Is It Naptime Yet

While looking for the pictures I just posted I ran across these other home photo’s.

Halloween 1985- Andrea’s a robot Scott, I’m not sure what he is, Glenn is some masked cowboy, I am a scarecrow, Carolyn is a pumpkin with cool orange hair, and Kristi is a butterfly or a fairy.
We used old coffee cans that were painted with a rope for a handle. I remember my handle breaking one year and being so sad.

I’m grumpy in the above photo- I believe there was one of me just like this on a Christmas ornament that has since lost the picture, I should replace that lost photo with this one

All of the following were taken in 1986.

Our backyard on Nellis AFB.
We would walk around on the fence and loved our back yard. There was a mulberry tree that we would pick mulberries from and a pine tree that had ant hills next to it. We’d sit in the wheelbarrow watching them and my brothers would catch them in jars.

This is Kristi’s 7th birthday. My mom made the cake and we still have the Wonderwoman cake pan and face thing, I’m pretty sure anyways. I’m in the green clover/flower dress.

 
Andrea’s 9th birthday.

Me sitting at the table being cute.

The bed my father made for me.

It was from a crib mattress and there was a dresser that went with it that lasted until the Edison house, or maybe 5-8 years, since I eventually outgrew the blue dresser with ducks and hearts on it.

Thus concludes the photo’s from my childhood. I mainly have class photos and then ones I take as I get older.

As I keep looking at this picture of the girls I keep thinking about this other picture of me as a child with my older brother Scott.

I was just over 2 when it was taken, or October 1985, but you can definitely see the family resemblance.

Here’s a closer look.

And just for fun here’s another picture of me as a kid taking a bath. I was just too cute.

I had a couple experiences with our new life insurance agent, who is really a financial planner, about the whole worth of a stay at home mother thing.

While talking on the phone to set up the appointment he asked if I was a stay at home mom, since he was calling me back in the middle of the week, in the middle of the day, and I said yes and he replied how it’s a great thing and how he was single parent for 11 years. Then he eventually said how I should probably ask for a raise because of all I do. I replied along the lines that I was fine and I felt that no raise was needed.

Then in the meeting with him he mentioned the sacrifice we’re making to have me at home, he did have a sheet of paper which told him how much Jon made, and how the worth of a stay at home mother in studies is around 100k. I replied that I think those studies just  try to make us feel better as stay at home mothers.

It was just funny to me. I am staying and taking care of my daughters, but Jon often tries to help once home. He needs down time too, and more on some days than others, but he’s always willing to help out with the girls or chores if I’ve fallen behind. I don’t often feel under appreciated by him, though there are times, for both of us when we feel under appreciated, but I don’t feel like I need a raise, just because I stay home. In reality we both have our set allowance that we try to follow so if I get a raise, he does also.

I also feel like Jon does a lot to help around the house and I’m not doing everything all the time, though I do have those days.

I mean a father who works  outside the home is ‘off duty’ for 9 hours of the day, but once at home he has to deal with kids and messes and whatever the mom does too, if he is an active husband and father. I have it 24 hours, he has it 15 hours.

So does a father who helps at home get a study done on him on how much he contributes? No.
Does a mom do everything for the house and kids, I hope not.

A few months ago I would have agreed that I need a raise or a stay at home mother is worth 100k, blah blah blah, but right now I feel that those statements are the world trying to make up for the time they gave little thought and appreciation to stay at home moms, or the world trying to give confirmation that what a mom does is important, because so often it is overlooked.

I don’t need the world to give me that confirmation because I get it from my husband and children, and that is enough for me… At least for the moment, ask me in a few months when I’m teaching Lilah more and I decide how much a teacher is worth. 😉

My friend Amber is doing a little contest about plugging her business here on her blog, and you can visit her business site here which is in Utah, and I want her yummy cookies.

I only know a few people in Utah, but if you know people who need a cake or whatever tell them about Amber, she’s fantastic and makes me want to be an artist of cake making.

My eldest sister Andrea has been in town, since her husband went away for a dirt eating conference, and I’ve gotten to see her and my beautiful niece Zarina. ( Her husband is a geologist who test dirt, so we call him a dirt eater, even though he doesn’t eat dirt, though I think he has tasted my fathers dirt and that’s why we say he eats dirt.)

We visited Saturday at my niece Adrienne’s birthday party and then Monday I went over to my parents after having Britta for Sam that morning.

Lilah and Eden think Zarina is wonderful, but they had a ball playing with Mary’s kids, who were also over to visit Andrea on Monday.

Tuesday is when my girls got to dote on Zarina because we watched her while Andrea went to the temple. They were getting down the baby toys and if had I let them they would have covered her in all the toys. Eden was worried that Andrea would come take Zarina while she took her nap, but luckily she woke up right before Andrea left and she was able to say goodbye.

I took some pictures of the girls with Zarina, who looks like her daddy, but you can tell she’s related to my girls, if nothing they all have chubby cheeks, though mine are losing theirs.

Wednesday, or today, we went to Chuck E’ Cheese with Andrea, Zarina, Carolyn, Kristi and her daughters, Katy and Adrienne, poor Howie was still in school.
I let Andrea go and play with the girls or do whatever for a while and I stayed at the table to guard the purses and watch Zarina.
She is such a happy baby and really cute. She smiles pretty easily and on Tuesday I got a good giggle out of her.
I can’t wait to see her again!

Here are our “drawn portraits” from Chuck E’ Cheese.

I also took one with Zarina, but Andrea took that one.

We went to Chuck E’ Cheese because the girls have been dying to go and today Jon had the day off so we could meet with our life insurance agent. I thought lunch at Chuck E’ Cheese would be fun for the girls, since we promised we’d go, and I invited my sisters along for the fun of it. ( Also so there were more people to help with the watching of the table. 😉 )

Also, here are the girls enjoying some of their prizes they redeemed at Chuck E’ Cheese.

Eden put the stickers on her arm on the trip home.

Lilah loves fake tattoos.

One of the blogs I lurk on wrote about these water bottles a long, long, time ago.

Jon and I have recently talked about buying some sort of water canteens to use instead of buying more water in in disposable bottles to take with us.
I seized the opportunity to go and buy some for the girls and one for me because when were out hiking or enjoying ourselves we’ll each need our own water, right?
I think I might buy some backpacks or make something for the girls to carry their stuff in when we go walking or out and about, so I don’t have to lug a bag with their water bottles.
They’re small, yet strong, and should become their own pack mules.

Anyways these are the ones I bought and they’re going to be an Easter Gift.
My girls don’t get dresses for Easter they get their own water bottles to help the environment. I wonder what I’ll get them next year, maybe reusable grocery bags?

For Eden

For Lilah

For me…I think I’ll put it in my Easter basket too.

So I’m not really into the whole princess thing. Our only Disney movie that comes close to being one of the Disney princesses is Mulan.
No Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty or Little Mermaid in our house. (Though Sleeping Beauty is one of Jon’s favorite out of the trio from his youth.)

Now, this wasn’t a conscious decision and if someone where to give us a princess DVD I’d let the girls watch it, but as two adults buying DVD’s for our children, we like to buy things we would enjoy, so we have all the Pixar films, some Studio Ghibli and other random Disney, or non Disney stuff in the mix.

So with not having the princess movies, the girls have not seen them, except Little Mermaid, while at Aunt Andrea’s.
So with not seeing them, they have no idea what to answer when people ask them who their favorite Disney Princess is. I never thought of this, except Carolyn’s boss once asked Lilah this question and she didn’t reply, not only because she doesn’t talk to people, but because she had no idea what he was talking about.

So now I am kinda proud that my girls aren’t enamored or obsessed with Disney Princesses, like so many little girls are. I’m fine with it if you’re daughter is, and in fact my girls still have princess stuff, just not the Disney stuff, and if a little girl does like the princess stuff it, makes it easier in buying gifts.

Anyways, this whole princess discussion started because Julie is entering Naia into this Pretty Little Princess pageant, a more natural, little to no make up or hair pieces aloud pageant, and Carolyn told Julie she should tell me and I should enter my girls. (But I think it’s ’cause Carolyn thinks my girls are the cutest, though she might be partial as their aunt.)

I pay a $20 entry fee and have them in two cute outfits, in which they would have to be new for me, because it is a pageant after all, and people give them a trophy, sash, and flowers, because all the girls get that and then the real winners get a tiara and a savings bond. There are talent scouts there looking for a fresh new face, blah, blah, blah, but parents attest to how wonderful it makes their daughter feel and all that good stuff.

I’m a little like “whats the point?”, but at the same time I have a desire to enter and see if my girls win, because they are so adorable to me, but I wouldn’t want to bank on them winning or go just because I knew they would win because, lets face it, you’re setting someone up for disappointment with that train of thought.

My other dilemma is more of an internal one. In a way I try to keep them away from the whole, ‘you’re my little princess’ train of thought. I want them to have more confidence in themselves than ‘I’m so cute’, since they already hear that a lot. (I know, could my head be any bigger about my two beautiful girls? 😉 ) So to enter them in a contest to make them feel like a princess is a little against my morals or really to enter them in a beauty pageant.

Plus what’s the point? To have complete strangers tell me my child’s adorable, or that there might be others cuter than them? Or to turn down talent scouts because I don’t want my daughter in TV? (I feel like talent agents try to get anyone who is willing pay a fee so I’m not saying this because I automatically think talent scouts would want them or at least one of them.)
But at the same time I want to show how cute my girls are and see if it helps Lilah be better with people, though she is usually better with large groups than one on one interaction.

I don’t always see the point of making a girls feel like a princess or that they’re the prettiest, though I would love for my girls to be the prettiest little princess, but I’m also so competitive that I wouldn’t want to have my friend’s children enter because I want mine to win and then if they knew the winner it might also stay in their mind more that they didn’t win, even though they get all sorts of stuff anyways.

So I’m undecided.

My silly princesses in their princess pajamas.
( I thought the frog ones were cute and my mom gave us the other ones. )

Yesterday was Lilah’s preschool class, but I it was one of my off days from teaching and assisting and since Eden still has a runny nose I thought we should stay away from other kids. So instead we went to Henderson to pick up a couple things from Costco, return stuff to Jo Ann’s and we enjoyed lunch at Sweet Tomatoes.

My girls are fantastic veggie eaters, so a salad buffet is perfect for them. They also sat us right by the food area for the bread, soups, and pasta’s so I didn’t have to go to far from them and I could keep our table in my sight whenever I got up.

Eden never eats well when we’re out, but she tried a little of everything I gave her. Lilah loved the grapes and macaroni and cheese. It’s now her favorite macaroni and cheese. They also loved the ice cream at the end. Lilah stuffed herself so full she said her stomach hurt.

Before we left Eden was smiling at an elderly woman at the table behind us. The woman started conversation telling me how cute Eden was and how she was giving her big smiles, she also said Eden looked just like one of her granddaughters. She then asked if I wanted to see a picture and of course I said yes. She then took a picture out of her wallet and showed Eden and I a family picture of three generations. Her granddaughter, who I would guess was about 6, had short brown hair like Eden and the woman said she had blue eyes, just like Eden’s, and a big smile, just like Eden’s. Lilah of course also wanted to see so she came over and we introduced her to the woman also, who then complemented her on a pretty name.

It made my day to see the girls being friendly. I love having kids because they often help cheer up someones day and mine at the same time.

The rest of yesterday went the same as any.

Today my friend Anna had the day off, so after a morning engagement she came by and we went to the park. My girls were exploding with excitement waiting for her and the thought of going to the park. We thought she’d make it for lunch, but she didn’t, so after we ate they were just waiting for her and running around.

Eden earlier in the morning told me how nice Anna was. I asked if I was nice and she said no, Mommy’s mean.
Thanks.
I guess if I just came by every once in a while and chased them around she would think I was nice too, but atlas my duties as a stay at home mother keep me here each day during happy and sad times. (Sad times being time out and fights.)

The girls had a blast at the park, though the swings were not Lilah’s friend. She fell off while trying to fix her hat, in which she easily fell 4 feet. The second incident she wasn’t far enough away from the swings as she tried to walk past a mom and her daughter and she got hit with that swing. It was tough, but she got over it quickly and just wanted to swing in the baby swing.

After the park we had to come home and get Eden down for nap. She kept saying she didn’t want Anna to go. 🙁 Then when she woke up that afternoon, after Anna had left of course, she told me she wanted Anna to chase her. 🙁

Eden really loves Anna.

Lilah also loves Anna, but while at the park she said Auntie Carolyn was sillier than Anna. 🙂

It was a fun day. Anna was able to hang out and Lilah showed that she really does know nearly all the sounds the letters make, except of course the ones her mother screws up on because I didn’t learn by phonics.

It’s fun to have visitors.

My friend Elizabeth, who lives in Iowa, asked why I’m choosing homeschooling, she didn’t know that I was planning on doing this, and it’s mostly because I talk to people about it, but I guess I haven’t blogged about it a lot.

Some reason’s why I’m wanting to home school in no particular order:

• We live in a highly populated Spanish speaking area. I had a friend who taught kindergarten at a school close to us, though not the one Lilah would attend, and in a class she had in 2006 there were about 4 English speaking students, the rest she had to teach English. I know this would be a large disadvantage to Lilah, who at the age of 3 knew more than some of her kindergarteners. Plus the Spanish speaking children could not communicate with the English speaking students, so the English speakers had a harder time making friends.

• No Child Left Behind = Teach to test

• Everything, even the potty breaks, are planned to the minute for the teacher. ( I’d put a link to a kindergarten teacher here in Nevada talking about the schedule, but it’s a private blog.)

• There’s no creativity for the teacher and the students.

• Being able to teach Lilah at the level she is.

• 6 hours of school and another 2 hours of homework.

• Children will learn a subject once they’re interested. If they’re not interested, they’re not going to learn without a person forcing them.

• Kids are weird if their parents are weird. So my girls have no hope anyways… No, the excuse of socialization is weak to me.

• Parents are losing more and more power to choose what is taught to their children. Even if you’re actively involved it’s not always enough.

• Jon has talked me into it. I figure I can indoctrinate them while he’s at work. 😉

• Enjoying time and discussion with my girls.

• The girls deciding what they want to learn, in some ways, and me being able to develop their sense of curiosity.

• I’ve never, ever, wanted to be a teacher, but it is fun to see them learn something new.

• The public school system, at least to my belief, doesn’t develop a desire to learn.

• The public school system was implemented to teach the poor and the government just continued to go with it.

• It would be nice to have some time to myself during the day, but I think I can teach the girls what they need to know and get with other homeschooling groups, to help my children learn in a smaller, more adaptive setting, to their needs.

Some people think we’re totally weird for wanting to home school, even within the family, and are highly opposed to it because home schooled kids are “weird”, but others are very supportive and say how the home schooled children they know are more mature and less indoctrinated about sex, drugs, and violence.
While we’re not homeschooling because we don’t want them exposed to the “horrible world”, we are planning on homeschooling because we believe we can provide a better education for our children than the public school system.
Once our girls are older they can choose to go to public school, but we’re not going to force them to stay out or go in, I just hope we’re in a better school district by then.

I just want to mention that WordPress hasn’t been emailing me all the comments, so I don’t always know I have any to approve.

I’m not sure why this is happening.

I’m going to have Jon work on this.