Madame Bluberry

Lauren had blue paint all over herself when I picked her up from Kindergarten today. I said she looked like Madame Blueberry. She started singing, "I'm so blue-ue-ue, blue-ue-ue, blue-ue-ue-ue-- I'm so blue I can't ma-arry you!" Ha!


We've been having issues with Lauren lately. You might remember we have two other little girls coming to our house in the mornings, to walk to school with us, Julia G. and her sister Emily. Lauren has been mean to Emily! She says all kinds of direct and indirect unkind comments to Emily. Things like:

"I'm gooder than she is!"

"That's not right, Emily!"

"You smell like throw up!"

After learning Emily doesn't like people staring at her, Lauren comes home from school and told me, "I stared at Emily all day long, because I know she doesn't like that!"

"You play boring things...", said to Emily.

"I know the rules at school, and Emily doesn't. That's why we can't have the bikes out. We can't have them until everyone knows the rules!"

When Emily said she wore a pretty dress on picture day, Lauren replied haughtily, "That didn't look like a dress!"

"I know my numbers better than Emily."

On and on it goes, and Emily has asked several times, "Why is Lauren mean to me?"

Why indeed? I think Lauren's a little jealous. I talked to Emily's mom today, and she thinks it's partly because Lauren's morning routine's been changed with them coming. The two girls do play nicely together, and have fun! But it's not fun for Emily when Lauren turns nasty! Lauren's had consequences, but apparently they aren't working, because she keeps putting Emily down.

Brian and I have both talked to Lauren. She's had to go to her room. She's been spanked. We both talked to her quite awhile again today, and told her if she keeps it up she'll miss out on fun things Julia and Austin get to do. Like watch Full House. They're all into that, the last few months.

On a different note, Lauren can be a very sweet little girl. She's been talking about buying Austin a birthday present at the Awana store when her team got to go the first time. Their turn was Tuesday, and Lauren bought several things for herself, and also a present for him.

The sticker on her shirt is from her teacher, for bringing her homework back on time. She was very eager to do her homework, and had it finished days ahead of time.

A couple weeks ago I told her I was praying about her being jealous of Emily. And about Caroline being picky with her eating. Lauren had to think about that, and said, "...You better pray for them both..."

Kites Upstairs

It has been really hot here the last few days! Monday was 106 degrees! It got to 86 in my house. Miserable. Yesterday was 103, 83 inside the house. But at least there was a breeze last night. Austin was sick, so Caroline and I stayed home with him while Brian took Julia and Lauren to Awana.

Caroline and I went outside for awhile, since it was much more pleasant out there. We watered some flowers, then just hung out. She spotted a kite in the sky. "What's that, Mommia?"


She calls me Mommia now. And Brian Daddia. And Lauren, Laurena. It's funny.

She was so excited to see that kite. She kept lifting her arms as high as she could, then would tell me, "Can't reach it! Mommia get it!" I told her I couldn't reach it either. And showed her, lifting my arms up high. Then it was, "Daddia get it! Go upstairs and get de kite!" She continued chattering on about that and about "Grandma has upstairs. Go upstairs and get de kite!" I thought that was pretty clever she realized "upstairs" was higher than where we were on the ground. She also did some balancing on the curb. She likes to do that, just like Lauren. :)

Super Horribly Hot Soccer Saturday

It has been an unusually cool summer. Now that it's finally fall, it's getting hot! Today, around noon, it was 96 in the shade. Our garage felt like an oven; the house felt much cooler--at 76 degrees. It eventually got up to 81 inside. Too hot!

Austin and Lauren both had soccer games, hers at 10, his at 11. During Lauren's game I made Austin drink lots of water and sit in the shade of the stroller and so he wouldn't get too hot before his own game! He made a nest out of dried grass for a soccer ball. LOL Lauren was taking her turn sitting out. She wasn't happy she wouldn't get to play again this game b/c she hadn't scored a goal! She has a cold and was playing rather sluggishly b/c of it, and the heat. She doesn't handle heat well. Look at her red face!


1st Picture: The Purple Ponies giving a cheer for their opponents, the Blue Diamonds.

2nd Picture: Austin after his own game. Not sure if he's cheering in victory (they "won" 6-2 or 3?) or stretching in relief that the game was done! The boys' coaches decided to have them play 8 min. quarters instead of 10 min. b/c it was so hot! At the end of the game one of the kids kicked the ball far, and none of the players from either team ran after it. It just rolled away! Good thing the game was about done! Those boys were wilting. ;)


Austin and Lauren got into regular clothes at home--much cooler than those polyester soccer uniforms! Here are Lauren and Caroline before their naps, when we went outside for just a few minutes.

After the little girls' naps, all the kids went in the pool.

They played keep-away with Brian. One of the kids threw the ball into my rosebush. I tossed it back to Lauren, and the ball quickly deflated. It had a 1/4" rip from a rose thorn! Of course it had to land in the bush that's the thorniest.

Austin and Lauren played in the sprinkler. Julia hopped through the spray. Caroline only went in the pool a bit, then had enough. She has a cold too, and was not herself. She did like eating a popsicle outside. And sitting in Daddy's big chair.

Below: some of our Fuji apples... The tree is loaded, and they're ripening nicely. We go out and pick some every day. Austin put one in each boy's snack bag, as it was his turn to bring snacks for his team today. Some of the apples are huge--like you'd get at Costco! Most are medium-sized, and of course we have quite a few little ones too. :)

Before bed Caroline got a drink and shared with her kitty. She's claimed this kitty this week; originally it was Julia's. Its name is Purr-ecious, but Caroline calls it Caressious. Cute!-

Austin in Action

Austin plays with his Legos every day. Most often he builds war things. Like guns, fighter jets, battleships, aircraft carriers... All kinds of spacecrafts. This was a Coast Guard ship kit he turned into an aircraft carrier. Complete with the dragon from his castle set, and the two bionicle guys. And lots and lots of guns. ;)


All the 2nd grade Sparkies who've completed the first part of their book, having earned their patch, get to take Sparky home for a week. The kids write in a journal what Sparky did with them during the week and put a picture of themselves with Sparky in the book. Austin's going to write about playing baseball with Sparky. :)

It was Austin's turn to choose the movie for the kids' movie night, Friday, and he chose Speed Racer. The next morning, he'd built this racecar out of our coffee table, and was driving it! The shapes from Caroline's shape sorter were buttons. The hammer was the gear shift, the See & Say was the steering wheel. There was a Lego gun to protect himself (I guess??) and I'm not exactly sure what those light sabers are doing there... The couch pillows were the car doors. Here Austin's putting the racecar into gear.

And now he's steering down the track (while watching football with Brian. Ha!). Watch where you're going, little racecar driver! ;)

Soccer, Cherry, Berry Sweet...

Lauren was so excited to bring snacks for her soccer team! She put all the goodies and Gatorade into each bag, then wrote each girl's name on the bags. She also drew a different animal for each girl. So cute.

At halftime at yesterday's game, we brought out the oranges and water, and Mia's mom looked a little confused. The coach Brian told us from the beginning, that Lauren's snack week was the third week. Except it wasn't. Oooooops!! So now all the snacks in the cute decorated bags are sitting in the pantry waiting for next Saturday. At least Lauren took it well. She did ask how many days she had to wait for her snack day.


Our little Purple Pony was posing as usual, throughout the game. Brian saw these pictures yesterday, and said he didn't even notice she was doing that. LOL Silly girl! She'd pose every time they had a quick break to reorganize or kick off or something like that.


Lauren scored one goal yesterday. She almost scored two, but Katie actually kicked the ball in the goal after Lauren got it over there. Their team scored 9 goals in all!

The girls play 3 on 3 at this age, 2 sit out each quarter. Brian encouraging the little Ponies, Lexi, Katie, and Lauren:

Brian congratulating Lauren after a goal

Here she is, posing yet again! The "thumbs up" was after they scored yet another goal! And this is not even the full extent of the posing. After every game, the parents/siblings/friends make a tunnel for the players to run through. So fun--the kids love it!

Austin's game was at 12, so we had an hour to wait between the two games. Brian stayed at the field with our kids, and I went to McDonald's to pick up lunch. We all ate during Austin's game--except him, poor guy! He had to eat his Happy Meal at home.

The Lava Monsters played a strong team (Mustangs)! Plus, the Lava Monsters only have 6 players, and one was hurt, so all 5 boys played the entire game, with no breaks. The Mustangs had 7 players, so 2 got breaks every quarter. All the boys played hard! Austin really put in a lot of effort and played very well! His feet aren't even on the ground in this picture.

Austin scored one goal--yay! Look at him go!

Caroline sits in her stroller and eats snacks a good portion of the games. Julia takes her on walks, which I think helps break up the time for both of them. ;)

Caroline didn't want to leave when Austin's game was over. She's running away from Julia in the 1st picture. Stinker! Austin was hot, sweaty, and worn out after the game! He said his feet hurt, and just look at his red face! His whole water bottle was gone in no time, and he guzzled his whole Gatorade about as soon as he got that from his snack bag. I think he slept well last night. ;)

The girls all got these Strawberry Shortcake dolls in their Happy Meals. The dolls are strawberry scented, and Caroline sucked on hers all afternoon. I wonder if it tastes like strawberry, too?! They also got strawberry shaped cookie cutters with the dolls. Brian got out the Play Doh after their naps and let them use their new cutters. Fun! :)

Last night we had a babysitter come, and Brian and I went to San Luis Obispo. We were celebrating our 13th anniversary (Sept. 20)and went out for dinner at Thai Palace. It was soooo good, and tonight we get leftovers! Yum--plus I don't have to cook! :D The kids can have leftover mac and cheese, and they'll be happy with that! Ha! Anyway, Brian and I walked around downtown SLO after dinner, then browsed in Barnes and Noble for quite awhile. We went to Bali's to get frozen yogurt before walking a few blocks back to our car and going home. It's been a long time since we've gone on a date, and it was nice to get away!

Portraits, Julia and Lauren

A couple days before school started I took Julia and Lauren's "birthday" portraits. Birthday in quotes, b/c they happened back in February and May, respectively. At least they're within the first half of their birthday years, right? ;)

Lauren was first, as she had to go take a nap right after.


She's such a little poser and was more than willing to do all sorts of poses--her own ideas!! She also broke into song many times and did hand motions and her own dance moves while singing. It was quite the entertaining photo shoot. :D

Here she's showing me "L" for Lauren: two of them! No matter that one is backwards. This was her idea, too. Love, love that she wears that butterfly ring everywhere, every day! I've warned her it might get lost at school, but she insists on wearing it and says she doesn't take it off. She says it feels funny when she takes it off!

Our 10-year-old, growing up so fast. She chose the cupcake earrings herself--thought they went nicely with her outfit. She also bought them herself, with her own money, at Claire's. :)

Awww... Sweet Julia. She was very cooperative, and we got a lot of good pictures in just a few minutes.

Kindergarten Conversations

These are from a few weeks ago, including the conversations later in the post.

Lauren brought home this book she made, Bono Goes to School. She is so proud of all her projects and papers she brings home! I bought her a binder with folders inside, and she keeps as many papers as she can in there. It's already getting really full! She likes looking through all her school work. :)

8/25: Lauren tells me all about school, every day, in great detail. She is certainly the fun-loving little girl! Some things from today:

L: "Lucia didn't want to play with me today."

Me: "How do you know?"

L: "She was playing with another girl!"

Then later:

L: " 'K' told me I'm her best friend."

Me: "Awww, that's so sweet...!"

L: Looking a bit indignant, "I don't want to be her friend! She smells bad!"

Me: "Why do you say that?"

L: "When I had the cafeteria lunch, I stood right by her, and she smells bad!"

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Lauren had her book memorized and 'read' it to Caroline. Over and over and over again.

At dinner:

L: "Ms. V yelled 'Pay attention!' at us today!"

Me: "Why?"

L: "The kids were talking. But I wasn't. I was sitting criss-cross applesauce, and I got to pick the letter! ...Sometimes I talk. But I'm really quiet and she doesn't know!" Big grin...

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Caroline is a patient little sister. And very interested in what Lauren is doing!

Tonight, over dessert:

L: Deep in thought, pondering out loud, "I wonder when I'll get a boyfriend..."

Me: "Maybe when you're 16! ...What about Collin?" (Her friend from Cubbies)

L: "I mean from Kindergarten! I had a boyfriend today..."

Me: "You did? What was his name? Was he in your class?"

L: "I don't know his name! He's on the playground. Lucia was playing with the other girl..."

Me: "So you played with him? What color hair does he have?"

L: "I can't remember. I don't know what he looks like!"

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After they had enough reading about the little monkey, they decided to play dress-up. :)