First Day of School!

First Day of School 2009!

(First Day of School - last year!)

Fido

The dust has barely settled on Elisan's birthday and low and behold... I have Kyla's party to think about! Her birthday is in 6 weeks, so I don't have a lot of time to plan, like I did with Elisan's!

Because Kyla is low maintenance (and will only be 6), I will not be planning an extravagant affair, as I did with Elisan's. But, it will still be cute and fun!

She told me she wants a puppy dog for her birthday. Well, I don't know if that will actually happen, but I can at least give her a puppy dog party!

Meet FIDO... my newest creation! Isn't he the cutest?

Now that I have the dog, all I need to do is design the party invite, the custom stickers, goodie bag tags and birthday banner!

Would love suggestions on the complementary colors! Elisan's party was green and pink. With a brown pup, I need to add a nice splash of color! Anyone?

Just a whole lotta stuff!

I know I don't usually post entries about random stuff too often, but when I miss an entire week of blogging, this is what I do to catch up!

So, less than one week away until school begins and let me tell you... it can not come fast enough! Not for me... for the girls! They are getting on each others' nerves from the day in/day out close proximity to each other. They definitely appreciate each other more when they are in school! This is also the last week with our awesome babysitter! Kris was just awesome this summer and I could not have asked for a better babysitter! (Meghan, you should be very proud of your little girl!)

Last week was Elisan's actual birthday! She had a blast opening all of her presents from mommy and daddy! Over the summer, I ran across a great deal at Justice Just for Girls and I went... well, I went a little over the top! But, here's the deal... this year, we've decided to not make Elisan wear her uniform everyday. Uniforms are not required, but we had the girls wear their uniforms everyday with the exception of Fridays. Randy and I decided that this year, we would forgo the rule we set for them, and allow them to wear regular clothes along with all of her classmates. (Sidenote: I wish the school would go from "encouraging" the parents to dress their kids in uniforms and go straight to requiring it! We 'encouraged' as long as we could... but when you are the ONLY family in school that is insisting on uniforms... well, you get the gist!)

Anyway, it was fun seeing Elisan open up all of her new clothes and try them on! She's becoming more and more girly all the time!

We had a great visit with Randy's folks over the weekend. They were here to celebrate Elisan and Uncle Andrew's birthdays. It was nice to see them and the girls always enjoy being with them. They took the girls to lunch and a movie on Friday and I went shopping!

I hit my favorite store... GOODWILL and found some incredible buys! I bought a pair of black pebbled leather COACH shoes just like this pair! They were practically brand new and I paid $6.99. Woot! I also bought a vest from NY & Co., jeans from White House/Black Market and Banana Republic, and a jacket from BCBG Girls. Oh, and another pair of flats by Etienne Aigner that have a patent w/tweed look! Very cute! I paid right at $50.00 for all of it! Double Woot Woot!

So, I was at Michaels' the other day and I saw that they are selling homecoming mum supplies, etc. You could buy a partially assembled mum (backing and streamers) for $15.00 or buy a fully assembled mum (without customization, trinkets, etc.) for $30.00. So what did I do? I studied the mums and decided to buy my own materials. I walked out of the store with 3 rolls of ribbon, a flower and paper backing... all for $6.00. Here's what I made with my six bucks! I'm going to go back with my coupon and buy some trinkets and stickers and Elisan will have her very first football homecoming game mum! She's very excited! And truth be told, I am too! (Anyone need a mum?!)

A sad tale (or tail...)

As you all know, my girls are dog-crazy. Better than being boy-crazy, right?

So, anyway, the girls love, love, love dogs and have been begging for a dog for at least a year now. I totally blame my mother because she got the most adorable Maltese puppy last year from the shelter. Buddy was 8 mos old and is probably the sweetest dog I've ever known. Since then, the girls have been smitten with Buddy and have been wanting an inside pet ever since.

Last week, I decided to swing by the shelter near our home and see what kind of animals they had there. Yes... I had the girls with me... and yes, I know that's like totally dumb of me... I get it! While we were there, we saw a cute Shih Tzu dog named "Wiggles". He was buff colored and really cute. Dirty and smelly, but cute.

So, we asked if we could see him and they allowed up to take him outside for a while and play with him. He seemed fine with us and the girls seemed to like him too, so I decided we'd adopt him. As I'm filling out the paperwork it dawns on me that we don't even have dog food at home, so I told them I'd be back to pick him up in a couple of hours.

The girls and I went to the store and picked up the necessities... dog food, crate, shampoo, leash, collar, etc. We were set!

We went back to pick up the dog and as we were leaving the shelter with dog in hand, a gal comes running out from the back saying, "Oh, I just heard from my manager and she says that this dog isn't very good with kids" and they proceeded to give me instructions on how to slowly introduce the dog to the family, etc. to ensure that it will feel welcomed etc. At this point, I've got the dog in my arms and we are walking out the door. I'm kinda feeling trapped here, but decided to take the dog home anyway.

The dog seemed to do fine at our home. He was fully potty trained and seemed to 'know' how to be an inside dog. We were all feeling pretty good about it. Fast forward two hours after his arrival... Elisan bent over to pet the dog (as it was resting) and the dog raised up and bit Elisan on the face.


Of course, it scared the pee out of Elisan, me and the dog. We pretty much decided after that, that we would bring the dog back to the shelter because it proved to us that it was not good with kids. We put the dog in the laundry room and went to bed.

The next day, the dog was fine. It was pleasant to be around and Elisan even warmed up to him again. I was relieved she wasn't just petrified of the dog (or really any dogs, after getting bit by one!) After several hours of having the dog around, Elisan decided she wanted to give the dog a second chance.

I scheduled a vet visit for that afternoon. At the vet's office, she told us that the dog was not in good health and that it would be an "investment" to get the dog healthy again. In addition, with the dog's age, factored in with his inability to get along with children... she suggested we bring the dog back to the shelter.

However, because the dog's history was unknown, as to whether or not he had been rabies treated... the dog would have to be quarantined for 10 days at the Animal Control Shelter because it bit Elisan! AHHHHH.....seriously?

So, that's the tale of our stint with adopting/rescuing a shelter dog. I'm not proud of ANY of this. I wish I had stood up right away and had not taken the dog when we were told he wasn't kid-friendly. Had I been told that from the get-go, we would not have even adopted him. I feel bad for the dog too, because it wasn't his fault he reacted the only way he knew how. I totally blame the shelter for this. (And, they didn't even refund our money! Shisters!)

Next time, we're going to buy a puppy from a reputable dog breeder. Scoff if you must... but we I gotta do what's best for my girls!

The story of 9 girls and 2 moms

Friday night was Elisan's long awaited slumber party for her 8th birthday!

Let me just say for the record and for the masses... I COULD NOT HAVE HOSTED THIS PARTY without the help of my friend DeAnna. It would have been impossible!

At 6:00, the girls began trickling in with packed bags, sleeping bags, pillows and beach towels! The pizza was waiting for them when they arrived and they all began eating, talking and laughing. They were all glad to see each other!

Around 7 p.m., we all headed out to the neighborhood pool. Two hours of jumping, swimming, playing, talking and giggling ensued -- and that was just me and DeAnna. The girls had a blast too! It was an awesome activity to wear out a bunch of 8 year old girls!

Around 9 p.m., DeAnna set up the karaoke machine (thank you for bringing it, DeAnna!) and they each took multiple turns singing songs from High School Musical 2. (Poor Elisan has not seen any of the HSM's so sadly, she didn't know any of the songs... I may have to break down and let the poor girl watch the HSM movies...) Meanwhile, DeAnna and I set up the chocolate fountain. Yes... chocolate fountain... compliments of my friend DeAnna (again!) That was definitely a hit with the girls!

After that big sugar infusion, they went upstairs to play for a while. About an hour later, Elisan came down the stairs to inform me that, "we were running behind on the schedule!" DeAnna told her that running behind on the scheduled activities was a good thing at a slumber party and not to worry!

Around 11:00, we gathered around for ice cream cake, presents and two games! And, finally around 12:00, the girls rolled out their sleeping bags and settled in for a movie. At 1:30, when the movie ended, all but one girl was fast asleep! (Score one for me!)

The next morning was a blur. I'm pretty sure they ate breakfast and cleaned up their stuff while awaiting the arrival of their parents.

All in all, the girls had a blast and it was a definite success!

And, again... I could not have done it without DeAnna! Thank you so much!

Protecting my kid

I've recently had to have several conversations with Elisan that began with "Elisan, I'm telling you this because I'm your mom and I love you."

The conversation would then consist of "don't do _____" because your friends will make fun of you. Or, "maybe you should not ______ in public" because your friends will laugh at you. Or, "perhaps you should not say ______" because it is not ladylike.

Let me just say for the record... I HATE having these conversations with my daughter and because I am so conflicted over it, I wonder if I should even be having these conversations with my daughter.

Should I just allow the natural force of kid cruelty to mold her? Or should I protect her as best as I can from it... for as long as I can?

I remember in second grade, the little girl next to me wet her pants in class. That image/scene will forever be burned into my brain. I never made fun of her... I actually felt bad for her... but I wonder who DID make fun of her and how long did she carry the weight and guilt of that isolated incident?

THAT'S what I'm trying to protect Elisan from. Am I wrong? Please, I need some wisdom here...