Babysitting all done!

Well, I am finished babysitting Sierra. It was a lot of fun and and great learning experience for me. Carli and Sierra got along pretty good, but not as good as they could have. I guess after being in such close proximity for as long as they were I would have to say they did okay.

Yesterday (Friday) was the culmination of it all. Sierra spent Thursday night - apparently she's an expert at spending the night away from home. As a result, there were no crying episodes, no "I miss mom!" Which was good. I hope Carli learned from it - since she's never slept over anywhere before. I'm not so sure I'd like her in someone else's house for the night, ya know? But, I suppose if it were Alice's house, I'd be okay with it...even though I'd probably check on her at least 5 or 6 times via textmessaging until I fall asleep exhausted with worry. Sorry...it's the mom in me and I can't stand being away from my baby girl.

I don't mind her going down the street to play with the neighbor children because I can pop in anytime I want and it's all good because I know where she is and who she's with. I know the kids and they all know me. I like it that way because then I know who I'm letting my child be friends with. They are all very respectful and behave themselves accordingly. And that's good, because then they know they won't get in any trouble. Yay for children who act like good little boys and girls!

Spring Break is almost over. Tomorrow is the last official day and then there are a couple of months until school is out for summer. It's hard to believe another school year has come and gone so quickly.

I'm signing Carli up for summer school and pray that we get the scholarship so she can attend. It's four-week, 4 days a week, 4 hours a day school and although she really doesn't need to go for grades or any kind of serious help in anything, just going and being around other kids, being exposed to learning will keep her occupied long enough to not be bored! I'm also considering signing her up for Summer Day Camp through the UofA Cooperative Extension office which is only 5 days after Summer School is over...I hope that Summer Day Camp works out. I'd really like for Carli to be a whole part of that experience again, especially since she had such a great time last year.

Final Day of Babysitting Sierra

Like I'd said in an earlier post, 'babysitting' is quite an unflattering term, especially when it comes to watching an 8 year old girl who's in Second Grade.

Anyway, today was supposed to have been really fun for the girls, we were supposed to go back to Tempe Marketplace and play in the water and take more pictures of the girls. But alas, it was not to be. Carli decided instead of staying with me at the store she would wander off and look at something else by one of the registers without telling me she was leaving (which is a store rule no-no!). I was going to buy the girls another treat today, but when I didn't see Carli and then discovered where she was, the trip was OVER!

I immediately starting walking out of the store with Sierra following close behind and Carli dragging her feet. We headed toward the orbit - the same one we'd barely left, and as we were walking up to it, I tapped her on the behind and told her to get her little behind on the bus - NOW!

I was not happy and neither were either one of the girls...I took Sierra aside and apologized to her, letting her know I was sorry her outing had been scrapped, thanks to Carli's misadventure at the store. I'm sure she was disappointed, but if she was, she didn't let on.

I wasn't going to let Sierra spend tonight because the girls had been fighting and bickering almost like sisters...it was disheartening because I was hoping they'd get along better, considering they hadn't seen each other in a very long time. Anyway, they managed to pull it together long enough to be decent to one another, especially after the disastrous day they'd had by not getting to go to Tempe Marketplace.

Now, here they sit, on the livingroom floor watching a movie together and actually watching it without talking or playing. I'm surprised at how good and quiet they can be. As soon as the movie is over they are heading to bed for the night. I hope they sleep well and late tomorrow.

I can't believe how fast the week has gone, but I suppose being busy every day this week has been good and what made the week fly by. I've been able to get some really good pictures of the girls playing with each other and with other neighbor kids. All in all, they did really well.

Spring Break Outing 3.17.2010

Yesterday Carli, Sierra and I went to downtown Tempe to walk around and see the sights. It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed frozen yogurt at MoJos, where the girls shared a bowl with lots of sprinkles and other fun toppings and I had my own with some peanuts and almonds on top - it was delicious! After we finished our yogurts we took a walk to the pharmacy (Carli had to use the restroom and it was the closest) I bought a small bag of cheetos (you know the single serving kind?) and we split them three ways...and a pack of gum. When we finished our treat, we climbed about the orbit and headed to the transit center to catch another orbit to Tempe Marketplace. When we got there (about 35 minutes or so later), we went to Target and walked around(for a little while. On our way out we stopped at the Nutrition aisle and picked out three different nutrition bars (99 cents each) and went outside to eat them. YUM! When we were done, the girls were not ready to go home, so we walked over to the District part of the marketplace and low and behold we found a little water play place. The girls were not prepared to get wet, but I let them anyway. I watched them play for 45 minutes - maybe an hour jumping in the water and the got absolutely soaked from head to toe! I took pictures of them playing in the water. They had so much fun. We are going back today, and this time the girls are prepared to get wet!
****UPDATE****
We were all set to return today and even nearly arrived at our final destination - but, Carli couldn't keep it together long enough for us to walk over to the water. We stopped at Target to get a snack and while Sierra and I were looking at the food choices, Carli decided to walk over near a checkout stand to look at an Ariel doll, without telling me first. When I couldn't find her I was terrified. When I finally turned around and discovered where she was, I was livid! I started to walk out of the store and Sierra obediently followed me, whereas Carli did not, at least not right away. When she saw that I was serious, she began to walk with us. She begged and pleaded that she'd stay with me and behave, but by then it was too late. Once she walks away, it's all over. She knows store rules well enough that she shouldn't have walked away without first telling me. Fortunately for us the orbit we'd ridden to TMP was still there. I spanked her little behind and told her to get on the bus, then I apologized to Sierra for having the day be a bust. They were both grounded for a little while and then I let them play. Now they are at Anna's house, and I will have to go get them very soon. Still not sure if I should let Sierra spend the night or not, although they have been getting along better today. We'll see.

Going back through older posts...

So, I went back through some of my older posts just to see what I'd talked about in the past. I found a post on tofu and how much I thought I didn't like it. I remember trying tofu a long time ago and not liking it very much. But, more recently, my husband used tofu in a recipe with chicken and he chopped it so fine I never even noticed it. So, I guess I like it now, especially if it's chopped really fine.

Another interesting topic I'd discussed was meeting biological family members and getting to know them. During all of this, my relationship with my father has not changed. I haven't spoken with him very much, I'm not sure why. And to me, that's sad. I miss him, and don't want him living there anymore. I want to get to know him better, have a real father-daughter relationship with him, and that's hard to do long distance - which anybody would understand. So, over the past couple of weeks I have been discussing the subject with my husband, wondering if he'd be open to the possibility of having my father move in with us for the duration - essentially the rest of my father's natural life.

He hasn't exactly said 'yes' to the idea, but he hasn't said 'no' either. So I still need to find out if having Harry move here is a viable option. We are certainly NOT moving to Libby, MT. We like where we are, James is about ready to start his job w/the post office, I'm a teacher's aide at my daughters school and she will be entering the third grade come August of this year. I already have her teacher decided on, she knows she'll finally be upstairs and is looking forward to staying with all of her friends and classmates. I'd hate to disappoint her by picking up and moving to what I would consider a 'foreign' town . It's windy, cold and snowy for long periods of time in MT and I am (after 10 years in a very sunshiny state) not willing to go back into the deep freeze. Not now, not ever.

That being said, this post has been concluded.

Beginning of Day Two of Babysitting

Babysitting, in all honesty, seems like such a 'babyish' term, especially when one is babysitting an 8 year old girl. So, I guess I should say 'watching' or some other more eloquent term.

The girls had a bit of hashbrowns, with a little extra sharp cheddar cheese melted on top and a glass of fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice (yup, the girls decided they'd pick 17 grapefruits off a neighbor's tree and I didn't like the idea - so I told them they had to squeeze the juice out of them! In hopes that they won't do it again). I rinsed them off and cut them in half, gave them a bowl for the juice and two big spoons to help them get the pulp and juice out. I put down a big plastic bag underneath everything on the kitchen table so that if they did make a mess clean-up would be effortless - and it was. I sent them on their merry way to play outside while I strained the seeds and pulp out and into a pitcher. I added some sugar and put it in the refrigerator to get cold overnight. I told them they could have some tomorrow (ok, now today).

Now, on day two the girls are watching yet another movie and eating a healthy snack (they must be growing as they seem to be hungry almost all the time!) of chocolate graham cracker Goldfish. Which, by the way, they both seem to love!

I will end here, for the moment...

End of Day One Babysitting

So...Sierra has been gone for about 4 hours now. Carli has fallen asleep on the couch watching 'Coraline'. This is the second time today she's watched it, me too. I love the movie. I remember when we had it on Netflix - we watched it over and over and over. Anyway...you get the point.

Sierra was a very good little girl...she seemed to be on her best behavior. She even tried her darnedest to get Carli to act better. It was pretty cute really.

The girls got along better than I expected, considering both of them are 'only' children. They were able to share their toys and work together on the rubber jewelry kit Sierra brought. I'll have to put it outside tomorrow, as it still has not dried out enough.

So ends Day One of a Four Day journey.

Beginning of Spring Break - Monday edition

Today marks the beginning of the next four days of Sierra coming to stay with us while her mom Alice goes to school to become a massage therapist. So far things are going well, both girls are getting along nicely and sitting quietly together on the couch watching 'Coraline'. Carli has seen it already, but Sierra has not. So it's fun to watch her reactions to what's going on.

Alice dropped off quite a few movies (dvd form) which will help out a lot. I have plans for the girls tomorrow and Wednesday. I'm hoping my girlfriends will come through for me and join me. It'd be more fun to have adult company when I'm out and about. I can do this by myself, but I'd rather not have to.

Well, I suppose I'd better wrap this up and go get breakfast. I'm starving and have only had coffee so far.

Thanks for reading!