Girl Scout Cookie Booths Are Awesome!

 

Patty and her fellow Girl Scouts kicked off Cookie Booth Season 2014 with a bang! 

The weather was awesome, sunny and sixty, and the cookies were flying off the table!  We put together this cool little "bling your cookie booth" stand (made of PVC pipe, foam core, and recycled cookie boxes) and the girls stayed busy coloring a Sales Goal sign and asking everyone "would you like to buy some Girl Scout Cookies?"  So proud!  And I'm happy to report they more than doubled the goal of 100 boxes by selling an awesome 202 boxes today!  Way to go Girl Scouts!!!!!  One cookie booth down.....five to go!

Missing Cupcakes

I wasn't paying close attention when Patty asked if she could have a cupcake.  Sure, you can have a cupcake, I vaguely remember telling her.

But, I'm pretty sure there were five cupcakes left over from JT's birthday party.

I only saw her with one cupcake.  Or so I thought.

When I went to the kitchen I discovered this empty cupcake tray!

Yes, she had eaten the frosting off five cupcakes!  I know this because the cake part was in the trash can!

FTSF: If I Had A Magic Wand

I commented on fellow mom-blogger Kristy's FTSF post this morning and I thought I had it all figured out.  If I had a magic wand, I would fix all of the things that make Patty different than other kids her age.  There wouldn't be a lot of things to fix, but there would be a few.  Just wave that wand and take away all those little things that make life a little bit more difficult for her to navigate.  Then, as we waited for the elevator at therapy this afternoon, I had a wake up call.

You see, Patty, as loving and caring as you'll ever want, never meets a stranger and talks to just about everyone when she has a chance.  Today, she started a conversation with a little lady waiting for the elevator, too.  Come to find out this lady was accompanying her caregiver to the doctor.  They got separated and the lady didn't know where to find her friend.  When we climbed onto the elevator she asked me to phone her friend.  Well, the friend didn't answer and I couldn't just leave her on the elevator.  So, Patty and I took her floor by floor in search of her friend.  Of course, we found her in the last place we looked.  ;-}

But, after our little adventure, I wondered if my imaginary "fixed" version of Patty would have struck up a conversation with this little lady in need of someones help?  Actually, we wouldn't even have been there if Patty were just a regular kid.  Remember, we were on our way to therapy when we met this lady.  So, I kind of gave myself a mental slap for ever considering waving my magic wand at Patty.  Why would I ever want to change who my perfect little darling is?

Scholastic Mini Mission September Pt One

Have you heard of Scholastic Mini Missions?  JT brought home a paper in his backpack this week inviting us to participate and earn free Scholastic books and the chance for bigger prizes for teachers and schools.  Did you know I love free books?  The flyer was very vague on exactly what a "mini mission" consisted of, though, so I was skeptical about it.  But, after reading around on the website for a bit, I thought this was something we might be able to pull off...at least for one month.  I see this as a win-win: free books and fuel for the blog.

So, the September mission is to head outdoors on four occasions.  We are not fans of the outdoors.  Well, I am not a fan of the outdoors.  The kids actually really like to be outside, but lately they return covered in mosquito bites and that's not a good thing. 

I registered for the website and found a nature inspired scavenger hunt online (The Taylor House).  Then we headed outside.  Normally, my kids love being outside, but yesterday there was a little grumbling and complaining.  But, I was persistent and once we got busy finding items on the list the kids were full speed ahead.  Maybe it was just a new concept for them, this was our first scavenger hunt.  We skipped half of the list, I really wanted to avoid mosquito bites, but for kids my age, eight items seemed like a good stopping point. 

Here's my mission submission:

For our first mission, since we chose to accept it, we had a nature inspired scavenger hunt!  A quick Internet search and we had a list of items to search for and were headed out the door!  We did have to cut our search a little short and skipped several items on our list.  I opted to take a photo of the items rather than have the kids actually collect them and bring them inside.  My favorite item on their search list?  Something you think is beautiful!

 

I had just a little trouble getting everything uploaded to the website.  I'm pretty sure my photo collage was too big and once I chose a smaller photo, it seemed to upload okay.  It was slow, but that's probably my computer.  Next time I'll try saving a version of the photo at a lower resolution and see how it goes.  We're only three outdoor activities away from our first free book!

Upcycled Gift Bag

I wasn't too happy when Patty's binder bit the dust after not even three full weeks of school!  And what kind of binder did she want as a replacement?  And what kind of binder was I unable to locate?  Yep, Barbie. 

Thankfully, being the easy going daughter she is, Patty was completely happy with the solid pink binder I found at Walmart.  But, fate intervened and her first birthday party guests walked in with the most awesome Barbie gift bag and I knew instantly what would become of it!  Thanks Bobbie and Dennis!

Have I ever mentioned how much I  love the binders with insert able covers?  I'm surely not the first person to do this, but I gotta tell you I am one proud momma tonight!

A Birthday Fit For A Princess

Oh my, where does the time go?  I simply can not believe my little girl is turning seven soon!  It seems like only yesterday I was swooning over that precious little bundle in the hospital!  Fast forward seven years and we are gearing up for the ultimate princess birthday experience. 

Naturally, I turned to Pinterest for inspiration.  Oh my goodness there are some super cute ideas out there!  At this point I think my lists have started making lists.  Man, I wish I really knew how to use that sewing machine I have hoarded away.

Thankfully, where my sewing skills are lacking, I can somewhat compensate with Photoshop skills.  I found a great DIY crown shared by The Path Less Traveled (love that blog name!) and fiddled with Photoshop until I was happy with the dimensions.  I had already found Princess Sofia-esque clipart on Etsy (love Etsy!) and used them for a cute invitation.  Filling in the crown was easy since I had finished the invitation last weekend.  Now I can easily print the crowns onto cardstock and cut them out while I wait in the car rider line at school!

Totally adorable, am I right?  I probably need to make a boy crown with a little prince, too.  Then I can check "party hats" off my to do list!

Patty's Going Shopping

After our Iron Man 3 adventure Saturday, I took a nap.  I was so tired!  The kids, of course, don't take naps anymore.  Patty was busy making herself a shopping card while I dozed.  So cute!

She sat at the desk and worked on this little card all by herself.  Now she's ready to go shopping!  This is only the second time she's written something by herself and it makes me beyond the moon happy!

School's Out for Summer!

Hooray!  We have survived another school year without catching head lice!  I know that's a sad reason to be happy on the first day of summer vacation, but hey, we all need to find our own little slice of happiness, right?

I was so proud to sit in the audience and watch Patty and her Kindergarten classmates at their graduation ceremony Monday.  On the way to school she asked if I would be there to watch her not sing.  And not sing is exactly what she did.  But, she stood there with a happy expression during both songs and that made me so happy and proud!  I just can barely believe she's going to be a first grader soon!

Want to hear something funny? Patty woke me up around 6:15 this morning. On a typical school day I would have to practically drag her out of bed at 6:45! I certainly would like to sleep in during summer break, but if she gets up early all summer it'll just be easier when school resumes in the fall, I guess.

I think Phineas and Ferb get 104 days of summer vacation, and we only have 78 so we must make the best of each and every one of them.  How we are going to do this?  I have no idea.  But, JT told me Monday, "I'm so boring."  That's what he says instead of "I'm bored".  I know I should correct him, but it's just so funny I can't bring myself to make him change it!  Since he's a boy, and boys like all things messy, I think I'll be scouring Pinterest to find something messy to keep us entertained each day.  Bonus if I can make it a learning experience, too.  Did I tell you JT finally learned to recite his ABCs?  So relieved!

Oh, and we have the Summer Bridge books that I purchased a while ago.  I'm trying to decide if we should dive into those today, or wait until Monday.  I also purchased another K to 1st summer activity from The Moffatt Girls, along with their Journal Prompts packet.  Patty needs a lot of writing practice so I hope the ready to go prompts will work for us.  And there are always sight words to be practiced.  I don't want to over do it, but I don't want to under do it.  First grade is going to be tough.

One thing I must accomplish this summer is the dreaded yard sale.  We are just over flowing with stuff and it's time to thin out the mess.  But oh how I loathe getting a yard sale together!  But, it must be done.  We'd be in serious trouble if we ever had to move into an apartment or smaller house.  I have an entire room full of just extra stuff.  It's like the room Monica had, where she hid all of the mess.  Sadly, my mess can not be contained in one room!  My mess creeps across the entire house!  More on that later.

Here's to a happy summer!

Kids Say...

Patty loves chocolate cake.  Or, rather, Patty loves brownies and calls them chocolate cake!  My mom made a pan and brought it over for dessert last Sunday.  Patty had had a slight case of the stomach bug on Saturday and wasn't really bounced back from it when the brownies arrived.

Fast forward to Monday night.  JT and I dug out the old ABC flash cards I had made for Patty years ago.  Trying to encourage JT to get familiar with them, I told him to show them to dad after we'd finished dinner.  When we came across C is for ice cream, Patty remembered she had a pan of brownies waiting for her in the kitchen.  Casey got her a slice and we settled in to watch a little tv.

A few minutes later we could hear the tin foil (do you say aluminum foil?) crinkling as she helped herself to another slice of brownie.  Then, barely audible, we heard her say, "C is for cake." 

Casey and I really got tickled by that. 

So Proud of Patty

Patty and I had to have a blood test to check for allergies.  Who knew there was such a thing?  Sounds so much easier than those skin tests I've heard about.  Still, I wasn't looking forward to the test because Patty hadn't had a blood test since she was one.

I let the tech draw my blood first hoping it would make Patty at ease if she could see what was going to happen.  Not sure it helped, she was pretty upset just at the idea of getting a "shot". 

As a backup, I also brought Grammie (my mom).  All things are better when grandmothers are involved.  I speak from personal experience.  See, when I was a kid, I had to have weekly blood tests to keep a check on my arthritis.  My Grandmomma often went with us and would sit in the chair and hold me on her lap.  It made all the difference.

So imagine my warm and fuzzy when Patty wanted Grammie to sit with her.  I think I could have cried, really.  It just brought back so many memories from my childhood.  Obviously the blood tests were not a good memory, but the thoughts of my grandmother are happy ones.

I was able to hold myself together since Patty is a strong kid and I worried she'd have a fit and make it really difficult to get the needle in her arm.  Thankfully the lab staff was wonderful and I'm guessing they've had many troublesome patients over the years.  One tech had a death grip on her arm while the other carefully wielded the needle.  Another woman kept talking to Patty, trying to distract her.  it was such a team effort.  It was like once Patty started crying everyone came out to help.  They were great.

Once the initial shock was over, Patty was actually really calm.  I am so proud of her.  She got a pink band on her arm and a Cinderella sticker.  Such a champ!  But, I hope we don't have to have any more blood work anytime soon!

Too Early For Summer School?

Would you send your child to school during the summer if your district offered a program? 

I do worry about the summer back slide, but I don't know if I'd want to send Patty or JT to school during the summer months.  

So, I'm getting a jump start and ordering a couple Summer Bridge Workbooks for the Kiddos.  A Kindergarten to First Grade for Patty, and Prek to Kindergarten for JT.

I looked at several workbooks last summer while we were trying to decide if Patty should have a second go at Kindergarten and I gotta tell you I was very intimidated by the First Grade work.

I'm really hoping the workbook will keep her interested in learning over the summer.

JT, on the other hand, needs all the help he can get.  Getting that kid to learn his ABCs is proving to be one of the most difficult things I have ever done!

He's really good at writing the letters just by looking at them but he has zero interest in learning the names of each letter. 

Feeling the Burn....Out That Is

On the way to Patty's last OT session she told me "that's not playing, that's work."  See, instead of calling it therapy, we call it "play".  In fact, the whole department is called Thera-Play and it's all about kids.  But, for a kid who doesn't like to color, there's only so much you can do to make it fun week after week.  I could see Patty was having a serious case of burn out.  And wouldn't you know it, her OT confirmed that even kids need a vacay from therapy.

Now, on one hand, I hate for her to miss her therapy appointments.  We were blessed with after school appointments and I know those are coveted so I don't want to risk losing those prime slots.  Not to mention that therapy has done wonders for her.  But, on the other hand, I'm a little tired of therapy, too.  It's hard to witness how tired she is week after week and we've had a lot of cold, yucky weather lately.  I think we'd all be a little more content if we'd just have a week of non-stop sunshine for a change.

So, today, I made an executive decision and cancelled speech therapy.  Missing one visit here and there can't be much harm, right?  Plus, I'm really hoping the mini-break will have her ready to get back to work next week!  And me, too.

Report Card Time

Last year, I had a really hard time with report cards.  It was our very first experience with the report card and I dreaded finding it in Patty's backpack each trimester.  First, I couldn't decide what the report card was telling me...other than she was "below level" in nearly everything.  Then, she would be "on level" one semester and fall "below level" the next.  It was utterly confusing and heart breaking and frustrating all rolled into one.

At some point I came to terms with the report card situation.  I mean, we have thirteen years of those things in our future, they weren't going to go away no matter how badly I wanted them to.  You see, I was of the mindset that the only good grade is an A and it took months for me to get past that belief. 

Now, I spend more time looking at her daily work and less time worrying about the measurements on her report cards.  It's so easy to see the progress she's making each and every night as we sit down to work on her homework.  She's reading to me!  She's learning to spell!  She's doing addition!  It's amazing to see how far she's come.  That report card, which comes only three times a year, is just a vague snap shot of the things she has accomplished.  It's really not fair to judge her by that piece of paper.

I hope all of this progress means the "gap" is starting to close and that one day we will be able to shed her diagnosis of developmental delay.  I don't believe there is such a thing as "normal" just like everyone else.  But, I do believe there is such a thing as "able" just like everyone else. 

Reaching a New Milestone

Patty can get out of the car all by herself now! 

For the past three mornings, Patty has carefully opened her door and climbed out of the car at school.  With no incident, I'm happy to add.  I even got a thumbs up from Mr. W this morning.  And for the past three mornings I have pulled away from the school bursting with pride with a gigantic smile on my face. 

This milestone probably won't be on any list you'll find, but maybe it should be.  For me, it ranks right up there with first steps and first words. It's monumental. It's completely changing the way we do things. This milestone has been a really big deal for me. 

You see, we had an experience, way back when JT was a baby that frightened me nearly to death.  He opened his door in traffic one day, on a four lane high way.  He was barely one at the time, but I remember it like it happened yesterday.  All of a sudden the interior light was on and the ding sounded and I had one of those "what the...." moments as I  looked into my side mirror seeing his door opening.  I was scared to death.  I was able to pull over into a turning lane, thanks very much to the folks behind me who no doubt saw what was happening and slowed down to accommodate me.  And obviously he was safely buckled into his car seat and wasn't in a huge amount of danger.  I mean, his arms were short, he wasn't going to be able to get the door open very far.  But, that experience was scary enough to keep the child locks firmly in place for all the time since.

And for all these years, Patty has never bothered with the child lock on her door.  JT, on the other hand, learned months ago what that little switch is for and proceeded to flip it whenever he could.  Go figure.  Eventually, I gave up trying to keep his door on child lock.  We haven't had any incidents with doors opening in traffic, but I've had to scold him many times in parking lots.  It was definitely time to give Patty the same freedom.  I guess this is just one of the many fears I'll have to "let go" as the kids get older and more independent.  It's not easy.  It's really not easy.  But, if I didn't worry, what kind of parent would I be?

Return to the Land of the Living

Whew.  Patty shared her cold with me last week and I was down for the count!  Thank goodness I made a turn for the better on Sunday and am happy to say I feel quite recovered today!  Although, I am wondering if that ground hog got it right, 'cause in my neck of the woods, it's not looking spring just yet. 

I'm looking forward to tomorrow, not because it's Valentine's day, but because it's Girl Scout Cookie arrival day!  I've been dreaming of those little yummies since Patty brought home the order sheet.  I wish I possessed the restraint (and the bank roll) to stock up on a year's worth of my favorites, but I am afraid I'd eat them all and gain, like, a zillion pounds by spring break!  I'm picturing Tim Allen in the Santa Clause, remember that one?

I am happy to report that I finished off the Beautiful Creatures books during my illness last week.  Now I have to patiently wait for the final book to arrive in paperback.  Can someone tell me why can't you find a release date when you need one?  I've been pretty pleased with this series, though, once I got into it.  It reminds me a lot more of Harry Potter than Twilight, and hardly at all like True Blood, but it's been a nice read.  I did discover that there were some serious changes made for the movie adaptation.  I'm never too fond of that, but I gotta say the movie preview looks good.  Think I can get Casey to take me to see it for Valentine's Day?

I grabbed a copy of Safe Haven, the newest book to movie offering of Nicholas Sparks.  Have you noticed how many of his books have become major movies?  To think it all started with A Walk to Remember, which I read and made Casey take me to see at the theatre.  We were the youngest people there.  That's partly because I have this thing about going to the matinee instead of a night show, but I remember it was just us and a bunch of grown up ladies; all of us crying into our popcorn!  Wow, that was eleven years ago.  I feel old all of a sudden.

Oh, and I am looking forward to the Valentine's snack for Patty's class tomorrow.  I was so proud of  her writing her friends names on their Valentine's cards.  Sure, some of them were hard to read, but she did it all by herself!  And we ended up two cards short of having enough for everyone, but thankfully I found one lonely box at the mart yesterday!

I know it's kind of late to mention new year's resolutions, but I wonder if anyone ever resolves to win the lottery?  I'd elaborate on that, but JT is in the bathroom with the door closed and i hear a clicking sound i can't identify.  Wait, i think that's my birth control pill...gotta go!

Hooray, it's Pajama Day!

I'm sitting here at the computer this morning, checking my email, and trying to figure out when on earth I am going to have time to write anything to post over at Take It or Leave It. 

Patty has been up for just a little while and she just peeked into the dining room to ask me if she has school today. 

We do a count down to the weekend kind of thing around these parts so I told her, one more day.  Then I said, "Guess what?  Today is pajama day!" 

She said, "Pajama day?  Yaaaay!"  Then she did what can only be described as a happy dance. 

It was so cute!  I love mornings like this!  Bonus, it's Friday!

Internet Trouble Trouble Trouble...

Wouldn't you think, in this technological day and age, someone somewhere would have invented an Internet modem that never malfunctions?  We recently had to spend, like, two whole days without Internet because our modem croaked.  Plus, we had to pay for the replacement.  And, now, the new one has been behaving badly.  Seriously, I'd send it to time out, but it has so many times without Internet that I just can't punish it anymore!

Obviously, I'm trying to be funny with this post.  To find the humor in a humorless situation.  But, seriously, I should never have to "reset" that tiny little box to get the Internet to work.  Right?

Anyway, did you see the Taylor Swift reference in my post title?  I had to throw that in because we've been jamming to a cover version of her song this morning.  Patty, who really loves Taylor Swift,  was really happy to watch a YouTube video shared by Joy over at I Can Say Mama.  Then I spent about the next fifteen minutes or so to realize why the band name sounded so familiar.  I had downloaded another cover song by this group, which I also found on some one's blog (Pillow Thought)!

Gettin' Squatchey

Okay, okay, it's true. 

We watch Finding Bigfoot. 

You can't imagine how tickled I was when Casey pointed out the Sasquatch family stickers on the back of a mini-van in traffic yesterday!

I just had to get a picture.

Isn't that so much cooler than those little happy stick figures you usually see?

I only wish JT had been with us because he is absolutely infatuated and terrified by Bigfoot.

Patty, on the other hand, calls it Pink Foot and isn't scared at all!

Kids Say...

One day last week after doing her homework, I said, "Thank you for doing your homework."

 

Without missing a beat, Patty replied, "And thank you for helping me."

 

Then, yesterday at speech therapy, Ms. Melanie asked Patty what she did at school.

 

Patty said, "We used the speaking stone."

 

"What do you do with the speaking stone?" asked Ms. Melanie.

 

"We pass out," Patty informed her.

 

Totally funny!

Two Photos, One Thank You

So, what do these two photos have in common?

Well, besides those adorable faces and the snow.

They merge together to make one super cute thank you card!

 

I'm really happy with how this turned out.  Only wish I had brightened Patty's face a little.

Now, just have to supervise these two with the new sharpie I grabbed today for 49-cents!

Plus, I got the prints for 9-cents each at Walgreens.  Love nine-cent prints!

Since I needed 100 to score that price,

I did these little Girl Scout Cookie thank you reminders, too.

 

I'll have Patty autograph these too and get them out to everyone who ordered cookies.

That's her school photo from last fall.  Speaking of school pictures.  Did you check your packet for a Shutterfly coupon code?  Patty and JT both received a $20 code in their Lifetouch packets.  And they expire January 31st so I need to make myself a note to do something with them soon!