Caroline

At 5 am, Rebecca woke me to ask whether she had enough money saved to buy her American Girl doll. She must have dreamed about it, because this actually hasn't been a recent conversation. Around 6 am, I had her go get her money so we could count it. She had saved almost enough, so she had to clean her room and playroom to earn the last few dollars she needed. On the way, we stopped to eat breakfast and saw her teacher there. Rebecca was so happy to see Mrs. Croyt!

Finally, we arrived at American Girl Place.  Rebecca counted out the money to pay for her doll herself.

More first day pics

 

 

 

 

When we all walked in to school on the first full day (Wednesday, September 5, 2012), there was a long line of kids and parents waiting to have this requisite shot!  Our girl was ready to go!

 

 

Rebecca's kindergarten teacher is Mrs. Croyt.  Interestingly, she was also Jessica's kindergarten teacher.  Her husband also happens to work at San Bernardino DBH and was at the Upland clinic.  When I first went there to train, when I was newly pregnant with Rebecca, I trained with him on doing clinical interviews.  My first day there, with him, was the first time I sat with a flouridly psychotic person.  Ah, good times.

 

 

 

Here's her desk!

 

 

At 8:20, it was time to line up with her class.  They line up in the girls and boys lines and then walk into their classrooms.  At that point, no more parents!

 

 

 

Mama was seriously blinking back tears at this point.  Rebecca was a little anxious. I think having the line up and all the parents waving and hugging and a few other kids having tears was a little overwhelming for her.  No tears for her though!  She was ready to get this show on the road.

 

 

Mama waited until she was safely in her classroom before some tears fell.  Overall though, I did pretty well.  One tissue worth!

The kindergartener

The first week of school was a great success!

On Tuesday, we all headed out for Rebecca's first day of school. We had all her school supplies in tow and got to meet her teacher and some of her classmates. 

I did this chalkboard as a little crafty project.  I hope that we can use it every year as she goes through school.  She wrote her name on it.  I also like the idea of having her in front of the front door with the chalkboard every year on her first day of school as a marker of how she grows and her handwriting changes. 

We were only there for a short while, but then Mama and Daddy had to go back that night for parent kindergarten orientation.  Kindergarten is nothing like it was when I was a kindergartener!  They have centers, spelling tests, homework, quarterly projects, and memorization assignments.  I think it is going to be a great year for Rebecca! 

Big Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow, my little girl starts kindergarten.

How can this possibly be?  Where did the time go?  Who is this five and a half year old who has preferences about which "hanitizer" scent is the best to go on her lunchbox and whether her white sparkle sandals or black sparkle sandals better match her dress?  Didn't I just finish my last "first day of the new school year?"

She is looking forward to it.  Her only worry about starting kindergarten is whether someone might think she is too small to be in kindergarten.  Apparently, in Pre-K some hoodlum suggested that she should be in the 3-year-old class instead of Pre-K.  Otherwise, she is looking forward to meeting new (and old) friends and learning new things. Her goals are to learn to read and to learn about animals and the body.

As for me, I'm trying to think of this the way Ramy does, a natural progression. When I let my mind wander to the significance of tomorrow, I get a little choked up.  It means the beginning of her separation from us, the start of the time in which her peers and friends have more and more influence and we have less and less, a first stop in a line of milestones that will lead her out our front door and into the big, scary world on her own. I know that if these five and a half years have flown so quickly, the next thirteen will just as fast.

So I really try to not think too much about those things, because soon I'll be a puddle of tears, reminiscent of my own kindergarten days!

Mostly, I'm thankful.  I'm thankful that my clingy, high-needs baby who needed to be held constantly has turned into a happy, confident kindergartener.  I'm grateful that she is healthy, when there are children who are too sick to start school. I'm happy that she is intelligent and the world is her oyster. I'm blessed that we are able to send her to a wonderful school that will give her a nurturing, supportive, and challenging education.  I'm happy that our big school girl still loves to have snuggle time and crawls into bed with us in the mornings.

Sunrise at Haleakala

Aloha!

We were able to escape for a wonderful family vacation to Maui a couple of weeks ago.  We left on a Friday and came back the following Saturday night, spending 8 days there.  It was a wonderfully gorgeous, relaxing, fun vacation.  Grammy was with us; she and my dad had been to Hawaii back in 1977 and visited Maui for a few hours on that trip.  Ramy had been to Hawaii, but only to Oahu.  Neither Rebecca nor I had ever been to Hawaii.  Despite previous claims that Rebecca made that going to Hawaii would "be bad for my life," she had a wonderful time!  I use a travel website to plan our trips, so in exchange for all the useful tips I gathered on there, I should write a trip report.  I'll be posting it on here as well. I took over 1300 pictures!  I won't inflict them all on you though, I promise!  Rebecca also had her camera along for the first time, so I am eager to download her pics and see what her perspective on things is.

Yes, I realize it has been several weeks again since I have posted, and I would really like to say that I will do better, but the fact of the matter is that I don't know if or when I will.  I'll try!  Things with me remain as they have been. My work is stressful, but I love the patients. The day I came back from Hawaii was the beginning of our accreditation visit, which was very anxiety-provoking. Luckily, it went well and we had no deficiencies and only some minor recommendations. I am doing some private practice work on the side, which is nice and very enjoyable.

Our Rebecca is getting ready to start kindergarten!  Last week, we went for registration night, where we turned in all her paperwork, got information on all the clubs and activities, and received her info packet with her list of supplies she needs and learned who her teacher is.  Rebecca will have the same kindergarten teacher as her cousin Jessica had when she was in kindergarten.  Jessica loved her, so I think we are off to a good start!  Her first day is on Tuesday, September 4.  That morning, we go to meet her teacher and classmates for a short while.  Then that night, we have kindergarten parents night.  Her first full day will be Wednesday, September 5.  She seems to be looking forward to kindergarten.  She saw one little boy at registration night who she knew from Pre-K and he is going to be in her class.  We don't know any of the others yet, but hopefully she will have some friends she will already know.  If not, however, I know she will make friends quickly!  Since Grammy was coming to stay with us for a nice long visit, we went ahead and wrapped up her Pre-K experience early and she has enjoyed having lots and lots of Grammy time!  She finished up her swimming lessons and we were hoping to do private lessons but we will see if that materializes.  In the fall, she will be going back to dance lessons and also wants to start taking gymnastics.  Hopefully Mommy can coordinate all her activities!

The lead up to the Hawaii trip was a bit stressful.  When Ramy went to the supervisory position he is in now, he kept one murder trial.  It had been pushed back and back and back but was supposed to go in June.  Then it got trailed to the first week of July.  Then it kept getting delayed.  I was becoming quite antsy, knowing that a murder trial is not a quick thing!  After days and days of delays, his trial got sent to downtown LA to be tried in a courtroom that does trials speedier.  Fortunately, he ended up ending his trial just two days before we left for Hawaii!  Otherwise, Ramy is doing well.  He bought most of the t-shirts for sale in Maui, I think.  I didn't realize it at the time but he only took two shirts with him on the plane, intending to buy t-shirts as his souvenirs.

Crazy corn face

Sound asleep

Asleep, surrounded by all her friends

A month and a half?

Boy, this was a long dry spell, even for me!  No excuses, other than that I just am too tired to blog. 

At the end of May, Rebecca and I went on a  trip to Tennessee.  We had a wonderful time with Grammy and got to see so many friends.

Rebecca enjoyed a lot of time playing outside.

The hydrangeas were in full, glorious, showy bloom!

One of Rebecca's favorite things was playing in the sprinkler in Grammy's front yard.  The only thing that could make a summer day in the water better is for the ice cream man to come by!

 

My mom has a friend named Marta who lives in Albuquerque.  Mom and Marta have been friends since they were young 20-somethings.  When I was growing up, most every summer Marta and her family would come to visit Tennessee.  I always looked forward to seeing good friends Sjaak and Bram.  Thank goodness for Facebook or we might have lost touch. Fast forward more years that I care to count and it just so happened that Sjaak's family was road-tripping across the country and came to Lincoln County when we were here. It was so nice to catch up with Sjaak and Ginny and see their children.



Rebecca with her new friends Ariana, Karina, and Alex.

 

We also got to hang out with Aunt Molly and Jack.  We met up with them for dinner at Cahoots, and then the kids somehow convinced us that we should take them to the park.  They were climbing on the monkey bars, swinging on swings, and sliding down all manner of slides, having a ball.  Molly and I got to catch up a little, but not nearly enough!  All of a sudden, the sky turned black and it began to thunder, so we quickly hugged them goodbye and ran for the cars. By the time we were pulling out, the sky was falling!

Just in time for our visit, Aunt Margaret was adopted by two cats who were with kittens.  Some were about 2-3 weeks old and some were just starting to open their eyes.  Though I am terribly allergic to cats, I just couldn't help but love on them a little.  Rebecca was delighted to get to hold the kittens, which were the first ones she'd ever seen.  I tried to play a little trick on Ramy by texting him a picture of Rebecca with one of the kittens and just said, "Guess what???"  I thought he would think I was bringing one home, but he knows me (and my allergies) too well for that.  Good thing, or he might have had divorce papers drawn up!

Aunt Charlotte also happened to be visiting Fayetteville while we were there.  In true small town style, we happened to be browsing at an antique store on the square when we ran into her and her sister.  The next night, we met up with them for dinner at Cahoots.

I had two nights out with my girlfriends while I was there.  We had a Memorial Day cookout at Lucy and Ricky's house.  It was the first time I had visited their house, which is gorgeous!  They've lived in their house about the same amount of time we've lived in our "new" house, and they have it all completely painted and decorated.  Meanwhile, all our walls are still white!  I need to get on the ball.  Anyway, we enjoyed a long night of laughing and gossipping.  Then before we left, we met up again with those who could make it for some Mexican food.  I miss my Girl Posse!

I also got to have lunch with my good friend Brian.  Unfortunately, Stephanie was working, but since I hadn't seen him the last couple of times I was home, it was really nice to hang out with him. There's something awfully comforting about being with friends who've known you most of your life and have seen you at your absolute worst! 

Rebecca spent a lot of time in the back yard picking flowers.  And dandelions.

 

 But of course, the best thing about being in Tennessee is getting to spend time with Grammy!

Ten on (the day after) Tuesday

1.  Still on jury duty!  So glad I will be compensated for my time by the $15 per day the county gives me for my service, along with the 30 cents per mile that I drive.  Too bad they only pay it for one way.

2.  Rebecca shared with us tonight that it had been the "Special Day of Prayer."  She told us that everyone stopped to pray today (I think that she envisions that every single person in the world stopped to pray at the same exact time they did - what a nice thought). Her school celebrated it by joining hands and praying and then releasing balloons into the sky as a symbol of their prayers going up to heaven.  Awww!  So very sweet.

3.  Last week, I got paid from my first big private practice case.  Hopefully that was just priming the pump for more to come!

4.  For the last few weekends, we have been working in our yard, taking out ugly bushes, digging holes for new ones, picking out plants and flowers, and planting.  Ramy even created a replica of the posts with hooks for hanging baskets and sunk those in the ground in concrete for me this weekend.  Rebecca and I created four hanging baskets to go on them, and we'll have more to do for the others this weekend. Our back yard is really shaping up!

5. I am apparently the last person on earth who has neither read nor seen The Hunger Games and has no intention to do so.

6.  I have been trying to get Rebecca into swimming lessons for the summer.  I intended to do so last summer, but with the new house and move, somehow it just didn't happen.  It sounds like a simple thing.  But no.  The most convenient place is at the Y, which is just down from us.  Convenient times and dates.  The kicker is that the classes are impacted, so they have a morning a month or two in advance where you have to get in line a few hours before the registration starts.  That wasn't cool with me, so I decided to check out other options.  They are all either three times a week, in the middle of the day, or places that only do private lessons.  What the?  Who knew it would be so hard to enroll in swimming lessons!?!? 

7.  I read a few blogs, and several of them had recommended youtube makeup tutorials by the one gal.  So when I was killing time, I checked them out.  Those things are addictive!  I ended up watching about a hundred one night (when it was already past midnight and had to get up for work before 6 am).  If you like makeup and have some time to kill, check out kandeejohnson on youtube.

8.  This week while on jury duty, I have had some quality time with my iPad. I downloaded and read Stephanie Nielson's book about her recovery from her major burn injuries after her plane crash a few years ago.  I've read NieNie's blog for years, and she reminds me of the amazing power of healing that can come to the body and the spirit.  Highly recommend!

9.  Lately, we have been watching Little House on the Prairie almost every night.  Rebecca loves Laura and Mary.  I even passed up one of my Bravo shows the other night to catch an episode where Laura and Manly get married.  What has happened to me?

10. The hunt is on for my summer purse.  I keep turning to various straw bags, like these.  But I have some kind of inner objection to straw bags, though I haven't fully explored why.  It's truly a dilemma, akin to the way that I feel about Toms shoes. I may need psychotherapy.

Grandma's Surprise Party

On Saturday, March 17, we hosted a surprise birthday party for Grandma (Ramy's mom) at our house.  Ramy's sister Myrna originally suggested the idea in January, and we had been planning it since then. The funniest part of it was that we actually had all the family over for dinner a week beforehand to finalize all the details, and Grandma was there.  Rebecca kept her distracted, and she is hard of hearing anyway, so she was none the wiser.  We invited relatives of Grandma's and served mostly Filipino food (no fear - there was macaroni and cheese for those of us who aren't fans of Filipino delicacies.  By the way, if there is ever a room full of a Filipinos and a dish of fish, don't get in their way).  The only downside was that it was pouring down rain on the day of the party, so everyone got a bit wet coming in and we weren't able to mingle in the yard at all.  Otherwise though, everything went off beautifully! Grandma was surprised and seemed to enjoy the day with people she loves.  Everyone enjoyed the food. A good time was had by all.