Dance It, Baby, Dance It!

Last week I recorded the Grammy Awards knowing that the rest of my family wouldn't be interested in watching. And besides, if it's recorded, I can fast forward through the commercials and boring parts. Since it was just Julianna and I home on Saturday morning, I decided to watch it. My music loving little girl was totally into it. She loved the performances and danced along to most of them. But when Beyonce came on the screen she was mesmerized. She stood and watched for a minute. Then began to move. She's got some skillz, let me tell ya! But when she started copying the moves of Beyonce, I was amazed. She swung her head around shaking her hair just like the singer. She moved her arms like she saw on the screen. She even sang some though it wasn't the actual song but in Julesese. I loved watching her and enjoyed her performance much more than the show. And I couldn't help but wonder if someday she might be there on that stage with little girls watching and copying her moves. And when she wins her first Grammy, I'm sure she'll thank her mommy first.

Blessed Sunday

Sunshine. Sunshine is a blessing. And we had some today. 48 degrees in February. No snow in my yard. And a sunshiny day. Thank you, Lord, for it all.

Show and Tell

This is my Bible and it's really special and my mom got it for Christmas and it's special and I like it a lot.

This is my catty and I got her for Christmas from my sister and she meows and purrs and she's like a dog and wags her tail or you can put her tail like this like she's in trouble or she can walk like this. She's white on this side and you can scratch her little belly and she purrs a lot of times and she meows a lot of times. That's what she does. And she's very special and I like her a lot and sometimes in my room I don't play with her. She's white on her nose and black on her head and on this side she has no white line and she has a little button but it doesn't work and it has a 'f' and a heart and a 'r' and she has cute little dark ears. They are kind of pink but they're light pink. And she has green eyes and a pink little nose but her mouth can't open up. And she's cute. And when she walks I do this or I do this and that's why she likes me and I like her. And on this side she's furry and on this side she's furry too. That's why I like her. And I want some quiet time. D. be quiet and give me your attention. And she's really cute and I love her and she's really cute. And I know you guys already know that. And you can read to her or she can climb on your shoulder. And she can put out her claws and she purrs a lot. And she thinks I'm her furry bed. D. I don't want to hear any noise from you. I'm trying to talk. No noise. (I then told her to leave poor D. alone, who wasn't making any noise by the way, and go on.) And you guys can see her whiskers don't you. (At this point, the rest of the class was getting restless so I told her she could tell us one more thing.) And I like to paint her nails and put a little dress on her. And that's all. The end. That's my whole story.

This is my friend dolly and I really love her. I sleep with her every night. I got her for my birthday. My friends for my birthday got me a sleeping bag and my friend Olivia gave me a baby doll. I forgot what my other friends gave me. And I really love her. And we got to play Cinderella and we got to wear a blindfold and stick something on her and we had a Barbie cake and on my next birthday at Disneyland we can see the diamond castle and I have the book of it that I got from my brother's school, but now my brother signed up for homeschool. But I really like my dolly.

These are my pom poms and they are very special and the strings always fall out and that's why I don't want to pull on them. They're blue and I have another pair that are red. And that's it.

Zippity zip. (He actually said zippity zip while unzipping his backpack to get his show and tell out.) It's red with tools in it! Oh and okay and this is Dusty and Turner and Phillipe and Squeeze and Rusty and a tape measure, I can't remember it's name, and this is a girl and this is a girl and this is a girl and this is a boy and there are four boys and three girls. (He pushed a button and the tools sing and dance. And he pushed the button again and nothing happened.) It ran out of batteries so I can't do it anymore. Yep, I'm done. Did anyone like it? You did and you did and you did and you did and you did and you did.

This is my puppy I mean my kitty and my kitty likes to chase dogs and dogs like to chase cats. She likes other people but only people she knows. And I really love her and her name is Gloria and I really like her and she has a friend named Ruff and she's a doggy and I brush her feet cuz I love her and I take good care of her and I want to come around and you can pet her.

These are my pom poms and I know everything about it and I like it and I use to have my M thing that goes with it. It's my M shirt with my dress but it doesn't fit me anymore and when I want to be a cheerleader I get them and I like dressing me up with them and that's it.

10 Things Thursday

10 book characters who are at school today for "Dress Up and Read" day...

1. the Grinch (How the Grinch Stole Christmas)

2. a Wild Thing (Where the Wild Things Are)

3. Princess Violante (Inkspell)

4. Alice the Fairy (Alice the Fairy)

5. Captain Underpants (Captain Underpants series) (my favorite, by the way)

6. Mary and Laura Ingalls (Little House on the Prairie series)

7. the wicked witch of the west (The Wizard of Oz)

8. the Queen of Hearts (Alice In Wonderland)

9. Pirate Pete (Pirate Pete)

10. the Cat in the Hat (The Cat in the Hat) (Umm, should we be concerned that when The Cat and I went through McDonald's drive through to get a Diet Coke, they didn't even flinch at serving a giant cat in a giant hat? It makes me wonder who was in the car before us.)

10 of my favorite book characters that I would have dressed up as if I had the makings of the costume...

1. Star Girl (Star Girl)

2. Clementine (Clementine series)

3. Miss Nelson (Miss Nelson is Missing)

4. Mama Bunny (Runaway Bunny)

5. Karana (Island of the Blue Dolphins)

6. Esther (The Bible)

7. Caroline Ingalls (Little House on the Prairie series)

8. Miri (Princess Academy)

9. Sarah (Sarah Plain and Tall)

10. Hadassah (A Voice in the Wind)

(Hmm!? What an interesting list. Each of these characters shows some trait that I hope I have in my life--integrity, love, courage, individuality, creativity, loyalty. I didn't even think of that until I was reading back over the list.)

Who is your favorite book character?

Two For Tuesday

Two reasons I love teaching kindergarten today.

One, some of the kids can't help but to call groundhogs "hedgehogs" even though it's GROUNDHOG Day. I tried to explain the difference, but to no avail. It just makes me smile.

And two, when you teach kindergarten, you get to spend all of Groundhog Day reading stories about groundhogs, watching cute videos about groundhogs, and making a cute little "groundhog popping out his burrow" craft with popcicle sticks and styrofoam cups.

What did you do today?

Blessed Sunday

I know today is Monday, but yesterday I was blessed with being able to spend the day with my family and unplugged. No computer time means no blogging.

But today I would just like to say that I am feeling blessed to be well. There have been times in the recent past when I wasn't well. And I have been hearing about so many who are going through the same kind of anxiety stuff that I've had to deal with, and still do on occasion. Here's what I would like to tell them. It's okay. You are not having a heart attack/brain tumor/going crazy even though it might feel like it. Google anxiety attack or panic attack. You will be surprised by the mile long list of physical symptoms that can come with one of these terribly scary times. You are not alone. Talk to others. You might find out that someone close to you feels the same way and you can help each other. Get help. Talk to your doctor. Seek counsel from professionals. They will understand and be able to give you answers. And believe me, answers help a lot. Don't be afraid of treatment. I fought and fought against counseling and medication. I hated the feeling that I couldn't control my own mind and body. But if I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't hesitate for even a second to do whatever it takes to be well. Breathe. In through your nose for five counts, hold for five counts, out through your mouth for five counts. It helps.

And for those of you who have never experienced a panic attack but live or work with some one who does, please be patient with them. It is not all in their head. It isn't made up or exaggerated or just them being dramatic. It's serious and painful. Help them understand. And be understanding.

Okay, my public service announcement is now over.

Photo Shoot

I thought that when Julianna was in the bath, and her hair was wet and out of her eyes, would be the perfect time to take pictures of her little bump from her gymnastics down the stairs. She, on the other hand, didn't agree. She just wanted to see the picture on the screen of my camera.

I got this shot, then she wanted to see. Then she didn't want play along.And started to let me know.Louder... and louder...

and madder...

and madder. (I call this one "Dang Paparazzi!")But then I realized that when I showed her the picture of herself, she would crack up laughing. So I would turn the camera around as fast as I could to capture it.

Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn't.

Right in between laughing and not.Totally laughing. Don't you just love her crooked, little mouth?

And mad again.

The shoot continued after the bath, too, in her puppy towel. She ran around and kept saying, "I a puppy! I a puppy!" Oh my goodness, it was cute.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love having a baby in the house? And not just a baby, but a baby girl? And not just a baby girl, but the cutest, sweetest, funniest baby girl ever? Well, I do.