Back to School!

Oh yeah! Despite Kiera puking all over her bed last night....she managed to cart-wheel all the way to school. No fever- no other symptoms except a dry cough which probably caused the taco surprise to project itself all over the bedspread, sheets and wall. Or it may be that she points the fan directly in her face at night- I'm all for white noise and a breeze, but her eyeballs are starting to dry out. I also think this may have been the first time Phil tackled pukey laundry. I was too busy gagging and cleaning Kiera to laugh at his attempt to shove a bedspread, sheets, pajamas, 1 stuffed animal and 2 pillows in to our 1999 .5 cubic foot top load laundry machine. I guess the pillows didn't fit- I found them in the shower this morning. But I didn't have to scrape chunks off of them- so I will gladly deal with the soppy pillows this morning.

Phillip is going into 4th grade and Kiera is starting 2nd. The number of school supplies multiplies each year. Pretty soon we will be buying a desk and chair that they will have to carry to and from school. Whatever happened to the cool kids being determined by who had the 64 crayon pack WITH the built in sharpener? I think we took pencils, paper, crayons and 2 folders to school. Now they each have 7 composition books, 7 folders, 4 reams of various papers,36 pencils, 24 blue pens, 24 black pens, 24 red pens, every type of marker designed(fine, broad, sharpie and dry-erase) paper towels, napkins,sponges, antibacterial soap, antibacterial gel, tissues -(wait I KNOW we had to take tissues to school.) So since they never come home clean- I assume they are doing a lot of writing about cleaning or they are actively cleaning their learning environment.

TECHNOLOGY AND MONKEYS

For the past few weeks,months,years- Phillip has been constantly asking for an ipod. Each request is summarily responded to in accordance with parental guidelines "do you have money for an ipod?" I don't know-he responds- how much does an ipod cost? That depends- what do you want it to do? I want to watch videos and listen to music- he responds casually. So we start going over the process of any major purchase. How much money do you have? $187 and a lot of change, but I haven't counted all of it lately. I'm guessing the change probably amounts to another 30-40 smackers and that of course is minus the daily slushie fee of 25 cents for the entire summer. Every morning, the junior leaders at the local parks program freeze Kool-ade in little cups. They used to use dixie cups and finally upgraded to plastic cups, much to the delight of moms and vehicle upholstery all around Ewa Beach.(To all you rookies out there- it's pronounced "Ehva"- pidgin will be a whole blog of it's own some day.) But I digress. So my chosen mate for life helps begin the research process by guiding the eldest male offspring on his first electronic hunting expedition. Although the afternoon at Best Buy did not yield a catch- valuable knowledge was procured. I look down into these beautiful brown eyes surrounded by the cutest freckles you ever did see and he reports I want an Ipod nano-4 gigs, the 8 gig is more money than I have and the shuffle is too little and doesn't play video. Well allrighty then. Can we go to the NEX tomorrow and check the prices? There's no tax there. This morning I watch him empty his piggy bank of all paper money. Mind you, the "piggy bank" is a plastic jar from 3 years ago when we never did manage to locate his actual piggy bank after our last move. I've been begging him to let me send it into his savings account forever, but he wanted no part of it. We press the dollars flat and cram them into his wallet. And off we go. It took 2 different base exchanges before we find what he is looking for. The happiness in his eyes is something we haven't seen in awhile. He forks over the cash at the checkout and clings to the package. 20 minutes later, he races in the house to download music...and videos. While waiting for the initial charge, he paces back and forth ...and so it begins. Mom can I download the song"lollipop"? Do you have money for the song "lollipop"? I don't know - how much does it cost? So to those who sent money to Phillip for birthdays, holidays, breaking his pancreas and may or may not have gotten a written thank you- Thank you so much for the lovely gift- it went towards an Ipod nano with 4 gigs and it apparently plays video!! :)

Please do not throw Coineys in the cages...

So on the last baseball practice of the post-season...the girls played in the van while I chatted with one of the other moms nearby. I hear this horrible screeching, not child screeching but electrical radio interference BAD screeching. My 3 year old and the 2 year old are huddled in the back seat with a 10 year old friend who was "playing" with them(aka texting out of her mother's view....)-their screams now drowned by the awful sound emanating from my vehicle. My instinct is to grab the keys out of the ignition. Wait! I have the keys in my hand (after all what good mommy would leave 2 toddlers supervised by a 10 year old with KEYS in the car..??..) so HOW is the radio making that hideous sound??? I start pushing buttons, put the keys in the ignition and finally get the sound to cease while the car is off. But wait the lights are ON. The 3 year old informs me that her sister put coineys in the radio. I look at the change compartment- there are a few pennies left. Lily can never decide if she wants to call it coins or money...regardless: This is probably very bad. The radio has ceased it's noise now. I no longer have interior lights either. But for a week, every time I hit a bump -the radio might turn on- Or the screeching would start. But even the van fairies have tired of playing their tricks on me. So now I listen to twinkle twinkle little star....over and over and over.

The monkeys in question....

These are the little angels.

Phillip: will be 9 in September. Recently was persuaded to cut his hair. Loves baseball and drawing. Last night left his crayons in his pocket and after washing now has a rainbow of fruit colors on his clothes.

Kiera: Turned 7 in April. Loves clothes, Hannah Montana, anything girly. Does gymnastics and is very bendy.

Lily: Turned 3 in March. WILL BE STARTING PRESCHOOL IN AUGUST!!!! Generally referred to as Lilyqaeda. Is a free spirit yet very particular. Also enjoys gymnastics.

Bella: Turned 2 in April. Known couterpart in the Lilyqaeda movement. Favorite word : Noooooooo! Does not enjoy clothes.

Welcome to my World!

Hello there! So I am working on potty training #4. You'd think at some point you would get used to potty mishaps- yet each child comes up with new and exciting ways to test my gag reflex. Bella has decided that she no longer wants to wear diapers. Or clothes. Just a pony tail and a smile. She knows she has to go potty. She goes as far as to get the package of diapers, shove it between her legs and carry on with her business. She is shocked by the mess. As are her siblings who start to hoot and holler like a pack of monkeys in heat. So I mop the floor. Lily wants to help and grabs the Lily sized mop...before she can swoosh the mess around I ask her if she could help me by mopping the bathroom. When I pass by the bathroom in a minute she is busily mopping the floor which is now soaked....in the absence of a bucket she used the toilet to wet her mop. Bleach is my friend.