Lollipops for breakfast

It's 9:30 am and my kids are eating lollipops shaped like a baby bottle nipple and dipping it inside the "bottle" full of powdered pixie dust candy.

Yep, you guessed it...there are grandparents in town.


Each of the girls has another pile of candy, more colorful hairbands, little pet shop puppies, bubble wands, and almost a complete set of wizard of oz dolls from McDonalds happy meals (ok, many of those dolls are my fault).

I made the mistake of allowing Julia to eat the giant tootsie roll at her own pace, when in a confused and sticky state she came to me with her mouth almost stuck shut. I had to pry layers of tootsie roll from her teeth until I could see any white. After today, we should probably get her a new toothbrush.

In spite of all the new toys, the girls are presently outside playing with a broom and a stick. In their defense, they ARE using one of the new hair loops to decorate the broom. After all, it is a horse, I guess it needs a ponytail.

Our new house...

Here are just a couple pics of our new house (still with the current owner's stuff). We just had our inspection on Friday, and our closing date is less than 2 weeks. We will move in mid October, as the current owners need a little time to vacate. Once we get moved in, I 'll put more pics up.

Today I learned in school....

We've been doing homeschool for almost a month now, so it was bound to happen...our first meltdown day. Surprisingly, though, the meltdown was mine.

Allison has been learning about money and I was putting various coins down, asking their name and worth. She couldn't remember over and over and I got more and more insistent. I just kept answering for her and finally she said "Mom, you're talking like you're mad at me or something." I AM MAD, I thought, I just said this is a penny a second ago and you can't remember it!

I proposed we set the timer for a 15 minute break.

I retreated for some "space" in my room. Allison found me and said "Mom, you're not SCHOOL. You're my MOM. I said we should take a break from SCHOOL, not from YOU. I don't ever want to take a break from you". (yes, she is only 5) Then she brought me a plate of carrots and watermelon.

After that, we decided to move our school attempt to Starbucks. Every brain works better with a grande mocha frappachino or some organic chocolate milk in a box. We had a fabulous school day at Starbucks, including learning about a bank vault. The Starbucks used to be a bank, and they left the vault door and turned the vault into a quiet nook for hanging out. I counted it as an extension of our lesson on money. They just kept spinning the vault handle and pretending they were steering a boat.

Today I learned in school that my daughter doesn't see me as just her teacher. I'm her MOM.