Preschool?

I'm in the middle of a preschool dilemma. Paloma was all set to go to preschool this past Fall. We talked about it all summer long explaining all the fun things she would do and new friends she would make. The one thing that kept her from going however was potty training. She was not 100% trained at the time and that is one requirement they are very strict about. Come to find out later, Paloma purposely would not train because of going to school. She used that as a way to not go to school. All summer long we would tell her she needed to go in the big girl potty so she could go to school. She began to associate potty training to school and would refuse to go. I had to regretfully pull her out before school started and keep her at home. Of course once I explained to her she was not going to go to school she trained that week. Coincidence? I think not.

Here we are now approaching January and there is an opening in the class she should have been in. I am so torn about putting her in in January. She has no desire of going. She does not do well with change at all and would much prefer just hanging out with me. What worries me is if she doesn't go now will she go next fall? Will she always be too shy to go? That's the strange part. She is so outgoing at home and with my family to the point dare I say she rules the roost ha! But, you get her in a situation where I drop her off with other children and a teacher and lets just say we have one very unhappy child on our hands.

I'm struggling with this decision so much as I really want her to go: my other 3 children have been through the same program and same teachers making it tradition almost. However, there is no real necessity for her to go. I do not work so it's not like i need a day care situation. My mom takes care of Mariposa and Paloma every afternoon while I go pick up the older kids from school leaving me some time for myself. The cost for her to go would be hard being that we are on the world's tightest budget ever. When I write the pros and cons it seems to me more like the best thing to do is keep her home with me until next fall and then try again. The problem i deal with is the feeling that she will be "behind" her peers for having not gone. I'm feeling like I need a curriculum to start on in January to make sure she has mastered everything she needs to.

As far as socialization goes she is doing good there. I have her in a weekly playgroup and once the weather warms up we are in another playgroup that meets at the park each week for a picnic lunch. Couple that with a few storytimes and visits with her grandparents and aunt and uncle and I think she is ok there. I guess I'm just struggling with the feeling that I'm not doing enough for her. The feeling that she needs more than I can give her. Yet I know that time goes sooo fast and before I know it she will be in school all day long and I will long to have this time with her and me back. I dunno. Just feeling confused right now.

Bah Humbug!

Well, Merry Christmas to me. not.

Remember that affair I was having with facebook? Well, no longer is that happening. That must have been the shortest love affair of my life. Facebook decided to completely crash my laptop. and I mean completely. Sadness. Utter sadness. Oh how I loved thee. Oh how thee made me so happy. And now thee is gone...forever. ugh.

Time to close that very short chapter and get to business. I"m making cookies for Santa! Yep, Santa is coming tonight and we are r.e.a.d.y. The build up has been taking place and the kids are sooo excited. I'll be excited knowing I found all the gifts that I had hidden all over the house lol!

Merry Christmas to all!

Yum. Yummy. Oh so good. Hot Chocolate.

My bil is way too funny. He has become somewhat of a sahd. He works 2 24 hour shifts a week and the other days are spent taking care of his home and his son. My sister has been going to school and working a lot leaving him to become Mr. Domestic. I love it!

Last night we were at his house for Sunday dinner. After dinner he offered to make all the kiddos hot chocolate. When he got out his blender I was thinking what are you doing? Well, you will thank me for this idea he saw on Martha (even though he admits it wasn't Martha that he got it from ha!).

Warm up some water in the microwave till hot. Put a packet (or how many packets you need) of hot cocoa in the blender. Add the hot water to the blender. Then blend away. It will make it super creamy and it will give you that froth on the top. (think Starbucks froth). You can then pour into mugs and add marshmallows or my bil's fav. is to put a candy cane in and stir it with that so that the candy cane melts a bit. Oh my word. Sooooo good!

Fyi: do not overfill blender. Bil pours this super hot water into the blender, pushes the start button at the same time saying, "Helen watch this" and just when he does that the water explodes out of the blender all over his shirt, his hair, his face, the counter, the floor, everywhere. I almost fell out of my chair laughing so hard! I was so mad at myself for not having my camera! Fortunately my sister thought it was funny too...I wasn't sure what her reaction was going to be seeing the mess that was made. But it was sooo worth it. That had to have been hands down the best hot chocolate evah!

Menu Monday

Boy, its been awhile since I have done one of these lol.

Monday: Maid Rites, Lays potato chips

Tuesday: Taco Tuesday

Wednesday: Chicken Stir-Fry, rice, spring rolls

Thursday: Fajitas (both chicken and beef), beans

Friday: My son is requesting Kraft Mac n' Cheese. Let's just say we will be eating that for lunch and something else for dinner ha!

Just talkin...

Has it really been 2 months since I have blogged? I mean really...2 months? I must confess I found a new addiction. Drum roll please...Facebook. Yes Facebook. I put it off for the longest time and just couldn't put it off any longer. My sisters are on, my brother is on, ALL my friends are on. I was living in the dark ages so I gave in and signed up. Let's just say I have been having an affair with Facebook. It's the first thing I look at in the morning and the last at night. I love "seeing" what my friends are up to in real time and I love "sharing" what I'm up to. I love the itty bitty details of life. You know the ones like: I'm eating pizza now. I just worked out. I 'm wrapping presents. yep. I'm loving it. I also love the privacy of it all. With my settings I can control who sees what I write and I can actually post pictures there and not worry about some oogie person overseas stealing my pics and posting them on their blogs acting like they know me. Don't believe this happens? It does....I just recently read where a mommy was keeping a blog and posted tons of pics of her 2yo on it. Well she found out from someone that her pics of her daughter were being used on a Chinese ad site without her knowing. Horrible. Now she is trying to fight all that and has since put everything to private.

I must admit that is why there are hardly any pics here..I love sharing my life and keeping a record of it but I'm just not comfortable enough to put pics of me and my kids up when anyone can come here to see kwim? Yet I love reading blogs that are pic. heavy because that is where a lot of my inspiration comes from.

In other news I decided to get a jump on my annual new year's resolution to get healthy, exercise, drink more water, blah, blah, blah. For about a month and a half now I have been working out 5 times a week, drinking 1 1/2 - 2 liters of water per day, and for the most part watching what I'm eating. I feel great! More energy, more positive, but the weight is not budging. No. Not even 1/2 a pound. nada. sigh. but I do feel better. Does that count for something?

Other than that the past 2 months have been spent doing holidays and holiday functions. My son is in theater at school and they have already done 3 plays. 2 of them were doing school hours so I was able to go (the advantage of being a sahm for sure) and the other was at night a couple of nights ago at his school. Mariposa has had various programs going on at her school and artist has had art functions and other activities going on. Busy, busy, busy.

I feel like I haven't really had a chance to enjoy Christmas yet with all the busyness going on. It's sad really. I MADE myself sit down and watch Charlie Brown Christmas with the kids last week and for those 30 minutes I was feeling the Christmas spirit. I'm hoping next week things will slow down and I can get in the Christmas mood.

It's funny, come January I will actually go through withdrawal from busyness. I go from 100 to nothing come January and I'll be sitting here twiddling my fingers wanting something to do. I will then miss all the activities and happenings that I am dreading right now. Crazy. I guess I'm still learning how to live in the moment and embrace it as it comes. I'm doing better though. Remember I did enjoy that Charlie Brown!

This week coming up shouldn't be too bad. The kids will have half days on Thursday and Friday so that will make my week go by fast. I have only one activity going on and that is at Mariposa's school for her Christmas party. Other than that I am free to enjoy my Christmas home but more importantly enjoy the time with my family and perhaps a few friends here and there.