Thanksgiving Parties at School

The kids all had Thanksgiving parties at school today. Brayden's class did a short play,which was very cute. Brayden did a great job with his lines. I would like to say I helped him learn them, but he had them memorized on his own before I got involved. After the show, his class had a very good lunch for the children and all of us parents. I went over to Brookelyn's classroom in time to watch her finish her lunch and tuck her onto her cot before naptime. I still can't go down to Sasha's room without her crying when I leave, but I know they had a Thanksgiving feast as well.

Very Sweet

Last night, after we got home from school, all three of the little ones started singing holiday songs. Brookelyn stood up and pretended to read the songs from a sheet of paper she was holding. She had her hand on her hip and was dancing at the same time as singing. Sasha went and stood up next to her and sang along. They held hands after they finished singing a couple of songs and bowed. It was soooo cute. And then Brayden stood up and all three sang songs for us. It was one of the sweetest moments I have had as a parent and I loved it. I didn't take any pictures of it because I decided to be in the moment instead.
I just got home from work. I stayed late to chaperone a dance that the middle school students put together. They did everything-- organizing who brought what food and drinks, decorating, making up a couple of games to play at the dance, setting up the sound system and helping clean up. They did a really nice job. They also came up with the rule that if anyone was asked to dance they had to say yes. So no one had hurt feelings and everyone had fun. There are only thirty students in our middle school and twenty came to the dance, so it was a pretty good turn out. Everyone was very well behaved and there was only one moment when I had to step in. Two boys decided they were going to each chug a small bottle of soda. I stopped them pretty quickly, but not soon enough for them not to feel the pain of it. Very fun night and I have a feeling this is the beginning of several more dances for the year.

End of November

Well, we bought a new minivan that looks exactly like our old minivan. White van with tan exterior. This one does have the blue tooth, so I can talk legally while I drive, as well as the mechanical rear door opener. Both are great. Also, this one had something like nine miles and our old one had over 88,000 miles. And had been rear ended and had a ding on the side from where someone had backed into me. The car looked great for at least two days and now looks and smells the same as the other one. I love it and am very happy to have a car that I don't have to worry about the miles on for years. There are too many other things to think about.
The whole getting the girls to share a room thing has been exhausting. One or the other wakes up several times a night. I think I went into the room about fourteen times one night. I think I said I would give it two weeks and then put Sasha back into her room if it didn't work. It may be two weeks, but I am way to tired to do the math and see. Last night I went in five times. I am forty five years old, but pretty sure I look about sixty lately. Today I was trying to concentrate on something at work and just couldn't really focus. I thought I would focus better when I wasn't taking cold medicine. Then I remembered that I hadn't taken any cold medicine because I didn't even have a cold. I am tired. Luckily the girls are very cute.
I brought Brayden to swim team practice after school again today. It started at 5:15, so it was already dark. He didn't want to swim, but I didn't want him to think he could just not go to practice if he didn't feel like it. Otherwise I could see years of fighting ahead of us. I am very big on teaching kids to follow through on what they start. I told him he just had to swim one lap and we could go home. He was not happy, but he got in. Once he was in I wandered away from the pool so he wouldn't see me. He stayed in for the whole practice and I was really proud of him. He was the youngest child there by at least four years. I told him that we could stop going to practices until spring and we went out to celebrate him doing such a good job. He and I went out for dinner together. He chose In-N-Out for dinner. It was really nice just being with him. I don't even remember the last time he and I went out together. We talked about his friends, his school, and his class play. At the end he told me that we should go out to dinner together again so we could watch the employees make french fries while we talked. He is getting much easier as he gets older.

Carless

We have been leasing my van for the last few years. It was coming to the end of the lease and we kept going back and forth about buying it. We decided on Saturday to sell it so I listed it that afternoon. I posted pictures of it last night and Ray sold it before lunchtime today. It was a little irritating moving all of my things to Ray's car and my office, until I realized that he was doing all of the work and I didn't have to do any of it. Oh, and I would be getting a new car out of it. We are planning to get a Honda Oddysey again. I love that car. Ray is really good at bargaining, so I won't even have to go to the dealership. For right now we are renting a Toyota van until we get the new one. I am really looking forward to getting a new car. The other one had a lot of miles from driving Dakota to and from her high school, which was far away. Also, this one will have the bluetooth in it, which will be great.
I love my new camera. It is a camera and also a HD camcorder. It takes great pictures. I haven't figured out how to download video yet, but I am hoping it is great too. It looks just like a camera so I can keep it in my purse. I love being able to take pictures of my kids again. Speaking of pictures of my kids...I spent half of last night on the floor in Sasha and Brookelyn's bedroom again. I don't even remember which one of them woke up first, I just know all three of us woke up on the rug again. Kind of painful at my age. These pictures are from tonight right after they went to bed. Soooo cute when they area sleeping.

New Camera

I gave Dakota my camera when she went to college, which is why I haven't posted any pictures lately. I bought one last week for Halloween, but it the pictures were pretty awful quality. Ray and I bought one today that I LOVE. Here are the cute ones I took today before bedtime.

New beds

Brookleyn and Sasha got new beds. Sasha learned how to get out of her bed months ago, but it has taken me a long time to get her a toddler bed. It is actually not that easy to find a nice, white toddler bed. Anyway, I ordered two so the girls would have the same ones in case they ever shared a room. I knew I wanted them to share a room some day, because I thought they would both like it. Ray and Brayden put one of them together while the girls and I were out shopping. I called my mom and asked her to meet me at a local mall to help so I could get Sasha's ears pierced. Sasha has been asking me to get her ears pierced since we had Brookelyn's done a few months ago. We went a while ago but only one person was working and they have tow people do it for younger kids. My mom lives close by, but we actually don't get to see her that much. If you are wondering why, re-read about what it is like when we eat out or leave swim practice and you will understand. After today, it may be awhile before she goes out with us again. It started out nice, she watched the girls while I bought them a few pairs of pajamas. And Sasha was fine until I paid for the earrings. Suddenly she wanted no part of it. She started saying, "My mommy, I don't want my ears pierced." I decided to do it anyway, since I knew she would start asking for earrings when we got home. She cried a little before they pierced her ears, but the worst thing was afterwards. She was upset for about a half hour. She clung to me and kept telling me her ears hurt. Even sitting down to eat with my mom didn't help, which is really unusual for Sasha. She was fine by the time we got to Brayden's soccer game, though, and has been happy about it ever since.
After the game, I took Bradyen to a birthday party and left the girls at home with Ray. While we were gone, they put together the other bed. His version is that he put together the bed and they worked as a team to take apart the house. I think that is about right. When I got home both beds were in Brookelyn's room and the girls wanted to sleep in them. I thought we could try it and see how it went. Brookelyn usually sings or talks in her room for over and hour (sometimes two hours), so it may not work. Also, Sasha gets up really early and I don't want her waking Brookleyn up. I read them a few books, let them look at books in their beds for a few minutes and then sat in the room while they fell asleep. It went well tonight, but I am sure it is because they both missed nap time today. I think we'll give it a week or two. I hope it works, I think it will be fun for both of them. Brayden is in a sleeping bag on the floor in our room tonight, which he thinks is fun. I told him he could sleep in the girl's room too (since it is Saturday night), but he wanted to sleep with us.

Halloween Pictures

We had a great Halloween. I borrowed my sister's police officer uniform, Brayden was a Power Rang@r (he found the costume at my sister's cabin and wanted to wear it, even though he has never seen the show), Brookelyn was a pink fairy princess, and Sasha was a leapord. We had a parade at the school on Friday morning and then went trick or treating with my mom, sisters, their kids, friends...great, great time. Brayden loved being with his cousins, Brookelyn loved being with her cousin, Amaya, and Sasha loved trick or treating with Grandma Bayer. I'll post pictures later

I love my job

I am really lucky to have a job where I see my kids throughout the day. We all drive to school together and after I drop them off, my work day begins. I see Brayden many times a day and stop in to see Brookelyn once a day. Sasha is still too young to see me without wanting me to take her with me, so I have to hide if I am by her room. She really likes school, but really doesn't understand that I work there. I am also lucky because I really like the people I work with, which cannot be said for every job. I think one of the best things about my job, though, is that I get to have input into making my children's school great. I have been working really hard to learn all of the children's names, parent's names, schedules...as well as creating a Artist and Composer of the Month Program. I decided that I wanted to have the children learn about a new artist and composer every month, so every month I create a unit box with a ton of info about the featured month's artist and composer. I kept track of how long it took me to make it for this month-15 hours. I did most of it during my off time, because it is hard to do anything at my office. Too many interruptions and distractions. I put up seven prints by Matisse in the multi purpose room this month and am playing Bach on my stereo in my office. I go around and "quiz" the students in each room about different things about the featured artist and composer and they win a fun pencil if they can answer it correctly. I make sure that every child wins a pencil during the month. I know it is working because a lot of parents have told me that their children can now recognize a lot of Van Gogh's works and know a lot about him. We studied him last month. It takes a lot of work, but it is worth it. The problems is that I am supposed to work four days a week from 8:15 -4:15, but I have only been able to get a day off twice so far. In the beginning it was my trying to get my office and other things organized, but the last few weeks it was other things that came up. I have never been able to leave at 4:15. 5:30 is closer to when I leave. Some nights much later. I am going to get better though. The kids like staying late, but I always feel guilty. Often when I pick them up, they tell me to get one of the other kids first. All three say this, but it is usually Brayden and Brookelyn. Sasha usually wants me to sit down and wait while she plays for longer or finishes an art project that she is working on. They all have great teachers, so I am lucky.
Three days a week after school we go to where Bradyen practices for the swim team. He really needs to keep active, so even though it is really hard, I keep bringing him. I stopped for about a week and a half and he started acting up in school. Sasha, Brookelyn and I spend most of the time in the playground while Brayden swims. Sometimes it is just me trying to keep the girls away from the pool while they try their best to get close enough to fall in. By the time Brayden is out and has taken a shower, I am pretty tired. I get all three cranky kids into the car, which is the hardest part. All three are very tired by then and do not want to walk to the car. I have to trick, beg, demand, nip at their heels...whatever it takes to get all three to the car. It is usually not very pretty. At least one of them has a meltdown on the way home and doesn't want to hear either of the other two sing, talk or breathe all the way home. I have to remind myself that I am their role model and that they are the same children I picked up from school an hour before. They sound like little demons. I make the twenty minute drive home trying my best to be sane and then realize every day THAT I STILL HAVE TO MAKE DINNER. I do not like making dinner. I manage to get them all out of the car and then make two more trips back to empty the car of all of our stuff before starting in on making dinner. Luckily for me, usually within a few minutes after putting our a few plates of fruit and raw veggies, the demons turn into my sweet kids again. Not always, but most of the time. And then I can make a quick dinner. Usually after we eat, I have the kids watch a half hour movie while I quickly clean up and make lunches for the next day. Ray usually comes home during that time. We get the kids bathed and in bed, and then I do the million things Moms always do before I go to bed. I usually get to bed around 12 or 1 and am up before 6 with Sasha. I turned 45 a couple of weeks ago, but I know there are days I look older...