Kaia explaining the owie on her hip

"well, the other day, I was skating, well, not skating, but holding onto a teacher's foot, and I forget his name, but I skeeted like this..."

BEEEEEEEEEEP

This is a test.

This is a test of the Live Bookmark Program.

If this were a real emergency, there would be no blog, since I'd be dealing with it.

Repeat, this is a test of the Live Bookmark Program, done at the request of Andrea.

This concludes the test of the Live Bookmark Program.

Thank you.

First Days....

Here is Kaia this morning! She said after school that first grade was "fun" but when asked specifics, she had no interest in elaborating. We stopped by the store to get more lunch things, as sometimes I'll be making her lunch for her to bring. She was quite excited about the fact that she gets "three recesses!! THREE!!" which I'm happy about too. Kids that age need a lot of running around time.

For comparison's sake, here's her picture from a year ago, on the first day of kindergarten....
My god, she's grown!

Kid news

Kaia started first grade today! She has been really excited all summer, and we went to her open house last night where she met her teacher. She found out that several of her friends are in her class, and two of them sit at her table. She excitedly picked out her first day of school clothes last night and I packed her lunch.
Then when I walked her to her class line and turned to leave, she changed her mind. She really didn't want me to leave. I know that as soon as she got into her class, she was fine, but she was so despondent standing there. I can't wait to hear about her day! I'm sure she'll be excited afterwards.

One thing I realized is that by sending her back to after school care and working for those two hours, I don't think I'm actually coming out ahead much. So am going to talk to Mike, and Kaia, and John, and see what everyone else thinks.

Took a picture of her this morning, will post it tonight! Will re-post the one of her first day of kindergarten, there's a big difference!

Also had an ultrasound yesterday. Will post pics of that too. Baby boy is super healthy, and weighs 6 lbs, 1 oz! It's hard to believe he's already bigger than Kaia was when she was born. He wasn't moving as much as usual, but still quite a bit. It's hard at this point to get good pictures since they are all squished up, so don't expect much... :-)

Multiple super powers.

"Mom, guess what?"
"What?"
"Bella, at school, only she's not there anymore, but when she was, told me that she's magic, so she can fly!"
"Really? Do you think maybe she was pretending she can fly?"
"No, she really can. Guess why I know? 'Cause sometimes, when she drinks out of her water bottle, sometimes, it refills."

Proof Positive you have a magic child--her water bottle spontaneously refills. After that, there can be no doubt she can also fly.

dragons, drowning, and being the wife.

Here is a slice of time in my house right now.....

9:24am
Katia is reading Get fuzzy on the couch. Kaia and Liam are playing house after building a fort. Liam just brought home a “shotted dragon” for Kaia to heal. she had no patience for the pretendedness of the dragon and kaboshed that idea. Liam then proclaimed their dog was barking. Kaia said to make the dog be quiet or he’d wake up the sleeping baby.

9:26am
just realized my coffee is across the room. drat. will have to wait until mike walks through so he can get it for me.

:27am
“Liam, pretend this was my bedroom, cause pretend that I was sick in this game, all right?”
“yeah, okay, I’ll go get you a pillow”
“ah choo ah choo”
“Kaia, I brought a pillow, but it’s the dog’s pillow!”
“okay. ah choo. ah choo. Mom! pretend I was bless-you-ing, okay? ah choo……….okay, pretend now I was all better.”

:31
I wish I could take a video of this. they are both taking care of a “sick dog”. it’s very sweet. Liam’s remedy is repeated ear pulling. (of the dog’s ears, not his). Kaia’s is to lay down all together. positions under the fort are being negotiated. sick dog has been forgotten.

:33
postions have been decided. Laia is under the fort, Liam and the dog outside it. uh oh…sickness has spread to horsie. remedy includes going for a ride and being dragged up the stairs. Liam is still sticking to the ear pulling cure.

:34
a party is being planned. horse and dog are apparently well.
Liam: “I’m pretending my pants…..” then he gets distracted.

:35
“Kaia….I was drowning….no! don’t pull! I can get myself!”
Liam claims he’s the wife. Kaia finds this hysterical.

:36
“Kaia! Kaia! the baby dog is drowning! I’ll get him!”
“Liam! you get the baby dog! I’ll get the horse and the baby and the dragons!”

:37
“Kaia, pretend my flip flops are my paddling things.”

:38
“Kaia, the big dog died. the dragons died too.”
“no, they didn’t, Liam, they didn’t die, they are just sick.”
“okay”

:39
“honey! hurry up! Liam!! hurry!”
“Kaia! I’m in a boat!”
“oh! pretend our house was a boat, okay, I’ll go upstairs and get our car. pretend this was our grandma’s house and you were there, okay?”
“okay”

:42
Liam: “and I was drowning, and my swimmer flip flops were gone….”
“okay, and so was I, and we were drowning together.”
“and the dog was drowning…hey! you poked my eye!”
“sorry…”
“that’s okay.”
“I’m going upstairs to get-“
“and now I’m drowning again…”
“Liam! stop drowning all the time!”
"okay"

:44
“here comes horsie! honey? Liam?”
“I’m sick!!”
“well, come get horsie! and the bear!”
“okay”

Sleepover!

Well, the circus has begun! Katia and Liam are over, and when the three get together, you never know what will happen. Sometimes they all get along wonderfully....sometimes? Not. Tonight they are going back and forth.

First, they tried to play a game with the following results:

Kaia, 6, mostly knows the rules of the game (Clue Jr.) so gets annoyed when Liam (5), who doesn't know the rules of the game and has no interest in finding out, plays "wrong". Katia, 10, realizes there's no point in learning the rules of the game, especially if it's Kaia she's asking, so just kinda wings it. This culminates in Liam and Kaia yelling at each other between dice rolls, and Katia quietly rolling the dice and aimlessly moving around the board.

Dinner went over well, except I'm an idiot and forgot Katia can't eat dairy, so had to replace her portion of mac and cheese with a sandwich. Otherwise, most of dinner was consumed with little complaint, other than Liam occasionally claiming to be allergic to this or that, which isn't true.

With promises of cookies forthcoming, (Katia's choice for type-oatmeal chocolate chip) the kids are now outside playing with chalk, bubbles, and the next door toddler. Loud yelling is occurring, but mostly happy yelling, except for one screaming match between Liam and Kaia that ended quickly.

Bedtime is better being unplanned for now, and soon I will call them all in for cookies and a bit of relaxation (who am I kidding?!!)

(would have taken pictures, but my camera's battery is dead, and the charger is out of reach, due to the mess in my dining room. sorry)

Ooops...they just came in on their own....chaos! noise! good times ahead!

Talking with Katiana

A little while ago, I posted my first IM conversation with Kaia. This afternoon, I had one with Katia, Andrea's daughter. Not our first, but it's still fun to show. Katia is almost 11, and it's amazing to me that Andrea has a daughter who's that old. She's an awesome girl, and I am so happy I've been able to witness her growing up. Katia is using her mom's IM, obviously......

Andrea says:
HI this is katia

Della says:
hi katia!

Andrea says:
liams aslep right now

Della says:
okay

Andrea says:
how are you

Della says:
I'm good. tired! how are y ou?

Andrea says:
prfictly prfict!

Della says:
lol

Andrea says:
did I spell it ronog?

Della says:
what? perfect? yes, but that's okay! I was laughing because I thought it was a wonderful thing to say, not because you spelled it wrong.

Andrea says:
oh.good.

Andrea says:
moms going to let liam sleep a little more and then she`ll call you,so we can com over.

Della says:
okay!

Andrea says:
is kaia out of her mined excited?

Della says:
LOL

Della says:
yes, she is! She keeps asking when you are coming over

Andrea says:
well you can tell her wel be ther almost as soon as liam wakes up.

Della says:
I will.

Andrea says:
OK

Della says:
I have to go do dishes, see you soon!

Andrea says:
ok

this is only one of the f'd up financial things that happened today

So I tried to apply for energy assistance for the 3 months I will not be working.

Was told they go by the last three months of income to qualify you. The last three months were the only three months Mike works full time during the year, so definitely don't qualify, and just barely don't anyway with our normal income.

Asked if it could be taken into consideration that our income will drastically decrease during the time we are actually applying. Last three months we could AFFORD the electric bill, which is why are are applying NOW, not THEN. Was told no.

Asked what other options there are. Was told that I could apply in December, since then the last three months (September, October and November) would qualify me. Told them that I wouldn't need it THEN, which is why I'm applying NOW. Was told sorry.

Asked if there are ANY other options. Was told that I can submit an energy bill showing that I have been LATE on my payments, then will qualify for something, though a lesser amount. Told them again that I could afford it BEFORE NOW, so am not late. Told sorry then, don't qualify.

Said "so if I purposely DON'T PAY MY BILL, so I am late NEXT MONTH, I will qualify? But if I want to stay up to date this month, because I can afford it, and act like a responsible adult who simply needs help for 3 months, I won't?" was told that was correct.

fucked up system if you ask me.

Strange Choices

Actual names of boys I know that I will definitely NOT be choosing:

Branch
Arson
Merlin
Tytan
Coyote
Rowdy

Friends are one of the greatest things in life

Okay! Finally! Time for my blog about last weekend!

So Tania came up Friday night, and both Friday and Saturday night we stayed up WAY late talking. It was really nice to just be able to gab. Usually even if it's just me and her, I still have Kaia to watch over. But this time I think we talked more in 2 nights than we have in the whole time we've known each other! (exaggeration, yes, but you get the idea)

My mom also came up on Friday, so we had a full house. I don't mind that many people in my house, in fact I like it, but I always worry my company is feeling cramped. Sleeping arrangements worked out fine, though I wish I could think of a way to make it more comfy for Tania when she come up in October to help with baby.

Kaia was going to be in the parade on Saturday, but she decided she'd rather spend that time with us, so we just hung out at home. Andrea wasn't going to be able to go to the baby shower, because her dog Maya had to be watched (poor girl, has an abscess under her eye!!) but she was able to come after all. She dropped her kids off to play with Kaia during the shower, and we headed to the hotel at 2.

It was AWESOME. 6 other women besides me, and everyone seemed to get along really well. We played Baby Bingo, which was fun, but the game that was the best part was Baby Pictionary. My team- me, Andrea, and Tania, won, but everyone had fun drawing and guessing. The food was excellent, and there was a decadent chocolate cake. I loved all of the gifts. I brought the scrapbook Tania is making for me, and everyone was impressed--she's doing an awesome job, and it's going to be something I treasure forever.

We actually had to leave before everyone was ready, which is much nicer than everyone trickling out because they are bored!

Oh! One of the high points was Andrea's mom's story of the "shaved beaver" which actually refers to a coat, but had EVERYONE in tears we were laughing so hard.

I can't wait to see the pictures from the shower, and a BIG THANKS to Dana and Andrea for putting it together, you girls ROCK.

On Saturday night, we went to a new Thai place in town. The service could use some improvement, but the food was delicious (if a bit spicy!) and we had enough for lunch the next day.

Sunday morning my mom left, and Tania and I hung around the house until it was time to take her to the airport. I worried sometimes that she was bored, but she assured me that it was nice to just hang out and talk....I agree, but it was nice she thought so too!

It was one of the best weekends I've had this summer. With the baby shower gifts I am 99% set for the baby, and have to keep myself from setting up the larger things that would only get in the way!

Thanks to all the women who came to my shower, for making such a wonderful memory for me.

no way to refuse THIS (not that you'd want to)

Kaia walked in to the dining room to say the following to Mike:


"Want to spend some time with me, dad?"


I am sure you can guess his answer.

Ta-may-to, ta-mah-to, who cares, they are DELICIOUS!

Here is a tomato salad I made with the tomatoes and 3 different kinds of basil I grew! It was extremely tasty!! Kaia has been picking ripe tomatoes off the vine and eating them like apples. Tomatoes are definitely a staple crop around here now!

a (very) brief check in

Holy shit! It's been a long time since I posted! and unfortunately, it's going to be longer, because I really don't have the energy to post much tonight.

But I wanted to take the time to thank Dana HUGELY for the baby shower she threw, to thank Andrea for co-hosting it and for the beautiful flowers she brought to it, and thank everyone else who came. It went wonderfully, and I WILL go into more detail later.

Tania spent the weekend here, and we had a MARVELOUS time.

Training my replacement at work. Will be nice to have company during the day, but training is tiring. I want to make sure I leave nothing out!

Going to bed. dishes and more are undone. grumble...mumble....moan...oh well.

lazy lazy lazy

Damn. Was going to take then post some pictures, but forgot camera in car. and really don't feel like getting at the moment.

was pretty good day. tired, but got some more closet stuff done, and made play dough with child. she's having much fun with it right now. will be excellent winter activity since it's cooked and nice and toasty warm for awhile.

not much of interest to say. will post play dough recipe later.

Another cleaning endeavor

My god. I swear, sometimes I have no idea what is going on in my brain!

Last night Mike and I decided to clean out the storage closet that is off of our dining room. It's a long closet about 8-10 feet long by about 3 feet deep. On both ends are shelves, one side of which we use as a pantry.

This closet was FULL. We had computer stuff, scrap booking stuff, craft, music, sewing stuff, gift wrap, decorations, party supplies, baby stuff, kid stuff, you name it, it was in there.

Now here's the interesting part. We've gone through this stuff 3 or 4 times since we've lived here. However, last night we ended up with

SEVEN bags to go to goodwill and
OVER FIVE BAGS of garbage!! GARBAGE BAGS, people!

Why did we have all that crap?! Why did I feel the need to keep it? I am so glad to get rid of so much!

If I had known how much we'd be getting rid of, I would have taken a before picture!

21st century girl

I had my first IM conversation with my daughter today! Mike set up our web cam, and she was having a lot of fun with it. It wasn't the most coherent conversation, but still....


Kaia says:
kaia

Della says:
hi kaia

Kaia says:
im5ihaimom

Kaia says:
feuyyh4uvfyntyudfyt

Kaia says:
td67gtd7gh27s6hgttd6tgr

Kaia says:
i love you

Della says:
I love you

Della says:
kaia, do you want to go school shopping with Andrea today?

Kaia says:
yes

Della says:
cool!

Kaia says:
i love you

Della says:
I love you!!!

Della says:
what are you having for lunch?

Kaia says:
imhungry

Della says:
what are you going to eat?

Kaia says:
idot no

Della says:
ask Daddy what he is making for you

at that point she left, and Mike came on. Pretty cool though, I think.

The date?

It's SET!!!

Baby Boy will be making his grand entrance on September 24th!!!



holy shit....that's next month.....

I can feel the love.

After putting on chapstick, I kissed Kaia.

She smiled big and said, "Now I have lipstick on!"

She gave me a big kiss on the arm....

"See? Can you feel the slime!?"

wait!

Realized I did NOT talk about going to Dana's, just dreamed I did...or something...

Anyway, went to Dana's, and Kaia played with her kids, and Dana and I sat on the couch and talked about all sorts of things, as is our wont. I wish we could make it out there more often, I always have a great time. Both of us are pretty busy though, they are selling their house, and I'm getting ready for baby and other such stuff....she and Andrea are planning my baby shower, which is in 2 weeks, I'm really excited about that! My mom and Tania will both be there, and Heather, and Andrea's mom and sister. I wish my sister and Kathy could be there, but I totally understand how that can't be.

I joined Second Life so that after Dana moves, and we move, we can still hang out and such! I haven't logged on much yet, but planning on going to her birthday beach party on Friday....need to buy a suit for that! and some new hair... (both virtual of course!)

okay, getting back to work.

a kinda boring update...

Had a good weekend! Saturday went to Dana's already talked about that I think.... so moving on to Sunday....

Woke up and got in some cleaning, then Katia came over for a scrapbooking get together! Both girls did some, and though Kaia got bored after awhile, she did her first page! I'm going to do a scrapbooking spread with her page on one side, and a page talking about the project on the other....

Katia did two pages, with pictures from her vacation on them. She did a wonderful job, and picked out great pictures to write about.

Andrea, John and Liam came over, and we all headed to the play area at our apartments. The littles played for awhile, but Katia came over and hung out with us most of the time.

After we got back, Andrea and John spirited Kaia away on a surprise sleepover, which made her and Mike and I happy!. Mike was still at work, so I did a scrapbook page and half, and then we went to Safeway for a date! Fun times, actually.....got home, made tuna melts for dinner, and then just hung out a bit.

Didn't get to bed very late, but I was SO tired this morning. After Amanda gets here...speaking of which, I thought she was coming in at 11, but it's past that already...hmmmm....anyway, when she does get here, I'm heading out to Andrea's. Hang out there for a bit, then come back home. Kaia starts dance camp today!

pictures to follow...don't have the ability to put them on the computer right now....

oh! By the way! Happy Day!

For those of you whose birthdays or other special days Mike and I might have forgotten....hope this makes you feel better. We forget our own anniversary too!

I've been trying to put birthdays and anniversaries and such on my Google calendar to help me remember them, since y'all ARE important to me!

I also put is OUR anniversary, which falls on August 4th. Now, a few days ago, I was looking at the calendar, and remembered that Saturday, today, is our 6th anniversary. Now, Mike and I aren't really big on celebrating it anyway. Our tradition, started on Year One, comes from not having a lot of money on our first one, so rummaging through the freezer to see what we had and coming up with tater tots. We had $20, so we went to the store and got a $10 steak to share, and a $10 movie. (the first year it was Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. That's the only one I remember) We also had a bottle of wine bought on our honeymoon. We don't buy each other anything, stemming from the fact that we haven't usually had money to do so. But neither of us have ever minded.

So every year now, we have steak and tater tots for dinner. We go and buy a DVD, and a cheap bottle of wine. Then we watch our movie, eat our dinner, get drunk, and ....have a bit o' fun in the living room.

Oh! so back to the forgetting bit. This year, after that brief moment of memory, I forgot all about it again. Then this morning, I got an email from my Google calendar reminding me. "Happy Anniversary!" I said, laughing. "Oh!" Mike said, and opened HIS calendar. "Is it really?! Happy Anniversary!"

We both already have plans for today. But tonight, we can cook a steak that we luckily already have, I can run to the store for some tater tots, and we can watch a movie. We aren't buying one this year, don't really have the funds or desire to.

We don't make a big deal of our anniversaries. But knowing it's been 6 years is pretty cool. Yep. Pretty damn cool.

Sarah "Zorro" T*****

My mother put the following poem on her blog, and when I commented on it, she mentioned that she wants it read at her funeral. I told her I would make it so (though that particular humorous phrase didn't occur to me at the time).

So I wanted to put it here, with the story of what was said after the request, because it's funny, at least to me, and this way I can print this whole entry out and talk about all of it at her funeral. (and if that seems morbid to you, you don't know my mom, and can take it up with her)

So, first, here's the poem:

All is Well

Death is nothing at all,
I have only slipped away into the next room.
I am I, and you are you.

Whatever we were to each other, that we still are.
Call me by my old familiar name,

Speak to me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference in your tone,

Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.

Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Pray, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effect,

Without the trace of a shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant,
It is the same as it ever was; there is unbroken continuity,
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?

I am waiting for you, for an interval,
Somewhere very near, just round the corner.
All is well.

~Canon Henry Scott Holland~

Anyway, after I agreed to read it at her funeral (and by the way, I have also agreed to put the name that is the title of this post on her tombstone, sans *****) , she told me about a kayaking trip she was planning for that day. As usual, I asked her who she was going with, me being worried about her decrepit state (just kidding, love you mom ;-)! ) Knowing full well what I was thinking, her answer was "Myself". I objected, to no avail, and her response?

"Well, if something should go awry, you know what to read!"

I have a feeling that her funeral will be a mixture of tears and laughter. Her funeral that won't happen FOR A LONG DAMN TIME!!

Her Harem

"Guess who I'm in love with at school?"

"In love with? Who?"

"Luther, Luca, Mason, Ryan, Holland."

"umm....I see...."

tired, but aware of my blessings

Andrea and John are coming home a day early. While I know that they didn't want to, and the time we've spent at their house has been fine, it will be nice to be home again. Andrea and John, don't be offended, I am happy we were able to help you out this summer so you could take two trips that otherwise would not have worked, but I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight!

I am hoping that the lethargy I am feeling is a symptom of not enough sleep for the last few days. I feel like I am in limbo, and want out. I also want someone else to do my dishes, and wash my laundry, and go to work for me. But no one else can. Mike is very busy with his classwork, as well as trying to get work stuff done before the semester starts, then he will be busy with his last (!!!!) semester at school, which once the baby come he will have to juggle with work while not getting the sleep or time he needs.

We have talked about this, and both realize that once the baby comes, it's going to be hard for both of us to get through this year. And I am fully aware it will be easier for me. But I still know I will get annoyed when he comes home from school and I've been with the baby all day, and Kaia just got home from school so is wanting time with each of us, and I'm trying to get dinner ready, and he is trying to get some space to do homework instead of just letting me go to bed! ;-)


I feel very lucky in that my mom and Tania are both going to come up to stay for several days, and Andrea has assured me she will be here to help as well, something I am sure I will be taking her up on!

So many people out there have to do this on their own, without family or friends willing and happy to help, and without a husband working his ass off so he can support his family. I have all three, as well as a six year old who is practically drooling in anticipation of her baby brother's arrival.

My weekends for the next 3-4 weeks are filled with fun stuff--seeing friends who are moving soon, scrap booking with Katia, the parade, my baby shower, going to the Lake....and Flylady is helping me be able to do those things and STILL have a clean house. I have 9 weeks until the baby is here, and am almost all prepared.

Despite money problems, and occasional times of stress and irritation, I feel ready for the rest of this year. Still looking forward to next year, but I again feel able to enjoy my time left in this chapter of my life. As long as I can get some sleep! ;-)

President Kaia will now approach the podium.

Kaia and I were discussing what to get her friend for her birthday. I asked her what she was thinking would be a good gift, with the usual answers being "I don't know", "I'll look when we get there", or a specific thing, often more compatible with her desires than with the gift-getter's. This time however, after thinking for a moment or two, this was her matter of fact answer (said in the tone of a CEO discussing an important business proposal):

"We have three options."

"Three, huh?" (me)

"Yes. One, something Dora. She really likes Dora. Two, something princess. Three, something....bear....those bears...on her wall..what are they called again?"

"Care Bears?"

"Yes! Those are our three options. Dora, princess, or Care Bears. I will decide which one when we go to the store and see what toys they have in the toy section."

Yes Ma'am.