Thursday, October 25, 2012

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.  


Tuesday, September 11, 2012

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.

Monday, August 20, 2012

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!!!


Tuesday, August 14, 2012

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!!!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

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!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

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...

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

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.