Dancing Queen

Having had a boy first, I became acquainted with the love of dirt, TRAINS, trucks, cars and overall stereotypical boy stuff. I am learning rather quickly that girls are very different. While Boopy literally wants to do EVERYTHING that Big Boy does that I'm sure she will become quite the tomboy (which is perfectly fine), there are some traits that are innately girl coming through.

• she has a tendency to scream - I mean really loud shrill shrieking at the top of lungs scream. This is most noticed when she thinks that she should have whatever Big Boy is playing with and she hopes to win the game of tug-of-war, not just by sheer strength but by breaking eardrums thus causing her opponent to fall on the floor in pain.


• she hugs everything and drags her beloved blankie EVERYWHERE. She sees a stuffed animal and carts it around hugging it to her face. Mostly though it's the blankie that is found wrapped around her like a fancy head wrap, which makes for an interestingly large accessory to her attire.


• she has ATTITUDE. Yes I'm sure boys can appear to have attitude and appear opinionated, but wow, I don't think they can compete with little girls. A simple "no" will turn the sweet little face into a grimacing horrible "how dare you tell me no" face at which point the small gremlin will proceed to do exactly what you told her not to do all while watching you to make sure you know who's really in charge. Scary toddler trait mostly, but overall GIRL!
• she LOVES to dance. Let her warm up to you and you'll get quite the show. The best is when the music first starts when the car is turned on. Often the head and entire body start rocking about that you swear you accidentally turned on a switch to her muscle control when the radio got turned on. She'll dance to anything and any kind of music! I just hope that older shy inhibitions don't stop her from continuing to have a love of dance, cause her mama sure can't dance!

Go, Diego, Go!!!

Oh what fun it is to see your son's face light up with awe! Big Boy got a special night out with just Mama Vaughn. I left Boopy with our wonderful next door neighbors (who had a great time with her) and took Big Boy to see the "Go, Diego, Go" Live theatre show last night.

He was so excited that he ran calling out "Diego" all the way to the will call to pick up our tickets. He then ran, urging me along into the theatre and up the stairs. Due to the horrible "extras" (Building fee, transaction fee, workers sit on out butt and doing nothing fee, help us repaint the wall that doesn't need it fee....) the theatre tacked on to the ticket prices, I bought the cheapest possible nose bleed seats. However, I must say that even though we were in the second to last row WAY up high, we still had a good clear view and no problems watching the show. Oh, and we did get a free Baby Jauguar mask, which of course no child should be without! Darren did have fun putting the Baby Jauguar mask up to his face and growling to help Diego and Baby Jauguar along on their mission to get back Baby Jauguar's missing growl, Grrrrr!

Well, here are some more poor quality cell phone pictures. I was good and followed the rules by not bringing my camera. Rather disappointing though as there were numerous flashes of cameras all throughout the show. Oh well, maybe next time. Until then, these will have to do.

Big Boy sitting on my lap

Couple pics of the stage and show.

Fresno Fair Photo Contest

Okay, so I am thinking about actually entering a couple of photos in the Fresno Fair. I can enter 2 in black and white and 2 in color if I want and the cost is only $5 per entry. My problem is narrowing down my choices! That's where I need your help. Do I enter 2 photos only (one in each section) or 4 photos and then which ones. Here are some I'm considering. Let me know what you think! Let me know if you've seen other shots I've taken that you think I should enter instead of these! Also, I can make any of the color ones black and white.

Color:

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

7. 8.

9 (an oldie but one of my favorite!)

Black & White

1. 2.

3. 4.

Make a comment soon - if I'm going to enter I have to have the entry form in by September 8! Keep in mind that the picture will be voted on the overall photo, not just how cute the kid is! :)

So tonight on my way to bed, I peered into Big Boy's room saw the covers drawn back and no sign of Big Boy.....hmmm...kidnapped? no...reading a book? no...playing with the beloved trains? no... I bet I know where he is..... I took a few more steps into my bedroom to find this....

And not to be out done by her brother...

Can't imagine where they get their crazy sleeping style.

All I ask is for 1 minute alone please

Why is it that kids pick the worst possible times to pick a fight with eachother, fall down, break stuff and/or get into things they shouldn't? Yes, Big Boy and Boopy are no exception to this phenomen. It never fails that as soon as I sit down to go to the bathroom and make myself completely unaccessible, they start to fight over a toy. Then there are loud screams from Boopy as Big Boy wins the beloved toy (which of course is something they probably rarely play with anyway) and Boopy comes running. Then there's the fight over who gets to "help" Mama in the bathroom. They both want the toliet paper, they both want to sit on the training potty, they both want to sit on Mama's lap! Of course this wonderful display of wanting Mama's attention doesn't happen when I'm up and roaming about the house, it has to happen now, when I'm trying to go to the bathroom.

It's funny to realize that you suddenly feel so much more sympathic to the stories you once heard from others about never getting to go to the bathroom alone once it happens to you. And then you wonder is it really too much to ask for simply 1 minute alone in the bathroom and you realize the answer is...yes.

Frazzled Awakenings

Children.....sometimes as much as you love them, they can drive you NUTS!!! While attempting to do my online assignments that were due last night, neither Big Boy nor Boopy wanted to be cooperative. Why I even considered that a 15 month old can sit nicely, quietly and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and leave me alone to my thoughts and ponderings on Kate Chopin's "Awakening" is beyond me. Between the numerous "No, Boopy! Stop Boopy! Close the drawer, Boopy!, I nearly lost my mind. Perhaps I needed to look more closely to "Awakening" and awaken myself to my reality. Two small VERY ACTIVE kids, a messy bedroom, children's television shows and clearly educated thought provoking discussion questions do not mix.

Amazingly though, after many interruptions, deep breathes to calm the soul, and finally getting Boopy down for a nap, I did manage to complete my day late assignments. As refreshing and rewarding as this was, the reward of staring at a peaceful sleeping Boopy and feeling my heart swell with love was even better. Equally as rewarding was my turning from the computer screen to see Big Boy picking up all of his toys that had been spread all over my bedroom without having to be asked! What a great reward to realize that even with the frazzled, constant No's and battles for a few solitude moments, Big Boy is a good kid and we've done something right so far in his upbringing.

One problem is that after such great rewards, I'm sure a new day will bring the thought that "sure I can work on schoolwork while they play, no problem" and we'll go through the same painful process all over again. What can I say, I'm a glutton for punishment.

My First Blog.....

I decided that it was time to chronicle the crazy things my kids do, have a chance to practice my writing and keep in touch better with family and friends through cyberspace. So...here we go with my first blog post.

Random acts of Kindness can make your day!

Although I'd like to think I noticed random acts of kindness before Charles left, I think being a temporary single mom has made me notice my surroundings more. Not that it's that different than simply going on an outing alone with my kids while Dad is elsewhere in town but I think it's just that I'm more on guard knowing that Charles isn't somewhere nearby in the same store or within close driving distance to help.

That being said, Tuesday, I stopped at Sam's Club after picking up the kids from daycare, stressing to them that if they had good listening ears we would get a "yum" (a stop at McDonald's) afterwards. While struggling with the constant musical seats the kids like to play in the shopping cart (Boopy in the basket, Big Boy in the front seat then Boopy in the front and Big Boy in the back, then alternating who gets to walk and who gets to help push the cart, repeat...) you can understand the frustration for having to make a stop for only 1 or 2 items. What once was a quick 10 minute shopping stop has now been stretched out to at the minimum 20 to 30 minutes depending on how cooperative the kids are and how often I have to put on my mean mama face. Tuesday's stop turned out to be more "mean mama" rather than "what great kids you are, let's get a reward!".

So, after chasing my lanky, fast, laughing 3 1/2 year old all around the freezer section all while toting a spirited, screaming 15 month old sideways under my arm while she clings to the cart handle thinking she's big enough to push it herself, I put on my "mean mama" face. Big Boy promptly received a time out, unfortunately though it was near the milk so this only increased our issues because he now was begging for a drink. After a few tortuous minutes, I quickly set Boopy down, picked up Big Boy, threw him crying into the back of the cart, scooped Boopy back up before she had a chance to escape and promptly began my journey to the checkout. It's amazing how many people don't want to make eye contact with you as you pass by with screaming children. The few that do give you that "oh, I sooo understand and I feel for you" look.

Finally at the checkout I switched Big Boy to the front seat since he asked nicely through his still falling tears. With Boopy still sideways under my left arm, I attempted to pick up the large square box of Big Boy's pull-ups. Thankfully, here's where the first act of random kindness came in to play. A wonderful lady in front of me, with children of her own and not even appearing to speak English very well, immediately grabbed the box I was struggling with and loaded it up on the counter. A simple smile, nod of her head and a my thank you and my evening was already looking up. We made it through the checkout, got Boopy to happily sit back in the cart and we were on our way to the car.

Unloading the cart is always a juggling act. Do you unload the kids first and chance them sitting in the car too long or do you unload your purchases and chance the kids attempting an escape from the cart? Based on Big Boy's lack of listening ears and Boopy's apparent thirst for independence, this trip loading the kids first was definitely the way to go. After I lectured Big Boy to stay seated, I proceeded to load Boopy into the car. Of course, I couldn't do this the easy way and put her in her car seat on the right side of the car where she sits. Instead I had to climb in the left side over Big Boy's seat. The parking lot at Sam's has never been the best. The designer was obviously a small person driving a small car and oblivious to the fact that most valley drivers drive large SUVS or vans leaving very little room to open vehicle doors. That being said, my parking job hadn't been the best and a large SUV had parked so close to my right side of the car there was no hope of loading Boopy in that way. After climbing backwards out of the car, I retrieved Big Boy from the cart and directed him to climb into his booster seat. I unloaded the two items into the car, contemplated ditching the cart or being "good" and returning it to it's proper cart return spot, when I was approached by a wonderful woman who insisted on grabbing my cart to return with her own. Ah, what a relief it was to have kind people willing to actually do simple random acts of kindness! Even better was the calm it put on my mood as I was ready to gripe about the SUV parked next to me until I realized that the woman helping me was the driver.

All in all a usual, outing for Big Boy, Boopy and Mama Vaughn.