LASER LIGHT SHOW

The other day I purchased this small laser light in which Ollie could care less about but the two arch enemies Butch and Stanley goes nuts over.

IF THE SHOE FITS.......

A couple of months ago while shopping for shoes for the father/daughter ball, I discovered that Mimi had outgrown the velcro tennins shoes. Now it was time for her to learn how to tie her own shoe laces. Doggone it!!! While at the South Center Mall way back in March I bought this shoe for her to practice on. It is the same kind of shoe that I used in kindergarten many moons ago. I showed her how to do it and within a couple of days she had it down pat. "What a smart cookie she is!" my dad would say.

While at school the other day when Ollie decided to follow us there, Mimi held him in her arms while all of the other girls petted him (he was truly in kitty heaven then). I noticed Mimi's shoe was untied and made mention for her to tie them. Without skipping a beat she stuck her foot out in front of her girlfriends and said "tie it!!!" like she was the Queen of Sheba. As you may have guessed it, her friends put her in her place by saying "tie it yourself!" then proceeded to give her the "evil eye". I guess you could consider this more of life's lessons for six year olds. Fortunately they don't hold any grudges against each other either and continue to be best buddies.

SWINE FLU

So far so good. No child at Mimi's school has come down with this deadly virus however it has been reported that 3 elementary schools have been closed here in our area as precautionary measure. Zoe's big sis Alleyah recieved a letter from her teacher about this situation. We have yet to get a letter however we did receive a phone call from the school superintendent last night advising us of all the precautionary measures.

AT THE PARK

When we were through with Black Diamond Mimi wanted to stop by the neighborhood park. So we did since we still had some time to spare before school. Last year while visiting relatives in Virginia, her cousin Mari took her rock climbing. She still is pretty good at it as you can see in the picture.

GIRLS DAY OUT

Usually it's Mimi and Blake at the Black Diamond Bakery but this time we thought that it would be nice if the two girls had time together. So we did just that. It is a girl's day out today. After breakfast we all went to the train museum next door. It is the only place where one could play on the tracks safely.

CAT TROUBLE

Our Ollie, bless his little heart has been making the rounds in our neighborhood. Back in California he picked up a couple of names for himself. He was called at various times, the Gangsta, mobster and/or the juvenile delinquent. I just come home from taking Mimi to school and I was told by Shelley that Ollie made his way to her house again this morning. She said that she was quite surprised that he remembered how to get to her house. Now mind you, she does not live next door to us, but lives 2 streets over on the other end of the block from us. Also you have to know that although she has 3 kids, her house is something that you would see in a Martha Stewart magazine inside and out. Needless to say she was not happy when Ollie came over and caused a ruckus with Rex her Pugle. Ollie who is not afraid of any dog was chasing Rex around his own backyard. EGADS!!! If it is not Mimi's sassiness that is driving me nuts, it's Ollie raising a ruckus! There has got to be a light at the end of the tunnel somewhere and I'll let you know when I find it.

LIFE'S TOUGH LESSONS

Off and on up until this past Sunday Mimi has been quite sassy. We went toe to toe on many occassions. There must be something going on, there is something most definitely in the air. According to the other moms in Mimi's class they too have been going toe to toe with their kids. Maybe it's just that they are all 6 year olds and trying to test their limits. Who knows??? As a result I told Mimi that she was to have no playdates after school last Monday. That was the punishment for her " I can do whatever I want and I don't have to listen to you!!!" attitude and roll her eyes at me like I have STUPID writtten on my forehead. As a result, this past weekend it was Braden's 4th birthday and Shelley had made quite a bit of cupcakes to take to the park Monday after school. Mimi was invited to join them. I so wanted to go as I do enjoy adult conversations now and then but then on the other hand I thought to myself "what am I teaching her by making empty threats???" "That it is ok for mom to tell me my punishment and then not have her not follow through. WOW! I can bamboozle her into anything!!!"I tell you it was really hard as a parent to follow through. Mimi cried and cried that she wanted to go to Braden's party but I stuck to my guns so to speak. Then true to Northwest weather, it started to rain right along with the thunder and lightening which did not make Mimi's crying any easier. Yesterday Mimi was right back to being such an angel. No sassiness whatsoever.

Today started off beautifully. Mimi, Blake and I went to our local McDonald playland for lunch. Then Blake said that he wanted to walk to school with us. Ok that was fine. We stopped at home to pick up Butch and Mimi's backpack. Since Halle lives across the street from us, Mimi wanted to see if she too would like to walk along with us. She did. So there I was walking with Mimi, Blake, Halle and Butch. Then Ollie our cat decided that he too wanted to tag along. EGADS! Walking 3 kids and a dog on a leash is not bad but a cat! Ollie caused quite a stir with the kindergarten kids waiting to get in. I finally made it home in one piece and my sanity intact. Then it was time to go out to do some errands such as gassing up my car and buying grandma a birthday present. Next thing I knew it was time to pick Mimi up from school. This time I thought that I would leave Butch at home. Ollie on the other hand still decided to follow me to school again. YIKES! We all made it home safely. Then all of the kids wanted to go to Erin's for a playdate. Janet said that it was fine with her. I said that I would come to to help out as there was 7 kids vs 2 adults. Things were going fine until Janet said that the kids could play with the kiddie garden tools. That was when they started running around the backyard with them. I had told Mimi 3 times not to run with or swing the tools around. I did not see it happen but somehow Mimi's hand shovel met up with Halliwell's head. Fortunately it was not serious and there was no blood drawn. That was when I had Mimi tell Halliwell that she was sorry and also had her say good-bye to her friends and marched her (who by this time was crying herself) home. We had a long and I mean long talk about what she had done. Next I had her call Halliwell to appologize again and I spoke with Brandy about what had happened. I really love being a parent but it is soooo darn exhausting at times. Sigh. Almost forgot to mention that when I was home cooking dinner, I got a phone call from Zoe to come over to her house and get Ollie who was climbing their fence trying to get in and causing a ruckus with their Pugle "Rex". Ollie is not afraid of any dog whatsoever and I could hear the barking and yelping in the background. When I got there, Shelley said that Ollie had follwed them all the way home from the park next to Erin's house. EGADS! I tell you, there is never ever a dull moment around our place.