Interesting Education

I'm always thrilled when my kids come home and tell me the new things that they're learning in school. Because we've put them into a school where they are also learning Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, the things they learn are amazing to me!

Besides the basics...reading, writing, and arithmetic...they're also learning languages that will help them converse with over 80% of the world.

The language they''ll need to converse with the other 20%, they're learning from their peers...
It was extremely difficult to keep a straight face when my son came out of left field with a new diddy that he'd learned, not from his teachers, but rather, his peers.

"I'll give you a nickel if you tickle my pickle."

This is from the same boy who has taught my son some other "mature in nature" information.

At that moment, I wished I had a delete button, to erase the information from his brain. I know that my child's central processing unit never crashes, and he will repeat the diddy again....and again....and again.

It's an interesting position to be in as a parent.

You try to teach your children to like everyone and accept them for who they are, while also explaining to them the ignorance of some of those same people.

I thought I had at least until junior high school to teach my crew about the birds and the bees. Seems I better start practicing my speech sooner!

Tooth Talk

The tooth fairy knows the route to our house, by heart, I am sure. Having three children the same age means that developmental milestones are reached mostly simultaneously.

For the past two years, teeth have been falling out at a rate of about one every month. (That's about the same rate the hairs on my Mark's head turn gray!)

It's quickly enough to nearly break poor Toothfairys' bank!

Although the trail she took to our house was the same, the toothfairy visited a different room last night. It wasn't one of the big monsters who lost a tooth, but it was the littlest monster.

Annie lost her very first tooth.

Quite happily, and with many questions.

Her two bottom tic tacs teeth have been loose for the past 2 weeks. Yesterday, one tooth became considerably "looser." (Could very well be due to the fact that she scored 6 goals in her soccer game. Or maybe, not.)

While driving home from dinner last night, she expressed some serious concern about the "Tooth Losing Process."

A~ "I have to lose this tooth before I go to bed tonight!"

Me~ "Why do you have to do that?"

A~ "What if is starts to bleed in the middle of the night and I swallow the blood? Then that will make me a vampire!"

To save my youngest daughter from Vampiress, I helped her extract her tooth. Twelve inches of yellow thread later, and her tooth was in my hands.

Eager for a visit from the toothfairy, she hit the sack without question, tucking her tooth into her pillow. After numerous kisses and profession of love, my youngest daughter asked a question that none of her siblings have ever asked.

"Mom? Is there really a toothfairy? Or is it just moms and dads who take the tooth and leave the money?"

If believing in the toothfairy keeps her young and innocent, I will forever claim that the toothfairy is real!

It's Been a Loooooong Few Months

It has been so incredibly long since I have updated my blog, I had trouble remembering how to get here.
And once I did get here, I notice that it's been so incredibly long, that the background I had through Cutest Blog on the Block, has since been removed. And since it's been so incredibly long since I put that background on here, I'm worried that I won't remember how to get a new one on! A few Seven months ago, I told myself that I wasn't going to update my blog until I made a Blog Book of all of the posts that I've already posted. Since I haven't even researched HOW to go about making a Blog Book, I decided I would get back to my emotional therapy of blogging.

Anyone who has been within earshot of me in the past few months, knows darn well that I am in serious need of some emotional therapy.

The need for therapy is probably due to, but not limited to:

School was out for the summer (and since my kids started a new school this year, they had an extra TWO WEEKS of summer break!)

We lugged the family to the East Coast for a Summer Family Vacation

On that Summer Family Vacation
I ate like I was going to the chair and I have yet to drop the 5+ pounds that I have gained

As Emeril would say it, My kids have kicked it up a notch in the Sibling Rivalry Department

We left our neighborhood school which I adored, to send our kids to a school in which they will learn Spanish and Mandarin Chinese

My littlest monster started kindergarten and will only be spoken to in

Espanol, and once a week in Mandarin

Did I mention that I'm a creature of habit and change changes me?

How crazy is it that I have the Baby Blues...maybe due to the fact that my littlest monster started kindergarten?My inconsistent babbling is just more proof that I'm in desperate need of emotional therapy!

To make a VERY looooooooong story short, I'm back.

And I plan to stay here!

It's much cheaper than weekly vists to a therapist!

Drama on the Mountain

What's worse than driving up a mountain in the middle of a snow storm?
Driving up the mountain in the middle of a snow storm without chains, without 4-wheel drive, and without a pilot and co-pilot who have experience driving in a snow storm.

Did I mention that one side of the highway was no less than a 100 foot drop to the valley below?

I am aware that the snow storm I speak of has nothing on a snow storm on the East Coast, but for a native San Diegan, who sees sunny days ninety percent of the year, this snow storm was a blizzard!

It's a good thing I was born and raised on the West Coast, because today I learned that driving in the snow is NOT for me. After a fun time of making snowballs and throwing them at one another, it was time to head back down the mountain. We waited for a line of other cars to pass ahead so that we could follow in their tracks. After travelling a mile down the highway, we were stopped by a number of cars who were scattered about on each side of the road. They were warning drivers to pull over and wait because the road conditions were so bad.

I failed miserably at remaining calm for my kids, who clearly wore panic on their faces. I imagined our car, plummeting....100 feet....to the white covered valley...below.

Just as I was preparing what my final words to my family would be, Mark warned us of the car that was coming our way.Two seconds later, we felt the thump of the truck that was unable stop on the icy roads. It smacked right into the front of us, causing an eruption of even more panic!In my mind, we were going to be sitting on the side of the highway until the snow stopped. I was planning how I would keep my family warm over night.

I was worried because we had already eaten the bag of homemade brownies that my mom had brought along for a treat, and there were only 4 more packages of peanut butter crackers left in the box. That wouldn't even be enough to satisfy the appetite of our infamously hungry Papa Jim, who was along for the ride.

I imagined the warmth and safety of our beautiful home, and wanted to be there...BADLY.

While Mark got the driver's license number of the man who hit us, a Sheriff drove through, urging us all to make our way slowly down the mountain. He warned that conditions were only going to get worse.

The only thing that could be worse in my mind, was making our way slowly down the hill, WITHOUT brakes! How could it possibly be worse?

With tension high, we pulled in behind the Sheriff and crawled down the road, trying desperately to keep our tires in the tracks of those in front of us.

With the passing of each 15 feet, and the continued decent in elevation, I knew our chances of surviving this whole ordeal were getting greater. The roads began to clear and the snow fall began to cease. I could finally see my future again!

I've never been happier to be home in my entire life. I gladly opened the front door to the complete disarray that was left on our way out. I didn't care that I had 4 loads of ski-clothes laundry to do and 4 soaking wet children to bathe.

I'm just happy to be alive!!!

(Though my account of what happened today at the top of that mountain may sound extreme, my mom and step dad's account may differ!)

Daddy's Girls

Had I not witnessed it with my own two eyes, I never would have believed it. I'm not talking about the picture of my girls huddling together, looking as if they REALLY love each other, although that is pretty unbelievable also.
They were merely trying to maintain their body heat, wearing spaghetti strap dresses outside in the 50 degree weather!

What was even more unbelievable was the sight of grown macho men, dressed to the hilt in their suits and tuxedos, dancing the YMCA and Hokey Pokee in the school auditorium with their precious daughters at the Father Daughter Dance-Hollywood Style. It was a sight I will never forget.
The proud look on each of those daddy's faces was an awesome sight. The proud look on my husband's face, watching and dancing with his three daughters, was priceless!

We all know how difficult it is to get men to agree to dress up and escort us somewhere fancy.

It's as difficult as uttering the words, "Chubby Bunny," with two large marshmallows crammed in your mouth.

But it didn't take any convincing at all to get this Daddy to agree to escort his girls to the school dance.And all four came home raving about how fun the evening was!

San Francisco Road Trip

It's a new year and I'm already lagging on my blog updates!

I'm going to blame it on the fact that I am just recovering from an "out of whack back" that kept me from my computer chair. Seriously, the act of sitting was enough to put me in complete misery! And it all started on day one of our road trip to San Francisco. I must admit, it made for an interesting four days of sight-seeing through the city, but it didn't matter...the city looked no different from my hunched over position. We had a great time!

Even when we accidentally took the wrong Cable Car and had to walk a good 2 miles to get back to where we thought the Cable Car was taking us.

And even when we had to listen to Angel scream bloody murder when we repeatedly tortured her with numerous drives down Lombard Street, and any other viciously steep San Francisco street!And we even had a great time eventhough the husband and I made one of our worst decisions as parents.....
We took the kids to Alcatraz... and let me just say that we are still talking about it to this day. Of utmost concern is the location of the 3 prisoners that successfully escaped from the "inescapable" island and remain "unfound." Maybe I shouldn't have told the kids that those prisoners come to the homes of naughty children to keep them in check. Not really...that would have really been cause for panic!

What did cause great panic was when I threatened to stay behind to be voluntarily locked up in solitary confinement. Sounds heavenly! Doesn't it?I'm not sure if Alcatraz was more frightening for the kids, or Rainforest Cafe was. Yes, that's right....my kids almost crawled out of their skin when we ascended to the restaurant that was being rocked by a thunder storm that resembled Hurricane Katrina. It was all make-believe, of course, but I couldn't get them to believe me. I'm pretty sure they were already frightened by the realistic, life-size models of gorillas, elephants, and jaguars that threatened to devour them on all sides.

Just picture the scene...mom, hunched over at a 55 degree angle, dragging coaxing four wailing children up a dark staircase, all for an over-priced, not-so-tasty meal. Should have saved myself the grief, and the money!

If nothing else, they loved the hotel! The room was perfect and the indoor, heated pool was a luxury.

Almost as luxurious as the ice cream sundaes we indulged in at the Ghirardelli Ice Cream Shop.

Bon Voyage

This morning I witnessed a conversation between Angel and Annie that was priceless.

In her infamous, whiny voice, Annie was expressing her distaste with the fact that we were going to go on a family road trip.

Because Angel is always trying to keep everyone happy, (mainly because I think she wants to keep ME happy), she tried to talk some sense into her little sister.

"Annie, don't you want to go to another country? Where they speak another language?"

Truth is....we're heading to San Francisco!