Friday Fragments - School News, Christmas Shopping and Venting

I have missed participating in Friday Fragments, I am so glad to be back! Head on over to Mrs. 4444's for more wonderful fraggin'!

***************

So first, school news update: A while back I wrote about Serena not having a wonderful experience in school, she was being bullied. So, I went to the principal and then to the district with some other parents to make sure our story was being heard and something was going to be done about it. The child in question, we will call him Greg, he was being so mean to this one girl, we will call her Mary. He cut her hair one time, another time he got her in a head-lock and yet another time he hit her in the cheeks so hard she had bruises. Mary's mom got her out of the classroom immediately and things have been good for her. Then Greg started picking on other kids and then some boys started copying him. They are the ones who picked on my Serena. Another girl's mom took her out of the school and put her in another school. So, after my complaint I listened to the principal tell me they are getting another teacher to assist the current teacher and they are hiring a "monitor" for Greg, someone who will keep an eye on him in the classroom (so he won't continue jumping on chairs and tables) and on the playground (so he won't pick on anyone). Let me tell you this: Serena loves the new teacher and has become Greg's friend! She was crying one morning before school because she misses her big brother and Greg came over and immediately put his arm around her and comforted her! I was amazed. Then his monitor told me he has done this before for Serena. They were the "caboose" one day in line and she was falling way behind and had her head down and he went up and put his arm around her shoulders and had her walk a bit faster to keep up with the class. I am very proud of my daughter to befriend this little boy. I firmly believe that there is something up with his parents and the way they treat him and each other at home, how else would he know to be so mean?

***************

Christmas shopping is pretty much done in my house. My husband and daughter went shopping on Black Friday and got most of it done and then that weekend we wrapped it...most of it anyways, I just have a few gifts for my Gingers and the cousins and my nieces and nephews and some friends kids to wrap! YAY for me!

***************

Why does there have to be an outage on my phone today??? Sorry but I had to vent that...

***************

I have to vent this, too. WHY DO PREGNANT WOMEN WHO KNOW THEY ARE PREGNANT DRINK, SMOKE AND DO DRUGS? This, my friends, I just cannot answer nor do I really think there is an answer for it.

***************

I love that Serena is learning songs at school! It is so cute to hear her start singing out of the blue these wonderful kid songs. She is such a happy child, always skipping around the house and now singing! :)

***************

I have to add that life is good for the moment and that life is too short, just too short.

Jog-a-Thon Anyone?

Her shirt reads: If the shoe fits walk, jog, or run in it!

Serena's school had a jog-a-thon back in October, to raise money for her school for extra classes, like music and science.

We gave her a small donation as did our neighbor, which was very nice. She asked for a picture of Serena in her jog-a-thon shirt, so I better get this printed before the new year, huh?

I have been having computer issues for a while and finally called our computer people and they did some diagnostic testing and blah blah blah...so it works better and it was so much faster...but I am still having problems opening blogs and reading them...go figure. The page just freezes and it keeps trying to load it...I hate this computer!

Anyways, have a good day!

oh and I was not able to go to her jog-a-thon, which actually turned in to a Dance-a-thon since it rained and rained a few days before the big event and they were not able to go outside.

I missed her field trip to the pumpkin patch too and her Thanksgiving Feast. But I will not miss her Kinder-Bear Winter Party...happening in a few short weeks, so look for a post on that!

Reptile Show

Ponch had a reptile show to attend earlier this month in Los Angeles...he took Kylie with him and she went nuts with her camera. So, I have picked my favorite pics to share with you...now there are turtles, snakes and lizards...so if you get weirded out, then don't look.LOL

I want one of these babies! These are baby tortoise and they turn huge...

I want one but Ponch says you have to have an enclosure for them so that cats don't come into the yard and attack them...oh I just think they are so cool looking!

Here is a water turtle hanging with some fishy friends!

This snake (I am not sure what kind it is) looks like it wants out...

Scorpion anyone???

Here is a little gecko, not sure what exact type it is, but isn't he cute?!?!

Here are some cool green chameleons.

Another gecko, just hangin' on the glass...

This one is turning colors, Kylie said it was way cool looking.

Ok, trip out on these baby snakes! in the small containers, I am glad I was not there, I might have gone nuts...I am not a huge fan of snakes.

Here are 3 huge Bearded Dragons, this is what Kylie's newest lizard will look like when he gets bigger...her first lizard, Phoenix, well he got sick and died. So, after she went with Ponch to this reptile show, she came home with another one, Toothless. He is yellow with these cool black spots. I will have to take some pics and post them.

And last, but not least, the 2-headed turtle! I think it is super cute! Ponch says they are bred to have 2 heads, weird, but cute!

That concludes the reptile show. Now, there were a lot of spiders, tarantulas and stuff like that, but I really cannot stand spiders so I didn't post any of the picks. That would have really made me squeamish, seeing those huge spiders!

I have my computer back!

I have so much to tell all of you.

First, my computer is back! YAY! I have not checked blogs yet, but I will soon!

Second, My X-mother In Law passed away on Nov 11th, the same day as her husband 17 yrs ago...very weird. I will miss her dearly! We were close and she read my blog..I feel bad for my older kids. The funeral will not be until Dec. 4th...

My dryer works, after the same parts were replaced, the dryer valve and the heating coils, only cost us 130 in labor...

Ponch's car is fine., they could not find anything wrong with it, go figure and my "check engine" light is now on...

The kids are both sick with snot and red cheeks?!

Glad I have my computer back, so I can read blogs and make comments

oh and Serena might not be going to her school much longer, she has been kicked, hit and well let's just say I am done with the drama, and I might transfer her...

Major Problems

I am having some computer issues...for example, I can't read ANY blogs and I have not been able to for a few weeks now. I thought it was a Yahoo problem or maybe an Internet Explorer problem, but I am not a computer geek...so, I am going to be having my friend's husband who does work on computers take a look and see what the problem is.

So, if you have left a comment and I have not responded I am sorry. I can't even do e-mail right now. I am actually shocked I can post, LOL. But, seriously, I can't read blogs or post comments on them and I am bummed...

Pray this gets fixed soon oh and did I mention my husband's car just took a dump this morning? We can't seem to catch a break, not to mention his dad is in the hospital, had a stroke, just like his brother. But, he is doing great, he can talk and he has strength in his hands and he can walk. He usually takes a blood thinner and he ran out of it, so they are concerned about that as well and he will be in the hospital until they are sure he is A 100% OK. So, please say a prayer for him.

Thanks!

Serena & Brandon's Halloween!

Serena, Serena and Brandon all went trick-or-treating on Saturday on the Boulevard at all the shops. It was so much fun! I loved seeing all the kids dressed up and I didn't take a picture of one, I know, I suck...

I couldn't leave out Ginger Girl and Serena, I mean Minni Mouse and Spider Woman!

and my very own Ginger Pirate! You can hardly tell, but he has an owie on his lip, on the left side. He fell off a chair at dinner with his family on Friday night, luckily he didn't need stitches.

Here are some shots of the kids that I just had to post!

Serena and Brandon all ready for trick-or-treating!

I know, there are a lot of shots that I really didn't need to post, but I have family that are out-of-state that like seeing pics of the kids :)

I hope you all had a safe and Happy Halloween!

Halloween Parade at School

Serena went on her first field trip last week on Thursday, to the pumpkin patch. She got the pumpkin she is holding in the picture. She had fun. Next field trip they take, I am going with her.

Spider Girl costume...

Here is her friend, Lilly, she was dressed as Snow White, but you can hardly see her dress with her jacket on...it was a bit nippy the morning of the Halloween parade...

Here is her friend, Serena...I refer to her as "the other Serena"...she is a doll, and one of Serena's first friends at Kindergarten.

Here is Serena grumping...the other Serena's mom told me when she dropped her daughter off they saw my Serena in the corner crying...she was upset about something...which I found out later no one said how pretty her dress was or something like that...so she did the entire Halloween parade like this, with her arms crossed in front of her chest and her head down...

By the end of the parade, she was fine and happy, thank goodness...see the video below of her, Lilly and the "other Serena"

See What Happens When You Run

Here is Serena, drinking from her Disney Princess cup...she looks so content...You would have never known earlier this day, she was running at school and bit shit on the blacktop...yeah I know, I type it like it was no big deal...but it was a big deal, the school called me...they cleaned it up, put ice on it and then band-aids...

Can you say OUCH!?!? It looks like small rocks got in there towards the bottom and just scraped her arm, see the lines??? It is also bruised...my poor baby!

And she cried for me at school. She said they were real nice to her in the nurse office, which she has already been to, two other times this school year, yes school has only been in session...umm..what? just over 5 weeks?!?

Mommy put gauze on it with Neosporin and it looks much much better this morning, I am happy to report.

I told her, "NO running at school!" Even if you want to be the first one in line after lunch...don't you agree???

Friday Fragments ~ Prayers, Jeeps and Broken Legs

Welcome to another addition of Friday Fragments! Brought to you by the wonderful Mrs. 4444's
Thank you so much for hosting, this is my favorite meme to participate in.

***************

Tell me it is not cute for my kids to be playing, pretending to be eating and then Brandon says, "Let's say prayers before we eat." He is so adorable, if I do say so myself! We have been saying Grace before dinner every night and sometimes we say it twice. If I serve them broccoli first and then the pasta, he wants to say it before he eats the broccoli and again before the pasta...

***************

Here is a picture of what the floor looks like in my kids room...under the bed to be exact...the flooring is coming apart for lack of better wording. So, I got the pleasure of calling the company that did our addition back in 2007 I think, (jeepers time flies!) playing phone tag for 2 weeks and then finally someone came out this morning to take pictures and then go back and have a meeting and decide what the next step is. As you can see by my writing, I am not happy about this! I also have a door they installed that fell on Brandon that they will be replacing with a new one. I will keep you posted on that.

***************

Remember this post? On my parents new Jeep Rubicon? Well, they decided to get another one, LOL for the kids!

Now they have a BIG one and a SMALL one!

Isn't it just the cutest thing? Next to the big one, of course!

***************

Remember my brother-in-law, Carlos, who passed away this last July? Well, his wife, Gloria, broke her leg and ankle last week! and had to have one surgery where they put screws in her ankle and then this metal contraption and then she will have another surgery in the near future to remove the metal contraption and then put metal plates. She really messed herself up, so for those of you who pray, please say a prayer for her will ya? Thanks!

***************

We have had rain and hail and thunder and lightening here in my neck of the woods this week! So exciting for the kids. Brandon and I went on an adventure while it was dry, to Target, and when we came out it was pouring cats and dogs! So, we made a run for the van and some idiot almost hit us! What more can I say, I was beyond pissed and wet, LOL but when we got to the van and inside we both just laughed and he kept saying he was soaked and it was crazy rain outside!

Don't forget to stop by her blog and read more randomness!

Fall Face Painting

We went to our church this past weekend. They had jolly jumps, a rock climbing thing, hay rides, pictures with a huge pumpkin, face painting and a collection of spiders and creepy crawly things and a bake sale.

Brandon opted for a pumpkin on one cheek

and a spider on the other

Serena had a spider on one cheek and a pink long neck dinosaur on the other...

But as you can see from this pic, she is not a happy camper. She is upset about one thing or another and cried and well she wiped the spider off before I could get a pic of it and well her dino was all smeared by the time I grabbed the camera.

We got their Halloween costumes last night....you will have to wait for Halloween to see pics of them and I promise you won't be let down when you see them.

Babies

I watched this documentary called Babies on Netflix last night.

It was awesome! If you have Netflix, I strongly urge you to watch this.

It was about 4 different families, each with a baby, from birth to 1 year.

Ponijao from Opuwo, Namibia and Bayar from Bayanchandmani, Mongolia were the 2 from rural areas.

Mari from Tokyo, Japan and Hattie from San Francisco, CA were the 2 from urban areas.

I must say, at first I was thinking to myself, ok this is about babies, so what?? But, then as each one was introduced, I completely fell in love with all of them!

The baby from Namibia, Ponijao, he was the cutest, in my opinion, and he was by far the happiest baby of all of them. He only cried one time that they showed, when his mom was holding him down to cut his hair. They keep the boys hair shaved. They also had virtually no clothes and no diapers and they were in dirt all the time. But, this kid was happy! They never did show the father, only the mom and other mothers in their village. The older kids in the village were so nice and loving to the younger kids.

The baby from Mongolia, Bayar, well he had an older brother who was very mean to him and the mom was always busy tending to their animals, so she was not there to witness him being mean. These people had a small house and their animals were their food, like goats and cows. They showed him outside a lot with no diaper at times and with the animals.

The baby from Japan...Mari, well she was cute as a button but very whiny! They showed her trying to put this stick in a circle with a hole in it and she couldn't do it, she threw herself back and cried and kicked her legs, in a complete fit. Her parents were into taking pictures and the dad was very active with his daughter.

The baby from San Francisco, Hattie, she was probably the most advanced of all the children. Her parents spent a lot of time with her doing different things and taking classes with her. But, they didn't talk all that much to her. I think she was the first of them to learn to walk.

This documentary was great and I laughed out loud several times and well I dunno, it just touched me like nothing else. I thank my husband for having me watch this with him.

Happy Late Birthday ~ What Else Is New?

I am always a day late and a dollar short when it comes to posting current things on my blog. Guess I should get over it already, right???


Sooooo, earlier last month, we went to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese for Christopher, who was turning 2. This marked the day the runs started for Brandon, I have been pre-occupied with that you could say...


Christopher - digging into his tokens

Cool dino cake

Brandon and Serena on our way to the party (they had never been to Chuck E. Cheese before)

Chuck E. Cheese and the over excited girl who works there

Next, we move on to Monty's 5th birthday party! His day was about 2 weeks after Christopher's party and it was at the park. I took Serena and left Brandon at home with Dad, since he still had the runs.

Monty the birthday boy

Monty's cake - this had a pic from every year of his life, pretty cool!

They had a woman there who did some face painting for the kids, so Serena naturally got flowers..

They also had a jolly jump and a magician witch with green hair, here she is juggling, she was great.

All in all, the birthday parties were both a huge success.

Next, I took Brandon to the doctor, finally. I know, the kid had the runs on and off for damn near 2.5 weeks don't judge, lol. The doctor prescribed a type of medicine to treat infections...he said it was kinda like when you go to Mexico and get sick from the water or certain foods, you get an infection. Well, this medicine will help that go away and get his bowels back to normal. He also said that dairy products on a whole can be adding to his discomfort, so no milk for a few days. He actually has not had milk in over a week. We tried yogurt and he had diarrhea, so no more yogurt. The other day he stole his sisters chocolate milk (that she brought home from school) and he had diarrhea. So, when I make his hot cocoa, I use water. I am almost positive he has inherited his father's bad stomach...