Jumping Daisy

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Jealousy and longing are really ugly traits, and I am feeling fugly these days. I wanted to speak to my attitude for just a moment, and to say that if all of my updates are quick family status reports or pictures of my beautiful girls for a while, I am just following that the universal rule, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”

>Love A Lot has a system of evaluation, where both Cory and I, and Leila’s teacher fill out an evaluation form about Leila and her development and behavior.  Now that Leila is in pre-school, we had our first sit down discussion about Leila, and the differences in the way that we had scored her.
Cory wasn’t able to make it because Thea was home with her first fever on Thursday, so I represented for both of us.
Overall, we both agreed that Leila is a very smart little girl.  She has an awesome vocabulary and she is capable of carrying on very adult conversations. She has been this way for some time, and I really appreciate that about her.  One other major area of agreement…girlfriend is STUBBORN.
A couple of things that I got to hear from Krystal that I didn’t already know about Leila was that she does her own thing, she doesn’t have a “best friend” at school, but can be found playing with any and all of the kids in the class at different times, and is also happy to play by herself if no one else is interested in her activity of choice.  This made me really happy.  I don’t want my kid to be a loner, but I do really want her to be confident and happy without needing to feel accepted and validated by those around her.  Of course, she is just nearing the 4 year mark and lots can change over the years.  I am sure that we will have tough times, because lets face it…kids are assholes to each other.  I just really hope that my kid isn’t often the ass hole, and is confident enough to not let other kids get her down.
The other thing that I honestly have worried about, and had my fears put to rest (somewhat) by my conference with Krystal, is that the teachers at Love A Lot view Leila as a compassionate kid.  She watches out for the other kid’s feelings.  When another kid is building a tower, Leila will cheer them on and would never dream of knocking it over.  In my experiences with Leila, this isn’t really true.  She isn’t the nicest to Sawyer and to Thea.  I wouldn’t call her compassionate, and it has caused me a lot of concern.  It is nice to know that she does display that behavior at school.  I wonder if it has to do with the fact that she spends a lot of time with younger kids outside of school, I can see that it might be harder to be nice to a baby that doesn’t reciprocate that same courtesy.  At least that is what I am going to tell myself.
So there you have it, Leila is smart, friendly, independent and compassionate.  Does it get any better than that?

>Cory is such a trooper…he swam with Thea while I watched Leila from the deck.  The idea of wearing a swimming suit makes me want to cry.

Leila leading the charge into the pool! I am so proud of how brave and agreeable she is about swim lessons.  She is a leader and shows the other kids that it’s ok to get your hair wet!.

 

>Until Thea is ONE! I can hardly believe it.

And some other random cuteness…  Notice the tongue in that second pic 🙂

 

 

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We have always been very happy with Leila’s daycare, and now Thea’s daycare too. The staff are very friendly and you can tell when we drop the girls off, that the kids are excited to be there (most days).

In the wake of the tragedy in Haiti, I was given another reason to feel good about Love a lot. Leila came home with a note that I took a picture of to attach here. I am not sure how easy it is to read, but the gist of it is that many kids in the pre-school had asked questions about Haiti and about Earthquakes, so the staff decided to switch up the lesson plans and do a 2 week unit on Haiti, and other countries and cultures of the Caribbean.
As part of this effort, the kids were encouraged to donate change to the families in Haiti who were in need. LOVE this idea. So we talked about it with Leila and she chose to give some of the money from her piggie bank, and over the last two weeks has been doing some little chores to earn more change to donate. I plan to keep this up, since we never got going on our Pennies for Peace, and continue to encourage Leila to give to others.

I am so proud of my girl, and proud of the school we chose for her as well.  She was so proud to bring in her bucket to add to the pre-school fund, and I am proud of her for giving, even though she doesn’t really understand the value of money, she does really like it, so it means a lot that she would give it away.

>I have lots of stuff to post, but I have been on edge and not interested in taking the time to find the card reader for the camera. Pathetic I know.
We have our house in pretty good shape now, all planned projects completed, and we have had our first visitor. We have another showing coming up and we are thinking of having an open house on Saturday if the weather is expected to be nice enough.

I feel like I am waiting to see if I will get a second date. Stress level is on overload.

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I have been eyeballing mother’s jewelry for some time now. If you know me well, you know that I like anything better if it is homemade. This is why I spend too much time and money on Etsy.com. Now that I have my two girls I am feeling more complete and I would love to commemorate my “nest” with something like this.

Maybe Mother’s day? *hint, hint*

Credit where credit is due:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/cinnamonsticks

>It has gotten A LOT of use lately. One of the benefits that I have reaped from breastfeeding my babies, is that I can eat a lot, and not gain weight. Of course, like Cinderella, midnight is about to strike and in a couple of months I will give up the nursing, and also my ability to eat like a hog and not get fatter. All good things must come to an end though, and I am currently mentally preparing myself to begin working out again, and eating as many brownies as my heart desires for just a little bit longer!

>For the last nearly 4 years all of our pictures have been of our kids.  Before that, the dog.  The last two days? The house.  Rooms from every angle, in different lighting. 

Of course we don’t feel ready to show it yet, but it is out there now!  If you know anyone who is looking for a house of this kind, send them our way.  We have loved this house for 5 1/2 years and we hope whoever buys it will have all of the blessings that we have had under this roof.

Here is our listing!

The Coobs’ FSBO listing!

>When I think about what is difficult for me, or what has tested my physical and emotional strength I can come up with some answers.  Running a couple of miles, back when I could, really made me push myself physically.  Giving birth really made me push myself mentally.  But the hardest thing has got to be going to bed at night, trusting that my kids will wake up with me in the morning.  Taking them to daycare, knowing their smiling faces will greet me at the end of the day.  Going on a car ride, and trusting that we will reach our destination. Taking them to the doctor, knowing that whatever it is, it will run its course and everything will be fine.  Believing that everything will be fine.  That is the stuff that is really hard for me.

Those things are all a little harder for me this week, as I think of the mothers who have lost their children in an earthquake and suffered through survival. My head and my heart are overwhelmed with sadness for our neighbors across the world, who will go to sleep under the stars tonight, to avoid the dangers of their homes.  And for those who have lost their loved ones, their beloved children who they so bravely trusted to grow up in this world.

Look out your window, look up at those stars and think of all of those suffering under this same sky.  Say a prayer for their comfort, and if you have the means, please give to the relief efforts in Haiti.

Mommy day will hold some extra hugs for my precious children…I just wish I could take every child in this world and cuddle them up next to me and keep them safe and warm. 

John 14:1-4
Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God[; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.

My only comfort is in knowing that for those that have passed on, their suffering is over.