Olivia Goes to School

Yay!  I stuck to the plan I gave myself last week, and actually saw the memo about today being Take-Your-Stuffed-Animal-to-School-Day!  Much to my chagrin, it was in a massive stack of papers that came home with her on Monday, including a report card (can't miss that one...), a list of her classmates' names for Valentines Day cards, and some random, assorted, pulverized and pounded small trees...

So yesterday, with Samantha in enthusiastic agreement, we decided Olivia would join her today.  Olivia-who-never-wears-clothes.  But today, because she was going out in public, Samantha agreed also to keep the little pig's clothes on.  For modesty, you know?  After some dumpster-diving digging through the large pink bin of random, assorted doll clothes, I found the missing garments, and voila, she was presentable once again.

Yesterday Sammi took Scat Cat, the new book Gramma and Grampa gave her, with her to school, along with some instructions by Mommy and Daddy for her to attempt to get up in front of the class to read it to everyone.  Little by little we've been working with her teachers on eliminating her fear of group-participation activities.  I'm still a bit baffled, though, as to how this gregarious, loquatious (I'll never forget, that was one of my 6th Grade new words of the day!  Thank you, Mrs. Horner!), outgoing little social butterfly can clam up when it's her turn to do something in front of her classmates.  Even in small groups.  *sigh*  So yesterday, at the teacher's prompting, Sammi got out of her seat, took the book, got into the rocking chair that's used for storytime, looked up...and saw the shining faces of her classmates.  And stopped dead in her tracks.  Okay, so it's a first step, right?  Someone on Facebook (thanks, Beth!) suggested that perhaps she could try reading to one of her stuffed animals in the classroom, thus shifting her focus to the doll.  Well, with today being Bring-Your-Stuffed-Animal-to-School-Day, that was a perfect and timely suggestion!  I mentioned it to the teacher this morning, and she thought it was a good one, too. 

Let's see how this goes...I'll fill you all in next week...





Bringing Charlotte Home

I know I haven't posted in quite some time about the beautiful orphans with Down syndrome that are left in Eastern European orphanages and mental institutions.  Those beautiful children who deserve to have mommies and daddies, but instead who have nothing. 

I also know that unfortunately, they can't all be saved at once from the awful fate that awaits them.  But one at a time, even one life saved and one forever family found, makes a HUGE difference to that one. 

One at a time, folks...

Charlotte is one.  And her Mommy and Daddy, a family local to us, need help desperately today, in preparation for their next visit to Charlotte's country next week, where they will meet with the judge who will give them permission to be her forever family.  Funding is not where it needs to be, and anything you can do to help will be so appreciated, and will help to make that difference. 

Please visit Patti's blog here for details, including photos of this heartbreakingly beautiful little girl, and for some great giveaways you can win by helping out.  But the best prize of all is having Charlotte safe and sound in her own bed, having her own Mommy and Daddy to tuck her in and read her a story, having a chance at a life every child deserves.

Early Plans

Birthday party plans, that is.  Like, really early.  Like Princess' birthday isn't even until the very, very end of May, but I'm already starting to obsess about what the theme should be this year. 

Last year was the most fun to plan, the most fun to put together, and the most visually beautiful 'do we've had in Sammi's 5 years of parties.  The theme was Olivia, and you may remember these two posts:
Chasing the Crafty DIY Birthday Party and Sammi's Olivia Party Picture Overload. 

Samantha doesn't have any strong frontrunners in the favorite character department this year, other than the perennial favorite highlighted already last year, and she doesn't have any major favorite activities (unless you want to count school, reading or watching television, none of which make for a particularly interesting or catchy theme), so I'm trying to think generic.  Like maybe a color theme.

Like maybe pink & orange, or turquoise & orange, or turquoise & pink, or, heck, turquoise & anything!  I have two boards on Pinterest dedicated to some of these color combinations:  Blue & Orange  and Pink & Orange, and then there's the ever-mind-shattering inspiration of Oilily.  (So now you've seen 3 of my 5 Pinterest boards, all needing a lot of attention...)  My mom has suggested a field of flowers theme, or butterflies, both of which would be excellent.  I'm thinking maybe flowers and stripes in turquoise & orange (I just love pattern-mixing, thanks to my Oilily past...).  We'll do the party at the local playground again - a definite benefit of having a late spring/summer birthday!

Grabbed this image off the web because it makes me drool...

So, if any of you have any great (read:  EASY and CHEAP) craft ideas that I can pull together quickly and on a dime, please let me know.  If you find anything great (read:  EASY and CHEAP) on Pinterest that you think would work (I'm only just now discovering what joys that amazing site holds), please send me the links!!

Sweet, Sweet Sunday

It was a sweet, sweet Sunday.

The day got off to a lazy start.  Breakfast at the bagel store (a favorite, as the owners are completely and rightfully smitten with Samantha), and some Wii bowling lessons from Daddy. 

Next, a visit from Gramma and Grampa and a quick piano lesson. 

It's funny how she's able to keep a tune so much better when she's playing the notes while singing (no, as much as I'd love it, she's not a prodigy - Gramma pointed to each note first).

Samantha talks incessantly about Middle C. 

I told my girl that after Gramma and Grampa left, maybe we'd go outside.  "Outside?  To play?  Mommy, Daddy and Sammi?"  "Yes, baby."  "To fly a kite?"

You know what?  I hadn't thought about it, but that's a fantastic idea!

Too bad the gusty, inconsistent wind didn't have the same aspirations. 

"Come on!  Let's go to the playground!"

Another fantastic idea. 

Cold, but fantastic.

"Hi!  Welcome to McDonald's!  May I take your order?"

Coincidental run-ins with good friends are the best.

Cold, windy, unscheduled playdates followed by steaming hot chocolate and mint marshmallows are even better.

By the way, white shirt + hot chocolate = art smock.  :-)

Oops - Jammies Fail

We get a lot of paperwork home from Samantha's school.  I mean, save-a-forest kind of paperwork.  I think if we were to reconstitute all of the pulp in all that paper, fluff it up and mold it back into a tree-shape, I'm pretty sure we could solve the global warming crisis.

Certain things you can't avoid, like Sammi's art projects and her academic work - how proud we are seeing her writing worksheets, each letter carefully created within the dotted guide lines, each curve, though shaky, forming a word.  I'm more than happy to get those.  But some stuff, well, let's just say I'd probably rather get it in an e-mail (or 50) and leave it up to me to decide if it should be printed out or not.  I'm willing to bet we could fund the cost of building a new school with the amount of paper the County could eliminate...  I do understand, though, that having a visual reminder in people's hands is often the best way to make a point or to spur action.  Just not for me.

Am I making excuses for this morning?  Nah, but I just thought I'd mention that...

Today was Pajama Day at school.  To be honest, I saw it on the paper schedule that had come home at the beginning of the month, and I remember thinking, Oh, cool!  I won't forget it this time! (as I have on all previous Pajama Days).  Then the schedule worked its way to the very bottom of the mountain of papers and forms sitting on the kitchen counter (yes, I should be weeding through this more often...), and, well, I forgot.

So Samantha was one of only two children in her class this morning that wasn't in their pajamas.  Not a big deal back in preschool, but this time the kids noticed.  And not like it's a bad thing, but I do want to try to keep her as involved as possible, running as much with the others as I can, and standing out in ways that I'm actually able to prevent makes me feel kinda bad.  I don't mean to make a bigger deal of it than it is.  I guess it hit me pretty hard this morning, though.  She didn't mind, she wasn't at all self-conscious about it.  I know that's what counts.  And it's not like I couldn't have run back home and gotten her some jammies to wear, but let's just say this was a little bit of a wake-up call for me to try to be more organized, to try to pay better attention.

A jammies fail is certainly not the worst thing I could do.  I'm going to let this be a little lesson to me, though. 

Toy Boy

A friend of Steve's gave us his Wii console and games.  Pretty darn exciting for us, as we have wanted one for some time, and in addition to hours and hours of family entertainment, it could provide a fun, in-home way to burn calories for all 3 of us during these long winter hibernatory months of blubber-building.  (Okay, I'm speaking for myself only here, but it makes me feel better to include the others...)

Steve (to Samantha, on his way out the door yesterday to pick the device up from his friend):  I'm going out now to go get a new toy for you!

Samantha:  Boy?

Steve:  Did you just say, "boy?"

Samantha:  Yes.

Steve looked at her quizically, unsure of exactly what point she was trying to make.

Samantha:  I *like* boys!

Steve (honestly in need of just a bit more clarification here...):  Boys, or "toys?"

Samantha:  Boys.  And girls! 

A brief pause, then she quickly added:  But I *like* boys.

Steve:  You're too young...maybe in 20 years.

Sammi giggled then ran off to play.

Um...let's just stick to the Wii here, shall we?

(Psssst...what are your favorite "active" Wii games for kids?)

Wednesday Whimsy: Photo Flashback: The First 4 Months

I look back at old photos, and have such a hard time being able to visualize the squidgy little newborn as the same Samantha we know today. Her personality certainly hasn't changed much - feisty and willful then, feisty and willful now, only with the added feature of being able to use words and much more capable actions to show us how feisty and willful she is. And boy, does she.

We'd gotten a new digital point-and-shoot in the weeks before Samantha was born, a step up from the digital dinosaur we'd been using.  Somehow I managed to throw just about every photographic convention I'd ever learned from my father and from my classes at the University out the window in favor of  the old, standard snapshots to capture the squirmy little being that had just joined and had already enhanced our lives.

One month old.  I was too scared to bathe her, up until she was big enough to sit on her own in her bathtub.  That, and clipping her nails, were exclusively Steve's jobs.  I didn't even want to change her clothes in the first few days she was home, leaving that to him or anyone else who came around to visit.  How on earth could you make those delicate little arms go into sleeves?  Would this delicate little china doll break if I tried?  Better to pass that massive responsibility on...

At 2 1/2 months old. Wow, where did that red hair go?? 



At 4 1/2 months, on O2 at home after OHS.  It was pretty torturous, and I can only say how grateful we are that it only lasted a few weeks before her sats rose enough to kiss that noisy monstrosity of a machine goodbye.