Christmas has come and gone

Time has once again gotten away from me and my blogging has slipped.  Thanksgiving was spent with family.  Our first stop was at my Aunt Sandra's house.  Then, we headed on to my mom's house.  It was a wonderful day filled with lots of food and time with cousins.  A grand baby sleepover was in order, and I even stayed the night too.  The next day, we were off to an exciting vacation with Summer's friend Abby.  Everyone maintained great health throughout the trip and Summer was not ready to come home when it was over.  One of the highlights was swimming with dolphins which we all loved.  We got to kiss, dance, pet, and ride a dolphin.  We held onto it's fins while it swam on it's back, and it also pushed us by our feet when we were holding onto a boogie board.  Another of Summer's favorite parts was swimming in the pool.  She loves the water as long as she's got her goggles!  We also got to see a few movies while we were gone.  I think we all thought Brave was better than The Odd Life of Timothy Green, but they were both good.  Summer was not ready for the trip to end, but back to school she went.

The weeks until Christmas break flew by.  The book fair came and went.  She attended her music and dance classes.  She learned to spell 12 more words.  She participated in the school's Christmas concert one Tuesday morning.  She had been practicing her songs around the house and in the car and was all ready, but the morning of the concert something that some may consider insignificant, broke her little heart and caused her to cry most of the way through the play.  She was told that I was not allowed to walk her to class after the concert.  (The nerve of some people!  LOL) We had already planned it out that I would when I dropped her off, but that was before we knew that there was a going to be a short announcement afterwards.  Well, halfway into the first song, she looks at me and starts crying.  She kept on singing, but she would noticeably choke up and tears were streaming down her face.  It continued for the next two or three songs before one of the teachers waved her off the stage.  No one knew why she was crying, but we found out quickly once she was off the stage.  I don't know why it was such a tragedy to her, but it was.  I talked her into going back on stage for the last song and but only after I guaranteed her I would indeed be walking her back to class.  Crazy how something that seems so minute can set off another person in such a major way.  But, she feels how she feels and there is no reason for me to undermine that by not understanding and making a bigger deal out of it.  It is sweet that she still wants me around so much, so I'm not going to discourage it.  I'm sure it will wear off soon enough!

On the morning of the 13th, our elf Gumdrop came with his first mission for Summer.  She wanted him to bring her missions from Santa like last year, and he did everyday as we counted down the days until Christmas.  She enjoyed doing them all, except for the last two which we were too sick to finish.  She came down with bronchitis last Saturday and it has had us both down since Sunday.  I think her favorite mission was to make goodies, taste test them, and deliver them to her neighbors.  Her least favorite was probably cleaning her room and getting rid of stuff to make room for the new things she was going to get for Christmas.  It definitely turned into her having a bad attitude and even shedding a few tears over a stuffed animal she has never played with, but did NOT want to give away.  Next year, I'll take on that task without her help!  On Christmas Eve, she went to bed with Gumdrop and when she awoke Christmas morning, he was gone!  She never even said a word about it, I guess because that is what she expected would happen. 

Most of our Christmas Eve was spent on the couch.  The day before that too.  We felt well enough to go to my Grandad's house that evening.  I really did not want to miss it since we never know how long we have with our relatives and this is the one time of year we all manage to get together.  My cousin Lindsay was the exception this year.  Summer was excited to see her cousins as usual.  We had finger foods and Summer's favorites were the chicken on a stick and green olives.  She loves black olives too, but they were not served.  She did eat a whole can out our Christmas get together with the other side of my family.  The evening did not last too long since everyone was anxious to get back home and get ready for Santa Claus.  Summer got some nice things from my aunts and uncles.  Her favorite was a Nerf disc thrower.  She also got a really soft Tinker Belle blanket and pillow that I'm hoping she let me use sometime. 

Christmas morning she woke up around 7:20 and came into my room as she usually does.  I don't think she was even really thinking about opening presents, but as soon as I reminded her she was ready.  She patiently waited for her daddy and I to get dressed, and we when we came out of my room PawPaw was on the couch waiting to watch it all.  She found her gifts from Santa unwrapped.  She got the remote control helicopter she asked for along with a surprise - a veterinarian Lego set.  She was also happy to see Santa answered her request for him to bring her pets something.  She then handed out all the gifts under the tree before unwrapping any.  Then, she tore into them one after another until they were all open.  She was excited to get the guitar she had asked for.  She received an abundance of things throughout the day with two more groups of people coming over to open presents with us.  Some of the things she got are as follows: Easy Bake Oven, basketball, kickball, walkie talkies, clothes, Qwirkle, butterfly connectagons Nerf gun, books, gloves, Justin Bieber singing toothbrush, and a unicorn Dream Lite Pillow Pet.  Too much for me to remember and way more than enough for one girl!!! 

Well, the couch is calling my name.  I hope that soon Summer and I will not feel like getting on it for a long while!  She's already there waiting for me to come snuggle with her again.  So, off I go......

No ordinary girl (at least not to me)

It is interesting to watch your child grow and see their personalities unravel before you.  My fixation on my child may seem a little much at times, but she is truly the most precious gift I have ever received.  A sweet little girl for me to love and cherish and help mold into something great, at least I hope.  You never know as a parent which steps are right or wrong along the way, but you learn a little more everyday as life unfolds.  I love my role as a mom although this is not how I pictured my life when I was growing up.  I always thought I'd be an accountant or some kind of working girl.  When she was born, something inside me clicked and I found a new perspective on life.  I had my own family now and being a stay at home mom and housewife was enough for me.   

Although my child is as cute as can be, she does not always act precious.  She tests her limits, especially with me, and has had a night or two without cookies in the past few weeks.  Bad habit, I know.  But, life is short.  So, why not make everyday special in ways you can?  While I do try to make each day special, I still make her responsible for her actions with what I hope are appropriate consequences.  Believe me, she does not like losing her cookies!  Luckily, it does it happen very often.  At times she does pretend to be excited to go to her room when she is sent there, but I know it is a front and she is hoping to get off the hook.   I think a little alone time in her room is good for her, but it does not happen often.  It gives her the chance to play with some of the gifts she has received over the past few years.  It is crazy the amount of stuff she has accumulated!!  For the most part, she loves to either play outdoors or in the basement.  I don't even dare go to the basement anymore because every time I do it is a horrible mess which if cleaned will magically reappear upon her return. :)  I've learned to pick my battles and this is one I'm willing to lose. Out of sight, out of mind.    

For the most part, she is kind and helpful.  Her teacher gives her lots of good reports at school.  I think she is probably more helpful at school than at home, but she does have times where she wants to help at home.  She likes to help me cook at times.  She loves to lick the muffin bowls.  At times, she retrieves a couple gallons of distilled water from the garage.  She vacuumed the other day and got 5 stickers for her chart (50 cents).  We don't have a chore system set up, but maybe one day I will get around to organizing that.  Maybe not.  One of my favorite things that she does to help is to put her clothes in the hamper where they go.  It's the little things...

She has a silly streak and definitely likes to make people smile and laugh.  She makes some crazy annoying noises that I try not to let drive me crazy as I know it is all part of being a child and discovering new things.  Sometimes I wonder why she acts the way she does, but I try to just accept her as she is.  My Sunday school class has been studying a book called Grace Based Parenting and the concepts are quite interesting to me.  While I would prefer she used her manners all the time, she does not.  That is a work in progress.  She is polite for the most part, but a bit demanding at times.  This is probably one place I could work on as a parent - modeling the behavior I want to see in my child.  Like I said, every day is part of the learning process.  As a child, I was asked to use the terms ma'am and sir and Mr. and Mrs. when talking adults.  I believe that taught me respect for others.  I hope I instill this quality in Summer too, but sometimes this world is so out of control it is hard to teach your child in the right ways because it is not always reinforced in the real world. So, I accept that I do what I can do and move on.  No need to worry about things beyond my control.

Summer has a very sensitive side too.  She is very much a mommy's girl and does not like to think about times when she will not be able to be with me.  She would prefer for me to always be at her side, unless she is at her Memaws or cousins.  Then, I'm pretty much low man on the totem pole.  The reason for her attachment is understandable and right now I am just clinging to it in hopes that it will last a few years longer.  It won't be much longer before I'm off the A list...unless I do everything right and there is not much hope of that.  Nonetheless, I love my sweet baby girl!  I am thankful I am still able to carry her when she wants.  My lap is never too full when she is in it.  It feels just right.  We are very much snugglers and very affectionate.  Sweet kisses from my little girl make my heart skip a beat!  I know one day they will not be so easy to get.  Bedtime nuzzles, rocking her in my arms when she needs some extra security....why do they have to grow up???  

She tends to be very aggressive with her dad, and they play a lot more rough than we do.  He definitely brings out the fighter in her.  She loves to roughhouse with him and gives him a hard time.  Her affection does not flow so freely to him, but the love is definitely there.  I love to watch them together, and see the smiles on their faces when they are playing around.  Sometimes she gets out of hand, at least in my opinion and gets a little too rough.  I'm not sure how to handle it when it comes to her dad, as he is an adult and can set his own boundaries with her.  But, she knows I do not tolerate hitting or intentionally inflicting pain on others.  Luckily, we haven't faced that yet.  She seems to get along fine with all kids at school which always makes a momma happy. 

She's six and a half going on seven.  She really doesn't seem to be much older than that yet.  She's a fun loving and down to earth little girl with a little bit of drama thrown in at times.  Above all, she's mine and I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world. She definitely makes life worth living!

Lots of catching up

 Summer lost her first tooth the 2nd week of school.  She pulled it herself right before bedtime one night.  She put it in her tooth fairy pillow that she had sewed the week before and put it on the bedside table.  She lost her 2nd tooth two weeks ago.  Again, right before bed time.  She had tried to pull it in the bathroom after we brushed our teeth, but she gave up.  When we got in the bed to read her bedtime story, it fell out.  Both times the tooth fairy came and brought her $5 which she immediately put in her piggy bank, not her wallet.   

She started taking tennis lessons a few weeks ago against her will.  She loves to play with her daddy on the courts by the playground, but has protested lessons for as long as we've been suggesting them. One of her friends from school joined her on her second week which has made the transition to lessons easier I think.  She  still complains that she doesn't want to go, but she's going to finish this clinic out at least.  

Her reading is getting better and better.  Usually, we both read at night.  She picks a level 1 book, and I read whatever she has brought home from the library at school.  This week we are reading about African critters and also some scary stories.  I just love our reading/ tuck-in time every night.  We have beEen going over her list of 100 sight words a few times a week, and I definitely think it has helped.  She does well in everything at school.  She's pretty much mastered her doubles and loves her math homework.  Spelling seems to come pretty easy for her too.  Although homework is not her favorite part of the day, she usually does it quickly and without complaining.  Two thumbs up from this mom!! 

She was very excited about my birthday last week and counted down the days all week.  I told her all I wanted for my birthday was hugs and kisses, but she had to make me something.  She used her 
creativity and made me a life size cut out of her body-- fully colored to match the clothes she was 
wearing.  She also made me card and decorated the box she put it all in with a picture of me and her 
and a house.  Her surprise made my birthday day special even more special than I expected.  We went on a hike that day with some people from church which was very nice and enjoyable for us both.  She is such an outdoors girl and was in heaven when we got to the waterfalls.  She asked to take off her 
shoes, rolled up her pants, and took off with the other kids. Before hearing home, we stopped by 
Chuck E. Cheese for a birthday party (no not for me).  To our delight, there were lots of new games, 
as well as our old favorites!  We made it out without cashing in her tickets. I'm not sure how, but she 
never said anything as we headed out the door.  It had been a long day for us both and I think we 
were both ready to be home.

Tonight is the first night this week Summer has had oven fresh cookies...almost a nightly staple if she has her way. She likes them cooked very soft and licks all the melted chocolate from her finger tips in lieu of using a napkin.  Sometimes I doubt the nutritional value of this habit, but seeing how she has already beat cancer, it almost seems silly to fret over.  Whatever will be, will be.  The choice is definitely not mine you see.  

October has been a very busy month; maybe the busiest of the year.  With our new activities, we have
 not had as much free time as we did earlier this school year, but we still make the most of every day. Lots of fun plans for the weekend ahead!  I am so thankful for the people in my life.  My daughter is just one of the many people I love and cherish.  I am grateful for each and every day I have to spend with her.    I'll never be able to stop counting my blessings.


cherish.  I am truly blessed beyond measure!  Life's twists and turns are never predictable.  

School days (post delayed a week)

Summer is loving the 1st grade.  She was so happy the first day she said she didn't even want to leave.  I am a happy mom to have her loving it so much when she initially was not thrilled at the thought of returning to school.  Last week, she had her first spelling test and got them all correct (see, is, have, the, can,and today).  She is learning about the human body and finds it pretty interesting I believe.  She was amazed that it takes a whole day for your food to go through your body.  Math homework is easy for her so far, and they have some every day Monday to Thursday.  They also have reading most days in the form of a decodable book.  Although homework is not her favorite part of the day, she has been good about doing it without a fight.

We had a great long weekend.  Friday after school we went bowling with the Lynch family and then to eat at Mellow Mushroom.  We topped our pretzels, calzones and pizza off with some ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery....well Summer did.  I was a good girl and did not have any myself.  We let them burn a little more of their energy off at the playground afterwards.  It was a great time which I believe we will repeat again in a few weeks.
👋
Saturday we were invited to a cookout a a friend's house.  We took Willow with us and the girls all played great together.  They had so much fun that Sidda ended up coming home with us for a sleepover.  They played dress up and the Wii for a while before I was finally able to wrangle them into bed around midnight.  They were up by seven o'clock the next morning when I heard them jumping off the bed.  I questioned Summer about the bed jumping after she came down and she was honest about it.  I'm so thankful for her honesty at this time and hope it continues as the years continue to pass.

Our last week of freedom

The week before school starts has come and gone.  We started back to our school routine of an 8:00  bedtime which was not always sucessful, but we did manage to do it a few times.  A lot of those days were spent watching Barbie A Fairy Secret and playing games at home.  Some days we watched it twice!  She has a few favorite parts that she rewinds or mimics.  It's cute!  We went swimming. We had a play date at the malls with some friends.   Summer had a great time playing on the playground there although technically she is too big to play on it.  We also did a little shopping.  She was excited to get some light up flip flops with butterflies on them.  We both got some new sunglasses since the guy was closing up shop and had them all marked down to $5.   She looks totally adorable in the pair she got.  I hope I do too.  LOL

Saturday, Summer decided she wanted to stay home all day so we had a pajama day.  We watched Barney Best Manners and also her  new favorite Barbie movie yet again.  I had picked a movie that was too sad the previous evening -My Dog Skip- so I didn't get any say in the movie selection.  She did not like some parts because there was bullying and therefore it was a "scary" movie.  The dog also dies so that was not good in her book either.  So much for the movie I thought would be great because it had a dog in it.  I guess I need to read the full storyline next time.  After we were movied out, we had a bubble bath and wardrobe change.  Lots of bubbles!  Clean pajamas! Not too long after that, she decided a bike ride sounded good so I had another wardrobe change before we headed out on our bikes.  (I really don't think my neighbors would've appreciated me parading my pjs up and down the street.)  She is doing really good at getting out of the driveway which used to be scary for her because of the height difference between the street and the driveway.  Poor Trixie was leashed to her bike and therefore ran along beside her as she rode down the street and back.  It actually worked better than I thought it would when I realized what her intentions were.  Trixie did not seem to mind.  Score!  Afterwards, we spent some time on the playground in the yard.  It's been too hot to do much I it this summer, but now that the weather is cooling off a bit she might use it a little more.  It sure would be nice to have Lexie over to play with her on it sometimes, but I doubt that will happen any time soon.

Sunday we cashed one of her library program coupons/rewards at Lake Winnie.  The weather was perfect and Summer and I were both in good spirits so it was a lot of fun for us both.  One of her favorite rides was the Sea Warrior which is a spinning, spinning, up and down type ride.  I was worried I would get sick, but the motion sickness medicine did it's job.  She also loved the Tilt-a-whirl and the Scrambler.  She was not big enough for the big roller coaster, but the Wacky Worm was good enough for her.  We probably rode it five times and every time she made us keep our hands up the entire time.  I was happily surprised when she wanted to ride the carousel since the year before she definitely thought it was too slow for her to even get on.  We rode and rode and rode until we were both worn out and back at the front entrance.  We gave the Sea Warrior one lost whirl and headed home.  She was asleep before we got there.  After showers, I tried to get her back I her bed and out of mine.  I lay with her for a while and even left the room with her in her bed, but it did not last very long.  She came out and I ended up just letting her sleep with me again.  I guess this is one battle I'm not up for fighting right now.  She is going through so much with this divorce that I just can't justify doing it now with school also starting and that not being too exciting for her either.  Maybe I'll give her a few weeks to get settled into that before I try again.  We shall see.

Today was our last official day off, but we were at the school most of the morning anyway getting registered and stuff.  We found out who her teacher was and were happy to see who her fellow classmates will be this year.  We even went to lunch with one of them after we left.  Now we are resting on the couch and nursing her carpet burned knee.  I really hope she wakes up tomorrow and it is not still hurting.  That would not be the best start to the 1st day of school.  I'm pretty sure we will both be out by 8:00 tonight.  I hope so anyway because school starts tomorrow!  First grade here she comes!!!

Summer's almost over

Last week, I surprised Summer with a trip to Splash in Panama City, Florida.  She was super excited when she found out her friend Willow and her family were going too.  The last time we went there was 3 years ago when she was going through her chemotherapy treatments.  Needless to say, this trip was much different.  Her favorite places to be this trip were the lazy river and the pool with a deep end.  She's become such a great swimmer.  One day, we found a red die on one of our treasure hunt walks.  We kept it, and she ended up spending lots of time diving after it in the pool.  She liked to go look for shells with me, but she was not one to pick a lot up.  She's more of a pointer outer.  We had a few mom and daughter trips down the beach.  We usually didn't go too far, but we found lots of treasures and enjoyed the feeling of our feet sinking in the sand.  Summer was not a big fan of the ocean the first two days when the water was as calm as a swimming pool and shallow for a long way out.  The last day when the waves were a little more active, she had fun jumping them.  I think she told me that was her favorite part of the whole trip. Playing with Willow and Harper was also lots of fun, and they put on several shows for us.  We had quite a bit of rain so we were lucky to have a room big enough to where we could all spread out when we had to be indoors.  There were even bunk beds which the girls took turns sleeping on top and bottom.  Summer had the top bunk the first night and woke up the next morning saying it was the most comfortable bed ever.  I was happy to see she slept so well in it when I thought she might try to sneak into my bed at some point in the night.

Everyday, there was an activity the kids could do at the resort.  One day they tie dyed shirts, and another day they colored a backpack.  They made shark tooth necklaces.  I've yet to see Summer's since we've been home, but I haven't fully unpacked yet either.  They really enjoyed them all, along with souvenir hunting.  On our last trip to the store, Summer ended up with a pink butterfly on a green rod.  They gave her an extra rod just in case that one broke which ended up working perfectly for one of the treasures she found on the beach earlier - a flower windwheel.  Oh yeah!  They played with those for quite a while during one of the rainy spells we had.  The first time we went shopping, she got a magnetic pen that says I Love You and has a pink cat on it.  She had lots of fun testing out all the things that it would and would not stick to around the condo unit.

Summer discovered a new Barbie movie - Fairy Secret - while we were on the trip.  It was her favorite of the one's her friend Willow brought.  So much that yesterday when we were spending her birthday gift certificate at Target, she picked it out and three cans of silly string too.  Of course, when we got to the car, she was having buyers remorse and wishing she would've gotten the princess game I had showed her.  She knew I had bought two that I was going to give to her friends.  Well, one was really for her for Christmas, but I didn't want to tell her that.  We had a little talk and agreed to trade them out so she could go ahead and get the game.  In order to get the Barbie movie, she would do some chores to earn it.  She suggested making the bed and folding clothes.  I added cleaning her room and the playroom.  We had a deal!  When we got home, we immediately had to play it a few times.  :)  The first time we tied.  The next, she won.  It turned out to be a rather fun game, and I think we completely scored by getting it!  She even got her Paw-Paw to play with her this morning.

A bulk of our day has been spent cashing in on the chores she promised to do in exchange for the movie.  We spent hours going through the playroom and her bedroom to see what she wants to keep when we move.  We got it pretty organized and she was a real trooper during the process.  She did take a break to paint a picture with one of her many craft kids.  She also helped me fold the laundry.  She did her clothes while I folded mine.  When I started to wash some dishes, she offered to help.  She took over after I finished the glasses.  I offered to rinse them for her, but she wanted to do it all herself.

The evening has been spent watching the Barbie movie although she still owes me one more day worth of chores.  After two runs through the movie, some leftover Chinese food, and chocolate chip cookies, we are about to be on our bedtime countdown.  Next up, bedtime craft.  We're making a magnetic fishing pole and fish.  Good times!!!

Wiggle wiggle

We have had another great week.  Sunday we headed to Partyville after church with the other elementary kids.  We were lucky to have gone that day because the next day it closed its doors for good.  She had a great time playing with the other kids and was surprisingly not a cling on.  It was great to see her having so much fun with the kids her age and not needing me to follow her around the place.  After she had played herself out, we headed home and jumped in the pool to cool off.  She had a blast chasing me around the pool.  We have actually been in it every day this week so I am happy I decided to put it up.  I almost just left it in the garage for the summer, but one day it was hot and we needed a nice place to cool off so we worked together and got it up and running.  Yay for a nice clean alternative to the lake!!  We neither one have been in it this year (at least in our slough).  There is just too much stuff growing from the bottom for our taste and the water does not look sparkling clean so it's not very inviting to us.  We did finally get our boat fixed that day, but she does not have any desire to go out on it.  Darn nose diver! 

On Monday we stayed home all day which was great plan in her book.  She started playing the Disney
Enchanted Princess game on the Wii that morning and decided that we were going to play it until we conquered it.  So, we teamed up and got it done.  I operated the nunchuck and she operated the other Wii remote.  Together, after hours and hours of work, we beat all the chapters and unlocked Belle's Bonus chapter which she thought was never going to happen.  She was very excited about this but scared to cut the Wii off.  When we finally did she was worried all her work would not be saved.  We cut it back on and to her surprise it still was there.  Another reason to shout hooray! 

Yesterday, we had a playdate with our friends Alicia, Laila and Liliana.  We met up with them at the pool at Southern College and the girls swam around like fish.  My friend got called into work while we were there so our play date got cut short much to the girls dismay.  They were definitely not ready to be done playing with each other when we went our separate ways.  But, that's the way life happens sometimes.  We were going to have a picnic lunch, but since our friends couldn't join us anymore Summer decided she wanted to eat at Olive Garden.  It's been a few months since we have went there so I was happy to oblige.  She gobbled up all the extra black olives the lady brought her and as many tomatoes drenched in their yummy dressing as she could.  She even ate some of the salad which she doesn't usally do there, but their dressing was extra tasty to her I guess.  The only place she usually eats salad is Sekesui or Ichiban with their oriental dressings. 

When we got home, we saw that her tooth fairy pillow had been delivered.  It was a sewing kit that had precut holes for young sewers like herself.  She went right to work getting it put together.  She sewed all of it but the last few stitches that had to be done after she stuffed it.  Then she had me place the face on the outside after she applied the glue to the pieces.  I guess she wanted to make sure it looked right and did not trust herself to do it right.  I didn't question her ways, but instead I just went with what she wanted to do.  She has a tooth on the bottom that is getting very loose. This will be her first tooth to lose, and she cannot wait! Now we just have to wait for the tooth to come out so we can put the pillow to use. She's been wiggling and wiggling it, but it's still holding on. I think it will surely come out in the next week or so. Of course, only time will tell.  She did ask me yesterday if I thought the tooth fairy was a real person or a just a parent, and I said I was leaning towards it being real.  She said she thought so too.  No need to burst that bubble now I don't think.  Sometimes it is cool to believe in fairytales although as you get older you realize it was all just a myth.  The divorce is already doing a number on her without adding any more stress or disbelief to her life right now.  So, I'm just going to go with the flow as much as I can right now.

Today we met up with her cousins at the zoo.  We thought we were going to get to see the new exhibits, but they were not finished.  Looks like they are running way behind schedule.  We did have a good time seeing all the animals again though.  Summer hijacked my camera and took lots of pictures.  I can't wait to see what all she got pictures of.  Afterwards, we stopped by the carousel and they rode it over and over and over again.  I'm glad I went for the family plus membership because it has already paid for itself in the rides they took today alone.  We had a nice picnic outside the zoo before heading to the Warner Park pool.  It was very refreshing and we got some good exercise playing there.  Summer chose not to do the obstacle course today, but she did try to touch the bottom in the deep end on her own numerous times.  I don't think she was successful, but she was very independent which is a change for her.  When she is around her cousin Jonathan, she is defnitely not all about mommy.  They turn into two silly willies and giggle and have lots of fun.  So, I'm guessing she will be preoccupied with him for the next day.  Guess that means I've got plenty of time to get some housework done.  Now to get off here and get to it!

Passing the week away

After a little playtime with Paw-Paw on Tuesday morning and a yummy home cooked lunch, Summer and I ventured downtown to the Warner Park pool.  We started off in one of the kiddie pools, but quickly moved up to the big pool.  The inflatable obstacle course was calling our names, so we took the swimming test and both passed.  We had to swim across  the pool and back with our heads above water.  We did it together and she had no problem doing it with me cheering her on and encouraging her.  We got our green bracelets and headed to the deep end.  It was our first time doing the course, and I have to admit I was a little nervous for her.  But, I didn't say anything.  When it was our turn, we jumped in and swam to the first obstacle - climbing on the inflatable.  It was no race for us as I did not want to abandon her and leave her alone and scared.  We both made it all the way across the first time we tried! We did it once more before we left, but first we went to try out the slide.  It was a hit with her, but not so great for me as the landing did just not feel good.  Oh to have a 6 year old body again!  After a few times down the slide, she decided she would like to touch the bottom in the 9 ft. deep pool.  She tried blowing out her air like my cousin had taught her a few weeks ago, but she just couldn't do it.  So, I tried pushing her down with my feet after she would go under and it worked.  She was smiling so big after she came up the first time she touched.  She had to do it over and over.  It was cool to see her accomplish this feat which probably had seemed impossible to her at first after her watching me doing it and seeing how far I was from the top of the water.  After a bit, we decided to walk over the the spray and play part where she had her end of the year school party.  She showed me all the cool tricks of going under the fountains and letting the big trough dump on our heads.  Then we headed back to the deep end for a little more underwater fun.  When she had had enough of the pools, we got out and changed clothes for our trip to the library.

She was excited to get there early and play on the computers before story time started.  On the way up, we found out how many more books we could check out that day since we already had a pile at home.  But, who wants to go to the library and not check out books?  When it was time for story time, she paused the Cat in the Hat book she was reading on the computer.  She never did go back to it.  Since it was the end of the summer reading program, they only showed a few videos in lieu of reading books to us.  They still did a craft at the end.  Thank goodness!  I think that is her favorite part.  On our way out, we picked out more books and then checked them out.  I'm happy to say that we have exceeded our goal of reading 100 books this summer.  I just hope she will be rewarded by getting to go the party this weekend while she is at her dads.  As we were driving home, she said, "I'm thinking Krystals."  So, we stopped at the one in Soddy and dined in on cheese Krystals.  She likes hers with mustard, but no pickles or onions.  I like mine with just cheese.  When we got home, we decided to go get in the pool.  We played for a while and then came back in and got ready for bed.  We topped the day off with Barney's Campfire sing-a-long.  My favorite Barney movie!  Yes, I have a favorite.  I really like most of them.  The songs are just so catchy and it really is an upbeat fun time even when you are nearing 35.  I guess maybe I'm still a kid at heart.  :)  

When we got up Wednesday, she asked if we were going to get to stay home all day.  She was happy to find out that yes we were and not only that, but Memaw and Nanny were coming over after work to play and spend the night with us.  We watched a few cartoons and had some yogurt and granola for breakfast.  This is the most normal breakfast food she has eaten in a long time, but she was not really fond of it.  I did manage to get it all down her, but she made me feed her.  She's still my baby!  A little later she took Paw-Paw down to her hideout (the bamboo woods behind our house), but that ended with her getting stung by a yellow jacket.  I heard her cry out and the first thing that came to my head was a snake.  I was wrong, but it was still not pleasant for her.  We quickly taped a penny on it after consulting Memaw on the phone, and it seemed to take most of the pain away.  We also applied an ice pack a few times, but she found that the best thing to do was just to leave it alone and not touch it.  The day could not go by fast enough for her, but we managed to stay busy until they arrived.  Oh what a joyous time that was for her!!!!  She showed them all the things around the house that she had been wanting to.  She and Memaw swam in the pool.  She took them to her kingdom (the basement) where she rules as queen.  They all three played the Cat in the Hat game and then a few rounds of hot potato while I watched.  I really enjoyed just watching her smile all evening long.  Not that it is uncommon, but she is just a beautiful little girl.  And, I'm not one bit prejudice!  Ha!

This morning we got up early to have cappuccino with Memaw and Nanny before they left for work.  After they left, we started playing game.  We played Disney Princess's Spinning Wishes twice.  We both won once.  Then we played the Disney Princess's Monopoly Junior twice and she beat me both times.  After that, we headed up to her room where we played another Disney Princess game.  It is funny how she loves the games, but getting her to watch a princess movie is almost impossible.  After playing it three times, with her winning twice, we moved onto a craft project.  While we were doing it, Paw-Paw showed up.  We finished up as much of the craft as we could, but had to put it on hold while it dried for an hour.  I let Paw-Paw take over for a while, and I went to tend to my chores.  After the craft was dry, we worked on it a little more.  She had requested cheeseburgers for lunch, so that is what we had.  She gobbled hers up as she had the night before at dinner.  Either I'm a good burger maker, or she just isn't picky as long as there is cheese and mustard.  

This evening we took a trip downtown to cool off at Coolidge park before watching an aerial dance show in the trees.  She did not jump right in the fountains and play like she would've a few years ago.  I actually had a hard time convincing her to get in them even though she had been excited when I mentioned going down there.  She wanted me to play in the fountains with her, but I did not wear my bathing suit and did not want to get totally soaked.  I did walk around them with her and get my feet in them, but that was not enough to get her to go all the way in them. She just said she did not know what to do in them.  I told her to watch the other kids and do what they were doing, but she finally said it just wasn't her kind of thing.  I guess she's outgrown it or maybe it was just an off day for her.  It was a little frustrating for us both, so we ended just giving up and heading over to where the tree show was going to be.  We spread out our picnic blanket and relaxed in the shade while enjoying a nice breeze.  Not too long after we got there, they announced there were snacks up the hill so we went and got some green grapes.  She ate them all up, but did let me have a few.  A little while into the show, she wanted more so we got some more.  A healthy snack is okay to indulge in, right?  It did not ruin her steak dinner that we had afterwards at Logans.  Of course, she did not eat all of her steak, but I imagine she will have it for breakfast tomorrow with some rice.  

We finished the day off with a few episodes of Dragon Tales followed by a few books.  I really thought I was exhausted, but she fell asleep first and all I could do was lay there.  That's when I decided to blog. I hope now that I have shared most of our memories from the past few days, I will too fall fast asleep.  We'll see...

A week off

This week is going to be a pretty laid back week for us.  No camps, no big plans.  It's finally time to relax and take it easy!  Summer is happy about that as she enjoys days that we stay home all day and she does not have to leave the house.  Sometimes I wonder if it is because when she was younger we did so much running around doing this, that and everything we could.  But, maybe it's just because home is such a fun place to be. 

Yesterday, she spent a lot of time playing with her Paw-Paw.  She loves to do that!  Some mornings she will watch the clock and is so happy when it is finally 9:00 a.m. so she can go to his house and see if he is up.  I had to set a time because otherwise she would be over there at 7:00 waking him up.  It is so cool to hear them playing in the house as she is usually laughing and just having a great time with him.  He really gets on her level and does whatever she wants.  I feel so blessed to be able to have him as a next door neighbor which is something I never really thought would've happened when I was growing up.  So yesterday, after spending the first part of the morning on the couch with me watching a Shrek movie on her iPod, she went to see if he was ready to play.  They hula hooped and played and laughed and had a great time.  She was very happy to not have to go to the grocery store with me because that would've meant she would have had to leave the house.  Oh no!!!  lol  I think she wore him out because while she and I were eating fish sticks and home grown tomatoes (she dipped both of hers in vinegar, of course!) for lunch, he fell asleep on the couch. 

After he went home, it was my turn to play.  We made a butterfly kite into a dress up accessory.  We played Chuck E Cheese on the Wii.  We were trying to figure out how to change the level on the game since it always says we are at level 1.  We got the manual out and could not figure out how to change the level.  It seems we just need to play the game more.  While we were looking through the manual we discovered that we are missing a few of the games that are supposed to be on there - namely the ticket blaster.  We never could figure out how to get it to show up.  She was totally bummed about this.   But, maybe one day it will magically appear.  I hope so for her sake.  Maybe we'll just take a trip to Chuck E Cheese and somehow bribe them to let her get in the ticket blaster.  She has always wanted to do that, but I just don't like having birthday parties there and I think that's the only time they let people in there.  I'd rather it be just me and her so we can play to our heart's content, cash our tickets in and leave.  

We were expecting some friends over yesterday evening and while we were waiting on them to arrive, Summer wanted to play her Cat in the Hat I Can Do That game.  We had a good time playing it although I had to crawl around the house on several of my turns and my knees did not really like that.  She laughed and laughed during the game which made it all worth while though.  When her friend Abby showed up, they were off to play together and the game was forgotten about.  I can't say I'm sad about that because we had already been through the cards more than once.  They played and played until Abby's parents were ready to go.  I think the girls could've played longer, but it was getting late and they had to go.  On their way out, Summer showed them her new turtle that a friend found for her yesterday.  I am really hoping we will let it go soon as it does not seem to like it's cage and tried and tried to escape as we were getting ready for bed last night.  Maybe we'll do what we did with our last turtle and let him out for some fresh air and then forget about him until it is too late and he has wondered off.  Oh darn! 

Well, I am looking forward to seeing what she wants to do when she gets up.  Until then, I think I will lay on the couch and rest.  I got up early due to being unable to fall back asleep with some unfinished business on my mind.  Now that it is all taken care of, I can relax. 

The funness of my little girl

Yesterday after art camp, Summer and I went to our favorite sushi place for lunch - Sekesui.  She loves their soup, salad and teriyaki chicken.  My favorite are the Red Dragon rolls.  After getting our bellies mostly full, we headed to Cold Stone Creamery where Summer got cake batter ice cream in a sugar cone.  I really didn't want to get the cone because she never eats it, but I thought maybe there was a chance she would this time.  Nope.  She actually asked me pretty please to go get her a spoon so she could spoon the ice cream out of the cone.  lol  We walked to the playground afterwards, but after about fifteen minutes we left.  It was just too hot outside.  So we went ahead to the dentist even though we were an hour and a half early.  At least it was air conditioned!!!  They took her early and she got a great report.  No cavities!  We also learned that her insurance was going to pay for the dentist so that was a blessing. 

We headed a birthday party at Pump It Up after that.  After watching the rules of the place, Summer was too nervous to play.  She was so scared that she was going to break a rule that she did not even want to play even though she has been there many times before.  Darn video!!!  :(  I was pretty disappointed in the effect the rule video had on her, and I could not convince her that she would be fine and not break any rules.  Her friends came over the the bench where she was sitting and tried talking to her to see what was wrong, but they could not tempt her from the bench.  After they all left her, I went over to try to talk her into playing, but it was not easy.  I did get her to go down the slide once, but that was the extent of her playing on the inflatibles.  She did cheer on her friends Giada and Annie as they played air hockey.  They were having so much fun that she never got a turn.  It was good to see her finally smiling and having fun after being too intimidated to play.  What a bummer!  When the party moved to the birthday room, she was all smiles and acting silly with her friends.  She ate her piece of cheese pizza up and then licked the icing off of her cupcake.  The end of the party was definitely better than the beginning!

When we got home, we continued our Barney movie marathon which started the night before.  After going through and organizing our movies, she decided we would watch all the Barney movies.  I know we've got at least twenty of them so it might take a while.  The first night we watched two Barney Christmas movies.  Last night, we watched Can You Sing that Song?  Today we have watched two more.  The marathon goes on......

We are at the end of the summer reading program at the library.  When I turned in her sheet at the library Monday, she had read 75 books so far (at least that's how many we have written down).  Some of those we read twice, but each book is only counted once.  Our goal is 100 books, but I don't think we will make it before Saturday which is the final deadline.  I was really just wanting to read 100 by the time school started so I'm pretty sure we will make that.  I have read most of the books to her, but she reads the level 1 books to me.  I will probably go and update the total at the library tomorrow while she is at camp.   Not that it really makes a difference, but I want to return some of the books so I don't have to make a special trip downtown on Monday so I might as well add on the books we read this week.  Well, I must get off for our bedtime craft.  We are making a model lung in a plastic bottle.  Good times!!!

Camp central

Aerials camp has come and gone. Summer and her friend Willow had a lot of fun at the week long four hour a day camp learning different things on the trapeze and silks. They got to choreograph a routine for the performance at the end of camp. They decided to be scared zebras running from a car. It was cute to see the act they had put together on the trapeze to the song of Jungle Boogie. You can see it here.  Willow spent the night with Summer one night and that was fun too.  They had a tea party in the library loft and shared lots of laughs over a half gallon of water.  Summer did not go spend the night with her although she was invited, but she says she only likes to spend the night with her Memaw or her cousins.  She spent her first weekend with her dad (for those who don't already know, we are getting divorced) and although she did not think she would be able to sleep without me there, I believe she did.  Lexie was there to help keep her company so I know she enjoyed that too since I have not been able to get her for the past few weeks.  I hope that won't last forever, but only time will tell.  I sure do miss that sweet girl!

This week she is attending a week long art camp at the Hunter Art Museum for the 2nd summer in a row.  On the way there, she asked me how long the camp was and I told her 3 hours.  She was not too excited about being away from me that long and asked me if I thought she was going to be able to do it. LOL  I reassured her that she would, as she had done it the year before with no problems.  However, when I walked her to her classroom she was a little teary eyed and not in the best of spirits.  When I picked her up, she seemed to have had a good time and was anxious to get home and make some hamburger helper.  But, when we got home, the meat was still not thawed so we had a tea party complete with strawberries, smoked gouda and crackers to pass the time until it was.  After eating our hamburger helper and broccoli and cheese, the rest of the day was spent being silly on the couch, cuddling with the cats and dog, playing in the hot tub and watching Barney and Calliou videos.  Of course, we could not watch  movies without cookies and kettle corn, her two favorite snacks.   At bedtime, we read quite a few books.  Her favorite were the Dr. Seuss books and mine were the ones she read to me.  


Today as we headed to camp, she told me she missed me already.  She's such a mommy's girl!!!  She claimed her belly was hurting her when we got there, but I'm not sure if it really hurt or if maybe she thought she would be able to get out of going.  She did much better at drop off and went right into the class and started talking to one of the instructors.  They told her to write her name on the back of the paper and she asked, "How do you know which is the front and which is the back?"  It was a plain white piece of paper.  Too cute!  :)   

I took her to the doctor yesterday because she ran a low grade fever off and on last week and over the weekend.  She had also been complaining of belly and head aches all week.  After a strep test, blood test, and thorough examination by her doctor, it was determined that she was just getting over another virus as her white blood counts were low.  The doctor also found her to be constipated which seems to have been a pretty consistent problem for her since her chemo treatments which ended almost 3 years ago.  Hopefully, we will be able to get that straightened out with a little help from some miralax.  I don't want to fail to mention that it was possibly one of most fun doctor visits we have had.  While we were waiting to see the doctor, I sang her silly songs and she laughed and laughed begging for more.  I couldn't talk her into singing one to me though.

Looks like we will possibly be spending the rest of the day watching Barney videos.  She has requested that we watch all the ones that we have and then write their names down on a piece of paper.  We'll see if that happens or not.  Right now we are waiting on some banana bread to come out of the oven.  She was my big helper making it and added all the ingredients into the mixing bowl.  I think her favorite part was smashing the bananas, but she would not help me peel them.  She had a little taste of the batter, but she will not try the bread.  She said banana bread is not good, and she will not eat any.  That's okay though because it is not for us.  Guess I'm going to get off here and check the bread.  Then time to spend the rest of the day with her.  Love it!!!!

Our trip to the beach

Last week Summer, my dad and I traveled to Fort Walton Beach for a much needed vacation.  About an hour into the drive, she started with the "how much longer?" question.  "How many more minutes?" was a another of her favorite questions.  She played her Leapster some, but did not really play the iPad like I thought she would.  I figured she would be glued to Fetch with Ruff Ruffman like she had been the week before, but I guess that did not interest her.  After about seven and a half hours, we made it to our destination:  Island Echos on Okaloosa Island.  She only slept for about thirty to forty minutes the whole way down.  We were not at the condo long before she was ready to head to the pool.  After a little time there, we headed to the beach to build a sand castle.  We were almost finished with it when a rain shower blew over and cleared the beach.  We headed to our unit to get our things settled in and relax.  We were tired from the long day on the road so we decided to eat in instead of going out like we did for supper the rest of the week.    


On Sunday when we woke up, a tropical storm had blown in.  The waves were huge, but the rain had not arrived yet so we headed to the pool.  Summer and Paw Paw swam together while I watched.  It was a little cool out for me with no sun in sight.  While they were swimming, it started sprinkling, but that did not bother them.  When Summer was chilled to the bone, we headed back up to the room.  That was when her vacation took a turn for the worse.  She started running a high temperature so I ran to the store to get some medicine.  On Monday morning, she also had developed a sore throat so we took her to an urgent care clinic.  They gave her a strep test which was negative, but since she also had a painful sensation at the end of her peeing, they put her on amoxycillin to be on the safe side.  Her fever continued to spike over 102 for the next few days and added to the sore throat were body aches and a sore mouth.  On Thursday, we returned to the doctor for more tests since she did not seem to be improving.  After another strep test, urine culture and a trip to the hospital for a blood test, it was decided she had a virus.  They called her in a prescription of nystatin for the thrush that had developed in her mouth.  


Her week pretty much consisted of watching DVDs on the couch.  Blues Clues and Barney kept her quite entertained.  We met some nice people on the beach who loaned us some of their movies.  Her favorite was "A Bug's Life."  We also watched "Ant Bully."  On Wednesday night, she asked me when she was going to get to have some fun on vacation, but the poor thing just did not feel like doing anything.  It broke my heart that I could do nothing to make her feel better.  Her mouth was so sore we could not brush her teeth and pretty much the only thing she consumed all week was yogurt drinks. The pool was not even appetizing to her.  I did manage to get her to take a trip to the beach twice where she sat under the umbrella and buried her feet in the the sand.  She did seem to enjoy that some, but it did not last long before she was ready to head back up to the couch or bed.  She went through lots of ibuprofen trying to manage her fevers and slept quite a bit too.  


On Friday morning, she still did not feel great, but she did want to do something fun.  She begged me to take her to the water park. So, after getting her to take her medicine (that was a struggle the entire trip), drink a glass of Gatorade and gulp down a yogurt smoothie, we headed to Big Kahunas.  We had lots of fun going down water slides.  It was great to see her finally having fun.  Her favorite was the one where she and I got to ride double down an enclosed yellow slide.  We rode most of the slides two or three times.  We enjoyed the wave pool for a little while until hunger hit us, and we headed to the snack area.  We ordered a philly cheese steak to share, but her mouth was still her enemy and she could not eat.  Her fever also started rising again, so we left the park and headed back to our condo.  We had about two and half or three hours of fun though so it was worth the trip.


Saturday morning we packed up and our vacation was over.  On the way home, she slept more than the first down so her "how much longer" questions were not quite as bad.  We were all ready to get out of the car when we got back to Chattanooga.  The not so great vacation was over, but the sickness was not.  The main thing bothering her is her mouth.  She is so hungry, but she it just hurts too bad to eat.  She's hoping we will get to go back to the beach later this summer or maybe for fall break.  We'll see though.  Our life has gotten pretty complicated in the past week, but I'm sure in the end we will be fine.  The next few months will probably be rough for us both, but at least at the end of the day we still have each other.  

The weekend is upon us and it was another full, but fun week. Summer loved her vbs that she attended with Giada and Brody. They were excited to see each other every morning. She got to learn to cook something diffent everyday. At the end of the week, she got to bring her cookbook ( a white folder with recipes inside) and apron home with her. She was so excited to get to keep the apron! She actually cooked some 1-2-3 cake yesterday after she got home from bible school. I got to try a bite. She may try to surprise her dad with breakfast in bed tomorrow. We'll see if it turns out that way or not. She learned how to make eggs this week so maybe he'll enjoy her microwaved eggs. I'm sure he'll eat them. :) She also learned to make smoothies and pizza and how to cut fruit "with a sharp knife." I am glad she went, but I am thankful we don't have to go anywhere five days in a row next week. Just aerials and Adventure Club which are in the afternoon so no need to have to get in or out of bed early. She also has a dentist appointment. I am anxious to here what he says about the dead tooth. She has one loose tooth on bottom, at least that's all I know of. So far she still has all of her baby teeth. I am getting a little more used to the idea that a tooth will be coming out soon. Maybe by the time it happens, it won't be too traumatic for me.

We've been getting to spend the past few days with Lexie which has been nice. We have missed her since she returned to living with her mom. The girls play pretty good together for the most part, but of course they are not always perfect angels. I believe they have Trixie wrangled up in whatever they are playing in the basement this morning. Poor dog! Last night we were reading a book Summer picked from the library and it was about how to make friend with dogs. It's amazing how many of the don'ts she does. I reread one part a few times about how they don't like to be chased, hugged, teased and more. I still don't think she gets it. She really wants a hands on dog who wants to be carried around like a baby. It's kind of funny because she won't really have anything to do with babies - real or toys. She does claim that she likes to play with Vayda Mae, but that is only with a balloon on a string. I don't think she has ever held a baby. She has no interest in holding her newest niece Roxianne. Maybe she feels threatened by them? I don't know. Well I'm off to enjoy the weekend with two of the most adorable girls on this earth. They are such a blessing!

2nd week of summer break

This week is going by fast, just like the first week of summer vacation did. Last week, Summer and I attended VBS at our home church. This week she is attending one with two school friends. I believe this will be the last VBS of the summer as it has not been a very relaxing Summer with all these activities we have been involved which require attendance on a daily basis. We have been having fun though.

For the past two weeks, we have attended Adventure Club at the library. Summer has over forty books on her summer reading log so far. She loves picking out books and playing on the computer at the library. This week we left with 20 books! She also enjoys the craft time they have at the end of the story time. Yesterday, she let me help her on her watercolor owl. The week before they made light switch covers, and she did not ask for my help with that one. I never know when she's going to need me, but I always try to be there just in case. She didn't need my help finishing her cake batter ice cream from Cold Stone before our trip to the library. I remember the days when she did....

Right now she is in her aerials class which she still loves. This is her 2nd month of lessons and next month she has a week long camp. Her friend Willow will be joining her for that which will be a great time for them both I'm sure. They may even get to have a few sleepovers with each other that week. I'm not sure Summer will stay with them. She still does not like the idea of spending the night with anyone other than my mom or sister. But, that's cool with me. I know before too long I'll have a hard time keeping her home.

Last night, I took her down to Riverbend which is a music festival that they have once a year in Chattanooga. It was hot outside, but she enjoyed it. She got to do a bungee jump activity so she was happy about that. She was an inch too short for the Tilt-a-Whirl and the hang gliding simulation ride. She didn't have any interest in the ferris wheel so we didn't even check to see if she could ride it. After jumping and flipping, we went to get her a snack. She picked nachos and water. We walked down to a friend's boat and hung out for a bit then cut out before any of the good bands even got started. It was enough time spent there for us both though. We tried to get home and get in the bed early, but after getting showered up, she was not sleepy. So, we watched a few episodes of Dragon Tales and snacked on kettle corn and cheese to top off our day. I am hoping next week will be a little more relaxing and we can spend more time at home. Of course, if we find something fun to do, we probably will not pass it up.

Sleeping in rocks!

I was a little afraid of what time Summer would be waking up now that school's out. She usually gets up sometime during the 6 a.m. hour. Now that school is out, she does not have her 8:00 bedtime anymore. I usually put her to bed whenever she is tired or I can't wait to get in the bed myself. I am hoping that will allow her to sleep until 7:30 or 8:00 at least. Today she made it to 8:30; I think yesterday it was 7:30. I actually beat her out of bed this morning which is hard to do unless it's a school day or we have an early appointment. Next week is VBS in the morning so we will probably stick to an early bedtime that week. Summer and I can't wait until vacation time. We are so ready to be at the beach. Summer wants to build a sand castle, and I can't wait to hear the roar of the ocean. I'm sure the pool will be her favorite activity at our destination, but maybe her daddy and I will be able to coax her into a few games of tennis. Deep sea fishing is also a must do for me, but Summer will probably stay with her daddy while my dad and I go out to sea. Of course if we just fish off a pier Summer might be game, but boats are not her thing. We are trying a new destination so I hope we will not be disappointed. But, with a beach and pool I'm not sure we could be. I think there may be a water park nearby which we will have to visit I'm sure if Summer hears about it. I can't wait! We've made it through our first books from the library and will probably return them today on our way to VBS at our church. Summer has really enjoyed it, as have I teaching the Imagination Station. Every night we do a different experiment with the kids. Last night we made fizzy fliers explode which really wowed the kids. Summer has done great branching out from being my cling-on, but she did get a little flustered yesterday at church when she couldn't find me. I got there early to work on my lesson and went off to get some supplies leaving her in my room. When she finally found me in the kitchen, she was close to tears. It made me sad to see that I had upset her, wathcing as she tried to fight back tears. When I asked her what was wrong, she said she was just upset for no reason. I told her that I do that too sometimes. I knew it was because she couldn't find me though. :( So, I took a minute to stop what I was doing and took her up to where the sanctuary where the kids meet up everyday. She was still trying to fight back the tears as I left her, but she said she was fine. I love that sweet girl! When she made it to my station that night she was all smiles and having a great time. I'm sure it didn't take long for her perk up after I left her and some of her friends got there. Next week she was invited to join some of her friends at VBS, but she has never been to the churn before so I'm not sure how the drop off will go. I hope she will see them and be excited and not hold tight to my arm, but I'm not going to count on it. This morning has been a cartoon filled couch morning. Love all this good snugly time with my baby! I love summertime!!!!!!

School's out for summer

We are on our second day of summer break, and Summer is on her way to Camp Lookout with her daddy.  She is wearing the tie dye shirt she made last year when she went to the camp.  I'm sad that I cannot be there with her this year, but I am glad her dad took off so he could go with her.  They need some extra time together.  Last night, Summer and I made rice crispy treats to take and share with the other kids from church.  It was the first time she has made them, and I think she enjoyed it.  She kept wanting to taste the melted butter and marshmallows.  Of course, once it was melted it was a little too hot for that, but she happily took my stirring spoon when I gave it to her after it was all mixed up. 

Our first day of break was mostly spent at home which makes Summer and I both happy because we like to be at home.  She played for hours with her Paw-Paw dragging him from one side of the house to the other.  She showed him some things on the iPad for quite a while until I had to literally make her get off of it.  I felt kind of bad him sitting there watching her play with it for well over an hour. I was also hoping she would get up and do something active, but it was a little too cool for her outdoors and she kept saying she was cold.  They played Candyland, and he got to watch her do some math from one of the workbooks she rescued from the recycle bin on the last day of school.  I got to get all prepped for VBS and Sunday school, take a hot bath and also had a short nap while they played.  After he left, it was my turn and we played Twister and Candyland.  I won both times at Twister, but she beat me at the other.  Another favorite game of hers right now is Sorry, but we did not play it. 

After deciding to head downtown for the evening, we ran to the mall to pick up a few things.  One thing we got that I did not intend to was a pair of high heels for Summer.  We ran in the shoe store to make sure there weren't any better shoes for her to wear in the wedding next weekend and what did we find???  Silver high heels!!!  They've got sparkles on the heels and a sparkly flower on her toe straps.  I was amazed at how well she walked in them.  And, despite my better judgement, I bought them.  She wore them out of the store and all the way through Walmart.  However, when we got to the condo, she was happy to trade them in for a pair of flip-flops before we walked to Cheeburger Cheeburger for supper.  We shared a chocolate peanut butter milkshake as we ate our food.  It was so yummy that Summer declared she was going to drink the rest of it and didn't want to share.  Of course, in the end she didn't drink it all and I got to have a few more sips.

I don't want to fail to mention her Kindergarten graduation which was Wednesday at 2:00.  It was very sweet and the kids sang:  Apples and Bananas, You're a Grand Old Flag, and some other song that is totally slipping my mind right now.  :(  Oh well, I've got it video taped which also means I wasn't taking pictures with my camera, but thankfully a friend got a pic of Summer with her camera.  The kids were called up one by one and handed a picture they had drawn of their favorite thing about Kindergarten.  Summer's was art.  I'm not surprised.  The kids then stepped up to the microphone and said what they had drawn/written.  Then they were handed their diploma and given a hug by their teacher.  After all the kids had been called, Ms. Tracy (Summer's lead teacher) read something she had written called 15 reasons she loves Kindergarten with each reason being a child and a special quality about that child.  Again, I am drawing a blank as to what she said about Summer.  :(  Guess I'll revisit those videos and possibly update this post when I have time.  The other class had a similar presentation by their teachers, but it was a song they had written about the kids.  Both were very touching, but no tears were shed by me.  I guess I have just come to accept the fact that she is growing up whether I like it or not.  Or, maybe they will come next week.  Who knows??  But, I've officially got a first grader on my hands now.  After graduation, Clint, Summer, myself, Mom, Tre, Dad, Amanda and Lexie headed to Longhorns for an early dinner (Summer's choice).  Summer had steak which is one of her favorite foods.  She also loves their bread and does not eat the crust like her daddy.  Instead, they just eat the soft bread off, leaving a big pile of crust on their plates.  Let's hope she doesn't acquire his hefty appetite!!  LOL 

The day after graduation, she still had to go to school for a half day.  To her dismay, it was not an out of uniform day like we had originally thought.  Although when we got there, quite a few students were not wearing their uniforms.  I almost let her just skip the day altogether since they were just going to spend their time playing, but then I thought it would be good to go see her friends once more before summer break started.  I ended up staying there too and watching her until about 10:00 when we decided to call it a day.  After saying goodbye to her teachers, we got in the car and headed to the library to sign up for summer reading.  At first, I told her to pick 5 books and I would pick 5 books for her too.  We both ended up with 6, but I'm not complaining because reading is good for her.  I've got a goal of 100 books this summer, but I may be pushing it a little.  Oh well, 50 for sure!!!  I'm also going to try to work in a few books that she will actually be reading to me.  She is so close to reading.  She can read some beginner books, but she gets frustrated easily when she comes to a word she doesn't know and just wants me to read it to her.  I'm hoping she will start using the sounding out method her teachers taught her in Kindergarten, but I'm not pushing her too hard.  I don't want her to dislike reading altogether.  I do love that time with her anyway and am not anxious for her to be a totally independent reader.

After checking out our bounty of books, we headed to the condo to see about going to lunch with Clint.  Summer really wanted to try the new sushi restaurant that replaced our old favorite which moved about 12 blocks away.  Although Clint had already tried it and was not a big fan, he let her pick it and we walked the meager 1 block to get there.  Convenience!!!!  It was pretty good, but the sushi is definitely not the same.  Summer loved their sesame chicken which was actually what I ordered.  She also like the beef on a stick that Clint had.  In her books, it was great and she may even like it better than the old restaurant.  To celebrate the end of school, we headed to the movies to see Mirror Mirror which is a rendition of Snow White.  We all liked it, even though I think Clint almost fell asleep at one point.  Afterwards, Summer had her 5th aerials class which she still loves.  It is such a blessing to get to enjoy life and to see her enjoying it too.  I just hope one day Summer realizes how blessed she truly is!

3.5 days and counting

It's hard to believe that Kindergarden is almost over. The year has flown by as the years do when you get older. I really don't remember them going by this fast when I was still in school. Summer and I are looking forward to the summer. Vacations, camps, trips to the pool....what more could you want? Me possibly a boat ride or two, but I think Summer could do without that. The nose dives the boat took last year along with our bad luck getting it started at times has pretty much scarred her for life and given her a negative view of boating. :( Another perk of summertime is NOT having to get up and go to school every day. That will be awesome! Summer may still get up early, but we won't have to leave the house everyday by seven forty five a.m. Today was her end of the year party. The kids got to celebrate at the Warner Park Spray and Play. It was a blast for them and such a beautiful day too. Summer led her friends in a few made up routines while playing in the fountains that had them all mesmerized. It was fun just to watch them smiling and giggling and enjoying the time with each other. The ice cream bar was also a treat for the kids. What kid doesn't like ice cream? Tomorrow we have some early scans (one month) due to some insurance issues. I'm happy to go ahead and get them over with so we won't have that cloud over our summer. She will probably end up missing all day tomorrow so technically she only has 2.5 days left of school. :D She will have a chest x-ray, ultrasound and bloodwork to make sure she still looks to be cancer free. I'm soooo ready to have the results already. I remember she we first found out she had cancer it was via ultrasound in the same place we are going tomorrow, and it was one of the worst days of my life. I don't know what I would do if I got that news again, but I'm sure we would cope. I am thankful beyond what words could describe for my baby and the way she has recovered from her bout with cancer. I pray she never has to go through it again! Now if only we could get the rest of our clan cancer free..... The holiday weekend is going to be spent with friends and family swimming and and having fun. Then we will finish up the school year with graduation on Wednesday afternoon followed by a half day on Thursday. Let the good times roll!

6 years and counting

Summer turned six years old last Sunday.  After a delicious lunch with our friends Selena and Willow at the restaurant of her choice, Olive Garden, she celebrated with friends and family at the North River YMCA.  The kids played several games, including stick the tail on the donkey and a relay passing an object with their elbows, while we waited for everyone to arrive.  Then we sang "Happy Birthday" and ate cake.  Summer tore through her presents because everyone was anxious for the main attraction:  the pool!!!  She got more than she needed, but I guess that's what happens on birthdays.  The kids had a great time swimming in the pool.  Before the party, I had Summer go take her swim test so she could get it out of the way.  She swam the whole lenth of the pool with no problem and got her green bracelet to show she was okay to swim without a life jacket.  She did a good job making her way around the pool at the party.  It was a pretty big pool and she made her way from one end to the other mingling pretty good with her friends.  She was sure to get herself a goody bag at the end of the party as she said goodbye to her friends and they got theirs.  It's so funny how important the little things in that bag seem to kids....for a few minutes anyway.  I don't think she's seen it since we got home from the party.

After we got home, she wanted to play with her new things.  She ended up playing with the water guns first, followed by the flip flops you decorate yourself.  She LOVED those!!!!  She also got her first sets of Legos: the girl ones.  Crazy how they are gender specific nowadays!!  She really enjoyed them and as a result I was able to get her to let me leave school the next day (without her following me down the hall) by reminding her of the Legos they have to play with in the classroom.  The boys are the ones who generally play with them.  But, after several attempts to tell her goodbye that Monday, I spotted the Legos and when I mentioned them she ran over and started playing with them.  I wonder how long it lasted and if she actually built something, but I never asked.  Yes, I still walk her to class every morning even though it is almost the end of Kindergarten (only 14 days left).  I still sit and watch her do her notebook sheets, answer the question Ms. Tracy writes on the board everyday, and move her apple up.  We haven't done the "Rock-a-bye Baby" routine in a month or two, but we do still usually have an extra huggy hug every morning before I leave.  I'm thinking I'm going to have to give all this up next year when 1st grade rolls around.  I really hope she still wants me to walk her in, but I know she is going to outgrow it one day.  :(

She enjoyed most of her other gifts throughout the rest of the week, but there are still some that she has not gotten to yet.  She got a big bag of crafts and creative type things from my aunts yesterday.  I know she is going to enjoy them over the summer.  We should be all set on things to entertain ourselves with for quite a while.  She got 3 Wii games, including Just Dance 3 which we have been wanting for a while.  She also got a little money and a gift card so maybe she will save up for something special.  Or maybe, she'll just see something she can't live without one day and spend it. 

It's hard to believe that six years have passed since she came out of my belly.  It has been such a joy to watch her grow.  She has yet to lose any teeth which is probably the next big milestone for her.  Her two front teeth are dead and grey as a result of a fall a month or so ago, but they are barely loose and don't seem to be in a hurry to go anywhere anytime soon.  Last week, we discovered she can tie her shoes.  Usually she does not wear shoes with laces because I have made a point not to buy any, but she does have a few pairs.  Well, one morning after dressing herself and doing her own hair, she came in the kitchen with her shoes on and tied too.  She was so proud of herself.  It's bittersweet to see her becoming so independent, but it's got to happen sooner or later.  I miss my little baby, but I wouldn't trade my big girl for anything in the world.  She is truly one of the greatest blessings of my life! 

Time well spent

Anytime with Summer is time well spent in my opinion.  We have been having some lovely evenings after school enjoying the outdoors and indoors.  The play set we got from a neighbor has not lost it's spot at the top of the list of things for Summer to do outdoors.  She loves to climb all over it, even in ways which were not originally intended I am sure.  She loves to twist the swings and spin as they uncoil.  We put a little more sand in the sandbox today, and she had fun burying her feet and spreading the new sand around the sandbox for me. 

She also loves riding her electronic motorcycle she got a few Christmas's ago.  At times, she will ride her bike, but rarely out of the driveway.  Every time I mention going down the street, she pretty much declines and wants to stay where she feels safe and comfortable which I guess is smart on her part.  She got a go-cart as an early birthday present a week or so ago, but hasn't ridden it lately.   It is her size, and I feel much better about it than the one her dad bought a few weeks before that.  It was a big two seater that they were going to have to modify the pedals so she could reach them, but now there is no need for modifications....at least as long as she is in first gear.  One day they might have to put a governor on it if it turns out to be too fast, but we are sticking to just 1st gear for as long as possible.  I tried to get her to ride it today, but she just wanted to ride her motorcycle and be Super Summer in her new cape that I brought back for her from my trip to Six Flags over the weekend.  She looks so adorable in it.  Of course!  She even had her "super sidekick" tied around her waist.  The sidekick was a new bear she got over the weekend while at her Memaw's.  Lexie had gotten a bear similar to it a while back so I imagine that is why she chose it.  It is like a build-a-bear in a box that you stuff, sew and decorate.  Well, she has been carrying it around with her a lot the past few days, but Teddy is still her favorite.  I'm not sure he'll ever lose his spot at the top of her most wanted list, and that's fine with me.  We all need something to make us feel safe and secure.  

We were going to take a trip down to the lake and try to catch a few fish after we came across the crickets left over from the weekend.  But, the timer on the cookies beeped reminding us that it was time to watch a movie together instead.  We thought about finishing Pete's Dragon, but decided to wait on Lexie for that.  She wanted a Barbie movie so I went ahead and put in her favorite one -- Barbie Rapunzel.  It is not too painful to sit through, even though I have done it numerous times.  She usually always wants popcorn and cookies if we are going to watch a movie, and I almost always make them.  Her favorite kind of popcorn is kettle corn, but today we had butter instead.  I think I was craving it because I had a little of hers at the movies this morning when we went to see Chimpanzee with the kindergarten and first graders from her school.  She ate most of it by herself, but I did manage to get a few bites when one of the moms let us refill her kid combo bowl with her 2012 bucket.  Thanks Tara! The movie was good and I think the kids really got into.  I did.  It actually made me cry at one point.  No humans in the movie at all, but still the baby chimpanzee won my heart over.

We are finally at a point, I think, that she will play (and enjoys) the Wii dancing games with me even though I win.  She wants to be the one with the #1 remote though.  That's no big deal to me, but with her it could be a deal breaker.  Being in charge of the song selection is very important to her.  She did let me have it for one song today while she was resting up after our first few songs.  I think she was also checking on her growing fish that she bought today at the grocery store.  A man overheard me telling her she had to give me the $3 out of her wallet for it when we got home and said I was tough.  That's not always the case, but I do want to teach her that some of the extra things she wants in life she will have to buy herself.  She was happy to have the option to buy as opposed to just "a no your not getting it" and gave me the money shortly after we got home. But to get back to the dancing, I am happy to see her not so competitive about who wins or loses and just trying to have fun with it. Still,  I know she wishes I would win a little less and she would win a little more.  It is good exercise for us both, and I hope we will have many more dance nights ahead.  Speaking of dancing, last week we downloaded the new song "We Are Young" and had a little dance party in her room with the strobe lights and color wheel.  It was a lot of fun dancing around and making up our own moves.  It's our new favorite song right now and we both sing our hearts out at times when we are listening to it.  Those are moments I cherish.  When we just let go and have fun and enjoy life.  It's too short not to. 

Here comes Peter Cottontail

Easter is almost here. It is such a fun time if year with Easter egg hunts galore which also means lots of candy. Summer said she wants the Easter Bunny to bring her butterscotch. I don't think I ever had any of that in my baskets growing up. I remember the chocolate the best and the marshmallow chicks. This past weekend, we went to our second egg hunt. One of the girls in Summer's class had a big hunt with over 1,200 eggs for about thirty to forty kids. It was a lot more fun than the hunt the previous weekend that hid maybe 50 eggs for 10-15 kids. Summer found only four or five that hunt and was not overly joyed with her bounty to say the least. This coming weekend we have two more hunts, with the grand finale at my Aunt Leisa's house. It will probably be the best so that's why I'm calling it the grand finale. We always had great egg hunts at my Memaw's house when I was growing up. After her death, my aunt carried on the tradition and has kept dong it although most of the kids hunting now are her great nieces and nephews. She has prizes out the wazoo. Two years ago, I joined in on the hunt since there were not many kids hunting. What a fun and exhausting time that was! Oh to be a kid again....

Summer had her school party today which also had an egg hunt. The kids in both kindergarten classes at St. Peter's got to celebrate at Riverview playground which is one of our favorites. Any playground is actually fine with Summer. After lunch today she wanted to go to the downtown playground, but we missed the little girls room on the way out of the restaurant. So, instead she played a little in front of the aquarium. On the way home, she was still disappointed she didn't get to go to the playground. I know she is going to be in hog heaven in a little while so I'm not going to sweat it too much. She is going to get to spend two nights with her cousins at my mom's house followed by one night with them at our house. It's gong to be a fun holiday weekend for sure. And, lucky for us we have Monday off to relax after all the running around we are going to be doing. It's so nice when life is good!