New Years Resolutions

This list is a work in progress. The New Year/My Birthday is looming and there is so much I want to improve about myself.

• Diet and Exercise for optimum health
• Be more consistent with Ara's education
• See the world through Ara's eyes
• Patience
  
• Get more sleep
• Make more time to laugh and cuddle with Alex
• Take a writing class
• Practice
  
• Give a recital
  

Happy Slip

This music is old, neat.

Joe and Ara at the library

Random Christmas-ness

I love sitting on the couch blogging with a pretty Christmas tree sparkling in the corner! I am waiting for a student, trying to stay awake. Last night Ara and I were invited over to Megan's house for Christmas cookie decorating. She had the whole table set for decorating with red table cloth and homemade sugar cookies, icing, and sprinkles. Ara created some very interesting and frosting-ful cookie masterpieces before she realized that icing is delicious. After that the icing mostly went into her mouth! I blame myself really that she is so sugar deprived! She had a blast and she didn't even break anything. So proud.

Today is Tuesday. Which means.. non-stop fun (that was sarcasm). Laundry and cleaning so the house will be decent for students. Ara is supposed to be sleeping and I have chairs and a stand set up outside. I'm hoping it won't be too cold and dark for an outside lesson again.. it's so much easier to focus on teaching without her dancing around me in circles. She is still singing silly songs in her bed though...

We are so close to being done with Christmas shopping after the marathon in a toy store last weekend. This is a thrifty Christmas so we are trying to have restraint when we buy. Except when it comes to the kids, of course! Ara has a pile of presents under the tree already. We still need to get her Santa presents though. He is giving her a twin bed... technically we already have the bed but she doesn't know this! It will be in the living room all made up on Christmas morning. With new red flannel sheets, a new comforter, pillow, some cute stuffed animal, and a big red bow. I hope she thinks that is special. A Santa bed! It's another sappy Mom moment.. graduating from the cute little toddler bed to a bed she could be in through her teenager years.

Did I mention that the Christmas tree is pretty!

I'm back from teaching, this is why I have trouble writing a coherent entry, too many distractions! Well, that and my brain are the problem.

Tomorrow I plan to walk to the library and pick up my reserved books! It's exciting because I have:

The tales of Beedle the Bard
Gilmore girls : the complete sixth season
The Jane Austen Book Club

And I am 1/3 reserves on Harry, a history : the true story of a boy wizard, his fans, and life inside the Harry Potter phenom!

I am almost done listening to Twilight on audio which has been fun. I love having audio books for re-reading. I also have Angel's and Demon's (Dan Brown) on my iPod but I keep feeling like it's too creepy for listening right before I sleep.

Yay, just talked to Alex on IM (he is at work) and he suggested pizza since it's been a long day for us.

After the library Ara and I will be making a batch of Peppermint Bark to give away to spread holiday cheer!~

Happy Christmas!

I am in love with this!

Slide

First batch of Christmas presents!

Reading

The past few days I have been immersed in John Green books. I read Paper Towns, Looking for Alaska, and An Abundance of Katherine's. I really enjoy the pace of the books, I am interested in the story and main character from the first page. I love finding new authors and having a colorful fictional world to live in for a few days. I laughed and cried (seriously) and I would recommend all three books!

For my future reading plans...

Tales of Beedle the Bard

Harry, A History

I just picked up the audio version of Twilight yesterday (library again) so I am looking forward to listing to that on my ipod today as I clean my incredible messy house. Seriously this place is in shambles. When we brought the new bed in we had to get rid of a desk, dresser, and a chair. So now I have several things without a home. So I have to go through a bunch of clothes and add them to the pile of donation stuff I have sitting in the corner. I also asked Alex to get my music down from the loft last Saturday so that I could find all of my Christmas books. While the boxes were down I thought it would be a good opportunity to organize them so here they still sit... in the living room. Ahhh clutter is scary and stressful! So today everything will find a home and the floor will be clean. I will be tired from a day of laundry and cleaning but I will sleep well tonight! My Mom and I had planned to do laundry this morning at 9am but she is an hour late which is why I am blogging right now! I made banana nut muffins this morning and I am now ignoring the fact that the kitchen is calling out for a cleaning. I can't hear you kitchen! Geez it makes me feel so stressed to have a messy house. I even think Ara misbehaves more when the house is a mess.

On a less messy note... we are going to get the Christmas tree on Friday! Yay! I can't wait! I have the Christmas box sitting in the living room (yet another rubbermaid box sitting here.. driving me insane). Ara is the embodiment of Christmas joy. She is delighted by anything Christmas. It would be hard not to be enthusiastic with her around!

There has been a hitch in the potty training... public bathrooms. Ara is developing a 3 year old phobia of loud flushing toilets and automatic hand dryers. Without fail we will go somewhere and right away Ara will say, "mama I have to pee!". I lead her to the bathroom she starts declaring everything "sceeeewy" and backing out. Then I put the emergency diaper on her and feel like we are not making much progress. At home, she is doing great and the rest will work itself out eventually, I'm sure.

Cold day at the park

Give me a margarita!

I don't know if this is too private to talk about but I am going to write anyway and then decide if I should post. I have been feeling strange for a few weeks and I have been pretty sure I was pregnant. Alex and I have been talking about another baby but this wasn't the timing we were expecting at all. There is so much to consider. So many pros and cons to weigh into the decision. I was already in love with the idea of a new baby though, so today when my period came (4 days late) I was disappointed and relieved at the same time. Poof went all of my day dreams of Ara having a little sibling on her 4th birthday. Of watching another perfect little tiny baby tummy rise and fall as they sleep. Poof went all of the worry about money and timing and labor and sleepless nights. No more wondering if I can do it all again. Everything is back to normal and yet I feel a sense of loss all the same. In a lot of ways this is better. I can go on giving Ara my undivided attention and it's less strain financially and this is a decision we want to make when we are ready. We've already done the whole "surprise you're pregnant" thing so it would be nice to plan ahead and be 100% sure we are ready. The time will come, or it won't but either way I already so much to be thankful for. Alex and Ara are my family and they are all I need. And to think.. I could have had that margarita on Thanksgiving after all!

Hello December!

It's December!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, every where but here!

So, it is still a tad warm for December but it's lovely weather and I will take it! I just finished giving a flute lesson.. outside! I know I know, how could I take my instrument outside? Am I crazy? Yes, and happy. Also, Ara was asleep the whole time and she is STILL asleep so it was a win win situation. I love how I am rambling about the weather in my blog...

Anyway...

Ara and I made Christmas cookies last night. She was so cute! We made sugar cookies with icing and sprinkles and listened to the Harry Connick Jr. Christmas DVD A just got for me. We also decorated a wreath and felt very Christmas-y!

A and I finally got a new bed! That is the big big news this week (for me anyway). It's lovely and big and comfy and I even got to choose the color of the new sheets (red!). We have owed ourselves this for a long time and it is our Christmas present to each other. I love it. Sleep is such a wonderful thing when you have it and it's restful.

I have flute club Christmas gigs coming up. Well I do IF I can find some way to get to them anyway. I love playing at the botanical gardens every year. They light up the walkways with luminaries and string lights on the trees. People stroll through the garden listening to various ensembles and drinking hot cider. It puts the added little sparkly on my Christmas mood every year. They also have a butterfly exhibit there I want to take Ara to, maybe next week.

This weekend will be another kids concert with the TSO. A and I are excited to take Ara to see the woodwind quintet. I just love taking her to special events that are just for her. I feel like I drag her around doing mundane chores and errends all the time so when we get to do something as a family that we know she will enjoy and learn from it's a special treat!

Ara's art (it's a car!)

Sand angel

Merry day!

Yesterday we took Ara to Target and I taught her about christmas tree smelling! We are officially in holid

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Two cuties

HP

Megan and I saw this for the first time last night as a preview to Twilight. I am so excited to see the movie! Twilight was a lot of fun, I really enjoyed it! I'll write more later... too sleepy.

Good and Bad Dreams

"The bugs can GET me!"

Ara woke up in the middle of the night and was scared of big ladybugs in her bed....

Last week sometime A, Ara, and I were waiting for a bus in the parking lot of the nearby shopping center. We were going to dinner so it was starting to get dark and the actual bus stop had a bunch of kind of scary people so we were sitting on the cement ledge of a lamp post. I happen to look at the ground and I see a big roach just shuffling along near my foot. I jumped up taking Ara with me. A looked down, saw the roach, and squished it with his shoe.. like it was nothing (and it is nothing to rational people). Ara, of course wanted to know what had happened and I told her it was a big lady bug and it wasn't scary. Clearly I wasn't fooling anyone, least of all her because now she is having bad dreams about terrifying giant lady bugs. She has my lips, my love of art, my interest in nature, and... my irrational fears.

So.. I suck.



Thanksgiving week

A has all of next week off of work and I have been planning elaborate family outings, dreaming of getting everything done around the house, and thinking of a nice Thanksgiving with just our family. I am thrilled that the holiday's are finally here. I get a chill every time I pass the Christmas tree lot on the corner. I am already evaluating all the corners of my tiny living room for Christmas tree worthiness. I want to teach Ara more Christmas songs, and paint ceramic ornaments! I am gushing.. but that is how much I love Christmas~

I have so much to be thankful for especially my little family; Ara and A are my life and cup runneth over with love for them both.

Just a Complaining Rant about Yukky Stuff

I'm going crazy. Pee rules my life.

The two may seem unrelated but believe me they are.

Warning: This is a potty training rant, if that grosses you out... don't have kids (or read this)!

Ara keeps tearing her diapers apart while she is in bed and the result is a giant mess of yukky diaper bits and (like this morning) pee soaked sheets, blankets, stuffed animals, and pillows.

Soooo... after bath/showers and breakfast I loaded up the stroller with the soiled bedding and Ara and I walked to the laundromat (and it's 87f today WTH). On the walk home I was feeling like my patience meter was completely depleted. Ara is 3 it's her job to do this to me but I feel like she can't even hear my voice, while I, on the other hand can hear nothing but her whining and demands. When we got home she proceeded to waste all the foam soap in the bathroom (one of her hobbies) and generally make me nuts while I made her bed and tried to get her ready to take her nap. Now I am sitting here and tallying up the total time I spent today cleaning up a pee mess. An hour cleaning up pee covered girl. 3 hours walking to and waiting for the laundromat and another 30 minutes at home re-making a bed and re-sweeping a floor. And now it's nap time (although mostly she is just sitting in there not sleeping) but the whole cycle will begin anew. When I get her up.. there will be a diaper mess on the floor and bedding that needs to be cleaned. I wonder how far off it will be until she can use the toilet at night instead of diapers.

In (semi)unrelated news, I want a Rumba! Actually if I am dreaming I will take a new car and a washing machine as well!

A has work related classes this week and he will be getting home early which makes me feel like I have re-enforcements coming to save me from the adorable, sweet, smart three year old that knows her mama so well she can make her crazyyyyy! Perspective. I need some! And ice cream. And a neck massage.

Ok I'm done whining for now :D

Ara @ the park with wall-e

Paper bag coloring book @ dagwood cafe

Wall-e

Big Thank You

A chance to say 'thank you' to service men and woman in the military. You don't have to support the politics involved to say thank you to those who are serving. Go write a quick note and it will be displayed on Thanksgiving, ensuring that everyone will have a quick message of appreciation on this holiday!

BIG THANK YOU PROJECT

Today has been long and it's only 5 pm now. This morning I needed to get out of the house so I called my Mom and we ate Japanese food and went to the park. I enjoyed sitting in the damp sand with Ara. Digging my toes in and making a tunnel under a sand mountain made me feel like a kid again. I enjoyed focusing on nothing more than the way sand falls from my hand. We stayed for what felt like a long time then as we were preparing to leave A called to say his Mom's car had broken down. So we rushed over there to save her. It felt better to be on the non-stranded side of that scenario for once. My Dad just picked Ara up to spend the evening while we go to rehearsal. She has been enjoying her time over there but it is taking it's toll on her sleep schedule. But that is what a rehearsal week is like, good but tiring. She is doing well with the potty training. I am still scared to take her places without the diaper though. She tends to get busy and have an accident pretty much anytime we aren't home. I know it will come, so far she has been setting the pace herself. I am proud of her!

Toilet Seat Necklace

The thoughts that bounce around an impulsive three year old's head are so incomprehensible! This morning Ara decided to push this toilet seat over her head and it got stuck. She panicked and flailed at me when ever I tried to get close to her. She kept pulling and pulling and hurting her little ears. She was working herself into quite a respectable hysteria when I decided I would have to intervene even if she didn't want me to. I had to pin her down on the couch (to stop her from kicking me). I tried different angles but in the end I had to resort to yanking it off of her poor little head. No lasting damage and HOPEFULLY she will think twice about putting toilet seats over her head in the future, but I doubt it. Even after yesterday's fall I have still had to put her in time out for jumping on the couch today.. twice.

Head Bonks

Is it contagious?
Concussions and head injuries are not contagious, although the risk-taking behavior that leads to them can be.

One little monkey (Ara) jumping on the bed (couch), she fell off and bonked her head.
Her Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, "no more Aras' jumping on the bed".

I had to look up concussion symptoms today after Ara hit her head on the tile and had an instant bump poking out of her soft curls. She was fine but it was a pretty bad "bonk" and I was worried. The quote is from the site I looked up for concussions I just thought it was a funny question.

YayDay

Today is a monumental day! Ara has decided she is potty trained! Yay!

My head hurts so I will write more tomorrow. Happy park pictures from today :)

Saturday and a Rant

Today was my favorite day of the week. My day of teaching where I get to leave the house alone for a few hours AND I get to play flute. Unfortunately I had a few set backs on this particular Saturday.. missed my bus, was an hour late, forgot my flute, last minute cancel from a student. Ah well.. next Saturday will be better... maybe...

I did want to talk a little about my voting experience. I have to admit that I really had no intention to vote in this election. I had planned to go on living in political ignorance and I planned to be perfectly happy about that. There were a few things that prodded me to care.. I have responsible and enthusiastic friends, several You Tube videos, TONS of facebook pressure, and my own conscience (finally.. I knew that thing would show up one day). As the day approached I began to wonder what I should do about Ara while I voted. I googled it and came accross a few articles that promoted taking children with you to the polls. I liked the idea of introducing Ara to the concept of voting and I liked the idea of being a good role model (for once). My Mom agreed to go with and keep her busy so it was decided and executed and all was well! I do have to take a moment to complain about the smoking. I know.. I complain about smoke fairly often but I just don't understand how it is that I had to gulp down clouds of smoke while waiting in line to vote. This issue has been making me crazy lately. Since I am now dependant on the charity of my friends and family and the wonder that is public transportation I have been smoked on quite a lot. I stoped asking my Mom for rides after she lit up in the car with my daughter in the back seat. I was outraged. Flashbacks of a second hand smoke filled childhood flashed before my eyes and I vowed to ride the bus so that I could keep Ara's life smoke free. My Sister has smoked in the car as well. The bus? Well of course, no one can smoke while ON the bus but it is impossible to breath clean air while waiting anywhere near a bus stop. It makes me angry. When I was in high school I wrote a manifesto outlining a plan to force all smokers to wear a bubble that would contain their air pollution. The could smoke and smoke and smoke but all of the pollution would be in their bubble. I planned to designate dumping stations outside of city limits where the bubble-head smokers could go to 'dump' thier smoke. I modeled the whole manifesto after something I had read... I can't remember what it was though.. something about babies that was awful but intended to shock and make a point. My daughter should have the right to breath non-tobacco air and when she is queen of America it shall be so....

Where was I?

Oh right.. voting. So I went, I voted, I got a sticker, and I felt pretty good about myself.

I tried to explain voting to Ara by telling her that this was a special way that I got to tell people what I thought was important. I asked her what was important to her and she said 'hippos, water, penguins' so there you have it. Enviroment issues and saving habitas for animals are close to Ara's heart!

Climb

Bus stop

TSO Just For Kids

On Saturday A and I took Ara to her first concert (being a musician, that is embarrassing). When we got there and I saw that they had a carpet area for the kids to sit and I began preparing for the worst. I was having flashbacks to story time at the library and Ara running around while I try to catch her and lots of my butt on display.

Before the concert there were a few older kids (probably siblings) wrestling on the ground. It was pretty benign stuff and probably common enough that the parents were ignoring it. Ara was riveted, she stood there starring. She has never played rough with other kids. To be honest it was probably the first time she was really seeing this sort of behavior. After a few moments she decided to join in... there were three kids piled on top of each other and Ara went up to them.. and pile-drivered them. She brought one of the kids to tears and all three of the boys jumped up so as to avoid further injury from her. Ara seemed pretty pleased with herself and not at all sorry. I rushed up to her and tried to explain that she had hurt the boy and she agreed to apologize but we couldn't find him again.

All in all this rocky start did nothing to assuage my trepidation. I picked a spot on the floor as the musicians came in and to my surprise Ara jumped into my lap. She sat quietly through the introductions and as the music started she put her arms around me. Ara was enthrolled. She listended intently and applauded enthusiastically. The perfect audience.

For about 15 minutes.

Then she asked me politely if she could go out, she had to use the bathroom.

So we did. Maybe next time we can stay for 16 mintues! I was so proud of her behavior and it was a good reminder for me to expect more because she is growing up each day.

I Hope You Wore a Belt.

Disclaimer: This turned into a wall-o-text about parenting. Well it's really just a stream of consciousness straight from the mind of a tired mama. This is more for me to read than boring the pants off of you so don't worry if you lose interest on the second sentence!

Ara and I are working on 'owning the problem' with her fits and there has been much improvement. I have been working on planning ahead so as to take advantage of her 'good' hours for boring errands and activities that require her to have patience. I am more decisive about consequences and (trying) to stick to the rules I lay down for her. Ideally if I am consistent she will have a better idea of what to expect when she does certain things. This is the part of parenting that is so hard.. no matter what misbehavior your kid is exhibiting.. it's probably YOUR fault. So, there you are... frustrated with the behavior and frustrated with yourself for not preventing it more effectively. I better clean up my act! I'm not actually suggesting that I can stop a 3 year old tantrum cycle.. I know better than that! But I have been able to significantly shorten them and squash them before they become giant blow-out-worse-day-of-my life fits. I have to remind myself that she is my first priority without giving her the impression that everything revolves around her. Oh the balance. I just get so focused on day to day things. Like.. doing the dishes, such an important task, I couldn't possible stop now and then to listen to her tell me about her ponies sisters and their adventures could I? Dishes can wait. Sweeping can wait. Spills can be cleaned. I can have patience and remember that everything else comes second to her. I have such a hard time MAKING her do things. Like.. walk past the swings and go to soccer practice. I was reading a chapter on cooperation and it was talking about the difference between obeying and cooperating. In many instances I have been thinking I was asking her to cooperate but really I was expecting her to obey. I think if I work harder at cooperating and directing her instead of trying to command I will see better results. She wants to be a helper but her instincts will always be to resist when she feels like I am being a dictator. I know it's a fine line.. several of my family members have chimed in about discipline. I am just not great with being a disciplinarian, it's not in my nature. However, I DO agree that I need to follow through with whatever consequence I have set up for her. So I need to put a little more thought into my threats if I want her to believe I am not full of crap. Haha. That's why my eyes are so BROWN! I am pretty notorious for saying, "Ara, if you act like that I will put your pony on restriction (which means I will take it away for the day)." Then I give her like 50,000,000 more tries before I actually do it. My parents spanked us when we were bad. Not much strategy there. Without the physical fall back plan I think parenting requires you to be more on your game. I won't ever hit her because I think it sends the wrong message. I read once that every decision you make as a parent should be in line with the kind of adult you want your child to grow into. What skills will I teach her to deal with the world when she is on her own? Through my words and actions I can either give her the self confidence and knowledge that she can solve any problem with patience and kindness or I can teach her that force is the answer and the strongest arm rules the world. I want her to know her own mind and to believe that her feelings and thoughts are valid and important. I want her to know she has the right to speak up. I want her to believe in the power of words and communication. It's a lot of pressure. When I think of the WEEKs we took to choose her name and now I have to make decisions that will effect her in a much more profound way. I just decided.. parenting is a hard job! Wow.

Halloween! I love this holiday. Which one don't I love though? I was planning on taking Ara to the YMCA in the morning dressed as a ballerina and then to the Children museum in the evening as James the Train. We didn't make it to the Y because I was up with her late the night before. She has tummy problems. I got her to sleep around 11:30pm but then I lay awake for HOURS worrying about her and hearing her wake up periodically. So we stayed home for the day. My Mom let me use her car to take Ara to the museum though which was a great relief! I was worrying about taking Ara on a bus that late and walking around in the dark with her. I know.. I am a wimp! But it just doesn't feel safe and I am nervous doing things like that alone. The museum was wonderful. Ara raced from room to room discovering and climbing and laughing. We painted, played trains, learned about sea life, played the drums, saw dinosaurs, and just generally had a dream of a night. Ara was well behaved and a real joy! When we left I let Ara have her one piece of Halloween candy. She was thrilled! I took lots of pictures but very few good pictures! It's a tough balance between participating and recording for posterity. You don't want to miss anything and you don't want to forget anything. Well I don't anyway. You only get one shot at these things... she will never have another Halloween as a three year old. Ahh the pressure. It was a great memory and I feel good knowing that Ara had a great time.

Let's Go To The Park!

Ara at the park today. Yesterdays Itty Bitty Soccer day was.. interesting. I am having a hard time convincing her that playing soccer is more fun that sliding or swinging on the playground. I don't want to force her to play soccer because then I can pretty much kiss that goodbye. So I tried all kinds of other tactics. I finally got her on the soccer field through the help of another Mom and her 3 year old son. They raced us over there and Ara was down with that. Once I had her in the practice she did nothing but twirl like a ballerina and completely ignore everything her coach asked her to do. Every drill they set up requires the kids to wait in line. Ara has NEVER waited in line. An oversight on my part, I'm sure daycare kids wait in line all the time. I tried to imagine practicing that at home with her. I imagined lining up the cat, Ara, and myself and then I laughed. We will try a few pretend games with her My Litte Ponies waiting in line for things I think. So back to soccer... Ara was perfecting her twirl-while-looking-at-the-sky move when she took a sudden dive face first into the dirt. She scraped up her forhead and check pretty dramatically. She hardly batted an eye lash over it though, she kept on moving. She eventually ran off to the playground about a 15 minutes before practice was over but since she had yet to even touch a ball I followed her across the park and cut myself a little slack. Her face wounds look pretty bad but she hasn't complained at all about them. I took her back to the same park today. My new plan is to overexpose the park so that it won't seem quite so exciting on soccer days... well SOME plan is better than no plan I suppose!

Terrible Threes?

Ara did this painting with watercolors and I think it's amazing. She still switches hands like it doesn't matter which which she paints with. She seems equally good with both hands.

I look at her development and I am amazed at what a change a birthday can bring. She is three. No doubt about it. She has irrational fears, amazing communication skills, she runs faster, is more curious, and her fits can last for so much longer.

What Kind of Bug is This?

I have found a few of these in the house and I've never seen a bug like it. It has wings although I have never seen it fly. The antenna seem to have 3 segments. It has 6 legs which remind me of a cockroach leg. I have never seen one larger than a ladybug. I has a lot of beetle characteristics but it seems to act more like a roach, scurrying when it knows it's been discovered, and hanging out in the bathroom where it is moist. It just looks sinister to me I hope it isn't a baby roach! Let me know if you recognize this little pest please!

Proceed with Caution

The warning label being slapped on my forehead post-production!

Pumpkins and Apples and Nerdfighter

My pumpkin carving.

I made caramel apples! Fun and delicious. Plus food that can be eaten on a stick is always a good idea.


I just found this You Tube channel by author John Green and his brother Hank. They are funny and I am excited to read his books. What a neat opportunity to read an author that has put himself so much in the public eye.

Ara at Church

Ara and I went with my Mom to her church last Friday to hang out while she cleaned. Members of the congregation take turns cleaning and it was my Mom's turn. I originally wrote that last sentence with "Woman of the church..." then I changed it because it sounded sexist. The sad part is that "Woman" was more accurate. Damn this world we live in where both woman and men perpetrate the stereotypes and pigeonhole all of our potential to live as equals! Lol.

What an outburst.
Sorry.

Ara is cute thought, right? Wow, I need to work on shorter picture descriptions!

On the bus after many schedule mishaps!

I'm in Like with You

"Draw my thing" it's an online game like Pictionary. I just stumbled across it tonight and I like it, although it's difficult to draw with the laptop mouse pad thing.

Puzzle

Itty Bitty Sports

Last night was the first practice for Ara's Itty Bitty Sports league. When we got to the park I had trouble even getting her to walk with me through the park to join the group. She sped off in every direction except the one I wanted her to go in. I had to pull her off of the play ground and then the second we got withing range of the team she dissolved into a screaming fit where she proclaimed to not want anything. After a while she and I approached the group holding hands and one of the coach's' introduced herself.

Ara screamed.

Coach Lizzy and Coach Dave were kicking soccer balls and the kids would run out and dribble them back to the starting line. We watched a few other kids do this then Ara's name was called.

Ara screamed.

Then we chased the ball out into the field. (still holding hands)

Ara was doing really well kicking it back until coach Dave blocked her path and yelled, "You gotta get by me!"

Ara screamed..
...and ran away.

The rest of the night went pretty much like that but she did warm up and she finally let go of my hand.

Ara would do hilarious "ara" things when she was supposed to be kicking. She would be feet from the goal with a ball and suddenly decide she would rather be running to the swings. Once, she stopped mid-kick to pull up hand fulls of grass and throw them into the air like confetti. She learned how to do spitting raspberries in her team mates face curesy of one bleach blond little boy with an ornery streak in him. She refused to kick any ball except the pink soccer ball. She started pretending to fall flat on her back..

After practice she was completely unwilling to cooperate in anything that meant leaving the now dark park and I had to strap her into her car seat against her will.

While she screamed.

Then she screamed some more.

Then, after she had scarfed down a surprising amount of food, she declared that she would like to do soccer again tomorrow! Haha. It's so hard to keep up.

Go Team Toddler Tigers!

Woo

M&M day! Fondue yum

I can't figure out how to rotate this picture because it was sent from my phone but the general idea is there right?  Delicious melted chocolate is all you need to know.  M&M day was really fun and the food was amazing and I am feeling a lovely mix of full and relaxed.  The first part of the meal was melted white cheeses with garlic and other amazing flavors.  We speared bread and vegetables with our long forks and dunked them into the melted cheese.  The only thing I can't figure out is why I don't do this with everything I eat on a regular basis.  Melted cheese makes everything so much better!  Seriously, I would dip my cell phone in if I ran out of dippers and still had cheese... Fortunately it didn't come to that.  Next was a salad.  Which was really good but in hind sight eating lettuce and tomato's was just a waste when I should have been saving room for the chocolate!  Strawberries, rice crispy squares, bananas, marshmallows... It was like heaven.  No really Megan and I agreed this was actually like HEAVEN.  The Melting Pot is officially my new favorite restaurant, sorry Pei Wei.  How can you compete with a bowl full of melted chocolate?  You can't.

 

Happy M&M Day everyone.  Yay!

(Next year Vegas, baby!)

Shoes

Wonder-Fall (or is it summer?)

This morning I played a fundraiser for the Community Food Bank with the Flute Club. I had no instruments (again) so I ended up borrowing 2 different flutes and a piccolo. One of the things I really like about this city is that there is a thriving pool of community musicians. There were several groups donating their time and talents today and that is a wonderful thing to see.

In the afternoon Ara and I were picked up by my family caravan. It took three vehicles to transport all of us to the Pumpkin Patch Farm. All nine of us! The weather was unseasonable warm 94F made the whole day sort of hazy and dusty and HOT. We browsed the stands of crafts and fruit and I bought Ara a marionette puppet. Then we checked out the petting zoo. It was actually really nice. Each animal was held by it's 4H volunteer and they just seemed like really sweet natured, clean, happy farm friends. Ara was enchanted, she loves animals as much as I do, actually probably more. After the petting zoo part of our group wanted to try the corn field maze. I wasn't excited about the prospect. Last year we wandered aimlessly in there for 2 hours and that was before Ara learned how to throw the worlds most annoying fits every 5 minutes. I was going to opt to wait outside but my Dad paid my brother and soon to be brother to carry Ara on their shoulders. Ara is going through a phase that makes her scream ear piercing screams if she finds herself more than a few inches from me... so off I went into the maze. Ara refused to let anyone carry her so she actually walked with us for more than 3 miles. It took a long time and it felt like the sun was so intense. My Sister bought a map this year and successfully led our slow moving group complete to all the check points and out again. I was grateful to say the least. It's funny how I saw the maze as a tiresome duty but Ara.. well she was talking about it when we got home, she will remember it as something wonderful. So I'm glad I went and I'm also glad I kept my negative comments to myself because in the the end the fact that Ara had a great time is all I really wanted. After the maze, I wanted to sit in the shade and drink gallons of water but it was finally pumpkin patch time! We hopped on a horse drawn carriage and were transported out to the fields. The hot dry fields. I sounds like such a complainer but that is my exhausted frame of mind, at the time I was happy and excited. Everyone spread out looking for that special pumpkin. Ara found these little plants that grew pods with little green fruits in them and was very satisfied with unwrapping as many as she could find. I took a million pictures and chose 3 big pumpkins for carving next week with Alison and Charles. My Dad found the perfect little weirdo pumpkin for Ara that had a perfect handle for her. Then we hauled all of our pumpkins back on the carriage, paid, and left! It was a good day for family and memories. Next year Ara and I will go again, and hopefully it will feel less like summer!

Ballerina Inturrupted

I finally found a leotard that was small enough for Ara... or she finally grew big enough to fit the smallest one..

Either way I found one!

We had a lot of fun today playing dress up, taking pictures, dancing, and laughing. She is just the cutest (and clumsiest) ballerina ever!


Ara has been testing me lately. She acts as
though she can't even hear me when I ask her to do something she doesn't want to do.. or stop doing. Actually it feels like she is especially testing my patience and possibly my sanity. Sometimes it's about something small, like putting her plate in the sink when she is done eating. Other times it's scary, like when she decides to make a chase game out of "don't go in the street!". I have honestly been beside myself in frustration. Today was better though. I have been cracking down on the small stuff, I think I let too much slide usually. I have reinvented the time out punishment. Instead of sending her to her room (filled with toys) she has to sit on a kitchen chair for 3 minutes with no talking. Every time she gets up the time starts over. I can see that my struggle is not over by a long shot but even some small improvement is welcome.

Tomorrow we are going to the corn field maze! I am excited. I took Ara there with my family last year for the first time and there are horse drawn carriages and a huge pumpkin patch and over priced hot dogs and fun fun fun!

I took my flute to Bill (the flute fixer) and he gave us a pretty nifty tour of his piccolo factory I will take a camera when I pick my flute up because I want to talk more about it!

Ara says I stink.

From fluteloop

Italian soda

To do

Bank, target, flute repair, safeway.. Boring but so much easier with a car!

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I forgot what my original topic was.

The weather has been so amazing! It feels like fall finally and I feel drawn to go outside as often as possible. This is really like spring as far as the plants are concerned, everything is green from the monsoon rain and happy with the sunshine and mild temperatures. Yesterday my Mom, Joey, Ara, and I took a $5 pizza to the park and had an easy picnic. I helped Joey put together his new lego sets on a picnic table and the sunshine felt like a warm blanket while a slightly chilly breeze kept us cool. Ara ran my Mom around the park playing soccer, sliding, swinging, exploring. It was a very nice day and we found a creepy giant moth dead in the grass. I took a picture with my phone and uploaded it yesterday but I don't think it looked like much in the picture.

Usually on Tuesday I take Ara to the YMCA and either do the elliptical or afro aerobics but we have been home bound since the car died. I could take the bus but I never have any cash! I think tomorrow I should look into a bus pass. So, just to get out of the house and enjoy the weather I strolled Ara down to the park again. We had the whole place to ourselves which is really rare expecially with the schools around here on fall break. Don't the kids go outside anymore? I sound like such an old fart saying that lol. "Why, when I was your age young wipper snapper..." But seriously it was nice not to worry about the dog people, and the sports people, and the creepy guy people. My aim was to tire Ara out for nap time, I ended up only tiring myself! Still, it was fun and although it was no afro aerobics I did get in some excersize.

I still don't have an oven but I am still considering making a Batman cake for a co-worker of A's. The landlord said he would get us a working oven about 6 weeks ago and last week he mentioned he had been 'looking' for one on craigs list. Comforting. I plan to gently remind him again in a week. I would like to be able to bake something for Thanksgiving at least. The oven hasn't worked since we moved in May.

I am still excited about the cake, practice for my Dad's wedding! I even discovered tonight that You Tube has a bunch of 'how to' video's on cake decorating. Of course, what DOESN'T You Tube cover? Awesome.

I am going to bite the bullet tomorrow and call Bill (the flute fixer). My poor flute has been in terrible shape for waaaay too long. I am hoping it isn't going to cost a ton but I'm afriad it will be a complete overhaul situation. It will be lovely to have flutey in good working order again though! Oh how nice it will be. I may have a cheapy flute but it's mine and it has served me well! I borrowed a student's flute for the Stravinsky concert last Saturday and that was nerve wracking. Trying to feel comforatable on a different flute in a few hours.... Reminds me of my piccolo fiasco last year on the Finko Concerto. Everything was fine though and I am de-stressing as we speak.

Going to the park

Giant dead moth

Ara Playing at Church

Went with my Mom and Joey to church on Sunday, I have mixed feelings about it but Ara did enjoy their swing set!

Rehearsals TCO

It's been a tense and hectic week of rehearsals. The concert is tomorrow and really hope that there will be an audience full of optimistic supporters. Losing our director/conductor so suddenly at the end of last season has put the orchestra in a difficult position. Luckily it has some dedicated members that are working to ensure it's survival. I really enjoy playing with this group. I thrive in a chamber music setting and I want to play, damn it. What? That was me being optimistically supportive!

My flute has crapped out on me, I can feel the thousand 'I told you so' coming from the thousand people who have told me I needed to have it fixed. It was still semi-playable until about.. last night. There is just simply no more mileage in my pads no matter how hard I mash down my fingers... and the foot joint has been broken into 2 pieces since last year. (gogo scotch tape) I know, I am so ghetto. I just hate to have to be without my flute for any length of time.. but it's time. This Stravinsky is difficult enough without having to compensate for leaks. I make life so much harder than it has to be sometimes!

I've got my eye on you!

Beads

Ara and I did some bead work today. She likes to pick out the beads and then I usually string them although she is getting pretty good at it! We made this bracelet and a book mark (which I was really excited about).

We also played a board game today. My sister gave it to Ara for her birthday and I put it up in the closet. I thought she wasn't ready for such an advanced game. She noticed it today up on the top shelf! I didn't see any harm in giving it a try and although we didn't 'exactly' follow the game we did have a lot of fun. It was so cute, I would say, "Ara it's your turn to pick a card" and she would carefully pick up one ladybug card. We would read the number on the card. If it said something like, "move ahead 3 spaces" she would move 3 spaces.. and then 4, and 5, and 6... all the way to 14! She is enthusiastic if nothing else.

WoW treadmill race

I thought this was an interesting little experiment. Wouldn't it be a perfect world if we LIKED doing things like running on a treadmill to power a game character! When I used to play FFXI I tried using an exercise ball as a chair. Not quite in the same league as these guys but, hey I tried right?

Speaking of, I haven't been to the YMCA this week.. and I feel it. I am missing the freedom that having a working car gives you. Not that it's life or death but it's so much more of a hassle! I missed flute club rehearsal tonight because I couldn't get there. I would have had to leave early to get to the TCO rehearsal but still it would have been good to go since I think it's the last chamber rehearsal before a couple gigs. I don't know.. I am terrible with remembering dates. I ended up practicing the Stravinsky which I REALLY needed to do anyway. I am frustrated that it is taking me so long to understand this piece. I feel like I am cramming and my brain isn't processing the information! The last two nights I have gotten less than 4 hours of sleep, so tired. Sleep. Soon. I hope.

Blurry but cute

Areon Flutes

Areon Flutes, I am so excited about this group! They won bronze at Fischoff and are really paving a path for professional flute ensembles. Check them out!

TCO Concert this Saturday

Ara needs wings

So we are in the car late afternoon and driving west facing a setting sun.

Ara says, "the sun is over there, mama you want to drive past it?"

I say, "it does look close but the sun is actually very high up in the sky"

Ara says, "but the birds could reach it!"

I smile at my brilliant girl and say, "that's good thinking, they might be able to fly so high"

I know thats a fib, but I don't want to shoot down her ideas all the time.

Ara says (more to herself than to me), "I need wings"

Five Friends "vote while you poop"

"You can literally register to vote while you poop, if you have a laptop"


I'll admit it, I registered today. Go ahead and judge I deserve it!

Ara

Just so pretty

Red dress

Purple Car Oh Purple Car

The purple car is sad...


...the transmission is dead now and it's worth more than the car so that is that.

Time for something new(er).

I have always had hand-me-down cars (I'm not complaining) but this is totally new territory to me to be looking at cars. I have a choice? Well, not really but in this situation I have more choices than I have ever had in the past.

So I have seriously weighed my options, and I've decided I would like a sparkly kinda silvery blue color! Hahahaha....haha...hah....ah.

To DO...

I am having one of those days where I am constantly remembering things I need to do.. a mental to do list. The problem is that I have the short term memory of a.. stuffed animal? I want to organize the bookshelves, find someone to watch Ara during rehearsals next week, wedding on Sat. (probably going to need a ride and ara at the ceremony?), preparations for car dying and being stranded, practice, call Bill to have my flute fixed (the tape holding the solder on the foot joint is starting to feel ghetto). Is that how 'solder' is spelled? It doesn't look right but spell check let me slide.. Look at the dinner menu this week and figure out how to make the things I planned (haha)
What is it about recipes anyway.. they always assume I have some idea of what I am doing! I want to make stuffed bell peppers tomorrow night and the recipe says to mix all the ingredients together and stuff them in the peppers but I keep wondering if I am supposed to cook the meat first? And what about the rice? It seems weird to stuff things with raw meat and rice.. I have no idea, it doesn't say to cook it first so I guess I shouldn't?

The car is dying again. Well it has always been dying but it has some new symptoms lately. The transmission is broken now or something because the car slips out of gear on turns and stops now (automatic). Also one of the tires is low. So I need to put air in the tire and decide what to do with the damn car. I hate things that break.

I have aerobics tomorrow and I've already gotten a good head start on the house so now it's time to relax a little before bed. I promised myself no physics game..

What I do instead of sleeping...

This Contraption took me waaaay too long to tweak but it was fun!

Swept Away!

Fantastic Contraption: A fun online physics puzzle game

My ingenious contraption (by that I mean a random design that somehow worked)

It's a fun game but I'm stuck on a level with steps that is making me crazy!

Bday fun