The Big K - A Week in Review

Well, it's Friday afternoon and our first week in the public school system is behind us. I thought I'd give a little review, and maybe a few laughs.

Monday
Paris woke to her Hello Kitty alarm and was happy to follow our new morning routine. (10 minutes to rest on the couch, 15 minutes to eat breakfast, 15 minutes to get dressed and out the door) She gladly posed for a few pictures. You can see the sass, I mean sparkle in her eyes. She and I load up and head to school. The closer we get to her classroom the tighter her hand gets on mine. We unload her stuff, find her table, and then she realizes I'm leaving. Yes folks, Paris was the cryer in her classroom. I squatted down and comforted her just a bit but remained firm that she would have a great time. As she really started to crank up (there were real tears folks!) Miss Gore caught on and headed over. I kissed Paris on the head, waved at Miss Gore and exchanged that look that said "I know, I need to just leave and she'll be OK" and I left. I made it all the way to the car before I dialed Easy and shed a few tears - mostly I just choked up, no sobbing or anything.

I learned about the car rider line that afternoon. I'm amazed how early I need to be there to be waiting in the actual parking lot and not in the line on the street. Paris hopped in with a smile. She told us (my mom was still here) about her new friend Sarah - who has the "very same" shoes she does! She did say that she did not have fun. Later that evening she explained that she didn't have fun because she "didn't even get to waste any time!" Welcome to life sweet girl.

Tuesday
I got to walk her in to school again because Mom was still here. I took her to the gym where they will meet everyday for assembly to start the day. We found her class, she sat down and never looked back. She looked really tired when I picked her up. She didn't have much to say about school that day...at least not to me. Later that night she told her daddy that she had to "pull her pin." They each start on blue every day and then have to pull their clothes pin and put it on another color should they make a poor choice and not follow the rules. She had to put her pin on yellow because she was hiding under a table and didn't come out when Miss Gore asked her to. She explained that it was because she was supposed to work with a boy that she didn't know and she didn't want to. I think Easy thought she made a good choice to hide from the boy.

Wednesday
This one was tough. My mom left on Tuesday and Tripp had an 8:30 appointment with his speech therapist so I had to start dropping her off at the front of the school. She did a good job and got out of the burb. She gave me a look that was something like "I'm really not sure about this, but you told me I could be a big girl so I'm not going to tell you I'm scared." I saw her look back once to see if I was still there, but I had already moved up through the line of cars. When she didn't see me she just kept going. When I picked her up she announced that she stayed on blue all day. Yea! That night on the way home from church we have this conversation:

Paris: What are we doing tomorrow?
Me: Well, babe, you're going to school.
Paris: But Mommy, I can't go to school on every single day!
Me: You don't have to. There is no school on Saturday or Sunday.
Paris: What about stay-home day? ( a favorite around here!)
Me: Saturday will have to be stay home day for you.
Paris: Is tomorrow Saturday?
Me: No.
Paris: Is the day after that Saturday?
Me: No.
Paris: Is the day after THAT Saturday?
Me: Yes.
Paris: OK. Two days then fun.

Thursday
If Wednesday was tough, Thursday was super tough. She didn't want to get out of the burb. Her eyes clouded up and her bottom lip quivered. She did manage to get out and shut the door, but then the line of cars began to move and she literally had to walk along side the burb as I was driving through. She kept looking in the window at me waving with this look on her face that absolutely ripped my heart to shreds. When we got close enough a Mommy Volunteer saw what was going on and gave me the "It's OK, I'll get her" wave and put her arm around my daughter and walked her in. This was the day that it hit me. IT WAS AWFUL. I missed her. I wanted to be the one making it all better. I called my friend Kara that afternoon and had a good cry. Many other things made this day hard...but that's for another entry.

When she got in the car she told me that she had to pull her pin to orange. That means she made two poor choices. She couldn't "melimber" what the first one was, but the second was talking in line. I know, not a shocker that it involved talking. Here's the story I got:

Paris: My friends kept making me talk in line.
Me: Did they have to pull their pins too?
Paris: No.
Me: Were they talking in line?
Paris: No, they just made me.

I wasn't sure what to say to that so we moved on to another subject. Later that evening she told her daddy that she didn't want her friends to have to pull their pins so she talked so they wouldn't have to. I did explain that starting next week when she has to pull her pin to orange she will loose her computer time for the day.

Friday
Much smoother morning. We were at the front of the line when she had to get out so there was a helper there to open her door and encourage her with a smile. She bounded into the car this afternoon and Miss Gore helped her with a "See you Monday stinker!" I like Miss Gore. Paris stayed on blue all day. When I opened her daily folder I discovered that she was "Queen of the Day" yesterday and all her classmates had drawn pictures of her. They each had written (or at least tried to write) Paris at the top of the page and their own name at the bottom. We had fun looking through it and I got to find out more about the kids in her class while we talked. Did I say I like Miss Gore? I like Miss Gore.


I am shocked at the end of the week at how strong the joy is that wells up inside me when I catch sight of her in the pick up line each day. It's like I'm all of the sudden whole again. I don't really feel incomplete all day while she's gone or anything. But I certainly feel like everything is the way it should be once she's back in the burb with me! We are looking forward to setting no alarms tomorrow and having a "stay home day!"

Guard Cat

As some of you may know, I've been getting up very early in the morning to go jogging before Easy leaves for work. I've had a few friends caution me to "be safe" while I'm out alone. To all of you concerend, I want to put you at ease. Not only do I carry my pepper spray when I jog, I have the ultimate in defense systems.........Rufus. (If you know Rufus, you may now laugh.)

Rufus is our "garage cat." She was a total stray. She is tiny. She's maybe a year old. This is the same Rufus who didn't know what to do with her kittens when she had them. The same Rufus who is a slayer of junebugs, frongs, lizards, and mice. The very same Rufus who allows Paris to lug her around like a ragdoll, purring the whole time. And yes, the same Rufus that was so sly last night and snuck in the house while Easy and the kids were coming in from the pool. (I found her in Paris' room, sleeping on the floor.)

This amazing, talented little cat feels it is her duty to guard me as I jog. She does have some rules though. She will only protect me on Freestone Drive. When I leave that street she will sit and wait patiently as I run around the cul-de-sac or out to the end of the neighborhood and back and then picks right back up with me when I get back to Freestone. So, all of you with concerns, rest easy. Rufus is on the job.

A request........

I'm not sue who all reads this blog or if thsoe of you who read it ever read my other blog. Today I posted some thoughts on my other blog that I would love to share with anyone who takes the time to read about me and my family. So, if you're reading this and you never click over to read my Temple Remodel.......click the link in the sidebar and you'll know what thoughts have been in my head as of late.......

Vocabulary Lesson

Vivian asked me to post some of her latest vocab acquisitions so that in the event you are nearby you will be able to understand and grant her every wish and desire. Here you go......


"Muh Muh" = More when accompanied by the sign for more. Occasionally it also means milk - which she will sign as well.

"Mama" = me of course!

"Cah-bu" = Cowboy our sweet little dog

"Dog dog" (prounounced without a distinct "g" sound) = any other dog and sometimes Cowboy

"Sna!" = give me my snack now (usually reserved for the church nursery)

"Nigh nigh" = usually in response to "are you ready for night night?" and clearly means yes, please take me to bed

"Bye bye" = self explanitory

"Dada" = that's my Smooch of course!

"Dadoh" = that would be my dad commonly known as Dadoo around here

"Dahpuh" = diaper, as in thank you for my clean one

"Bubba" or sometimes "Dibbuh" = her brother Tripper

"Tay too" = thank you (one of her favorites)

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" (visualize arm flapping and feet clapping with it) = Clearly I am not full so you need to find something else to feed me. I don't care if you are out of food. Just find something and put it in my mouth. Now!

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" (when not in high chair) = Paris, I know you love me. But serisouly, you are gonna have to BACK OFF!!!!

"Hah" (think hat with a silent t) = her version of Hi, this is a new greeting for her

and my personal favorite...............

"Ah Stidi" = Excuse me. Yes, you there. I have pooped in my diaper and it smells. You need to change it now or I will begin screaming and crying.

I love my daughter!

I especially love it when she loves things that I love! If creating a shoe store for her Barbies wasn't enough - last night she really stole my heart.

Tripp & Viv were both down for the night. It was almost 8:00 and Easy was done with the yard. We decided we would look and see what nature shows we could find on TV and spend some time with our Princess. As we're getting things settled we have this converstaion:

Paris: What are we going to watch?

Mommy: I don't know, let's see if we can find a show about nature or animals or something.

Paris: Can we watch that show where the guy gets bit by the A. C. R. S.?

Mommy: The R.O.U.S.?

Paris: Yeah.

Daddy: You want to watch The Princess Bride?

Paris: YEAH!!!!!!!


What joy, what joy!! We snuggled into the couch and watched the movie as a family. Everytime Easy or I would quote with the movie Paris would say "I can hear you!" I told her that I couldn't help it. Quoting The Princess Bride is completely involuntary and totally required when watch the show! It was fabulous!

And just in case there are any of you out there that are not familiar with this classic - an ROUS is a Rodent of Unusual Size. I'm not sure what and ACRS would be - any ideas?

Seriously Silly

Yesterday was a funny day around here. Great things happened and some just plain silly things happened. Paris' friend Hannah (who is moving on Saturday) spent the whole day (and night!)with us. V went to hang out with "Ms. Stephie" for a while and Paris, Hannah, Tripp and I went to the movies to see Charlotte's Web. Tripp had to make 3 potty runs during the movie, but he told me every time. I was proud. After that we picked up V and headed home for lunch and playtime. Tripp had a haircut appt. at 4:15 - we went and took all 4 kids! I apologized to both our stylist and her mom that runs the shop. It really wasn't all that bad, but I'm sure they would have preferred to not have two 5 year olds having a flip flop flipping contest in their waiting area.

Anyway, the fun started after we got home from there. Tripp came running through the room and shouted in has amazingly cute Tripp voice, "Hallo Hala Balala!" (we call Hannah "Hannah Banana" around here) I didn't even know he actually knew who she was! It was precious. Then my sweet V decided to make a milestone day out of it. She cut another tooth. I saw her bend down from a free standing postion, pick up a toy, and stand back up without ever sitting down. And then she really blew the top off the day by taking steps!!!!!!! For those of you unaware, we've been waiting patiently for this day. She's over 15 months old and was refusing to walk unless she had hold of at least your finger. Well, it seems she finally relalized she could move without a pinky grip. It was the cutest most amazing thing to watch. She then proceded to "walk" to me several times, twice for Paris, and once for her Daddy. Awesome!

My favorite stories for the day come from the late evening grocery store trip the big girls and I took. Paris has a Video Now Jr. that she watches shows on when we travel. She calls it a Nick Jr. because all the shows she watches are Nick Jr. shows. I hadn't taken it out the car yet from her Graggie-Dadoo vacation so she and Hannah were "sharing" it. On the way to the store Hannah starts watching a Dora video. This is what I heard:

Dora: We need to save the prince! Will you help me save the prince?

Hannah: I will! I'll help save the prince too!

Paris: No you won't.

*pause*

Hannah: Yes I will.

Paris: (with attitude and indredulity) Are you in the Nick Jr?

Funny!!! Then as we approached the grocery store I hear this:

Paris: Hannah, look it's the store. I see the sign. Look! It says "A" "Chee" "B"!!! (I start laughing as I realize my daughter just invented a new letter in the alphabet)

Hannah: Paris it says "H" "E" "B".

Paris: That's what I said Hannah! We're going to "HEB" (all run together this time) - that means the grocery store!

Kids crack me up! I don't know what time they went to sleep. At 11:00 I told them to close their peepers because mommy/Ms. Sarah was going to bed. No one got up after that so hopefully they didn't stay up much later chatting! Enjoy your Friday!!

An Alarming Sight

Yesterday when I went out to get the mail my little dog Cowboy went out with me. As I was coming back towards the house I see my dog showing inappropriate affection to our cat. And the cat, Rufus, was letting him. No hissing, no paw batting. It was quite alarming. I'm guessing that Rufus has been really lonely since we were all gone for a 4-day weekend.