our little business woman

Over the weekend I had a garage sale (it was a neighborhood garage sale, so there were probably 30 or more sales around our neighborhood on Friday and Saturday).  My object wasn't so much to make money, but to get rid of baby stuff.  TONS of baby stuff.  And I'm happy to say that it's all gone--what wasn't bought was picked up Sunday by a guy who organizes a free store for his church.  I was sad to see some of it go, knowing that I'd never have another baby to use it, but I also feel that much more free, having huge piles and boxes of stuff out of my house.

A few weeks ago I asked Rachel if she'd like to have a lemonade stand at our garage sale.  When we go to sales, her favorite part is buying a cookie or lemonade from kids, so I figured she'd love it. She was SO excited about the idea and talked about it for weeks leading up to the sale.

The day before school started we bought the supplies and made the poster.  My mom found her an actual lemonade stand at a garage sale she went to, and brought it down for her to use (My mom has been here for several days, helping me while my husband is off climbing Mt. Whitney in California this week--which ,by the way, he accomplished this afternoon!  I received a call from him from the summit!  So proud of him!). 

Friday she had kindergarten.  I was outside very early in the morning, getting ready for the sale.  Rachel wanted to help, which means she was up and ready for school early as well.  The bus comes at 8:30, but at 7:30 Rachel was already out at the bus stop, waiting (all by herself, seeing it was an hour early!).

She couldn't wait to get started with the lemonade stand when she bounded off the school bus at noon!  We got it set up and the selling began.

She LOVED it!  She'd ask everyone who came up, "Would you like to buy some cookies or lemonade?" 

Sales were good on Friday.  The customers at my garage sales were kind and stopped to buy from her--probably because she was so darn cute!

Friday night she asked if she had enough to go to Disney World (she made about $13 that day....).  We told her no, so she asked, "Is it enough to go get ice cream at ______?" (insert name of our favorite ice cream store.)  Like ice cream is the next best thing, second only to Disney World!  She really has NO concept of money!

Saturday our sales were pretty slow.  She was excited to get started (I wouldn't let her start selling until 10 AM, because most people wouldn't want to buy lemonade or cookies before then), and all of the neighborhood kids had heard about her lemonade stand and were gathered around most of the morning, either helping with the sales or buying cookies.  She was the most popular kid in the neighborhood!

But around noon, they all were gone and slow sales had our little business woman bored.  Lucky for her, help was on the way, in the form of her cousins.  They were coming down for lunch, and her cousins, Ethan and Alex, were excited to man the lemonade stand for the rest of the afternoon.  Her cousin, Emma, entertained Rachel and Rebecca.

I made Rachel pay her cousins a little bit for their time manning the store, since she really didn't have anything to do with the lemonade stand that afternoon.  Even after paying them, she still made almost $25 this weekend!  The most money she's ever had is $4!  I don't know what she'll do with her earnings. 

Since it won't get her to Disney World, I guess she'll be eating a lot of ice cream!

fifteen months

Poor Rebecca hasn't gotten much face time on the blog lately....life's been a lot about kindergarten lately.  But she still pretty much runs the show around here, since she still requires two naps a day, and life revolves around those (and now kindergarten bus times).

At fifteen months (tomorrow!) Rebecca is a complete joy and a complete stinker at the same time.  She's a little monkey, climbing up on everything climb-able (and even things that aren't!).  I don't remember Rachel climbing much, so this is new.  Once she gets on top of something she likes to stand on it (coffee table, couch, rocking chair, whatever....), so I do a lot of rescuing. 

She's still into everything she's not supposed to be into--loves touching papers, electronics, remotes, telephones, and the like.  Baby proofing is completely necessary around here because everything goes into her mouth.  Rachel's room is pretty much off limits to her (even though her main goal in life is to climb the stairs and go into that room!) because of all of the crayons and little, tiny playmobil and princess polly pocket toys in there.   But she LOVES Rachel's room and some of her happiest moments of the day are the few minutes that she sometimes gets to go in with Mommy.

She's developed an attachment to her soft, pink blanket (the one Rachel chose for her before she was born, which is just like her own purple blanket) and the 101 Dalmation stuffed animal that her aunt gave her for her birthday, and is sooooo excited to see them every time she goes to bed. 

Rebecca said her first sentence this week--she was telling Daddy goodbye as he left for work and she said, "Ba-ba, Da-da!"  (Bye, bye, Daddy!)  She doesn't string other words together yet, but she sure always has something to say!  She babbles a lot, and often loudly!  She likes to hear her own voice.  Other words she says:  Mama, aww (ball), up, hi, and probably some others I can't think of at the moment.

She currently loves shoes, cars, bikes, going outside, and Winnie the Pooh.  She has no interest in watching Winnie the Pooh (more than for about 30 seconds) but she loves the Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals and books we have.  She also recognizes Elmo, but again, only likes the stuffed animals.  She doesn't care a hoot about TV.  Rachel at this age loved her Baby Einstein videos or anything else we let her watch, but Rebecca loses interest after just a few seconds.  Of her actual toys (though she'd rather play with anything than her real toys), she mostly plays with books, which she chews on, play food, which she also chews on, and a shape sorter, though she's only just learning to put the shapes into the holes--mostly she takes the shapes out and puts them back in the bucket, over and over.

She wakes up between 5:30 and 6:30 AM (I won't get her up until 6:00, though), naps from 8:45ish-10ish, and again from 1ish-2:30ish, and goes to bed at 7 PM.  She loves to eat (always has!) and her favorites include bananas, cheerios, toast, apples, peas (yes, peas!), broccoli, turkey, strawberries, goldfish crackers, graham crackers, or really anything you put in front of her!  Actually, she doesn't seem to like eggs.

And that's my darling girl in a nutshell! 

the new normal

Yesterday Rachel was dressed, had her chores done, and even had her backpack on while she ate breakfast, all by 7:30 (the bus comes at 8:30!).  She was so excited! (and she had a great day, by the way...she was the first one off the bus, gave me a big hug and said, "I was a good girl!  We had gym today!")

Today, the second day of school, she was lounging in her PJs, looking at a library book about dinosaurs (she's really into dinosaurs at the moments, thanks to DVR'd episodes of Dino Dan, which she loves) at 7:30.  When I told her she needed to put the book away and get moving for school, she said, "I'm tired."  (She was tired, too....she took a nap yesterday afternoon, which she rarely does anymore, and she slept past her 7 AM wake up time this morning.)  Guess that was just first day excitement yesterday!

And so it begins--trying to get into a routine and figure out just what is the new normal.

So far I know the new normal means keeping Rebecca awake a little bit longer in the mornings for her morning nap until after the bus comes (it was rough this morning because she woke up really early and was super fussy and sleepy before naptime got here).

The new normal means cleaning/laundry while Rebecca takes said morning nap (this is until she gives up the nap, which I know will come at some point during this year--then I'll have to find a different time to clean--likely during the afternoon nap, though I prefer to rest during that time!). 

The new normal means (sometimes) running brief errands after Rebecca wakes up, but before the school bus gets back (she gets up around 10 and the school bus gets here at 11:45, so that means the errands need to be quick ones, unless I want to forgo her nap).

We'll see how it goes!

and she's off...

I Trust You’ll Treat Her Well

By Victor Buono

Dear World:

I bequeath to you today one little girl … in a crispy dress … with two brown eyes … and a happy laugh that ripples all day long … and a flash of light brown hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs. I trust you’ll treat her well.

She’s slipping out of the backyard of my heart this morning … and skipping off down the street to her first day of school. And never again will she be completely mine. Prim and proud she’ll wave her young and independent hand this morning and say “Good Bye”… and walk with little lady steps to the schoolhouse.

Now she’ll learn to stand in line … and wait by the alphabet for her name to be called. She’ll learn to tune her ears to the sounds of school-bells … and deadlines … and she’ll learn to giggle … and gossip … and look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy across the aisle sticks out his tongue at her. And now she’ll learn to be jealous. And now she’ll learn how it is to feel hurt inside. And now she’ll learn how not to cry.

No longer will she have time to sit on the front porch steps on a summer day and watch an ant scurry across the crack in a sidewalk. Nor will she have time to pop out of bed with the dawn to kiss lilac blossoms in the morning dew. No, now she’ll worry about important things. Like grades … and which dress to wear … and who’s best friend is whose. And the magic of books and learning will replace the magic of her blocks and dolls. And now she’ll find new heroes.

For five full years now I’ve been her sage and Santa Claus and pal and playmate and father and friend. Now she’ll learn to share her worship with her teachers … which is only right. But, no longer will I be the smartest man in the whole world. Today when that school bell rings for the first time … she’ll learn what it means to be a member of a group. With all it’s privileges. And it’s disadvantages too.

She’ll learn in time that proper young ladies do not laugh out loud. Or kiss dogs. Or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms. Or even watch ants scurry across cracks in the summer sidewalk.

Today she’ll learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her friends. And I’ll stand on the front porch and watch her start out on the long, lonely journey to become a woman.

So, World. I bequeath to you today one little girl … in a crispy dress … with two brown eyes and a happy laugh that ripples all day long … and a flash of light brown hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs.

I trust you’ll treat her well.

I ran across this poem over the weekend when I was looking for something else. It made me cry...a lot. I cried when I read it, I cried later when I told my husband about it, I cried that night, just thinking about it. I'm posting it (crying again), not to make you cry, but because it so perfectly explains how I'm feeling today.

Sending my little treasure of a girl out into the big world, knowing that this is just the first of many stages of "letting go," is probably the hardest thing I've ever done. She's thrilled, and I'm thrilled for her, but I also don't want the world to spoil what makes her so unique, and that's why I'm so sad. I don't want her to change, and I know the world will force itself on her in one way or another. I want her to fit in, but I want her to be herself. I want her to make friends, but I want them to be friends who love her for who she is.  Questions swirl around constantly in my mind....Have I grounded her enough?  Prepared her well enough?  Played with her enough?  Loved her enough?  I want her to grow up...but I don't....

But it is what it is.  It'll happen whether I want it to or not.

And so today she's off on her new adventure. And it's raining HARD....I went to school for 13 years, taught for 10, and I don't think I EVER had rain on the first day of school.  Now it's her first day and there's a thunderstorm????  Where will we take the first day of school pictures in her cute little outfit?  How will we take pictures of her getting on the bus??  Ugh.  Figures.  This is why I'm awake at 5 AM on the first day of school.  Worrying about picture taking!  Never thought I'd have THIS to contend with too, on top of my other emotions this morning.

EDITED TO ADD:

The rain stopped!  Yay!  My worrying was for nothing.  We got plenty of pictures.  And I managed to hold in my tears until after she left, which is what I was hoping.

Then I set to work making these to surprise her:

Can't wait for her to be home in an hour!

(Many people on facebook commented at how much she looks like me.  My mom reminded me of this picture of my first day of kindergarten, so here you go, for comparison's sake...hope you don't mind your picture on here, too, Jennifer!!)

technical difficulties

I had some pictures I wanted to post, but my laptop, sadly, has died.  :( 

It's been on its last leg for awhile now, but I think it's finally bit the dust this time. 

Anyway, I can't stand the way the editing software works on our desktop, so I'm not going to post the pictures right now because it's taking me forever. 

Sorry.

I'll be back on Wednesday with a first day of school post, sure to illicit tears (from my mom, anyway--probably not from anyone else, unless you're sending a kindergartener off to school this year, too!).

Oh, and here's a gem from Rachel:

Rachel:  Daddy, do you know what Mommy says she's going to do all day when I go to kindergarten on the first day?

Daddy:  What?

Rachel:  She said she's going to cry on your elbow all day.

(So, of course, I said "shoulder," but I think the picture of crying on someone's elbow is quite comical!)

gentle start

Today was Rachel's "gentle start" day of kindergarten.  They go in small groups (there were 7 kids there today) for a couple of hours over the course of a week.  School started for the rest of the district today, but kindergarteners don't start until next Wednesday. 

But she was so excited to go today.  Since she'll ride the bus next week, I took pictures today at school, since I won't get to that day.

In typical Rachel fashion, she wouldn't look directly at the camera.

She had a good morning, and the teacher said she didn't talk her ear off, but was cautious and careful, so I was happy to hear that. 

Today wasn't emotional for me, but I know it will be next week, putting her on that bus, sending her off into the big, bad world. I already started getting all weepy about it yesterday, just thinking about it.
 

the back yard

As we were opening the gate to the back yard today, Rachel said, "Quick, Mom!  Open the gate!  This is where all the magic and fun begins!"

I don't know where she comes up with half of the things she says....I wish I could remember all of them, but this one struck me as really funny. 

That's my crazy girl!

Here she is, enjoying the magic and fun of the back yard a few days ago.

insomnia induced post

I've had trouble sleeping lately.  I don't know why.  I'm definitely tired.  This morning I woke up before 4 AM in order to scratch my thousands of mosquito bites (okay, so I'm exaggerating....I maybe have 10?  But they really, REALLY itch like a thousand!  The other night this ONE mosquito decided to bite me over and over and over and I was never able to catch him in the act in order to slap him and kill him!  Ugh!  He's probably been bragging to his mosquito friends at how many times he was able to get the same unsuspecting woman!).  That's probably not why I woke up, but that's what I did as I lay there, trying to go back to sleep.  I finally decided to get up and scratch them instead.

I'm sitting here yawning, but I can't sleep.  I know that Rebecca will likely be waking up in a half hour, so it's kind of useless to try anyway.  Might as well go make some coffee and get on with my day.

We just found out last night that our bus stop will be right on our corner (and we live on the corner, so it's just steps away from our door!).  Woo-hoo!!  It used to be down several blocks, which means I would have had to bundle up both girls every morning to walk down and wait for the school bus, and then right before lunch I'd have to bundle up Rebecca again and walk down to wait again to pick Rachel up.  But a year and a half ago my neighbor gave birth to twin girls in the middle of winter, and petitioned the bus company to PLEASE move the bus stop closer to her house so she didn't have to cart two tiny preemies down to the bus stop in order to take her older daughter down to the bus.  They agreed to do it temporarily.  Last year at the beginning of the year she convinced the bus driver to talk to the bus company to please move it again for the year.  Even though the babies were older, it was still a huge hassle for her to have to walk four kids (including two babies) down to the bus stop, so the bus driver did a lot of work to move it down to our neighbor's driveway.  Well, yesterday I looked online because the bus information has just been posted, and found out it's not in our neighbor's driveway this year, because the bus is coming from the opposite direction, which means it's across her street, on our corner right in front of our house!  So my neighbor won't have to bundle up her 18 month old twins, and I won't have to bundle up Rebecca, either!  I can just watch for the bus and run out quickly with Rachel when it comes.  Rebecca will be fine looking out the window for 30 seconds while I get Rachel on the bus (or off the bus).  Yay!

Wednesday is Rachel's "gentle start" day at school.  She goes with about 5 other children for a couple of hours.  (She doesn't ride the bus that day.)  It's actually the first day of school for everyone else in the district, but kindergarteners don't officially start until the following week.  They're supposed to do some assessment and it's just a chance for her to see her room and the school, get to know her teacher a little, and hopefully feel more comfortable the following week when she has her official first day of school.  I'm anxious to see how it goes!  This day doesn't bother me too much.  The first day will be hard for me, though, putting her on that big yellow school bus.  :(   But I'm also looking forward to getting into the swing of things with our new schedule and everything.

Last night we went for a walk in the little "downtown" area of our suburb.  There are fountains, a creek, and a nice trail and boardwalk.  We don't go down there very often, because it's sometimes hard to find a place to park, but it was a beautiful night, and we all had fun.  Enjoy the pictures from our outing.

zoo trip and more

It was a beautiful day for the zoo yesterday (judging from the huge crowd, I'll say everyone else was sick of being cooped up for the last month, too!).  Rachel's been asking and asking to go, and I wanted to make sure we got there before school starts. 

Rebecca made lots of animal noises as we saw the different animals.  She makes a barking noise for pretty much every animal she sees, until I tell her the correct sound. 

She was scared of these goats at first, but it didn't take long for her to muster up enough courage to go touch it. 

Then she plopped down behind this sleeping goat and petted him to death (until some other kid came over and purposely SHOOK the poor goat awake!)

Yesterday afternoon we played outside  (making up for lost time, I guess, and all of the time we've had to spend inside over the last month of soaring temps).

Enjoy the pictures!

swinging and sisterly love

Rebecca adores Rachel.  Sometimes the feeling is mutual, but sometimes it's not.  Overall, though, Rachel enjoys playing with Rebecca (in small doses). 

Other times, she feels more like this.

(Actually, they both were enjoying this, but Rachel didn't want me to take a picture, and Rebecca smiled AFTER I took the pictures.)

And here's a happy Rebecca--finally able to play outside after weeks of it being too hot and humid to do much of anything outside.  She LOVES swinging (keeps asking for more whenever I try to take her out of the swing) and just doing about anything outside.

This is just a crazy Rachel.  She loves this swing and lays in it forever, asking me to push her.