Thoughts on Santa

At the beginning of the season, I was hanging out in the car with Kelsie while John and Emily did some shopping. Kelsie announced that "Santa was freaky." I was a little concerned by this, especially since I had never heard my 6 year old use the term "freaky" before. She explained that he was "freaky" because he comes into your house on Christmas Eve and looks in your room while you are sleeping. I found the thought of Santa quite disturbing as well, when put like that. I told her that was kind of "freaky" and I really didn't want Santa peering in my room either. Her response: "Yeah. Well at least you don't have to sit on that "freaky" guys lap to tell him what you want for Christmas."

Needless to say when we went to visit Santa at the mall the next day Kelsie wasn't too interested in sitting on his lap. Her wish: A dog Webkinz

Emily, on the other hand, bounded up and jumped on Santa's lap and was completely delighted by her visit. Her wish: A Barbie Island Princess Movie

After we got home she realized she'd asked for the Barbie, not the movie, and was quite concerned. She wrote a note to clear things up and wanted to make sure I let Santa know that she wanted the circle kind of movie (DVD), not the rectangle kind (VHS)! Things must have been much simpler for Santa when there was only one kind of movie.

Carter didn't sit on Santa's lap although he probably would have enjoyed it. He is quite a social little guy. His wish: A life sized Fur real Pets dog

Carter saw the life sized, barking dogs at Costco. We were surprised when he went crazy sqealing and waving at the dog. He loved it. When we left, he made sure we knew he was not happy at all, and he wanted that dog to come home with him. I don't think Santa is going to think my 10 month old needs a $200 dog, but he'll really be happy with a ball. Kelsie, on the other hand, reminds us almost daily that Carter really wants the big dog for Christmas. My little dog lover might have some alterior motives with all her remindings. Pretty smart approach.

Neighbors... Join My Cause

I went to the boundary meeting tonight. There was about 1o or so of us there from our neighborhood. In talking to the district we were able to bring up some new points that they had not considered. I know it is an uphill battle, but I'm not giving up yet. Before making the final decision they will read all comments and all letters sent to the district. They will compile them by subdivision and schools, so the more letters we can send from our subdivision the more likely they are to take us seriously, and not just think that there are 10 people who care and the rest are perfectly happy to be moved around for the third time...and it will not be the last. We will be moving again in 2-3 years when the next school is built. It is possible to make a change at this point. I talked to some district people on the phone today and just recently they went to a boundary meeting where the residents were able to suggest a new boundary that made more sense, and they ultimately went with it.

I know some of you think I'm a little crazy about this and need to calm down. But, this is a subject I am passionate about. I moved around a lot as a child. I do not have the personality for moving around and making new friends. It was very hard for me and I remember the anxiety of starting all over at a school where everybody already had their friends and social groups. When we moved to this neighborhood 2 years ago it was for one and only one reason. We wanted stability for our children. We wanted to be in a home that we could stay in. We wanted Kelsie to be able to go to school at one school. We wanted her to go to church and school with the same kids and build lasting friendships. We wanted her to build a social network that she could go to school with and know she had people that knew her and cared about her. For me, that hope is all shattered by this school change. Not only is she being asked to go to a new school much farther from our house. She is being asked to do it with only half of the neighborhood because the others possibly may stay due to Spanish Immersion.

Here are the points for consideration:

Our children were at SS, moved to H, and now are being asked to go back to SS but this is not the end. As soon as the next school is built we will be moved again. The children of this neighborhood have been moved 4 times in 6 years. That is shameful. Demand some stability for the sake of our children. All this moving takes a toll on their education.

Leave us at H at least for one more year until they can see where the growth is, then move us if it is clear that it is necessary. This is the one the district came up with and said was our best chance.

Draw the boundary to allow our neighborhood to stay at H, providing stability to students who have already been jostled about. The other neighborhoods affected by the boundary change have never been uprooted because they did not exist. They have been at H all along.

The numbers for the ALL and the numbers for our neighborhood our comparable. Leave ALL at SS, and to balance the numbers leave our neighborhood at H. This seems like the easy solution to me. It would keep the only two groups that were at the meeting happy. Seems so simple. Ha. Ha.

Come the realization that these numbers are actually children. So, I stole that from a friend at the meeting, but it was really great at the moment she said it. If I heard Gary say "numbers" or "balanced schools" one more time I was going to lose it.

Side note that was comical to me: They were shocked to hear that we have a road (I don't want to post the actual road on here) that takes us straight across to our school. They thought it was all blocked off. They were even more shocked to hear that the buses use this road as well which would explain why H is SO much close and more accessible for us than SS is. They were completely dumbfounded by this one. This is why H is where are children need to stay for the time being.

The thing I was most ralled up by was when the boss guy told us a certain suggestion would not work because they like to send kids to schools in close proximity to their homes. I really lost it when I heard that. I thought that was a mute point to them. But if it matters, then look at the map. Tell me which school I am closer to.

One of my main reasons for not wanting to move is that I know we will be moved again. We know we are getting a school by the high school. The land has been bought. Leave us alone until our final school is completed. Their answer to that is they don't know if that school will really be built. It is possible the numbers will suggest they build a school N of H. Great! If they do that we would stay at H for good. His rationale made no sense because in either situation we will not be staying at SS. We will be moving from there. So just leave us be for now.

I'm done rambling. There are lots of other good reasons. Write a letter. We have to have lots of letters and lots of interest or we don't stand a chance. Send it to the district office. Join my cause.

If you actually read all of these ramblings... thank you. I feel a lot better now.

Emily Turns Four!

Every time I asked Emily what she wanted for her birthday she told me CAKE! That was really all she wanted. So I showed her some different cakes online and she was delighted by this one. When she woke up on her birthday she was thrilled to find this castle cake waiting for her. She walked around looking at the decorations, the cake, and the balloons and kept saying "you did this for me." She was so happy! I hope that joy for the simple things sticks with her through the years. But even if it doesn't it I will always remember the sheer joy she found in a castle cake and balloons when she turned four. It helped me to remember that it isn't the big, elaborate things that matter to our kids... it's the simple gestures and spending a little time to show we care. We love you Emmie!

Our birthday princess

Emily with the castle cake I decorated. The one in the first post is the one John decorated and totally showed me up! He is a lot more crafty than me. Luckily he's always willing to help create the cakes I dream up... and he enjoys it (I think)!

The pure joy of a birthday cupcake! I wish I still found that much pleasure in a cupcake!

Halloween

Ready to go Trick or Treating!

A frog, A cat, A princess, A Cat in the Hat

Political Lessons

Kelsie came home from school on election day. The first thing I noticed was an "I voted" sticker stuck on her shirt. I was delighted and started asking her questions. This is how it went.... (Note: My 6 year old knew none of the candidates names and had no clue it was election day when she headed to school that morning. Impressive parenting, I know!)

Me: Why do you have that sticker.
K: I voted today. My whole class did.
Me: (overly excited) So who did you vote for?
K: McCain. He's the good one. The other one is the bad guy.
Me: Really. Why is he the bad guy?
K: He's the mean one. Mom, did you vote?
Me: Weeelll.... not yet. This is the moment when my awesome neighbor, who always saves me, calls and offers to keep my kids so I can go vote.
Me: So if Obama is the mean one then why are some people voting for him?
K: Lots of people are voting for him because they think he will take care of them so they don't have to take care of themselves.
Me: Shocked. It took me a couple minutes to process. Wow! (Although I don't completely agree or disagree with the statement I was a little shocked.)
Me: Did your teacher tell you that?
K: No. I think I read it in the weekly reader.
Me: Of course, the weekly reader would say that!
K: Can I watch the news to see who wins tonight?
Me: (delighted) Sure! (A kid after my own heart!)
Me: Kelsie, you guys are going to go to the neighbors while I go vote.
K: Good Job, Mom.
(She said it with such respect that I felt like I was doing the most noble, heroic thing there was to do.) Her teacher won a lot of points in my book!

Not only did Kelsie watch the news (until she got frustrated by how much they were talking about Obama) but she also conducted her own polls in the bathtub and tallied up the scores on the bathtub wall. McCain won, of course!

Election Night 2004

As I sit and watch the election results come in, I keep thinking back to this night four years ago. I was pregnant and about 2 weeks from my due date. I was sitting with John watching the presidential election results. At about 11:00 p.m. I was dead tired and decided to head to bed and see the results in the morning. As I stood up I felt a gush of water..it took a couple minutes before I came to the realization that my water had broke (again) and then the even harsher realization that I wasn't going to bed tonight. We headed to the hospital (after packing my bags and cleaning up the house!) and proceeded to watch the all night commentary on the election of 2004. John was so excited that there would be lots of interesting updates for him to watch on T.V. while I was in labor. I also remember my OB and John staring at the latest news on the T.V. and there were a few moments when I wanted to to yell, "Hey guys! Over here! I'm having a baby." Now, four years later, it is fun to relive exactly what we were doing and thinking when our little Emily Paige decided it was time to make her debut. And I'm sure I will think of the night she was born every four years... on the 1st Tuesday in November.

John and Emily

Dr. Gordan and Emily (notice the T.V. still on)

First Hair Cut!

Carter was looking pretty shaggy with his hair hanging over his ears, so I took him to our friend Virginia for his first hair cut. She gave him this cool new do and even bribed him with a Smartie sucker to get him to sit still. Carter thinks she is the greatest thing ever now! Here are some pictures of his new do. John calls it is "cool guy" hair. I think he looks pretty cool... too bad I can't make it look near this cute when I style it myself!