twinkle toes

malia has been asking for skechers 'twinkle toes' shoes since school started in july. one of her classmates has them. they are a bit pricey so she had to earn them. she finally earned them by getting 100% on all her tests and for good behavior in class. i took her to the mall last friday so she could choose which one she wanted. she wore them out of the store and i could tell she was walking slowly so that people would notice her new shoes. i actually heard someone pass by us and say, "cute shoes." too funny. she was so sad when she got sick that evening and couldn't go to 2 parties over the weekend to wear her shoes. and she was devastated when she found out she wasn't going to school on monday or tuesday and couldn't show her friends her new shoes. she went back to school today. when i picked her up, she had a huge smile on her face because i noticed she was wearing her twinkle toes. she's not even 6 yet and is already acting like a tween obsessed with fashion! i'm guess i'm okay with that as long as she knows that the twinkle toes won't be shining outside of the closet unless she keeps up the good work in school. is this how my mom felt when i asked for things? and this is only the beginning.

CYT

for a while now, malia has been telling people she wants to be an actress when she grows up. it's even in her kinder yearbook. but she also loves to sing and dance. i wanted her to have an extracurricular activity for after school but couldn't decide where. she's a bit small for sports, and the rec center classes were only good for just for fun classes. so i was excited when i came across the CYT (christian youth theater) website a couple of months ago. i knew it would be a perfect fit for her.

when i told her yesterday that she would be starting a new class that involved singing, dancing, acting, and costumes, she immediately started jumping and screaming with joy.

the class started today. malia couldn't wait to meet her new teacher. but of course there was a parent meeting first. so they played a disney trivia game while the kids waited. disney trivia - i knew i had made a good choice =). aside from that, the organization has really good reviews, and i was really impressed with their presentation. malia went off to her "wiggles" class with her new teacher, ms emily. she had a big smile on her face when she came out and can't wait to go next week. her homework is to watch mary poppins. that's my kind of homework!

back to legoland sealife

malia has been asking to go back to legoland sealife ever since we went in february. we thought it would be perfect to go for the holiday weekend, especially since we had free tickets and she's been working really hard in school. micah was down to go anywhere. of course, malia was happy to see the stingrays again. micah seemed really into the sharks. and now that he's a bit older, he was able to touch some of the starfish and hermit crabs.

when we got home, i started watching an episode of 'planet earth.' they were interested for about 30 minutes then went back to running a muck like monkeys in the zoo. i was surrounded by animals today.

fundraising is here

i'm officially one of those moms that ask family, friends, and co-workers if they would like to look at and buy from a fundraising catalog. i was actually waiting for fundraising to begin, curious about what it would be. malia came home with her catalog today. i was kinda hoping it would be for cookies, but it wasn't. that's okay, i already ordered from a friend's daughter's catalog. malia's catalog has different gifts, magazines, candies, and wrapping paper. her goal (really that means me) is to sell at least 15 items so that she'll get to play in the game truck that comes when the orders are in. of course, immediate family will order. i just hope my co-workers remember when i bought from their kid's fundraisers and they will return the favor. i'm not a salesperson ya know.

freak out

the minute i became a mom, i self diagnosed myself with anxiety disorder with paranoia since i tend to freak out before i take a breath and think out the situation. today was one of those kind of days. ms beverly called me from daycare and told me that micah started coughing and wheezing after lunch. it was possibly a reaction to the catfish in the meal he had eaten. he had eaten fish before, but certain dishes made him break out in hives. this was the first time he had catfish, and the first time he had an allergic reaction of just coughing and wheezing. this was just before 2pm and i get off work at 2:30pm. well, turns out my boss is out the whole week. so i just grabbed my stuff and told a co-worker i was leaving. i rushed to buy some benadryl and headed to daycare. when i got there, micah's ears were red and he had some hives starting. the good thing was that he was still playing. luckily, he liked the taste of the benadryl and took it right away. after about 30 minutes he was better. and i was too.

church school

malia started CCD today for her 1st year of holy communion classes. she calls it church school because it's different from regular school. as her teacher, mr steve, was explaining the curriculum, he mentioned he didn't like giving homework. AMEN to that! then i had to attend a parent meeting outside. i was able to see malia from where i was outside. there she was raising her hand many times to answer questions. she also had an activity with a partner and i could see her smiling and talking a lot. she even showed her teacher her cross necklace. they ended the class with a prayer. such a character that girl. she really enjoyed her first day.

buzzzzz

every weekday when we come home, micah goes straight for the bees as soon as i take him out of the car. he's literally right in front of them, it makes me nervous. but i guess the bees are too busy on the ice plant flowers to notice him. he is usually bent down further with his face closer to the bees. most of the time, i have to bribe him with something to get him in the house.

notice the car in one hand. and it's time for a haircut.

''it's a bee"

"buzz"

micah waving to a car passing by

OMG

we were getting ready for bed. malia was in the bathroom brushing her teeth, when i hear a "oh my goodness, OMG." i thought did she really just say OMG? and walked in to find out that her other front tooth had come out. she had a huge smile on her face. here's my toothless girl...

homework

when lia started 1st grade i knew she would be bringing home homework, but what i didn't realize was that it meant i had homework too, lots of it. i even went to lakeshore learning to buy all kinds of charts to put on her wall. there's no way we had to know this kind of stuff when i was in 1st grade. i'm pretty sure i wasn't counting by 2's or writing out the month of august. did i even know what august was at 5 years old? well, it's only week 2 of school and homework for me is a true test on my patience. it took the first week of school to really motivate malia to start on homework, but now she doesn't have a problem starting. finishing is another issue. she and i sometimes get distracted when the little boy walks in "vroom vrooming" with his cars. (daddy is 'supposedly' watching him.) so i have to remind her to focus on her work so she could play afterwards.

other than that she is doing fine while at school. she has been called 'chatty' though, and was told not to hum in class. i buy her hot lunch and she's given a lunch card. it's funny because the first day she told me excitedly, "they gave me a credit card to pay for my lunch." she likes to run around the track on the field with her friends at recess. i hope she doesn't lose any weight! we're all still adjusting to the new schedule, i think i will take the longest to adjust. and then it's round 2 come october when micah starts preschool. at least he won't have homework!

my mom passed away a little over 12 years ago, but it feels as if it were yesterday. i've been to a couple of viewings or funerals since then. last week, my dad's uncle passed away. we called him grandpa ding. my earliest memories of him are from elementary school. he was pretty close to my mom, and always tried to help her when my dad was out to sea. he was always smiling, very positive, and willing to give good advice. going to his viewing on friday and funeral yesterday, i learned so much more about him. he touched so many lives. even when he was weak from being on dialysis for many years. he truly had a pure heart. after that, i was convinced that sometimes the good ones go first, to open our eyes and help us realize how much more we could be doing with our lives, to appreciate what we have and help others have more, and to live like God wanted us to. my mom, my good friends' dad and lola, and grandpa ding - all good ones. it's SO hard to live without a loved one, but in some ways it makes us stronger. it's really touching how malia can love grandma even when she's never met her. in the same way she loves God. malia loves listening to stories about my mom and visiting the cemetery. she will draw pictures for her and ask me questions about her. it helps me remember all the things i love about my mom. malia can help me tell the stories to micah. we know that my mom is their guardian angel.