new routines = busy = crazy

The girls started at their new school this past week and it meant that we all had to get used to a whole new routine. The girls go to school everyday from 8:20 to 3pm. Sometimes hubby drives them, and I stay and walk Big M to the bus stop, and sometimes we switch. Daddy cherishes the alone time he gets with Big M at the bus stop; they get to chitchat without any interruption and just be silly. I, on the other hand, make use of the time I take the girls to school and go buy groceries on the way home.

The girls love their school and their new friends! They also love the fact that they get to bring their own lunch. However, preparing lunches for 3 kids take as much as an hour even with hubby's help. I hate that piece of chore, because it eats into my "me" time after everyone has gone to bed.

Big M also started soccer practice. We found out that the team is co-ed, unlike his team in Texas. We all went to the soccer practice which proved to be a big no-no. It was quite a trek to get to the soccer field, and with kids who have been in school all day, it is too much. Everyone was cranky. Daddy will have to take over the soccer practice while the other kids and I stay home. That's the plan anyway, and we better stick to it for our own sanity's sake.

While everything is busy, I am craving "me" time more and more. I've been watching TV after the kids have gone to bed, and now that's just boring. So I've dug up my craft things and made space. So at night, while watching TV, I've been sewing. I finally finished Big M's PJ that he picked the fabric for last fall. Of course, if I make one for one child, I feel I have to make one for the others. Besides, K and J need a new PJ too. Everything they own are now midriff shirts because they have gotten so tall. So now I have the sewing bug. I've also been bit by the embroidery bug, so I have plans for that. Last but not least, I've started to go into bottle cap crafts. This one the kids have been enjoying with me as well.

Not to be forgotten, Daddy is starting to pick up his wood carving. I guess he sees me sewing away and wants to join in a very rewarding "me" time. He has other unfinished project from last year, but right now he is being driven by the desire to do something for Big M. Big M's anxiety is slightly up again and it is manifesting itself in the middle of the night. He wakes up and he can't sleep. He said he is afraid of monsters/ghosts, but if experience has taught us anything, we need to dig deeper into the cause (if we can find the cause at all). Daddy wants to make him a magic totem that would keep him safe at night, so he is designing that.

Little M is continuing to grow physically, mentally and his attitude. Big M's toddler shoes that I dug up for him in January are now getting small. The boy is eating us out of house and home in spurts. If there is food he didn't get to finish at lunch time, he eats them as soon as he wakes up from his nap. He is proving to be much like his older siblings - big! His sisters started out swearing their size clothes, and jumped up at age 2 1/2. Little M seems to be doing the same thing.

oh no!

In case you've noticed J's little smudge under her nose, it's from a fall she had at school. I was sitting in the living room trying to make Little M happy when my phone rang. A moment of panic came over me when I saw that it was from the preschool. Ever since the girls had a new preventative asthma inhaler, I haven't gotten a call from the school (to bring the nebulizer in) so my mind braces for the worst.

The assistant director said that J fell off from the 2-step bleacher type seating they have in class (why they have this in 3 year old classroom is not a smart thing). She was on the top and loss her footing and fell face first. The top of her lip hit the first step, and she slid down onto the floor hitting her forehead. She was pretty upset and started breathing fast. The director said it was probably because she was scared. And that she has a pretty big knot on her forehead. They had given her ice and will keep a close eye on her for the rest of the day.

I wasn't worried when I picked her up. Big M had a few of those at this age. But when I saw the assistant director she said it looked a lot better. I'm thinking, what? I would probably have freaked out had I seen her right after this happened then.

The sad thing is, J has fallen from the same spot before without any bump. I told her to pleeeeease not to play on top of the bleacher step again. J said, "OK, Mommy."

Christmas presentation

The girls had their Christmas presentation this evening. They knew their songs and they sang them! Loudly, I might add. They were adorable!



K (on the left side) was having a wardrobe malfunction. Her tights where riding down south. J on the other hand was very much into Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. I do believe we have another budding Drama kid right here.



Both J and K have been singing around the house for the past several weeks. They know their stuff. :)



K on the left (blue), J is on the right (purple)



The girls are one of the tallest in class!



"Santa Claus is Coming to Town"



After the presentation, we had time with Santa. Santa's back there somewhere.



K did not want to be near Santa.

school pictures

Princess K

Princess J

The pictures cost an arm and a leg, but how could I not purchase them?

J had 2 ponytails that's why she has  apart in the middle. Had I known they'd put a bow, I would have arranged her hair differently. Also, I should have dressed them differently.

I'll be sending photos to the grandparents...when I get around to it. Soon. Hopefully.

the budding athletes

The last couple of days were Field Days at the girls' school. They are quite the
little
athletes. They loved the activity and they loved playing with their friends. The parents were invited to watch and take pictures but Daddy and I and Little M were the only ones there. We just had to take the opportunity to watch them interact with other kids. With the school's carpool, we never get to see them in the school environment. It was a lot of fun and Daddy and I got a kick at seeing that they are the biggest kids in class. :p

Thing 1 is wearing Pink shirt with Blue pants, and Thing 2 is wearing Purple shirt and Pink pants.

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the twin posse

The girls are truly enjoying preschool and we are very happy about that. Their teacher is wonderful and would always give me little updates while she and one other buckles the girls in their car seats when I pick them up. Sometimes, the updates aren't so good, but always amusing.

Thing 2 has been put in time-out because she continually put her feet on the table. She continues to stay dry wearing big girl undies!

Thing 1 gets anxious (not sure if this is in a good or bad way) when they wait in the hall for carpool pick up. One day, she was told "No" and as a response, she drooped her shoulders and said, "I'm sad!"

Both girls have started the whole class by saying, "MEMEMEMEME!" when the want to do something. Now poor Mrs. Brazeal needs to curb this behavior from the whole class instead of just 2 little girls. lol

definitely ready for school

I slept late preparing backpacks, lunches, packing extra clothes for 3 kids the other night. Yesterday was the girls' first day of preschool. We dropped Curious George off first, and on their school. There is a carpool system, so I don't need to get off the car, but being that it's their first day, I went in and dropped them off. The girls immediately took to all the toys in the room which allowed me to chat a little bit with their teacher. After 10 minutes or so, I said the mantra we've been reciting all weekend long to prepare them for this day. "Katie is going to school, Jojo is going to school. Mommy has to say bye-bye! Then Mommy comes back to get you after your nap. " The two of them nodded, until I get to the "Mommy has to say bye-bye" to which, Thing 2 made a little pout. But seeing Thing 1 be all smiles helped her erase the frown. I walked out, then disappeared.

Of course I wasn't going to leave the building just yet. :) I went to the front, chatted with the assistant director and then headed back to the classroom to peak to see how the girls were doing. They were playing happily, so then I left.

I went to Target, bought the girls clothes. As I was about to leave, it was raining cats and dogs, so I went to get iced coffee and watched the rain fall. It was quiet. aaaah. :) Got home, got the master bath in order, did some home business and waited until I had to pick them up. Then I got an email from their teacher as to how their day went. Thing 1 ate well, and slept without a problem. Thing 2 didn't eat very much and was wide awake. She then asked the teacher what why Thing 1 was asleep and so she had to explain that it was because she was tired and it was time to rest. ;)

At the carpool pick up, I found myself very excited to see them again. They were all smiles. Thing 2 was in a daze, having been woken up after only 15 minutes of nap (she apparently finally fell asleep). Thing 1 was beaming. I asked if they had fun and they both responded, "uh huh!". It was a shorter nap than usual, since they usually napped from 1-3pm, but it was enough.

Today, I had to dropped a form off at their school. I left then in car, but as we were pulling out to leave, Thing 1 said, "No home, Mommy! School!" She can't wait to go back to school.

All in all, the day went well. There was not a single tear. Thing 2 even stayed dry and went to use the toilet. I had her in pull-ups but packed only undies. But they never had to change her since she stayed dry.

It was a good day for the girls.

Potty training and preschool!

Yesterday, Daddy and I have decided to enroll the girls in preschool at a local "christian" church. I put it in quotation because when I asked the director about it, she said they are "bible believing, non denominational church". Alrighty then, I thought. They teach the bible. I'm not too worried since the girls are still young and we definitely do not want to keep them there forever. Their school year ends in May. At that time, we'll have to think of where to enroll the girls for the summer and fall.

But the important thing is, both the director and assistant director were very friendly, as well as the teachers. So the girls will start on Monday and they will be in school Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9am to 2pm.

It's going to be a mad rush to head out the door with Curious George having to be at school before 8:30. Then the pick up is going to be crazy, too. I pick CG up at 5pm.

I want the girls potty trained soon. So since the school is willing to work with the parents on this, I decided to start yesterday. At 11am, I put both the girls in big girl undies. By 1pm, Thing 1 has wet 4 pairs of pants. At the same time, Thing 2 has only wet once. So I decided I would concentrate on Thing 2 for now until she is trained, and then train Thing 1.

Thing 2 even napped in her undies, but of course she woke up soaking wet. The whole day, she told me every time she wet her pants. I was encouraged by that. Today, we've been out most of the morning so I put her in diaper. But while out, she told me, "PEE!" so I ran her to the public restroom and sat her on the toilet. By then of course, she already wet her diaper.

When we got home, I kept an eye on her and kept taking her to the toilet. The first 2 times, she told me she peed, which meant she tinkled a few drops. But then every time she went to watch TV, a few minutes later, she would hide behind a chair, so I ran her to the bathroom again. By the 3rd time, she let it all out! :) I think we're now starting to get the idea that she needs to let it all out in the toilet and pee. Yipee! I feel very optimistic.

On Monday, I plan on keeping Thing 2 in undies while she is in school and keeping Thing 1 in diapers for now. We'll see how this all goes.

our very own princesses

I bought the girls matching shirts with lace tu-tu-like frilly edges from Disney store (thanks to the Christmas cash from Grandma) because they are starting to love princess things, but they didn't fit. Silly me for thinking size 4 was going to fit my ginormous 2.5 yr old daughters. So we returned them (and good golly, it's not easy to shop at Disney with 2 little girls by yourself!!) and ended up with these 2 dresses. I made them pick, and Thing 1 picked a the Little Mermaid one, and Thing 2 picked Tinker Belle one. I almost made the same mistake and picked up size 4's, but had a moment of clarity before paying and grabbed size 5/6 instead. They are a little big, but this means they should be able to enjoy it for a year....hopefully.

Thing 1 on the left, Thing 2 on the right.

Thing 1 looks like she fills the dress quite nicely, but it's very long and she still does have room.

I think, perhaps, this will still fit for Halloween. :)

Don't ask me why I make them kiss. It's just very cute. :)

On another note, we visited a preschool for them today. It's getting harder for me to do anything when they are all home. And it's getting very hard on me on nights they (one or the other) wake me up 5x in one night and then nobody (namely, Curious George) lets me take a nap! I only have 2 months before Baby #4 makes his arrival and it's not that much time to unpack and get the house in order. I'm quite worried now.

Anyway, we thought the girls would go to the same school Curious George goes to, but that's not the best right now. It will leave us with but $60 to our name every month after all the bills are paid, and that's not including trying to make a dent on debts. So we visited a church preschool instead. It was a lot cheaper and the people were quite nice. I got a good impression, so they may end up there in a week or two for 3 days a week.

A new preschool and haircut for everyone!

The first order of business for the day was to visit a preschool. I called several places, and narrowed the place to just one. We visited a Primrose school and ultimately ended up signing Curious George up. He loved the place, and based on what the teachers told me, it is exactly where he should be on his knowledge development. They have computers in the room, they are working on writing, math and reading. Everyone of which he is already working on. It's not a cheap school, but they let Curious George in for 3 full days a week. After being in schools that didn't cater to his abilities for the past year, we are more than happy to get him back in to something that will challenge him. Besides, he's off to public school this fall and then we'll only have to think about the twins in preschool.

I told Curious George he could start on Monday, but he insisted on starting immediately. Thankfully, they allowed him to start this Friday.

The girls also loved the toddler classroom. They wanted to join right in, but unfortunately, we need to offset the cost by delaying their start by a few more months.

Then we went to get a haircut for Curious George. I found a place for kids that was close by and it turned out to be an excellent place. He was super excited and before leaving the place, he already asked when he could go back. :) The good thing is, it's only about 5 miles from our rental house! (which we will be moving into next week)

He got to pick which vehicle chair he wanted to sit on, and a choice of movie to watch. I love this haircut! He looks so handsome and ready for his new school.

Then it was Thing 2's turn. She was excited to get on the police car, but shed a few tears when the woman started cutting her hair. But after a few minutes, she was happy again.

All happy!

Thing 1 was last. She protested at first. She also chose the police car and both she and Thing 2 watched Cinderella.

They only got a 2 inch trim. I really wanted their hair shorter because it's getting harder to take care of, but I mentioned to the lady that Daddy wanted them left long. So she insisted on only taking 2 inches off. They look great and it was a pleasant first hair cut for them. The woman even gave me locks of their hair. Awwww.

Then it was time to go back to the apartment after a long morning. Dallas is intimidating with all the over pass highway interchanges. Everytime I go back to the apartment, I miss a turn! Thankfully, with a GPS, I will always find my way back. But this is why, as if the actual interchange isn't crazy enough, take a look at the GPS!

Preschool is in session

Being in tight quarters and having no easy access to outside as is typical of apartment living, I've decided to take the opportunity to reopen "Mommy's Preschool". Here are the result of 1 hour's worth of work today. I may have grown some gray hairs...but at least they learned something. :)

Curious George did several worksheets but this is something I am pretty proud of. I told him what the direction said, but the girls were too busy tearing up the apartment so I needed to turn my attention to them before I could help Curious George write the numbers. By the time I was able to help him, he has written the numbers himself. :) The only thing that is off is that he wrote the number 6 backwards.

This is Thing 2's work. I explained to her the word "short" and then she just took off. Pretty amazing. The circles are all her own.

Thing 1 was too tired to pay attention to me babble on about "short" but she did get well on the shapes. She was able to identify triangle, square and circle on her own.

It makes me feel guilty sometimes how little time I have spent on the girls helping them with things like this, when in comparison Curious George has done many things like this at this age. But it seems the girls know more than I think they do, because they are picking things up much faster than I expect.

I also started focusing on potty training again yesterday. Armed with pull-ups, a sticker chart I printed for free from the internet and a sticker book from Wal-mart, we plow on. I have several set times for them to sit on the potty and they have done well. In fact, this morning during breakfast, Thing 2 said, "poo" so I sat her down. A few minutes later, there was a nice stinky suprise. Yay! Though later in the day, I think she was feeling the pressure to poo on the potty again. She doesn't understand yet that she can just pee and get the same cheer from everyone.

we survived!

The boy was home Thursday since he is now in preschool for 3 days, instead of 5. I had been preparing for this for a couple of weeks and have decided that the best way to go is to loosely follow his class schedule; mainly the nap, snack, outside time. I think the best thing was the outside time since it tuckered him out. I had the girls in the exersaucer on the deck and we blew bubbles. The boy then played with the water guns and then we played soccer. The soccer tired him out, which worked out nicely. When we came in, I put the girls to nap and then asked the boy to play in his room quietly. I told him I wouldn't be able to go up there if he called me because I had to work. He agreed. I was going to get him after 45 minutes, but he came down himself after 40. But that was 40 minutes of quiet bliss for me. :-)

We did craft paper projects, played in the ball tent, and a few other activities. It was tiring for me, but at least there was no tantrums.

Here are the ducklings playing in the ball tent. (Thing 1 in blue, Thing 2 in pink)