My Baby Is Going to School

Hello everyone! Just wanted to keep you up to date... Peyton started Kindergarten! Her first day of school:

My life as I knew it is over. No more sleeping in until my girls wake up. No more relaxing with them in bed each morning. Oh well, I had a good run... and I do enjoy dressing her up for school each day. And now Tatum and I have some Mommy and Me time.

I hope all my fellow bloggers (or should I say former fellow bloggers) are doing well. Kudos to all of you for keeping up your blogs... I don't know how you do it!

I hope you are all doing well. Hugs to all!

Rebecca

A few more pics:

SNOW DAY 2009

Snow in NJ is so different than snow in NYC. First, in NYC there really is nowhere to sled. When we were little we had to build a mound of snow ourselves in order to sled about five feet. Or we waited until the snow plows came and piled the snow from the street into a huge mound on the sidewalk. Of course then there was the danger of sledding into the street or into a parked car or fence on the sidewalk. Even then you never got to sled more than a few feet.

As for eating snow... forget about it. If you weren't out there while the snow was falling, you didn't eat it. It was either "yellow snow" (I think we all know what that means) or it was trampled on within two minutes of being on the ground.

Then of course, if you're from NYC, you know that snow rarely remained snow. It became slush. And when it mixed with the oils and dirt of the cars it became sludge. Still fun when you're a little kid, not so much when you are a working girl in Manhattan and trying to get to work without falling on your tush.

Raising my girls in NJ is so different. It's quite an experience. Out here everything stops. The old saying about the mail being delivered through snow, sleet, rain and dark of night... apparently the postal workers in NJ never heard it. A report of snow on the news? All the milk flies off the supermarket shelves... and some of these people have their own cows!

And snow lasts so much longer out here. Maybe because we all have our own yards and besides the driveways, it basically remains untouched. In NYC all the kids in the neighborhood played on the sidewalk where everyone else walked or in the park where every child and dog within a mile pretty much obliterated it within an hour.

Now in NJ, at the first sign of snow I check the weather report. I know if it's going to stick and there will be at least an inch, I will be going out with my daughters in the snow. I hate it. I always did. Don't get me wrong... I like snow, especially snowfall... I just hate being cold. I find no joy in it. Of course, I find joy watching my daughters have fun, but other than that I'd rather stay snuggled up warm inside my house.

Growing up in Queens, NY I lived in a three-family-house... on the top floor. We were not allowed to set foot in the downstairs hallway with snow all over us. I'm not sure if it was the owner of the house that wanted it that way or just the way my mother felt about tracking snow and water into someone else's home.

Either way we basically disrobed of anything soggy right outside our front door... in the cold. There were three of us and we didn't fit on the little doormat inside the front door. I was pretty much ready to come inside after about five minutes in the snow, but my little sister would stay out for hours if she could. I think it was the idea of hot chocolate when we came inside that enticed me to go out in the first place.

So now I take my daughters (Peyton age 5 and Tatum age 3) out with the promise of hot cocoa when we go back inside... mentioning it to them every few minutes to draw them out from the cold. Doesn't work. They'll stay out there for hours. The time before last it was raining and the snow was turning to ice and they didn't care. Hhhmmm. Maybe I'll convince them to be postal workers when they grow up... I'll be sure to get my mail then.

Here are a few shots of my girls eating snow. It's all they wanted to do. There's also a video clip of Tatum eating snow Tatum style. You have to have your speaker volume on high. You can actually hear Tatum saying Mmmm... Mmmm... Mmmm.... as I sneak up on her.

Then there's a video clip of me and Tatum sledding. Gary tricked me. I didn't realize that I would sled the entire length of the yard. I almost crashed into the little wire fence we have on the side. Actually it was the post that stopped me. I wonder where we would have ended up if that wasn't there...

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES... DISNEY STYLE

Another Childhood Memory

So recently someone I know said something that brought back a childhood memory.

One day I was in school… in elementary school, the third grade, I'm sure. I had a close friend named Tatiana. This particular day I came up with a brilliant idea. We would find out who our friends really were.

I approached another friend of ours, I don’t remember her name. I whipped up a conversation that brought up Tatiana. I told my friend that I really didn’t like Tatiana. I waited for her reply. I don’t remember exactly what her reply was… but I remember she agreed with me. Aha! I ran right over to Tatiana and told her what she said.

I was so proud of myself. I went home and told my mother my clever ruse, and how it worked as planned!

That’s when my mother said, “Oh no! You shouldn’t do that! That’s being a hypocrite!” A hypocrite!? I couldn’t believe it. I remember thinking, not only was what I had done wrong, it wasn’t even all that clever. It had been done before! Apparently so many times before, that it even had a name!

I felt terrible. I went to school the next day and explained to my friend how wrong it was and that we couldn’t do it anymore. We were hypocrites! I’m pretty sure we confessed to our friend what we did, too.

The moral of the story? If you’re going to talk bad about someone behind their back… Mean it!

FOR AUNT JESSICA

FIRST BIG SNOWFALL, 2008

I wasn't able to email the video clips, it was too large a file, so I'm just posting it on here for you to view.

Of course all of my blogger friends are welcome to view it too.

This is Tatum's "first snow", as she doesn't remember last winter because she was only two-years-old.

Jess, notice what Tatum says when I asked her who taught her to do it. She credits (and blames) you for everything!

Peyton was being a bit camera shy.

Gollum... You asked, I answered...

I’m not officially back blogging or anything, but a blogger friend asked me for some recommendations for some books she’d like to purchase as a gift.

Since this blogger is a well-accomplished and published author I was flattered she asked. Okay, it’s just children’s books, and I’m probably the only blogger on here with little girls so she had slim pickings, but still… LOL.

Just be warned Gollum, and fellow bloggers, I can talk about books all day long so prepare for some rambling.

The age range of choice? Two-year-old toddler girl. Okay, with that I’m sure I just lost everyone but Gollum. But since this is posted especially for her, that’s okay.

My little Tatum just turned three, but for the past year she has always been into books that ask questions or have a Look and Find aspect to them. www.pilbooks.com has some great Look and Finds for toddlers. Here is the link:

http://www.pilbooks.com/childrens/index.cfm/book/4523/classid/My%20First%20Look%20and%20Find

I hope the link works but if not, they are listed under Children and Activities (Activities and Stories). I sent you to the toddler version ones but Tatum is doing the regular Look and Finds ones for older kids. She can find every single item on a page in a nano-second. Time to get more…

They both love I-Spy also but I buy the ones geared for younger children. I think Look and Finds stimulate little brains so I love them too.

Both my daughters loved anything where they had to find items of certain colors and shapes. If you know your granddaughter’s favorite characters you can probably find some great ones that will keep her interest.

The also absolutely love Lift the Flap books. Their favorites were Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell and Let's Go to the Zoo, a Fisher-Price book. The first is basically a story. The second asks you to search for animals based on sounds and colors and amounts.

As for classic books I found that between ages two and three they loved Guess How Much I Love You and Goodnight Moon. However, I only bought them the little board book styles. They are smaller and more durable.

Another gem was David Kirk’s Miss Spider’s Tea Party. Again, the board book was better because it was a condensed version and very sturdy. I bought the 3-Book set that includes the Counting and ABC books. I found the regular book version a bit long for a toddler.

They also loved Dr. Seuss. The Beginner ones like Red Fish Blue Fish and Go Dog Go and Green Eggs and Ham. As annoying as they are to read for me, my daughters love them. Peyton picked Go Dog Go as her favorite book ever.

Then there are the classic fairy tales like Jack and the Beanstalk and the Three Little Pigs and both my daughters loved books telling those stories. Disney makes good versions. All Disney books are hits with my daughters too.

And last but not least, any book with her favorite character like Mickey Mouse or Elmo or Disney Princess or Little Einsteins will be sure to be a hit. Then again, you never know with kids!

As a side note, since some of you asked, I did finally purchase those LeapFrog Tag Readers for my daughters and they love them! They are easy to use and have optional games where you answer questions based on the story or the pictures. They also have classic books like The Cat in the Hat, Olivia, Fancy Nancy, Miss Spider and many more.

It is geared for an older child but my three-year-old has it pretty well mastered.
It’s a pretty amazing system. The “pen” reads either the whole story, a page at a time, or each word you point the pen on. And the paper looks like regular paper so I have no idea how they embed the info on each page. It’s a wonder I tell you!

My only complaints are 1, you can only load about five books at a time depending on their size, and 2, the books are kind of expensive. However, Leapfrog.com is having great sales right now.

Well, Gollum, I hope I helped you out. If not, well I enjoyed blogging it anyway! If I think of anything else, I’ll just comment on your blog.

THANK YOU BLOG FRIENDS!!!

I want to thank each and every one of you for your well wishes and nice comments about my cat Eponine, as well as my hand.

Eponine is home with us now. At least her ashes are. We haven't decided if we are going to bury them or keep them in the pretty box they sent us. I can't help but feel it's kinda morbid to keep them in the house but at the same time it's kinda nice to have her here with us in some sort of way.

My hand is doing really well. The bottom two incisions don't bother me at all anymore now that the swelling is down and the infection is gone.

The one pointer finger is still healing and I can't really use it much. I have to exercise it daily so it doesn't heal bent but it gets really sore and it is still swollen. I keep it wrapped because exercising it and looking at it at the same time turns my stomach. lol. I still won't be blogging much because it is difficult to type.

I go to the doctor tomorrow to get the stitches removed and for him to check my progress.

I have a lot of blogs to catch up on and I hope to visit you all soon.

Special thanks to my close friends Bigeee, Buffie, Justine and Jill who are my daily medicine. I love you! And thank you Bigeee for your thoughtful blog about me.

More special thanks to my good blogger friends who I have come to cherish and enjoy visiting daily: Tootsie, Chris, Donna, Donna Marie, Raxx, Laura, Cindy, French, Tomarie, Kathy, Terrie, Penny and Naz.

And I especially want to thank those of you that I don't normally get to chat it up with that still came over to give your condolences and wish me a quick recovery as soon as you heard. I deeply appreciate it. I've enjoyed reading your comments on other blogs as well as getting to know some of you on RMS. Thank you Brenda/Mrs Ben, Gollum, Nikkicrumpet, Neabear, Susan, Bo, Shelia, Kady, Diane and Robyn. I so hope I did not forget anyone. Please forgive me if I did.

I also want to thank those I did not recognize that were thoughtful enough to leave a comment.

See you in Blog Land!