Impromptu Girls Afternoon

This weekend David is hard at work painting Erin's room into a princess paradise. We went to Home Depot and picked up Behr's Disney Ultra White for the moldings, Pretty in Pink for 3 walls & Pretty as a Princess for 1 wall. By the time David finished the walls this afternoon, Erin was a happy little girl. David & I are in agreement that Pepto Bismol pink would have been easier on the eyes. Tomorrow David gets to do the finishing touches & the furniture will go back in later in the day.

Erin has been out of sorts over the fact that she can't spend any time in her room now. Trust me the fumes are overwhelming! We needed to go out shopping for some lunch, so I went over to a new shopping center. I decided to check out the brand new Color Me Mine store. Erin took one look & asked if she could paint something. She has been so good this weekend between having Kerri move to Canada & not being able to play in her room, that I sat down & we had some fun painting.

Farewell Breakfast

Yesterday morning, we said goodbye to the Masson family. David, Erin & I joined Vivian, Corey & Kerri at their last breakfast in S FL. This was actually the first time that Corey & David met. The guys were really sweet & allowed Viv & me to indulge ourselves with the female chitchat although I'm sure that they did some talking themselves. You just never know with guys. Erin & Kerri had a nice breakfast also. They got to eat whatever they wanted! Picture it now - lox with cereal & milk. The cereal didn't go over so well, but the lox was a big hit.

Farewell to Vivian & Kerri

Last Saturday, the ScrapSkanks had a farewell party for Vivian & her daughter Kerri. It was a beautiful day!

Build a Bear for LOOK

This past Saturday my friend Vivian & I took our girls to Build a Bear. Erin & Kerri got to stuff a bear for LOOK. The bears are being donated to older children in Chinese orphanages who haven't been united with their forever families.

Thanks for letting us know about this Lori!

A Hard Week . . .

. . . was had by all. David took a class up in West Palm Beach this week which threw us all of our regular schedule. Even though he had to be in class by 8:30, he still had to leave early but not early enough that he didn't screw up my basic morning schedule. Since I am in no way a morning person, I don't deal well with change. His class ended at 5:00, & traffic was such that I needed to pick Erin up each day. Need I tell you what the tantrums were like? Even preparing her for the disruption to her routine didn't help. She would be fine when I went in to pick her up but the minute the car was turned on, the screaming began. For the entire 15 minute drive. By the time I pulled into the driveway each afternoon, I was practically in tears myself.

This past Thursday was a horrible day. I work at a bank & having done so for 20 years have been lucky that I've been involved in only 1 robbery so far. Many of my co-workers can't say the same. Thursday afternoon, one of our clients was robbed at gunpoint outside the bank. I can't say any more since the robbers have been caught and are now awaiting trial. However, it was a very stressful day with many tears & emotions running high in our office. I have to say that the police who showed up, were wonderful. They were more than kind to the victim & her grandson along with the bank staff. I have so much respect for these people who each day put their lives on the line for us - total strangers. People make so many jokes about the police that are really unkind. Trust me. (We owned a Dunkin' Donuts years ago, & yes, the police did take their breaks at our counter. However, there many days when they barely got a sip of coffee that they had to run out.) That night I had to attend a workshop for my other job (1st grade teacher at a local synagogue). I wanted the facilitator to know that if I got up & left it had nothing to do with him. That's when I finally heard that the local schools were locked down in the afternoon. Needless to say, I was able to enjoy the workshop & spent 2 hours not thinking of the day's happenings.

This afternoon, we get to have a change in attitude. My dear friend Viv is leaving S FL. She & her family will be leaving this week to move to Canada. Viv is one of my scrapping pals & someone I met through the adoption of our daughters from China. This afternoon, we are having a ScrapSkank party to send her & her family off with our good wishes. And, yes, this is also hard & stinks for me. On the other hand, it is best for her family. Ugh!

Mother's Day in School

Yesterday Erin's class celebrated Mother's Day with a morning tea. Erin couldn't wait to tell me that the students had made the muffins (chocolate & blueberry for inquiring minds) themselves. She was just so happy when the time came for all the mommies to come in. It was such a treat to see my smiling daughter's face in the morning when I should have been at the office.

The children made Mother's Day cards, portraits of their mothers (wait till you see me!) & a book about what they do with their mothers. I think that I will be keeping these forever!

I've Changed My Mind

I have been so grumpy the last few days because of this beautiful child of mine. That's what I've changed my mind about. I'm not really grumpy because of her. I'm grumpy because I've handed over the reins to her. How?

Let's see how I did that.

In the mornings, Erin used to get dressed by herself. Now she's going through a lazy stage crying & screaming that she wants me to dress her for the day.

I weaned Erin off of naps at school since there are no naps in Kindergarten. (And just who decided that at 4 & 5 our children don't still need naps!?) When she gets home, Erin is just plain ole bitchy & whiny. That's my job!

Bedtime has always been a problem for us. I'm so envious of my friends whose children go to sleep with no whining, screaming, crying, tantrums, etc. I'm tired of hearing "When are you going to bed momma?" and "I NOT tired." I'm tired of having a child who falls asleep in the car when we're only going down the street to go shopping & then has a full out tantrum because I've woken her up. Why does she do this? Because she's too damn tired!

Eating. Erin is not a spectacular eater by any means. Veggies is a 4-letter word to her. I can just get her to eat corn although she will wolf down an entire sweet potato. She eats raw carrots & string beans at my friend Debbie's house. At our house, she screams. I even tried buying carrots where Debbie buys them. Then Erin tells me that if Jonathon isn't here to help her eat them, she won't eat them. Argh!!

Routine is important to my girl. I drop her off in the mornings, & David picks her up in the afternoons. Heaven forbid there's any change to that routine. The rest of the day is gone to heck & a handbasket. Yesterday, David got hurt at work by a co-worker whose got the brain cell function of cabbage. (I could have sworn we were all out of high school & no longer hand the need to hit someone to show we like them.) I told him to go home, & that I'd pick her up. Yes. He warned me. No I didn't listen. BTW, I'll never pick her up again. I may leave her at school just to avoid what I went through yesterday afternoon. (I'm joking. Of course, I'll pick her up. I'll also have earplugs with me.)

Now I have to figure out how to change all this. Without another tantrum.

Birthday Scrap Night

This past weekend my scrapping buddies got together to celebrate my birthday. Normally we do it as close as possible to our birthday, but Lisa's son Joe came down to visit her. It was a great night.

Some of the children came to join in on the fun also! Viv helped them make their own art projects. I got some wonderful gifts from my pals! Lisa knows how much I love the candles she sells (Mia Bella soy BTW) & she gave me a goody bag filled with the yummiest scents ever! Ibis gave me a little basket filled with all kinds of scrap embellishments & Starburst chews. Viv gave me a gorgeous tote which I'm going to use to carry around more of my scrapping odds & ends. And Jamey made a wonderful cheesecake. She found out that's my favorite & asked if she could make one for me since it's her specialty. She also went to the trouble of finding out how to say Happy Birthday in Hebrew & then read it out loud to me.

As I blew out my birthday candles, I made this wish. (Yes, I know that we're not supposed to tell, but really my wish has already come true.) I wished that I would always have friends like these in my life.

Thanks Ladies!