/upper lips done by Just Stringz, and took goofy pictures in a photo booth. Super fun! So Jeremy had the girls tonight. He said that Riley, Madi and he all fell asleep in Riley's bed.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Sleepover #2
Today was soooo hot again! So hard to do anything with the kids outside except swim! But it's even too hot to go out to do that in the middle of the day so we waited until right before dinner.
The morning went fine. Riley and Madi were getting on each other's nerves. Madi made eggs for breakfast. Smelly eggs at that. Riley told her that she smelled. Madi was offended. So she told Riley that she smelled. Ah - the sound of children in the morning :)
It did get better after that. I took the girls to Walmart as we have a lot of food, but nothing that actually creates a full meal. Came home and then we did laundry and the girls played some games on the computer. Then Kenzie came over for the sleepover after lunch!
I needed yarn to start a blanket for a friend who is having her first baby so the girls came with me (of course) to Michaels. I let Madi and Kenzie roam the store together while I took Riley and Jules to the yarn section. Made me nervous to let them go, but Kenzie does it often when she has friends and it's a relatively small store and they are mature enough to handle it in small doses. I gave Madi a coupon for 40% off one item and she purchased two things that she seems to already love: a loom that includes 100 plus bands and a book that shows her how to draw animals. She's already drawn two birds and a dog. They look great!
We went to my parents' house to swim and then the girls worked on their looms. Wild to think that Kenzie and Madi first swam together two years ago right before you and Madison boarded the plane back to the Philippines when she was eight.
Speaking of two years ago, check out this pic of Riley and Madi from 2009. They sure have grown!
My brother Jim was going to get pizza and actually purchased pizza for all of us to eat - incredibly thoughtful of him. The girls enjoyed it. Jeremy met us there for dinner and then Kenzie and Madi were able to ride in his cool car. Not that my car is not cool inside - it's just not "cool." haha
Madi and Kenzie are now watching the movie "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" and we'll do smores as soon as Riley is completely asleep. It's a Daddy night so Jeremy is up there with her. I had a few small talks with Madi today about the playdate - making sure to do things her friends want to do, being a good host, being polite and using manners, thinking of her friend first. It can sometimes be hard for Madi to think of her guests and instead she wants to be more bossy than thoughtful or will leave the friend by themselves and go do something on her own while the friend is left without someone there. So it's something we're trying to work on with her. I figure the more playdates and sleepovers with the right people, the more opportunity to practice!
Thanks for waking Jeremy up this morning! He said it was a little crazy waking up to an iPod in his face, but that he was very thankful to be woken up so he wasn't even later.
Madi was able to talk with Mason today. I will let her call him again tomorrow so we can figure out a good day for a playdate. He mentioned weekends and the next free Saturday she has is not until the first weekend in August. She has a sleepover for Charidy's birthday one weekend and the next weekend she will have just returned home from Camp KidJam!!
Speaking of which, I just received confirmation that she is definitely going to Camp KidJam! Very exciting!!! She'll love it and I think it will be life changing in many ways. Camp is always so awesome. Wish I were going! :) Website is: http://www.whatisorange.org/campkidjam/ (in case I hadn't already put that in here)
Riley is now asleep so the girls are eating smores. Simple solution when there is no bonfire: put one graham cracker with marshmallows and chocolate in microwave. Heat for 8-10 secs. Put other graham cracker on top and eat!
The morning went fine. Riley and Madi were getting on each other's nerves. Madi made eggs for breakfast. Smelly eggs at that. Riley told her that she smelled. Madi was offended. So she told Riley that she smelled. Ah - the sound of children in the morning :)
It did get better after that. I took the girls to Walmart as we have a lot of food, but nothing that actually creates a full meal. Came home and then we did laundry and the girls played some games on the computer. Then Kenzie came over for the sleepover after lunch!
I needed yarn to start a blanket for a friend who is having her first baby so the girls came with me (of course) to Michaels. I let Madi and Kenzie roam the store together while I took Riley and Jules to the yarn section. Made me nervous to let them go, but Kenzie does it often when she has friends and it's a relatively small store and they are mature enough to handle it in small doses. I gave Madi a coupon for 40% off one item and she purchased two things that she seems to already love: a loom that includes 100 plus bands and a book that shows her how to draw animals. She's already drawn two birds and a dog. They look great!
We went to my parents' house to swim and then the girls worked on their looms. Wild to think that Kenzie and Madi first swam together two years ago right before you and Madison boarded the plane back to the Philippines when she was eight.
Speaking of two years ago, check out this pic of Riley and Madi from 2009. They sure have grown!
My brother Jim was going to get pizza and actually purchased pizza for all of us to eat - incredibly thoughtful of him. The girls enjoyed it. Jeremy met us there for dinner and then Kenzie and Madi were able to ride in his cool car. Not that my car is not cool inside - it's just not "cool." haha
Madi and Kenzie are now watching the movie "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" and we'll do smores as soon as Riley is completely asleep. It's a Daddy night so Jeremy is up there with her. I had a few small talks with Madi today about the playdate - making sure to do things her friends want to do, being a good host, being polite and using manners, thinking of her friend first. It can sometimes be hard for Madi to think of her guests and instead she wants to be more bossy than thoughtful or will leave the friend by themselves and go do something on her own while the friend is left without someone there. So it's something we're trying to work on with her. I figure the more playdates and sleepovers with the right people, the more opportunity to practice!
Thanks for waking Jeremy up this morning! He said it was a little crazy waking up to an iPod in his face, but that he was very thankful to be woken up so he wasn't even later.
Madi was able to talk with Mason today. I will let her call him again tomorrow so we can figure out a good day for a playdate. He mentioned weekends and the next free Saturday she has is not until the first weekend in August. She has a sleepover for Charidy's birthday one weekend and the next weekend she will have just returned home from Camp KidJam!!
Speaking of which, I just received confirmation that she is definitely going to Camp KidJam! Very exciting!!! She'll love it and I think it will be life changing in many ways. Camp is always so awesome. Wish I were going! :) Website is: http://www.whatisorange.org/campkidjam/ (in case I hadn't already put that in here)
Riley is now asleep so the girls are eating smores. Simple solution when there is no bonfire: put one graham cracker with marshmallows and chocolate in microwave. Heat for 8-10 secs. Put other graham cracker on top and eat!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
108
The heat today probably feels much like the Philippines - just minus the amount of moisture in the air. My car was reading 108 on the way home today and the forecast is calling for weather of at least 101 for the next ten days. Needless to say, we won't be going outside much.
Today was very low-key. The girls all woke up around 7am. Julia was silent for an hour so I finally went up to find her just lying in her bed quiet as could be. We had breakfast and then Julia went down for her usual nap around 10am. Madi went for an early morning bike ride, but came home early because she said it was just too hot out.
During her nap, Riley, Madi and I made homemade bread. We used the recipe from her Kid's Cooking book. I let the girls take turn measuring and pouring the ingredients in the bowl. Madi did a lot of the mixing of the water into the dry ingredients. She loved it! Her hands were all slimy and goopy. Once it was mixed, I split the dough into two equal parts. This way the girls could each knead their own loaf of bread. I told them to get angry and start punching (as they were already punching it anyway). They laughed and loved hitting it hard. I set a timer for ten minutes and they kneaded the entire time.
Then we put the dough into two bowls, covered them and set them in the windowsill to help them rise faster. Only took an hour for them to be ready. The girls each played on their iPods while sitting next to their dough bowls. They had fun watching it rise.
Madi decided to shape her dough into different things - letters, turtles, etc... I just put Riley's dough into the bread pan. Both turned out sooo yummy and good!
Later in the day, I took all the girls to my mom's house to meet her so they could swim. We were only outside for about 30 minutes. They had a snack and now we're home for dinner.
Madi has had a really hard time getting to sleep and has been doing a lot of games on her iPod when trying to sleep. So we're letting her play on it until dinner tonight and then she can't use the iPod for games after dinner. The stimulation from it and the desire to get to new levels of her game are keeping her from sleeping. We're hoping this will help!
The girls kept teasing us saying "Riley got a real, live horse today!" We'd go "Really??!!" Then Madi would ask Riley to sit on her back and put on her hat (the blanket was her saddle). Madi would pretend to be a horse and Riley would ride her for a bit. Was cute.
Today was very low-key. The girls all woke up around 7am. Julia was silent for an hour so I finally went up to find her just lying in her bed quiet as could be. We had breakfast and then Julia went down for her usual nap around 10am. Madi went for an early morning bike ride, but came home early because she said it was just too hot out.
During her nap, Riley, Madi and I made homemade bread. We used the recipe from her Kid's Cooking book. I let the girls take turn measuring and pouring the ingredients in the bowl. Madi did a lot of the mixing of the water into the dry ingredients. She loved it! Her hands were all slimy and goopy. Once it was mixed, I split the dough into two equal parts. This way the girls could each knead their own loaf of bread. I told them to get angry and start punching (as they were already punching it anyway). They laughed and loved hitting it hard. I set a timer for ten minutes and they kneaded the entire time.
Then we put the dough into two bowls, covered them and set them in the windowsill to help them rise faster. Only took an hour for them to be ready. The girls each played on their iPods while sitting next to their dough bowls. They had fun watching it rise.
Madi decided to shape her dough into different things - letters, turtles, etc... I just put Riley's dough into the bread pan. Both turned out sooo yummy and good!
Later in the day, I took all the girls to my mom's house to meet her so they could swim. We were only outside for about 30 minutes. They had a snack and now we're home for dinner.
Madi has had a really hard time getting to sleep and has been doing a lot of games on her iPod when trying to sleep. So we're letting her play on it until dinner tonight and then she can't use the iPod for games after dinner. The stimulation from it and the desire to get to new levels of her game are keeping her from sleeping. We're hoping this will help!
The girls kept teasing us saying "Riley got a real, live horse today!" We'd go "Really??!!" Then Madi would ask Riley to sit on her back and put on her hat (the blanket was her saddle). Madi would pretend to be a horse and Riley would ride her for a bit. Was cute.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Tired
We had a good day today. The girls spent the day at Kami's house while I taught lessons at home. Kenzie is coming over for a sleepover on Thursday night which will be fun! They did some 'yarning' today and played.
Madi was quite tired. She said she woke up at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep so she played games on her iPod to help her sleep, but she wasn't able to get back to sleep :( We explained that the iPod will be more stimulating and it'd be better to read or put on some soothing music to help her sleep. Hoping she has a better night of sleep tonight!
She missed your call this morning because she was in the shower and by the time she got to it, it was too late (it was on the counter in the bathroom). She called back immediately. I'm thinking the connection may not have been great as it was having problems connecting. Hopefully she'll catch you in the morning!
So a great day! Sorry so short - just not too much to say!
Madi was quite tired. She said she woke up at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep so she played games on her iPod to help her sleep, but she wasn't able to get back to sleep :( We explained that the iPod will be more stimulating and it'd be better to read or put on some soothing music to help her sleep. Hoping she has a better night of sleep tonight!
She missed your call this morning because she was in the shower and by the time she got to it, it was too late (it was on the counter in the bathroom). She called back immediately. I'm thinking the connection may not have been great as it was having problems connecting. Hopefully she'll catch you in the morning!
So a great day! Sorry so short - just not too much to say!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Back Again!
Madison was able to ride her bike alone for the first time today. She was given her walkie talkie and I had mine. Her code name: Foxtrot. Mine: Private. Riley: Unicorn. Jules: babababa. I talked with her about some safety tips and off she went. She was supposed to check in with me at the end of the street. She got as far as the front of the house saying "These things are awesome!!" So it wasn't a problem at all for her to check in. In fact, she gave me the 411 about every five seconds - "I'm at the second alley. I'm at the first tree. I'm at Apache." Then she hit the "alarm" button which tells me she's in need of help. I check in "Are you ok?" She says "I hit a tree. Was holding the bike with one hand while I talked to you." So after that, she checked in a little less frequently. Thankfully, she didn't hit it hard.
She came in for a water break and then went out for a little longer.
Rest of the day was usual stuff - she did one page of Roman Numeral practice (she said she really loves those because they are like clues) and she did two pages of multiplication practice. All her multiplication practice is paying off!! There were tons of problems and she only got two wrong - 8 x 6 and 6 x 8. I showed her that she had them all correct until the 8 by 6 which she quickly knew what it was. She is gaining confidence in her math skills and doing very well.
We also made another trip out to The Gap at the mall. Still having a crazy sale. So she got two pairs of $2 flip flops, $4 shirt, $2 shirt and two pairs of jean capris at $5 each. She was very excited. Though saying "thank you" does not come easy to her. I can tell by her face that she is thankful, but she doesn't say it verbally. We're working on it with her.
We also went to Target to get Julia some of her food as she was running out. Riley managed to tie Julia's dress to the cart and Julia managed to pull Riley's hair. So the fussing from both of them was super fun for those few moments. Thankfully it didn't last long.
The girls played and it was a calm rest of the day. Madi was able to eat her pancit canton (sp?!) at lunch and loved it. Jeremy read with her tonight. She is really missing you badly, the last few days in particular. I'm not quite sure what to do to help her with that other than to tell her that we love her, you love her and we're all here to help.
She came in for a water break and then went out for a little longer.
Rest of the day was usual stuff - she did one page of Roman Numeral practice (she said she really loves those because they are like clues) and she did two pages of multiplication practice. All her multiplication practice is paying off!! There were tons of problems and she only got two wrong - 8 x 6 and 6 x 8. I showed her that she had them all correct until the 8 by 6 which she quickly knew what it was. She is gaining confidence in her math skills and doing very well.
We also made another trip out to The Gap at the mall. Still having a crazy sale. So she got two pairs of $2 flip flops, $4 shirt, $2 shirt and two pairs of jean capris at $5 each. She was very excited. Though saying "thank you" does not come easy to her. I can tell by her face that she is thankful, but she doesn't say it verbally. We're working on it with her.
We also went to Target to get Julia some of her food as she was running out. Riley managed to tie Julia's dress to the cart and Julia managed to pull Riley's hair. So the fussing from both of them was super fun for those few moments. Thankfully it didn't last long.
The girls played and it was a calm rest of the day. Madi was able to eat her pancit canton (sp?!) at lunch and loved it. Jeremy read with her tonight. She is really missing you badly, the last few days in particular. I'm not quite sure what to do to help her with that other than to tell her that we love her, you love her and we're all here to help.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Frisbee Adventure
So the girls and I decided to throw a frisbee in the backyard of Poppi and Grammy's house. There are two chain link fences on either side of the yard and a tall wooden fence with two planks running side to side along it. Riley threw the frisbee over the chain link fence a few times and Madi retrieved it. Then she threw it up and over the wooden fence. There was no way we could completely climb the fence because there weren't planks running side to side on the other side of the fence. And I know this because I climbed up on the planks on the fence to look over. Then Madi climbed up to see. We could tell there was an alley leading to it. So we ventured down the street to see how we could get there. Once we came to the end of the alley, we saw how much brush and sunflowers and overgrown weeds there were and decided to go back home.
Once home, I suggested using yarn and something at the end to hook the frisbee. Madi thought of the hook from the Tinkertoy set so we got it all ready and thought it would be fun to see if we could get it. Madi tried many times, but with the wind and how far from the fence the frisbee was, it wasn't working. So then I tried. Since Madi was still holding the yarn, I couldn't get it close enough so I asked her to let go of the yarn. Then forgot I had asked her to let go of the yarn. And flung the yarn and the hook over the fence right next to the frisbee.
So off we went back down the path again to the alley way. There was enough of a clearing on the side of the chainlink fence side and at one point, she even climbed sideways along the fence to get over some brush (and past what she said was a rustling in the brush - probably the bunny we had recently seen?! Hopefully!). She rescued the frisbee and the yarn/hook and came back. In the meantime, Riley had to go to the bathroom and as we were not close enough to the house, I just had her go back in the brush. Fun times, right! :)
We went home feeling very victorious and happy. Quite the adventure.
Once home, I suggested using yarn and something at the end to hook the frisbee. Madi thought of the hook from the Tinkertoy set so we got it all ready and thought it would be fun to see if we could get it. Madi tried many times, but with the wind and how far from the fence the frisbee was, it wasn't working. So then I tried. Since Madi was still holding the yarn, I couldn't get it close enough so I asked her to let go of the yarn. Then forgot I had asked her to let go of the yarn. And flung the yarn and the hook over the fence right next to the frisbee.
So off we went back down the path again to the alley way. There was enough of a clearing on the side of the chainlink fence side and at one point, she even climbed sideways along the fence to get over some brush (and past what she said was a rustling in the brush - probably the bunny we had recently seen?! Hopefully!). She rescued the frisbee and the yarn/hook and came back. In the meantime, Riley had to go to the bathroom and as we were not close enough to the house, I just had her go back in the brush. Fun times, right! :)
We went home feeling very victorious and happy. Quite the adventure.
Road Trip!
We met Poppi at church and then went out to Chick Fila where the girls got food and cow hats. It was "dress like a cow" day and there were even two people dressed in cow outfits. The girls loved that. Then we went to church where Madi loaded up on her loot (books). She got some really great books! Then we went home and back out to eat at Olive Garden. The girls were both tired and hungry.
On Saturday, the girls stayed home with Poppi and watched a movie or two while Grammy and I went out to Walmart. We had sandwiches with chips and yogurts. Then Grammy, Madi, Riley and I went to the roller skating rink while Poppi went down to the church. It was one of the highlights of the trip! None of us had roller skated in a few years and it was Riley's first time doing it. The girls laced up their skates and then I took Riley by the hands and led her down and back the aisle area. I did the same with Madi a few times just so she could get the hang of it. Then we ventured onto the rink. Madi gained more confidence the more she went around. I skated backwards and helped Riley learn how to skate. The girls had a great time. You'll even see the wall in the background that says "Merry Christmas!"
Each night Poppi read the devotional with the girls - Naaman one night, Noah the other.
That night we ate chicken strips, mashed potatoes and fried okra. Poppi and Grammy went to church while the girls and I stayed home. We decided to go outside and toss a small frisbee around. I had the girls do it out back so we wouldn't have to be out front by the street. Little did I know it would become quite an adventure.... More to come about that later.
The girls were totally worn out by the end of the day and both of them took a nap in the car on the way home.
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