Snowy Day

I left work early today (Friday). I got a call from daycare that they were closing at 3pm, and I was planning to leave early anyway, to try to avoid the worst traffic, as it snowed all day. Omaha got 6-8 inches, Lincoln 3", Mom & Dad nothing. I thought I'd take a pic, as I knew I'd mention it in this blog (which I was determined to get done, today or tomorrow). When we got home, Amanda wanted to go inside and eat her cupcake from daycare (Valentine's party). I had put together 16 treat bags, and her teacher requested that we have our children write their names on 16 valentines. Some of the valentines Amanda received had no names, so some parents didn't get that done. One parent wrote the name herself or himself. Amanda writes her name easily, but it looks a bit funny. The staff of her lower case A is not always connected to the circle, same with the D. I have a collection of the progression of her name. I haven't kept it up really well, but have some samples. I thought it would be fun to post sometime. (Don't hold me to it) She knows her alphabet completely, and recently has been showing off her ability to count to 100! I'm pretty impressed. She can snap her fingers really well, tie shoes...there were some other things I brag on but can't think of them right now. Anyway, after awhile, she came out and decided to "help" me, with her rake:

Then she asked if she could get a shovel. I pictured her using the adult-sized black one that she dinks around with. Silly me: I had planned to drive north Saturday to celebrate Mom's birthday, but after talking to Mom, we decided it would be better to wait for a different weekend. We had pizza for supper and then watched Kung Fu Panda (again...) and ate some popcorn. A fun snowed-in night. (The snow stopped at 4pm and although my neighborhood streets will not be plowed until the overnight, we could have gone somewhere if we'd wanted to, but who wants to join the not-so-talented drivers on the road?) (Don't we all think the other drivers are less talented than we are?)

Last Saturday we went to a Dog Expo in Lincoln, that my sister Barb helped organize, and at which she worked for her Domesti-pups organization. She has two dogs and both are therapy dogs, visiting nursing homes and the like. Here's a pic of Barb with Paco & Jake, with a banner behind featuring Jake:

It was only $2 to get in for me, Amanda was free, and she had a blast petting the friendly dogs and also seeing Babushka and Grandpa, Aaron & Shayla, who had all come down from Norfolk for the day, and Amber. The Ultimate Canines (or something like that) were there from Kansas City, and they put on a show, which was fun. Amanda even pet some dogs that were larger than she is. I told her to ask them, "May I please pet your horse?" Great Dane and another breed I can't name (larger than GD, wiry, longer coat). Truth be told, I had a great time too - I love dogs, but just don't want to commit to having one as a pet, so I got a good quota of petting out of my system. Here's Amanda at another Domesti-Pups booth promoting their reading program - dogs trained to have kids read to them, to interest kids in reading.

For days after, she would say to anyone she came upon, "Can I tell you something? My mom & I went to this thing and we saw lots of dogs!"

The weekend prior, we had nothing planned and the weather Saturday was really nice, so I invited my friend's kids to go with us to the zoo. My friends probably thought I was really nice to take their kids along (I have a family zoo pass, so didn't have to pay extra for the extra kids), but really I was bring along baby-sitter/entertainment help. Score! Amanda had a blast, and I think Austi & Vince had fun too. We didn't get there until 3pm, so only had three hours. Next time, I'll either skip Amanda's nap or get her down earlier. It was fun to see the waterfall in this pic be so completely iced over. I haven't visited in the winter before!

I used our anniversary as an excuse to have someone else cook. Applebees has kids night, where their meals are 99 cents or something like that, so we had a nice dinner there. I wore the shirt that she still squeals over when she sees it in my closet (because I wore it in Moscow), and we brought "Scout" along. (The waiter took this pic)

I've gone back to a 5-day work week as of this week, and am much happier with the hours of 7-3:30 and getting home earlier. My house is slowly looking better and I'm not so tired. The extra day off was nice, but I used it to try to get bigger projects done, and everything else was neglected. And the days were so long for both of us. I think it was a good decision.

My days since my last post (as best I can recall):

1/26 - Monday dance class. She would not listen and I was so frustrated. She wore a too-big leotard that I'd gotten from my sister's friend, and tights that didn't work well. It's nice that she's at an age where she doesn't realize Mom isn't doing right by her, style-wise.

1/28 - Wednesday we eat at church and she goes to children's choir. She did ok. (I stay there to make sure)

1/30 - I got to go out! Dinner & a movie, and Sue, a friend from church watched Amanda. She said that Amanda was pretty good. Amanda said she was a little naughty. (Cracks me up when she says that - "I was a little bit naughty" with a finger measurement of a little bit)

1/31 - zoo

2/1 - meeting after church - she was pretty good. Swimming lesson - she was not good. Wouldn't listen, the instructors put her up on the side of the pool. I went over and made her stand away and listen to what the instructor was saying, and then go back and see if she could rejoin her class.

2/2 - dance class - half good. I had to make her sit on the sidelines a couple of times as she was not listening to Ms. Connie, kept coming over to me to give me kisses (stay with your class!), and when I told her to go back to her class, she just stood there and wouldn't move. Grrrrr.

Sidebar: She says, "I love you and I'm your sunshine" a LOT, and gives me lots of kisses. But sometimes it feels like manipulation disguised as sweetness - interrupting me when I'm talking, calling to me when I'm downstairs putting laundry in, or during dance class. I'm trying to figure out how to "keep the love" without my feeling she's manipulating me.

2/4 - church supper. She's a social butterfly, going around the room to say hi to all her favorite people. Everyone is so sweet to her. Children's choir: She couldn't stay good and I had to excuse us and she didn't get to sing the last song or get a treat.

2/7 - Dog Expo in Lincoln, then to Aunt Cindy's house to watch a movie w/Amber (Amanda took a nap in Amber's lap) and play some cards with Cindy & Keith when they got home.

2/8 - sang with quartet at early service. She was very good while I was singing. She came over to talk to me while we were singing, but I put up a 'talk to the hand' gesture and she went back to her coloring. BUT, right before Sunday School, she spit in a little boy's face while we were just standing there and he was doing nothing. He cried and I was horrified - made Amanda apologize and then sit in a far corner of the room while I explained how mean that feels. Swimming lesson that night was pretty good. She said she was good, and insisted I verify with the teachers, who agreed that she had been good. Oh, we went to the pool earlier in the afternoon for open swimming (I thought maybe that would work out some of the hyper silliness - sort of worked...). I brought sandwiches and snacks, and we just stayed at the center from 4-5:30 when her lesson started. When it was time to leave...no keys. I couldn't find them anywhere. Amanda was entertained by some people and their son while I looked everywhere. I finally called my friend Patty and after I was able to stop crying and make myself be understood, she & Austi came to take us home so I could retrieve my 2nd set of keys and then back to the center. They still haven't been turned in. If you feel inclined, please ask God for someone to find them and turn them in!

2/9 - dance - pretty good. I put her on the sidelines a couple of times. Another little girl talks and runs around, and Amanda started teaming up with her and neither paid attention to Ms. Connie. I've started helping Ms. Connie run the CD player (stopping and starting the various accompanying music) so they get more class time that way (less time for her to spend walking back and forth to the CD player). I found her some tap shoes at Goodwill for $3, and a leotard at a thrift store for $1. I just hate spending $10-15 for outfits, etc. not to mention the high class and recital cost, for a starter class when I don't know if we're going to stick with it. It's a community-center type class, so it's only $6 a lesson and no uniform requirement or recital cost. I wouldn't mind those if she were more advanced, but right now she's just a little girl running around giggling and playing. Ms. Connie says they're getting better. Ok, if you say so!

2/10 - dentist visit for ME to get a temporary crown put on, as the crown on one of my back teeth came off Saturday while we were at Cindy's house. Amber has had dental work done, so I was surprised at her disgust and horror when I showed it to her. She wasn't expecting to see a whole "tooth". So, crown & keys lost. So far we're holding with those two, and trying to be careful to avoid #3 (like a person can - say a prayer for that, too). My friend who rescued us with the key loss said I can blame it on "Mom Brain", and that it gets worse. *sigh*

2/11 - naughty in school, called kids stupid & ugly. (I might own some of this - I was very irritated with a woman in Walmart the night before, and as we walked away from her, I remarked to Amanda that she was stupid. Then I said, "I know that we're not supposed to call people stupid, but ...(under my breath)... she was really stupid." She was a social butterfly at church supper and was good at choir while I was there, but went hyper (feet & mouth moving, not listening) when I took another little girl to the bathroom. I told her I was very disappointed that she couldn't be good when I went out of the room for that short time.

2/12 - naughty in school again - spit at someone. *sigh* committee meeting at church, Amanda stayed at a church friend's house (their daughter babysits her sometimes). Thanks Steph & Kim! I talked to Lynnette on the way to the meeting, and she wondered why I sounded so cheerful. I said maybe it was due to having a break from my rambunctious (naughty) girl!

Actually, Kim was supposed to babysit tonight (another night out!) but we postponed due to weather and she will instead sit tomorrow night. My first nighttime teen babysitter since the band night fiasco last summer. I decided not to have Kim put her to bed, but to have her lay down on the couch. Should be no defiance there, and no gauntlet thrown down that will need to be addressed (I hope!)

2/13 - popcorn & pizza and I'm all caught up!

I added a new feature to my blog - called Reactions (just below the posted time below). The design was to give categories of reactions (funny, interesting, cute) but instead, I'll take the idea of using it as a roll-call of who is reading. So, if you're so inclined, join in by letting me know you're out there and clicking one of the categories. You can also e-mail me (I added my e-mail address to my profile), or of course, comment!

Thanks! The support is appreciated - you are all great. Thanks for reading!