Dash’s Day

Here is a sneak peak of Dash’s life before and after school today.
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He plays in the mud with his buddies, while Pippi (dressed in Dash’s clothes - her pick) stands by.
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Pippi is redressed, and she and Dash brave it to stand next to the creepy guy on the way in and out of school.
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On our way out to the car, it takes about ten extra minutes because these two are walking the curb.
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And then Dash and his friends designate a “potty tree”.
So far he is loving school.
He has made friends, and likes his teacher.
So far, I haven’t gotten used to the ssslllooowww walk in and out.

Homework In The Car

We had the cleaners at the house, so I decided that I would take the kids to the park to play.
But there was one caveat — Scout, who wasn’t finished with his homework yet, had to stay in the car to finish up.
When we got there, everyone but Scout got out, and it seemed to be working perfectly.
But within two minutes, I had all three kids back for different reasons.
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Kids had to go potty, kids found lizards, and kids wanted to do their own homework.
Scout, who struggles with distractions while working, was taking longer and longer to get his work done.
I got rid of the other three kids so many times, that I told them to load up…because if they wanted to be with me so much, we could do that in the front yard.
And then magically, they all disappeared.

Three Laps

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Here is Dash coming in from his final lap of three.
The kid’s latest thing is to walk, run and bike a lap around our neighborhood for their daily excercise.
I timed them today, and with Dash’s pedal falling off, they still stayed together and came in under 22 minutes.
And their red and sweaty faces made me proud of their hard work.

Chinese School

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When I saw this girl walking to my car with an umbrella, I couldn’t get my camera out fast enough!
Apparently, she has been at school with the Chinese mothers too long!
When I asked her why she had it, she said, “Mom…do you know how hot and sunny it is out here”?
Then I asked her where she got it, and she said, “Nonnie’s car”.
I told her to find the shady trees, and to put Nonnie’s umbrella back!

“Married”

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Pippi wanted me to guess what she was.
I guessed “ghost” in every term I could think of.
But then she said, “No silly!  I married”!
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And what a beautiful bride you make my little Pips.
20 minutes later, and still playing in her “veil”, she asked me to follow her.
So I did.
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As she walked all the way out of the house, and down the street “to get married to Navy or Dashy”!
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I finally stopped her about three houses down, but this girl is classic!
Definitely, one in a million.
And boys…definitely the marrying type!
Watch out.

Dash’s Line Up

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There’s nothing quite like a dinosaur’s growl, to greet your classmates in the morning.

Navy’s Long Nails!!!

Tonight for Family Night, we celebrated Navy, and her goal setting!
When Navy was four years old, I told her that the day I could finally cut her nails, because she had stopped biting them, was the day she could pick out any cake for a celebration!
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Today was FINALLY that day — only three and a half years later!
Too bad we took the picture after a day at school — digging in the dirt???
We talked about how many times she had tried, and how often she had failed.
But because she persevered, her goal of long fingernails had finally come to fruition!
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So we started out with “long nail” gifts.
Nail polish, her own clippers, and some polish remover pads.
And then we dug into….
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Her Susie Cakes funfetti cake that read….
“Navy’s Long Nails!”
Good work my little goal setter!!!

Shopping Nightmare

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I used to find this much more enjoyable.
Now that they are jumping in/out, on/off the whole time, I really just find it irritating.

Scout’s Rough Start

I went to meet each of Scout’s teachers today, to introduce myself and offer any help in the classrooms.
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Too bad I happened upon this!
So my introduction to his English teacher became more of a “His father and I expect stellar work and behavior, and we are totally on board to get him straightened out if ever the need arises. Please let us know of any infractions, and we will nip them in the bud”.  Poor Scout wanted to crawl under his desk!
(The teacher was nice and said she was really trying prove that the kids needed to behave, and doing their work when she asked, so she was extra strict today.  Apparently, he was talking to his neighbor when they were to be working and was moved.)
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Good thing we moved on to his Chinese class, where his teacher said, “Scout is a model student.  I have other kids mimic what he is doing”.
So in that class, I introduced myself and quickly called it a day before she said, “But then again…”!

Lake Perris Morning

The Brockbanks are rad, and invited us out for a Lake Perris morning.
That turned into a Lake Perris Day.
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Micah got in an amzing morning ride on beautiful glass, which led into the whole day of awesome.
Scout is getting braver and braver, and is trying everything.
Navy is still a boat-sitter, until the tube comes out where she goes crazy.
Dash will usually try whatever, especially if we nudge him by calling him a daredevil.
And Pippi….amazingly she will try about anything!
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The highlight of the day was when Micah took Pippi on the wake surfer.
She did it twice, and loved every second of it.
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Then Dash wanted in, and Micah and Dash had an awesome run too.
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The two mini adventurers went on the tube with Doey, Ka and Navy…and were giggling the whole time.
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But then Scout and Doey hopped on, and took a “real ride” where Skills and Doey took major spills.
When we finally got off the lake, Skilly had goose egg on her forehead, Doey was down and out, and everyone said they got in everything they wanted.
Sounds like a successful day at the lake to me!