So-niele

That was my breakfast this morning. Egg in a basket, or as my ma calls it Popeye. It’s just a piece of bread with a puka, (hole) in it and the egg cooked in that puka. And on the side is the bread made from the puka. Sure it’s easy peasy but Ma didn’t make it for me all the time. Only on Sundays! Ma didn’t have all the time in the world during the week, she was a working mama Monday thru Friday. My dad did the dinner cooking as he had the graveyard shift, so my dad was the one home with me afterschool. Saturdays were spent cleaning the house and then off to the grocery store to replenish the reefer and cabinets.

So when Sunday rolled around she would sometimes indulge me and make me a Popeye !!! And as I’ve said, sure it’s an easy peasy recipe, one that I’ve even found in The Joy of Cooking, but she only made it on occasion. Which made it rather spayshal (special) to me!!! And I do the same for my kids! I don’t cook it up all the time, I’m trying to make it a special thing for them too. And when I do make it… you better believe their plates are licked clean. heh.

I made this one just for myself tho. *shh Don’t tell the kids. J is off to school and N spent the night t my mom’s. M is here but she don’t know any better. But I swear she was eyeing my food as I tried to feed her her fruit and oatmeal mush, that she refused to eat. She never liked to eat the oatmeal/ rice cereal but I have to force her to eat the stuff b/c she’s borderline anemic, so her ped encouraged me to just keep trudging on and feeding it to her. She also said to try the drops and she won’t even take those. So whatever I can do to help her.

I’m tired, seems I’m always tired as of late. I blame the baby b/c despite having a full tummy, taking consistent naps, sleeping at the right time… she still wakes and OFTEN through the night as well as having her internal clock wake anywhere between 630 and 7AM. UGH. I’m not even going to ask what’s wrong with her not sleeping through the night yet. Her siblings didn’t do it, so why should she, right? It would be a nice thing, but I’ve accepted it!

Thanksgiving has come and gone and it was a good one. Being with the ones that matter the most and most importantly Mama wasn’t all the way across the ocean. Tummies were satisfied. Food was good! Now to figure out what to make for Christmas . I made piggies in blankies, lumpia, and pumpkin cheesecake. More than likely I will make lumpia and piggies again, but will do something different for dessert.

As in past years I braved the crowds with Mama Toots and did midnight madness. This year I didn’t. I just couldn’t fathom bringing the baby out at that hour of the night. I can’t leave her with anyone, especially not at night b/c I am her human pacifier, lest I be gone, sure as hell no one will sleep. Instead I woke at 530 and got ready and headed to Tarjey. Picked up a bunch of good loot for gifts and then headed back home to pick up lilman. For some reason the lilmiss had already been awake and was aware that I was heading out, she wanted to come too. Funny thing is she thought it was still night, b/c it was dark. And of course, had to bring baby along. They did very well. Then it was off to my mom’s to p/up mom and SIL. We headed down the peninsula and they went to town at both Old Navy and Guess. Crowds surprisingly weren’t bad at all the whole day. Thank goodness.

26 more days til Christmas!

For the life of me, I can’t remember where I put the Sleeping Beauty DVD!?!? Bought it at Target last month and I have not seen it since. OY!

I need to go through the girls’ clothes and put some away and give back or donate the smalleys from babyM. Been stocking up on some stuffs for her b/c there was a gap in the 6-18 handmedowns. And for some reason I need to go thru some things b/c onesies seem to be lacking. Where the hell did they go? Lilmiss was wearing stuff from when lilman was a baby, so where did those go?

Today I finally got J an appt for his flu shot. Thankfully it went fast. When we arrived at the office it was packed. Not a seat in the house. As soon as a seat opened up they called him in and I also made an appt for babyM’s 2nd dose for next month. Then we were off to the lab to get her blood drawn. OY! I can’t believe she even put a tourniquet on her. She’s so itty bitty. I had to hold her and she didn’t like that one bit. She let out a teensy cry from the poke and was more irritated that she couldn’t move.

Thanksgiving is next week. Weeee!!! I’m so excited. I’m appetizers and half of desserts. I’ve gotta roll lumpia next week and I need to think of another appetizer I forgot about the pigs in blankets those always go well at family gatherings. My mom ordered kutsinta and maja blanca and I’m making a pumpkin praline cheesecake. Mom’s is making the turkeys, yes 2 and the mashed ‘taters. My sister has side items. I’m wondering if anyone else is coming to Thanksgiving?

I want to watch Twilight, of course! But I think I’ll have to wait til AFTER the holiday weekend. So I can watch it in the middle of the day when all the screaming FANatic tweens are in school. I had to go back thru my archives to see when I read the stinkin thing. Over a year ago. And to think I was encouraging my niece to read it back then, did she heed my calls? Of course not, and guess who’s reading all 4 of my books now? HA! I told my sister she should read them now. She’s gonna try. Or so she says.

If you didn’t know, 4th grade in California Catholic schools is the California Mission Project. I’m not sure what is done in public schools, I know they learn something about the Missions but I don’t think a project is assigned. As mentioned before we were handed down a bunch of good loot from Sabrinasmom. An awesome book that J can use for his report as well as some fences, monks, greenery. Before J had been assigned his Mission, I had hoped that he would get something close so that we could do and visit the Mission. With our luck, he got Mission Santa Clara. Woo hoo. So today we made our way down the peninsula.

The Mission is located on the Santa Clara University campus. What a nice campus at that. Wow. And the weather today was wow too, so it might have added to the wow factor. Lol. Just our luck though, a wedding was taking place right as we got there so there was not a lot of snooping done inside. We walked the outsides and students were sunbathing on the grounds. Lol. The kids were caught off guard when people would plop their belongings down on the grass and start taking off their shirts. The main point in our visit was to get an idea of the construction. And I think we got it. J is supposed to do the construction mostly on his own, so that will be quite a challenge. He has big ideas but can never complete them on his own. We were also lent a book from HotDad and son about the Missions. They did them last year, and that should come in handy as well.

I’m excited and yet fearful at the same time. As always there will be a lot of parental contributions but we need to mask those somehow

In a good way.

The other day when S came home from the PTC, he handed over lilman’s test scores. They took some test a couple weeks ago and he scored well, really well even. Like 84% higher than other 4th graders nationally.

Sometimes I’d like to think it’s because he got a wonderful start to his education when he started Kindergarten. I will always remember his 1st teacher, I even consider her our friend. As a teacher myself I know how hard a job it is. She did something right that’s for sure and I hope his dedication and interest in school continues on well into high school and college. Hell even on his way to his Doctorate . (a mom can hope can’t she)

We do push him a little b/c he’s a very passive child. But a little pushing, in my opinion, is okay. Doesn’t it mean that we care? Lol. When he 1st started with soccer, he loved it. And then a week later hated it and wanted to quit. But that was never an option. The season is over, but he had a ton of fun and really can’t wait to play next season. Next up is basketball. He says he sucks at basketball, but quitting is not an option. He needs to try it out and hopefully he’ll have the same reaction as he did with soccer.

These past 2 weeks have been a nice break from having to take him to practices and games. But it’s all about to start up again and even moreso b/c he’s got 2 games a week. OH BOY!

4th grade is also the California Mission Project. We just got the info and we’re about to go head strong into that too. We’re NOT allowed to use the kits and think of other things we might be able to do. Be creative it says. Thanks to Sabrinasmom for that bag of goodies she gave us a couple weeks ago, we’ll definitely incorporate it all. I can’t wait. First up, a field trip to his assigned Mission. Thankfully it was one of the ones here in the Bay Area! YAY!

It’s Parent Teacher Conference Week at J’s school. We were scheduled for today @ 1PM. It’s 1:08PM and I sent the BM to the conference. He’s normally working right now, but got the day off b/c he filled in on Monday. I’m always the one to go and honestly there’s nothing that they really tell me that I don’t already know.

And with J’s grades this quarter, there’s nothing much to worry about. Mostly A’s with the exception of a B- in a class he’s never really had other than attending church, Religion. And it’s laziness on his part more than anything! He claims it’s b/c it’s something new to him but really it isn’t.

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In other not so fun news, me and the lilman were hit with something ugly over the weekend. A case of food poisoning. ICK! Not fun! Lilman had basketball tryouts on Sunday too and spilled his cookies all over the court. There’s going to be 3 teams in the 4th grade b/c so many boys want to play. Wondering how hectic our schedule will be once that picks up.

babyM is sprouting 2 more teeth, to make it a totaly of 3. Thankfully she hasn’t been complaining much.

Lilmiss got her 1st official haircut yesterday. Just a trim so her hair can look healthy again. My mom trimmed off about 3 inches.

[eta:] So BM and lilman returned home in record time. Apparently there was nothing to say about J. He’s doing great. He just has a few problems with late work but other than that he’s doing good. Good thing I didn’t go. Lol.

So far it looks to be a wet one this year. The rain has graced us even a day, or at least a few hours early. A couple years ago I remember a light drizzle. Here’s hoping the rain subsides long enough for the kids to even get just a little bit of loot. Why, earlier, did I have a craving for a chocolate bar? That’s certainly not something I normally want to eat, so I told myself that I’d have to wait until I inspect the kids’ candy .

As for costumes… they’re finally complete. Lilman is going to dress up as a “brain donor” and his costume cost us a whopping $3.29! Lol. $2.29 for the head of cauliflower that will pose as his “brain”, and $1 for the fake blood that I have to put on his gauze. My brother snagged a hospital gown and some gauze from work and I scrambled around the house for a jar to put the “brain” in. Lilmiss is going as “Snow White” and babyM will be a panda. I fashioned a little red bow on the top of my panda’s head, just in case people wonder if she’s a girl or boy!?! And I’ve gotta snag a bamboo stalk from my mom’s house.

J’s school has a parade scheduled but it might be rained out . And we’ve got plans to t-o-t with my cousins and their kids while my mom and aunt stay home with the littlest of the trick or treating crowd! Woo hoo! I’m kinda excited! Let’s just hope everything pans out and the rain waits it out a little for the showers!

Happy Halloween everyone! Be safe!

Well…. maybe!?!?! There’s this school, close by even, that has 3-4 year old hula classes. Can you only imagine how cute that is? I’ve been wanting N to take hula ever since J started, but his halau doesn’t take them til there 6. Kumu wanted to be sure that they were serious and could follow directions. N would sit and watch the other keiki and even do a little of her own swaying. So I found this school even before she turned 3 and I’ve been wanting to check it out. She has her days where she says she wants to do it and other days where she turns her nose and head away and says she’s doing “nothing!”

Yeah she’s at that age, and as of late she has not been the princess she claims to be. OY! We’ve thought about running her through karate too, and even though they take kids at 4, they said they’d take N now. But I don’t think she would take them seriously. She grew up there and is pretty comfortable with ALL the instructors, even has a crush on one of them .

So back to hula, I emailed the school and I think we might check them out next week. See if she likes it and such. Right now she says NO! But I think once she sees the other kids she’ll definitely want to do it. She won’t be able to start until January though and by then basketball season for J will be in full swing. A lot on my plate.

But I’m really hoping we can fit it in and that she’ll enjoy it! It’ll give her something to do other than drive me up the walls. Right??!! I can hope!

The soccer one that is. They didn’t lose. But they didn’t win either. We thought for sure we were going to be walking out of there with our heads down low. But they scored, and so did the other team. And although they’ve tied before, somehow walking out of there with a goal is somehow better. They were all so happy, as well they should be.

We made a trip to the pumpkin patch for the baby’s 1st pumpkin patch visit. She was in snooze land when we arrived and I was very hesitant to wake her, but she was all smiles . Yay! I think I got some good pictures in. And funny babyM was the most cooperative of the bunch, even compared to the Daddy. Ha!

We were s’posed to be in many places today and made it to the select few that we did.

Oh yeah, think we might be on the hunt for a new school… AGAIN! Oy! This is annoying. Lately we’ve been missing out on some vital info from the school. Stuff that’s s’posed to be in the twice a month envelope that gets sent home, only it hasn’t been in OURS. And more than a month ago, I sent in a sheet of paper indicating that we’d be donating some food for the International Dinner. S gets to the school to drop off the goods and they’ve only got us down for 1 donation. The one that gets LESS points. WTF???? And then she nearly refused to accept the other one, and only gave us HALF the points. Biiiiiiiiiitch! He forced it on her! Bullshit! The damn school is so damned cliquish it’s annoying. J is doing absolutely fine, excelling even and I hate to pull him out when he’s made some good friends, again, but sometimes it’s better for our own sanity. It’s strange to me that tuition is so varying around the city. Oy! Decisions, Decisions!

I missed bakesale Wednesday this week. I was busy Tuesday. But why oh why have I been itching for a cupcake? Not that we have leftovers or extras from the ones that go to school. So today, I made that itch scratchable . I baked up a box of Golden Vanilla. Yeah, yeah hate me and *tsk* me all you want. I use box cake. Plain and simple! I changed it up a bit from using a recipe in this book. A simple substitution of 1 cup of buttermilk for the water and an extra egg. Can I just say, that this cupcake is moist! Yum ! Of course I had to have a sample. After dinner I’m going to pipe some vanilla pudding in the middle and frost with lemon frosting. Lol. That’s was lilman’s choice. I was going to do buttercream but he said lemon. I would have preferred lemon puddin in the middle but couldnt find any. Pffft!

[edit] And here they are in all their glory! So pretty. I only sampled a cuppie straight out the oven. No filling. No frosting. It was delish. Lilman had a full on cuppie and wanted another. But he’d just about eat anything with frosting on it .

Tonight I tried the 10 minute stroganoff recipe and it was a hit with the 2 big kids. Next time though I think I’ll omit the ground beef and just go full on mushrooms! Oh yeah and also add another can of cream of mushroom soup! .

I also had my first go around with making homemade baby food for babyM. My mom bought me this book from Ross today for a whopping $7. When she first came out with the book I was skeptical b/c she claimed to be the originator of mixing veggies in kids’ food. NOT! Some of the recipes seem rather fake too (as if her kids would eat stuff like that), but it gave me some ideas for the kids. The kids eat veggies more or less but sometimes it gets challenging.

I knew how to make the baby food but after reading the book it inspired me even more. I couldn’t very well feed her what the other kids were eating and I had some things in the kitchen. So I busted out my bamboo steamer and steamed her 5 baby carrots, a small sweet potato, and one of my mom’s homegrown apples. It said to puree in a food processor, and we have one but it’s a frickin pain to clean that thing just for that small amount. I just smushed with a fork and portioned out about 2 teaspoons for her to try tonight. I put the rest in the freezer. Well she inhaled that stuff like a champ and may as well have licked the bowl b/c she was looking for lots more!

I can’t wait to try spinach and butternut squash!!!

Since J started school, life has been rather non-stop. I like it and yet I don’t. I still never filled out my week-by-week calendar that is supposed to be on the fridge. I did find all my colored pens tho !!! Just need to squeeze in some time to play around with that. And that would probably be about this time at night b/c they’re all asleep and it’s ME time but I don’t wanna.

We had our first Catechism meeting today and it wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated. J did all this extra work for nothing. Pfft! Typical! Next meeting is in December so come then, I won’t be such a spaz on him. It’s his religious teacher’s fault. He told us to do it ALL! Always the overachiever , better safe than sorry right?

Soccer is winding down. They didn’t win this weekend, BUT they didn’t lose either! It was a tie 0 to 0 ! And basketball is about to start up and J is having second thoughts about it . Not a competitive aggressive bone in his body. But doing nothing is not an option. Karate is always in the wings but he still doesn’t seem into it anymore. Lilmiss, however, wants to do everything under the sun. Hula. Yes. Karate. Yes. And I sooooo want her to do it all, but these things are NOT cheap.

It’s heating up here again in these neck of the woods. Indian Summer don’t fail me now!

The holidays are creeping too! I’m rather excited for them b/c of the kids! Last year I was rather bah humbug only b/c my family wasn’t here, mainly my mom. But we’re making her stay for Thanksgiving and Christmas too!!! WOOT!

With the lilman this book WAS my bible, with all things baby. First time parent, clueless. I turned to the books. And of course my ma! I knew to look there to see where he should be developmentally. What he should and should NOT be eating. What to do when he had that funny rash on him.

Despite the age gap, and I really needed the mind refreshing I didn’t use it so much with N b/c I had a handful of friends who had babies all around the same time. I just called on Mama Toots or followed her lead .

So now with babyM, in some senses I feel like I’m a new parent. Especially with the feeding thing. I can NOT for the life of me remember what she’s NOT s’posed to be eating at her age, other than honey.

In the room move, I miraculously found my book!!! Albeit outdated, but last night I flipped through it. Still didn’t find that section of the book but I seriously feel like I’ve uncovered some buried treasure or something.

For breakfast today the baby had ‘nanas and blueberry yogurt. Hey at least it wasn’t lemon! She’s not big on babyfood. What. So. Ever. She still not eating meat and I’m still holding strong on that one. Oatmeal cereal has to be given to her first thing, just so she’s fooled by the spoon. She’ll open her mouth to ANY spoon. She stares you down when you’re eating. She’s really good with the puffs. Yes! Despite her lack of teeth, she does well with the puffs!!! Despite teeth, she loooooves texture. So forget that strained mush stuff she doesn’t do it!!!

Unfortunately they lost again! Maybe BM is bad luck . This was the first game for him to attend, his first to actually see the boy in action. By the way we were yelling the other parents probably thought we were mean. Muahahahah. And from what I saw, 95% of the boys on the team are scared of the ball! Oy! They don’t go after the ball. They’re afraid of it. They wait for the ball to come to them and even then they don’t know what to do with it. I think I finally learned what J’s position is, fullback? Not sure still tho . Once again he played against some friend from karate. This game they were getting spanked. These kids were good, they knew what they were doing! *sigh*

Tomorrow we head out for my niece’s sweet 16. No big shindig just a picnic/ bbq. Here’s hoping for some good eats. I can count on mom’s pancit. Yum!

Something FREE on your birthday?

Disney corporation is giving you a FREE ticket into the park of your choice: Disneyland or Disneyworld, on YOUR birthday!!!

More than likely we’ll be in Hawaii when J, N, or even my birthday rolls around. But maybe for BM’s? Even if you’re a season pass holder or have a multi day ticket you can still take advantage of a FREE something. Be sure to check it out and register!!!

We are soooooo itching to go to Disneyland!!!

My poor son’s soccer team lost their game today and secretly I think it’s b/c I wasn’t there. B/c I’m a good luck charm, or maybe one of his sisters is a good luck charm ? B/c none of us were in attendance. My brother took him and they lost 0-2. Or maybe my brother is bad luck, or his lady is bad luck. Hopefully this will be the only game I will miss this season.

The girlies and I attended a wedding for one of my close friends from high school. She was glowing. She looked lovely! I’m so happy I was able to attend the ceremony at least. I couldn’t do the reception b/c I just wouldn’t have been able to handle the girlies. I’m sure I would have gotten help from the JQ but the baby is so, UGH! Just UGH! Had the reception been super informal and I could have donned some sweats then I would have been all up in there but me dressed up wrangling the 2 girls= hot mess! I’m sad I missed out but that’s the price you pay when you have kids, right?

BM had his first day of training. He left the house feeling nervous and at some point I thought he was going to bail on this new found job b/c he was already feeling overwhelmed with the schedule they’ve given him. 8 hours later and he says it was cool. He says he can’t wait to go back tomorrow. Like what? YAY! I hope he stays as enthusiastic

This weekend is booked. I’ve got a wedding to attend. BM has training for his new job. J has a soccer game that my brother will be taking him to. The girls… they’re supposed to be tagging along with me. I’m only going to the ceremony though and not the reception. The ceremony is in the city, at the grammar school that my siblings went to. It’s the bride’s parish as well. The reception is down in San Jose and as much as I would love to attend, it’s just not a good thing to travel with the baby. She sucks. UGH! The last time we were in the San Jose area she cried. And cried. And screamed. And cried until we were like 10 minutes away from home. UGH! And to top it off, I was sitting right next to her. Singing, talking, singing, talking, laughing, making goofy faces, and even tried to be quiet. But nothing. NOTHING worked. So I’m sitting out the reception on this one.

Life is busy. Has been busy. I bought a week by week calendar that is going to go up on the fridge. Visuals. I need them. I know I’ve got my iCal in the iPhone but I need to see color! Different colors. Plenty of them. Busy I tell ya.

In other news, lilman had an incident occur at practice that is making him NOT love soccer so much at the moment. One of his teammates (the goalie) yelled at him. The lilman is sensitive. Very. The goalie told him to pay attention. I could see it happening, I wasn’t there, but I could totally see it happening. Lilman is often in space. He waits for the action to come to him as opposed to going towards it. I had to explain to him, that he’s working on a team and that his teammates rely on him. He doesn’t get it. His sensitive side is swaying him. So much so he’s trying to get out of even going to the game tomorrow. We told my brother it’s NOT an option. And now he’s even contemplating not joining basketball when season starts. We’ll see. BM said NOT an option, he’s playing!

J’s team won their first game of the season and he even started 1st string! I don’t know what position he plays but he actually did some work . His foot actually touched the ball a couple of times. The other parents were uber excited b/c I think they won ONE game total last year.

There were so many familiar faces we saw at the field too, friends from karate. Even one of the kids on the opposing team!

Here’s to a great start to the season . YAY!!!!

Yesterday was J’s 1st practice. It didn’t go well, in my eyes anyhow. J has never played competitive sports. Most of the boys started last year as CYO starts in 3rd grade, J had no clue. I stayed, with the girls, for the entire 2 hour practice. Yeah, that won’t be happening too often. Thankfully babyM fell asleep for a portion of it in the Ergo. Lilmiss didn’t nap all day so you can imagine just how much fun she was *rolls eyes*.

Seemed he was more used to the idea of dodge ball and running AWAY from the ball. Not charging for it. At one point he kicked the ball to the back of the coach’s head. OY! They scrimmaged and why was my son NOT paying attention, looking off in another direction???

We got the snack list and I am the 1st orange mom. I have to bring orange slices for halftime. Why did I have a helluva time finding oranges? Lol. Costco had none. I got ‘em but they’re certainly not the most vibrant shade of orange either. Oh wells. At least I’m not drink/snack mom.

Uniforms were distributed today too. Good thing I had him pull it out of his bag as soon as he exited his class. He wasn’t too happy about my request, but shootz that ish would NOT have fit him. He is one the biggest kids in the class and the biggest one the team. So we had to go to the principal’s office and inquire about it. At first he was a bit hesitant to switch out uniforms b/c he seemed VERY busy, but the baby caught his eye and made time! WOO HOO! J got a better fitting uniform and all is well.

Here’s hoping that the first game goes just as well tomorrow.

I finally had my appt with the optometrist! He was soooooooo nice! My glasses broke while in Hawaii and I need to replace them asap b/c the super glue will only last so long. I also noticed a bit of a change in my prescription anyhow. I”ve had these frames for a loooooong time too so it’s time for a change, and I need to refill my contact prescription too.

Which reminds me, I need to set up an appt for the boys. J has been complaining about not being able to see. Most of the kids in his class wear glasses already. It’s probably from all the gaming and computering.

After my appt we headed to Sp.ortmart to get J some cleats and shin guards and socks. He has his first soccer practice tomorrow! Was looking for red socks b/c his uniform is red, but they didn’t have ‘em. Daddy of course picked out the shoes b/c he has to look cool. Ahahaha. $76. AUWE! That’s not including the fee we had to pay in order for him to play. And then it’s basketball after this, gotta get him shoes for this sport too. Damn this kid is expen$ive, but I suppose we’re saving a bit from not putting him in karate, right?

So this morning, at about 6:30AM, the BM comes in b/c he heard the stirring of the baby to inform me that I would have to take her to get tested for TB! WTF? Mind you I’m soooooo not awake but he’s rambling on about a news report he had seen.

All day I had been stressing over the fact about being exposed to TB. Possibly being a carrier. And it doesn’t help that the baby and lilmiss are sick right now. I know for certain that lilman and lilmiss are in the clear though b/c they recently had TB tests come out negative.

So I finally got a hold of the actual news information and we are in the clear. Thank God!!!

Funny after hearing what the BM told me this morning and then thinking we might be carriers, I had been VERY weary about taking her out. AT.ALL. And exposing her to ANYONE.

So we’re safe for now. *whew*

Yesterday the boy was sent home with two books to cover. I’ve always wanted those stretchable book covers, so off I went in search of them. Why did Tar-jey only have florals and pinks left? I dug through the bin and there happened to be two really ugly brown, orange,and yellow with footballs and helmets on ‘em? UG-LAY! I picked them up anyhow. Then I went to Rite Aid and came across some Pokemon ones by chance and an ugly plain orange one. I figured he would have more books to cover as the days go by.

So I get home and guess what? NONE OF THEM FIT! Ugh! Too small! So if I have time today I’ve gotta return them all, save for the orange b/c the packaging didn’t hold up well when I opened it.

So I had to forage for paper bags. I was hoping to come across some shopping bags from Nordy’s or Old Navy b/c I like the whites, but that would require shopping there and that hasn’t happened in a great while. So good old brown paper bags is what it was.

Back to school supplies… so while I was looking for those book covers I was also looking for a solution for his pencil pouch. Saw a whole bunch at Tar-jey. But… they were all for girls. ALL. OF. THEM. Florals. Pink stripes. Purple dots. WTF? And if it wasn’t those it was High School Musical or Camp Rock. Then the same at Rite Aid with the all pinks, Bratz, and the like. Did all the boys buy out the pencil pouches I doubt it.

I looked around the house for some sort of pouch for him to use, and all of mine are rather girly. *scratches head*

He is winding down and trying to adjust to his new schedule. Last year he went to bed at 8:30PM, no ifs ands or buts. Now that the boy is in 4th grade, he must have lights out at 9PM. He has to be in his room by 8:30PM no more tv. He is allowed to play with his toys or read or draw. But no video games or tv.

His first day went well I suppose. He’s in the new teacher’s class so no one really knows how she is. I was hoping to get the man teacher b/c his friend had him last year, and at least we would know what to expect and such. Oh well. The kid he was s’posed to know in his grade has also transferred out b/c they moved. Oh well #2. We did run into some of the other families we did know:K, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th graders. I saw some of the moms that were at the princess party #1 on Saturday. Heh. Such a small world.

Already with the forms and such. Ugh. Annoying.

We’re signing him up for soccer. Try-outs are on Friday. THIS Friday. Oy! And practices start next week. Yes. Already. He’s a bit apprehensive as he’s never really played competitively but I’m hoping he does fine.

Tomorrow is a half day at school. Daddy will be drop off this year and I’m pick up.

Plenty of errands to run tomorrow.

So lilman embarks on another journey 2mrw, 4th grade and a new school at that.

Uniform is completed. I finally picked him up a belt today. He is like me and normally doesn’t like to wear a belt. Oh well he’ll have to learn. We actually need to return one of his “lipstick” red sweaters as he can wear the official mandated school sweatshirt! Remember he hates the sweater

I busted out the labeller this morning and labelled all his school supplies. Only thing is his pencil case is a little on the small size and won’t accomodate his pencils. WTF? And it specifically said in BOLD, BIG letters that pencil boxes are NOT ALLOWED? WTF? Where is he s’posed to put his markers, crayons, scissor, tape, glue? Oh don’t they know how messy my son can be?!?!?! Seriously.

Only 2 hours of school 2mrw. Meet and greet kinda thing. We’re all going.

Yesterday the BM, the baby, and I went to the Mandatory parent orientation at J’s new school. We were s’posed to meet our “Shepherd Family”. S’posed b/c they weren’t there! How rude! Uhm negative service points for them, sheesh! And they expressed how Mandatory it was for us. The “Shepherd Family” is s’posed to help us through our transition phase to the school, let us know of any important things, etc… basically be our guide this year. It’s all good tho b/c we’ve already got friends in the school to help us. No doubt. One in J’s actual grade, which I’m hoping is in the same class as him. And another family that just finished the 4th grade.

I didn’t really come away with anything that I couldn’t have read in a handbook. It wasn’t as Mandatory as they made it seem. Pfft.

Lilman is going to play CYO. I’m so excited. We want him to play soccer and he wants to play basketball. That’s 2 back to back seasons, so he will be taking a hiatus from karate. No point in paying for it if he’s not going to be there, right? I figure he probably won’t be back until after the holidays, maybe. I’m not sure how long the seasons last.

Seriously?!?!

I was sitting on the pot today thinking about how much we spent on the lilman’s uniforms. My mom bought him a bunch of the white standard polos for $4.80 each when we were in Hawaii from Old Navy. We scored on those b/c they were 2/$12 and mom got an additional 20% off. The uniform place wanted $16.75 EACH for stinkin white polos. Sheesh. 3 pairs of grey corduroy pants, 2 button up cardigan sweaters in red (yuck!), and 1 oxford shirt (for mass days). Total= $185. AUWE!!! And we still haven’t bought his shoes or school supplies yet. His shoes have to be ALL black, no colored logos, no hightops.

4th grade. I can’t believe I am the mother of a 4th grader. HOLY SH!T! Seriously? I refuse to believe it. He just turned 9 for goodness sakes.

4th grade I was the star of our volleyball team. I knew nothing of the sport, I just figured “What the heck! all my classmates are signing up too.” And since then I’ve always loved volleyball but only played from 4th to 8th grade. We’re hoping that lilman signs up for soccer and at his own request basketball. CYO here we come.

Lilman is starting a new school again. Catholic school this time around. We know a handful of kids at the school already so his transition shouldn’t be too bad. *crossing fingers* For K-2nd he went to a private school that we absolutely loved. It was nice and small, he got the attention he needed as well as being challenged. Shootz he was learning Spanish, music, PE, History, and Science in Kindergarten! Yes! In addition to the other stuff, it was amazing. But the owners of the school sucked. Majorly. And they raised the tuition, so there was no way we would able to keep him in there and survive. He did 3rd grade in our neighborhood public school and he wasn’t challenged. It seemed he was repeating a lot of the work that he had done in 2nd grade and they refused to advance him b/c of age. Lame. B/c there are always so many budget cuts there weren’t any extra curricular activities or classes. So hopefully he’ll be challenged again this year.

I’m dreading the mandatory service hours though. OY! With 2 little ones at home, I’m kinda limited with the sorts of help I can give them, unless they don’t mind me bringing them along to help. Which I’m sure they’re not. Pfft!

1 more week of summer for all of us. *sigh*

We came home to appointments upon appointments.

First up was the lilman’s last Monday. We won’t get into how much he weighs, I think he’ll be embarrassed if I told the rest of the world. He is 4′9″ though in height and she said that if he continues to grow and grow like this he might just be 6′2″. He got a TB test and it was checked this morning, negative.

Lilmiss and babyM had theirs today. Lilmiss is 31 lbs, 25th percentile, and 36.5 in, 50th percentile. She’s looking good DrM said and she’s right on track. She also got a TB test and a shot, but she didn’t even cry! YAY. BabyM is 14lbs and 10 oz, only 10th percentile for weight. And she is 24.8 in, which puts her in the 25th percentile for height. I got the go ahead to try her on various foods, being that she didn’t take rice cereal too well. I’m thinking I might try her on some oatmeal just to keep her “regular”. Something she hasn’t been much of lately. I used to be able to count on a morning movement. Not so as of late.

Other than that the kids are doing well. Just now getting back into pacific standard time. And getting J back into school mode. UGH.

Okay this is kind of a funny post.

We have befriended the neighbors on the right of the house. I’m talking we have parties we invite them. They have parties they invite us. The kids get along, etc. We have extra things to share, we share. And we are reciprocated. It’s one family extended. The grandparents, their 5 children, their children’s spouses/ bfs gfs/, and the grandchildren. At any time there could be up to 15 people there, me thinks. Give or take.

Yesterday the kids were playing out in the yard. My kids were told specifically to stay outside with them! Somehow my kids and 4 of their kids ended up IN our house. OY! No one came looking for them. No one was yelling out the window b/c we can literally hear them next door. As I am typing I can hear them watching tv. Anywho they were here. Eating. Playing. Being all rowdy. I don’t remember how we got them out. But they left.

Today lilmiss heard them playing and to tire her out she was told to stay out there with them. But she’s not allowed to go on her own, her brother has to go to. He was reluctant to go but ended up going. He gets along with the oldest girl. She’s a bit of a tom boy. So, he was told that they were NOT allowed to come over to play. And the stinkin kid repeated it to them. How embarrassing! They were playing and we hear the door open. Hello. It’s not one of our kids. But the neighbor boy. He comes in with his slippahs on too!!! *shakes head* So he comes over to see what we’re going in the family room and goes looking for N’s scooter. My mom says to take it outside with him, mind you N was told she could only play with the scooter IN the house. My mom just didn’t want him inside. He leaves. He comes back and asks for a snack. I grab 5 and send him on his way. N comes back with another one of the kids and says she wants her backpack. They’re going to play school. Fine. She packs up her things and they’re on their way. Lil boy returns for the 3rd time. And then leaves. N comes back with friend to go potty. Then J comes back with 2 more of the friends while my mom is eating at the table. OY! J grabs a water stands around my mom, who is eating and they leave.

5:30PM rolls around and the kids are told to come in, it’s time for dinner. And we send the other kids on their way. J doesn’t want to eat b/c he’s got a headache but N gets her grind on. 6:30PM rolls around and it’s time for J to eat. There’s a faint knocking on the door and it’s the boy… again. He asks my mom if we have food and so she makes a plate for him. Oh man! No one is looking for him. Nothing. He’s 3. He’s here for a good half hour before we hear them calling for him. Oldest cousin comes inside the house and is just kinda standing around. She leaves. Boy still stays. By this time I’m cracking the hell up. He leaves, he only ate half of what was given to him. He came back… again around 8PM. He wanted to come in and watch tv, but my mom sent him home.

WTF??? A little too comfortable don’t ya think? I was telling my mom we need to lock the doors when our kids go out so the neighbor kids just don’t walk in. Shooots, what if I had been feeding babyM???

We’ve been here 1 week already. And it seems it’s gone by all too fast.

I still haven’t had any shave ice. No Zippy’s. Barely plate lunch. None of my fave garlic chicken or garlic mahi. I’ve had a teaser portion of haupia cake a teaser of poke. I’ve shared a plate lunch at Yummy’s and even shared an Apple Napple. Oh and I’ve been totally digging mama’s cooking. Oh hell yeah! Especially the dinengdeng, nothing better than fresh veggies and sweet Kahuku shrimp *slurps*!!!

We’ve gone to the pool once and it was an all bad experience. First the lilmiss lost her knowledge of swimming. Not that she had any real ones to begin with but her confidence went into the toilet. Last year she could “monkey walk” the pool and even dunk her head. That day we went she couldn’t even hold the sides of the pool and either wanted to strangle hold me or sit at the pool’s edge. Which meant no aerobis workout for me. Despite there being 2 lifeguards there, I was afraid she might fall in anyhow. So yeah, she’s not coming to the pool anymore. Pffft. Then I think the pool man must’ve overdone it with the chlorine b/c it tasted like crap. Ewww. And when we got home, the baby was NOT having anything to do with feedings b/c she too could taste the crappy chlorine water on me. Ewww.

The boy has been asking to go to the beach and being that the baby is exclusively @ the bo.ob, that can’t happen unless the mama comes along b/c a trip to the beach, takes a LOT of time. And the mama doesn’t like to be in the sun much, let alone the beach b/c she doesn’t go in. She’s allergic to the sun. Doesn’t that suck?

Yeah so 1 week down. Don’t know how many more we have to go, maybe like 6 or something. Heh.

aloha

Aloha from Hawaii. Fell asleep fairly early for HST but that’s only b/c we haven’t adjusted to the time yet. So of course the boy was up at 3AM and the baby followed suit at 4:30AM all on HST, which is the equivalent to 6AM and 730AM PST.

The birds were singing a chorus line right outside the window in the mango tree and that’s not something she’s used to hearing.

We’re headed out for the day. Going to attempt to bring my camera along. Didn’t bring the P&S this time around. So I’m not promising anything.

Have a lovely day and hey Aloha Friday