131/366

Abby had a friend over this afternoon. They jumped in the trampoline, watched a movie and ran all over the house. The piano tuner was here and between yelling at the dog to stay away from a momma bird and her nest and reminding the girls to play nicely on the trampoline, he must of thought I did nothing but yell all day! I did some baking today as I am delivering a meal tomorrow for a military family that just had a baby. I don't mind baking/cooking so I thought this might be a way to be more involved in the squadron.

130/366

Both girls had a Mother's Day Tea at school today at the same time. Since it is Abby's last year for a tea in school, I went to her classroom first. Abby greeted me with a rose and walked me to our chairs. The kids sang 5 songs about moms and then we had a snack. It was so fun to watch Abby sing. She had a big smile on her face and she looked at me with her sweet, loving eyes the entire time she sang. She sure can melt my heart. Abby's class made a cookbook for the Mom's. The recipes where made up by the kids. Abby came up with a recipe for chocolate chips cookies that calls for 7 lbs of dough, 7 cups of chocolate chips and three cups of sugar. After mixing, the cookies are to be baked in a oven heated to 7 degrees for 20 minutes!

I headed over to Mckenzie's school (thankfully the schools are just minutes apart) where they were already eating snack. Mckenzie greeted me in the hallway and gave me the tissue paper flowers she had made. She was so excited to see me and that made me so happy. And sad. I felt terrible that she was the only child without a mom/relative for most of her tea. But, her teacher sat with her until I got there so she was OK. Mckenzie was excited to show me all of my gifts. She made a flower pot and planted a flower in it. She also made a clay hand print and a bracelet. I just love handmade gifts and I love how proud of everything Mckenzie was!

129/366

Mckenzie asked me to paint her nails. She wanted half pink and half orange with glitter on top. I love the patterns she comes up with! I painted my nails to match and when Abby got home, I did the same to hers. Now we all match for our Mother's Day tea tomorrow! I took the girls shopping this afternoon for a dress for tomorrow and found a few summer clothes for Abby. I cleaned out her drawers recently and she had nothing for summer. She says she will wear shorts this year(she said the same thing last summer and didn't wear them), so I bought her a few pairs in hopes she actually uses them.

128/366

Well, I think last night was the first night in forever that we didn't get up with at least one of the girls. I'm not sure if it is because they slept all night without needing us or we were too tired to hear. Either way, it was very restful! Scott is flying this evening so he was able to take the girls to school. I just learned the other day that I had been taking Abby to school late every day. I thought class started at 8:40 so I had been getting her there just a few minutes before that. Turns out class starts 10 minutes earlier and 8:40 is tardy! Oops! I got a massage this afternoon which really helped with the aching legs. I wish Scott could have gotten one as well, but he didn't want one before flying at night. Completely understandable. We don't want him falling asleep when he is supposed to be flying!

Our strawberries are starting to grow. Abby told me she is looking forward to picking the strawberries and eating them. Me too!

127/366

We conquered the Broad Street Run today and it feels amazing! Well, not my knees or my shin splints or the blisters on my feet, but it feels so wonderful to have accomplished something so big (in my mind). There were over 30,000 runners that participated in this 10 mile run and it was surprisingly orderly. The race took us through areas of Philadelphia we have never seen before and it was fun to explore in a way we never have. Scott was so sweet and he stayed with me the entire time even though I know he could have finished way faster without me. The streets were filled with adults, children and even dogs to cheer the runners on. I think one of our favorites was a couple that let their Golden Retriever give out high fives to the runners. He was such a sweet dog. There was also an older lady on her front stoop cheering the runners on in her baby blue bathrobe. I just love the sense of community and support that came from running the race. Shouts of encouragement filled the air and helped push me through the difficult parts. I know this race is considered an easy 10 miles by many, but for me, it was a huge accomplishment. I have never been much of a runner and in January when I started, a single mile was a challenge. So today, when I crossed that finish line with Scott by my side, I could hardly believe that it happened. I am so blessed that Scott ran beside me and encouraged me the entire way. I do feel guilty that he didn't get to see how fast he could have done it since this was his first 10 mile race too. But every time I told him to run on ahead, he just said no and kept pushing me. I'm a lucky girl to have such a great husband!





The girls had a FABULOUS time at their friends and didn't want to come home :) Well, who would want to when you get to stay up hours past your bedtime, hang out with your friends, eat pizza and play at the park! We are so lucky to have amazing friends that were willing to watch the girls for us. If they hadn't, there was no way we both could have run in the race today.

126/366

The girls had dance photographs this morning so it was a rush to get them ready in time between getting the costumes to the bun just right. Our house smelled like Aqua Net for a good part of the day. Guess I used enough because their buns stayed in all day! Scott and Abby went to Philly to pick up our race bibs for tomorrow. I am getting so nervous and excited at the same time! I am hoping to finish in 2 hours and 30 minutes and I hope there are at least a few people still running behind us :) We took the girls to Chick fil A for dinner before dropping them at our friends' house for the night. Both girls were so excited to have a sleep over! I am hoping it goes ok and neither of them get too scared being away from us.

125/366

Mckenzie started a new session of swim classes today. After it was over, she told me about the visitors that were in her class. The visitors were actually new classmates, but I don't think Mckenzie realizes that a new session has started. We spent the afternoon playing at home. They played on the trampoline for a bit, but that was cut short when Mckenzie got hurt. The two of them thought it would be fun if they closed their eyes and tried to run into one another.  Yea. Lots of fun. That is until your sister steps on your face because she can't see you. It was just a little boo-boo, but considering we have warned them previously about closing their eyes and jumping, they were done for the day. Neither of them were too happy about that! When Scott got home, we went out to dinner and ran an errand.

124/366

I went to Abby's school this morning and talked with the principal a little more about the situation that occurred. I am not sure she was pleased I didn't make an appointment to see her, but I didn't care. I felt there were so many things that I needed answers to and I wanted them right away. I still have questions even after the meeting and I know Scott does too. I am not sure what our plans are, but I think we aren't done yet :) I did stay in Abby's classroom today and I was pleased to see that there was no interaction between Abby and the little girl. Abby is sitting at a different table now and I am hoping things will be better. Both Abby and Mckenzie had friends over to play this afternoon. I am not sure what was going on with Mckenzie, but she was just off. Very whiny and she wasn't in the mood to play with her friend. Normally they get along very nicely. Abby had Daisy's tonight and one of her friends came home with us for a bit until her parent's could pick her up. My girls were over the moon that they had another friend over and that they were getting to stay up late. It wasn't really late (8 pm instead of 7:30) but they didn't know the difference.




A little Elefun fun :)

123/366

I haven't felt like blogging at all lately. Between training for the run this coming Sunday and running the kids around, I have had very little desire to edit photos or write anything.  But, today I am very conflicted and feel the need to vent.

Yesterday a child in Abby's class said to Abby and a couple of other kids "I have a gun in my backpack." When Abby repeated it to me , she got this ugly look on her face and spoke in a tone of voice I don't ever hear from her. (No, my child isn't a saint. She chooses to whine instead of getting a grumpy voice.) I asked Abby if she told her teacher and Abby said she didn't because two of her table mates had already told the teacher. Abby said the teacher talked to the girl, but that was it. She didn't have to leave the classroom or anything else. Scott and I emailed the principal and teacher because we are very concerned and the resolution, if you can call it that, seems more like they are trying to brush it under the rug than actually deal with the situation. I am feeling so frustrated with the whole situation because having been into the classroom, I know the personality of this child and this isn't her first time getting into trouble. In fact, Abby was placed at her table last month to act as a behavior monitor for the child. I realize the class size is large and there are no classroom aides, but my child, nor anyone else's child, should not have to be responsible for monitoring the behaviour of another child because that child has a tendency to be naughty. I am also upset because Abby was called out of the classroom to discuss this issue face to face with this little girl. The other boys that initially reported it to the teacher were not asked to join in this discussion with the principal, just Abby and the offender. Abby said it was a little bit uncomfortable for her to have the talk and I don't blame her. Sitting in the Principal's office is an intimidating thing, especially for a girl like Abby that HATES getting into trouble. I didn't think we were going to have to deal with things like this until our children were older but I guess I am wrong. Do I really believe a kindergartner is going to bring a gun to school? No, but I can't be 100% certain. I have no idea what is going through that child's head and I have no idea if she even has access to a gun. Why would a kindergartner ever say something like this is beyond me. I feel like we need to do whatever we can to make sure our daughter is safe at school. I am going to the classroom tomorrow and I am hoping the teacher is going to allow the parents to start coming into the classroom more often. I don't mind giving up my time if it will help keep the class under control so all the kids can learn more effectively.

122/366

We didn't do much today. Mckenzie and I hung out this morning while Abby was at school. We did make it to choir practice tonight for the first time in awhile. Abby was happy to go but disappointed as always that Mckenzie didn't want to sing.