curriculum night

it was curriculum night at lia's school. when i sat down at malia's desk, i knew what i would see inside, a mess. she is so funny and completely the opposite of me. there were papers, crayons & pencils everywhere. and an empty apple chips bag. i remember my books in my desk arranged according to size and my eraser even had a special place. so i cleaned it up. i tried to take a picture of her messy desk with my phone, but the teacher was coming. her teacher informed the parents about what the students are learning and what is expected of them by the end of the year. that is the least of my worries. i worry about her behavior, because it could impede learning. but her teacher says that so far, she's doing well and she is very fond of her. malia has one of the highest rated 2nd grade teachers this year. there are perks of having a hubby that works there :).

another baby?

malia: can we have another baby? i want a sister instead.

me: that's not nice lia. do you want me to give micah away?

malia: no, but i want a sister.

me: okay then we can keep micah. but we can't have another baby.

malia: but ninang jos had 3 babies.

me: then we'll just borrow one.

micah: i have a baby in my belly. (points to his big belly)

me: there you go lia, micah has a baby on the way.

a call from the mouse

i love doing character calls to surprise the kids (esp when it's free). ariel, mickey, and jasmine have called malia before. came across another one yesterday and scheduled mickey to call the kids. this was micah's first character call. when i put mickey on speaker, micah's eyes lit up and his jaw dropped. he couldn't believe mickey was calling them. malia jumped up and down and asked me how mickey knew her phone number. so of course i put my little lecture in with my answer. i said that i knew mickey's number just like how i know santa and the tooth fairy's numbers. i told them i had mickey call because they needed some encouragement to listen and behave so they could go to disneyland again. who knows if they got my message, they were too busy trippin' out that mickey called.

lemonade

saw some kids selling lemonade as we were driving home after micah & roel's haircuts. so we stopped and let the kids buy some lemonade. they loved the idea since they love lemonade so much. we don't live on a busy street so we probably won't ever do a lemonade stand. we'll just buy from others instead.

transition

i guess i have to face the fact that my baby boy is growing up. i really can't believe he'll be 3 next month. this week he transitioned to a different class at his preschool. he's pictured above with his first preschool teachers, ms gonzalez & ms romo. they are so good with him and have taught him so much. he already knows his new teachers because the whole preschool does activities together, so he had no problems with the transition. it was probably just me that had a hard time dealing with the change.

i loathe homework

the homework battles have begun. i don't know why it's so hard for malia to understand that if she just gets her homework done and out of the way, then she can play and do whatever she wants. all of a sudden she's SO tired and her head or her legs hurt. but if i ask her if she wants a quick break to run around outside she'll quickly say yes. so yesterday, i told roel that he is officially in charge of homework time. i can work with her for the reading portion, but anything that has to be written down will not be with me. and he really is better at it than i am. he can tell if she needs to be left alone to do her homework or if she needs some prompting. goodness, and we're only in 2nd grade!

in the buff

why do kids think it's so hilarious to be naked? if i tell malia to go into the bathroom and take off her clothes because she is going to shower, she is running around naked in the rooms before i can even get to the bathroom with her pjs. then micah thinks it's funny and somehow it turns into 'naked time' and his clothes are off. then he's chasing her around saying he's going to pee on her. that's when i step in and say, "that's enough, get your little butt in the shower."

and last week i was baking at my sister's house. her 1 year old, joelle, who was fully clothed the last time i looked at her, walked by and she was naked with a big grin on her face. then she started dancing. it was funny to me because it wasn't my kid.

i know that kids are still curious and getting comfortable in their bodies. but i don't know about this 'naked time', i don't let it last for very long when it happens. and at least they don't run around and giggle every time they are naked.

prayer request

i've been a bit physically and mentally off this month due to some unnecessary added stress. don't get me wrong, we've still had a lot of fun this month with the parties and visitors. it's the other things like bills, work, etc. sometimes i have to force myself to take a step back and tell myself that things could be worse. and playing with the kids is a good reminder that the stress is temporary, and that it's usually worth it in the end. their laughter is such a good remedy.

this morning i had a conversation with a co-worker that made my worries seem so minuscule. i learned that my other co-worker recently found out her 4 year old son has multiple tumors in his stomach. my heart sank and i immediately felt the need to hug my children. i've been praying for him since then. life is so precious. kids are such a great gift from God. why was i even worrying about the other things? only God knows what's best for him. but if you're reading this, please pray for little raoul and his family, for strength. thank you.

*update 7.30.10* after many tests, it was determined that raoul is suffering from stage 3 burkitt's lymphoma and just started chemo. the doctors have told the family that many children do well on the treatment.

malia the 2nd grader

malia started 2nd grade yesterday. her new teacher is ms. neilson. roel already warned her that malia has a lot of energy. i think he forgot to mention how emotional she is. malia expends so much energy at one given time that she doesn't realize she's wearing herself out. so in the afternoon, i guess she was extremely tired, she started crying for daddy. of course, she bounced back after a minute or two and was her usual self. other than that, the first day was fine.

i already knew she was dead tired the minute she walked in the door. she was also hungry since she ate her lunch at snack time, which left only her snack for lunch time. ay malia joy! so she was trying to eat everything in site when she got home.

hopefully she is getting back into the routine and today is better.

*roel sent me this picture. can you tell that he brings her in the morning? her collar is tucked in, she's dragging her sweater, hair in her face, etc. too funny! but i am so thankful he does that, it's hard to get the kids going in the morning and getting to school on time.

questions

having kids that talk a lot means lots of questions, in addition to everything else they have to say. sometimes they're funny, sometimes random, and sometimes just plain odd. i don't always have the answers. so if someone's not around to answer for me, then i just make up an answer. it's harmless.

here are some of the questions i've heard just today, in no particular order. you can take a guess at who asked it and how i answered.

can we go to the party now?

why is this stuff here?

is this the present, where's my present?

why do you have moles mom?

can you buy me a big blue garbage truck?

is the party close or far?

why did you turn left? (i have 2 backseat drivers)

what are doldrums? (completely random)

i don't like it, why papa buy that?

am i going to school tomorrow? (asked 10 times in a row)

am i going to grandma's house tomorrow?

why does daddy have hair in his nose?

it's good that they ask questions because they learn new things that way. but there are times when i have to announce that it's quiet time...so i won't go insane ;).