School Bus Woes

"I sat by the girl with the mini ketchup bottle again yesterday." This is how Reese started her conversation with me this morning over breakfast.

She's been having anxiety over her morning bus rides to school. Her best friend in the neighborhood has started sitting with a friend from her own grade/class and Ashlynn wants to sit with her own friends as well. Reese said that this leaves her sitting with people she doesn't know and it makes her stomach hurt. One day she sat next to a fifth grade girl who had a mini ketchup bottle in her hands. The girl opened up the bottle, put some ketchup on her finger and ate it. Reese was almost gagging when she told me this and said that seeing it made her stomach hurt even more.

EWW....

Ashlynn's been trying to figure out who this fifth grader is and Reese's only descriptive helps are: her hair is in a wacky braid every day and she has a brother in kindergarten. I guess the girl didn't have her ketchup bottle yesterday but Reese still didn't want to sit with her.

Seahurst Park

(HOORAY! I have photoshop again :)

Today I got to go on a field trip with Reese's class to Seahurst Park. I'd never been before and so I was really excited to see the tidepools filled with sea animals.

Reese was shy at first, luckily the first creatures we saw were tiny crabs no bigger than my thumbnail. But as the day wore on and the tide went out we saw bigger sea life and Reese's confidence grew as well.

My favorite were the starfish. At first they were clinging to the rocks. Then we found them just on the sand during low tide.

It was a lot of fun. The weather was nice and we discovered a lot of fun sea animals: sea anemoenes, sea cucumbers, mussels, clams, sand dollars and then there were barnacles as far as the eye could see. I plan on going back with my family just to have a fun outing.

Mother's Day

I'm finally getting around to posting some adorable things my girls' did for Mother's Day.

I wanted to scan the book Ashlynn made me as well as a top 10 list from Reese. However, Rich recently did something to our home computer and not only do I not have any photo editing software on it anymore I have no Microsoft Office on it. CRAZY...I KNOW! He works for Microsoft - I guess the shoemaker's daughter has no shoes.*

*(This is something my mom often said when I was young to explain why we had no blinds or curtains of anykind on our ground-floor, bedroom windows and would end up nailing blankets or sheets into the wall to cover the windows for privacy. My father made drapes and hung blinds for a living.)

So because my husband doesn't check my blog and has no idea how important pictures can be....you'll have to settle for my typing it in.

From Ashlynn:
A book she made in class (based on The Giving Tree) The cover is made from a wall paper sample and it's entitled "Do You Know What I'll Do?"

One day a girl said to her mom,
"Do you know what I'll do when the flowers grow again?
I will gather wild daisies and gently place them in your favorite vase.
Do you know what I'll do when it snows?
I will make a little snowman and take a little picture of it for you.
Do you know what I will do when it rains?
I will come inside and read next to you and snuggle right by you and have hot cocoa.
Do you know what I will do when the wind blows?
I will stand outside and show you how brave I am and that I can do anything for you.
Do you know what I'll do in the night?
I will read to you in bed and keep you company.
Do you know what I'll do on my walk?
I will gather some things and make crafts for you.
Do you know what I'll do when I wake up?
I'll make you breakfast in bed and make you a card.
Do you know what I'll do when I grow up?
I'll have a wonderful family and always come visit you."

So sweet.

And Reese made me at least three different cards and this top 10 list the italics are what she filled in:
10 I love my Mom because she reads me my favorite books.
9 I love my Mom because she helps me swing high.
8 I love my Mom when she makes me laugh by tickling me really hard.
7 I love my Mom because she taught me how to do the monkey bars.
6 I love to hear my Mom sing jingle bells.
5 I love my Mom because she finds time to be with me.
4 I know my Mom cares because she loves me, and our family.
3 I know my Mom is smart because she goes on the computer.
2 I love my Mom because she works so hard at exercise.
1 I love my Mom because she's the best mom ever.

And the award goes to....

One of the reasons I knew we needed to change the way eat in the Miller household is because of my oldest daughters eating habits. She's only 10 and already eating because she's bored or eating cuz it's a party, and eating all the wrong stuff...all the stuff I do and have unfortunately taught her to do. Her weight for her age and height reflected this and was 'off the chart'.

Enter clean eating.....
I'm still not 100% clean eating, but mostly I am. I haven't bought commercial bread in about a month. And this naturally trickles down to my children. They eat A LOT healthier. I make their breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. No more trips to fast food restaurants (sometimes twice a day.) And I'm happy to say (although Ash may be embarrassed that I'm letting the cyber world know this) she is down 11 pounds in 2 1/2 months. I can tell she's feeling a lot better too. She's outside playing more, jumping on the trampoline more, and happily going for walks with me. So even though my own weight loss seems soooooooooooooooooo sloooooooooooooooowwwwwwww - I feel there is a huge reward in my efforts when every I look at my beautiful daughter.