Resting Easy

Sarah and Julia woke up this morning simultaneously sneezing and coughing. I decided it would be best to keep them home from school and it's been relatively easy to keep them rested. At one point Sarah bit Julia right after breakfast because they were fighting over a basket(I'm sure it was more the principal of the basket). I convinced them that it would be more fun to play Uno and it worked like a charm. We got through the whole deck at least twice. Then they watched Sesame Street and a couple of other kid shows, had lunch, Strawberry Icecream of course, and now they are just playing nicely in their room.
I've been taking it easy too with the whole sprained ankle thing. My mom bought a crutch for me which makes it a little easier. I can put a little of my weight on it but I'm mostly trying to flex it back to normalcy. The girls are being so good(except for the bight part), considering they have been trapped in the house all day very good. Sarah wanted me to get up at some point and she said "you don't want me to get more sad, do you?" and I looked up and she had this big pout on her face, Sarah and I had a good laugh.

Still got my leg all slinged up but it's feeling better for sure. The family is still awesome here, picking up my slack. Sarah and Julia both had a good day at school. Julia told me that her class went all the way to the top of the art museum. She saw lots of pictures and I guess she liked the pictures of boats that she saw and she got to ride a bus for the first time too!

All twisted up

Well today the girls and I got out alright and even had some grainy pancakes(sprinkles and honey on theirs of course), but I'm definitely signing Sarah up for the bus. The parking at her school is insane! Julia is still doing well with school; today she said "Mom pick me up at 1 and not 5;because if you pick me up at 5, I will cry."; she surprises me when she says things like that. Julia has her first school field trip tomorrow and they are going to the art museum for some culture. Sarahs' teacher has an award system for the kids and Sarah was awarded a token for being a door helper, Sarah is also working on her class cheers for her school fun run;very exciting.
The morning went well and the girls are doing great but after I finish closing up a Brokers Open house, about an hour before I pick up the girls, I do something very stupid....
I'm going down the stairs not paying attention and thought I was on the last step but I was on the second to last step and WHAM! I took a two step drop on my ankle and it twisted to the side. I was really panicked;first I started sweating profusely, then I heard a ringing in my ears, and then i felt like I was about to throw up. This happened right outside the office so I hobbled in and once Josephine, a co-worker noticed, she doctored me up and fed me;then she rallied some other ladies up and they were all ready to help me pick the girls up and take us home. Thank God I got a hold of my mom because it would have been tough for me to hobble up the stairs to get Julia and to Sarahs' class too since the ladies weren't authorized to pick them up. Mom was really great, she picked the girls up and took them out so I could relax,Dad was really great too; he iced my ankle up and got Buca de beppo carry out. Dan called and asked if there was anything I needed and what I needed was chocolate so he brought me chocolate on the way home and the girls have been really sweet, they tell me that they hope I get better;Sarah kissed my foot and Julia got me a glass of water and cleaned fruit for us to share. A girl could get use to this.

Morning Routine

The morning ran fairly smoothly. I've been setting my cell phone alarm at 7am in their room;so when they get up, hopefully I've had a shower already. Unfortunately Julia is an early bird so she gets up at 6 or 6:30. It's all right though because I can take a shower after their drop off. We were a little pressed for time so we stopped by the golden arches(sarah loves drawing pictures or "The Big M"). Not so healthy but I figure once a week on humpday will be fun. Sarah was fine at the drop-off;no crying, whining, and I didn't even have to carry her in. Her regular teacher was there which I'm sure makes it easier on her. Julia was fine at drop-off too. She told me"Mom,just pick me up at 1:00";she's liking school. Tomorrow I will make them some oatmeal or pancakes with fruit(something a little more hardy than Mcdonalds).

work and play

Business is definitely picking up. We sold most of our listings and then my Dad sent out his post cards which meant more people calling him left and right. So that's very good;this past weekend we've had about 10 showings at one place;which is awesome. So hopefully we'll get an offer very soon.
Mean while, the girls were running wild while I've been at work. I guess they mostly run between Dann and my mom like pin balls and then play with each other for a while until one makes the other one scream and then the process repeats. When I got home from work my mom and Dann were very tired, so I took the girls to Sandy's Beach and we had a great time watching the kites fly, Sarah enjoyed picking up sea creatures and putting them back gently, and we all made a sand castle before it started raining. Being away from them makes me appreciate the sweet times that much more.

Statehood Day

Today is Hawaiis' 50th Statehood day; no one really celebrates it because many Hawaiians want Hawaii to be sovereign. It is strange that this Island in the North Pacific Ocean is considered part of America but so is Alaska, so who am I to argue. It also means no school or work but Dad and I have a zillion things to do anyway so Sarah and Dann will have some quality time today;which is great because school is starting for Dann very soon. Julias' Preschool is open today though and they are having a sportday of fun. So she'll probably be very happy when she gets home from that, probably sleepy but very happy.

We all survived the first week of school. Julia has had a bit of an adjustment these past couple of days;the director of the school was telling me that her kids had a delayed reaction and I guess that's what happened with Julia. She didn't want me to leave yesterday, she was glued to me and every time I put her down she would cry and run back to me again.She cried for about 5 minutes.Once she got her pillow and blanket out of her cubby she lay down. Finally Mrs. Mickey came and told her she would be too hot and would get a heat rash. Julia told Mrs.Mickey that she already had bug bights, then Mrs.Mickey asked Julia to draw a picture and Julia told her that she already drew a picture the day before, Julia is so funny.
I was worried about Julia after I dropped her off yesterday so I stuck around to keep an eye on her just out of sight, my heart was breaking and I started crying too;pretty embarrassing but very common from what they tell me. They told me to just call so I did and Mr. Tracey told me that she was doing fine, which was a relief.
I told the morning teachers aid Mr. Tracey that I would just give the goodbye hug and kiss and drop her off with him today. He told me that was the best thing to do because then it's not as drawn out. So that's what I did I put her down next to Mr.Tracey and walked off. He said she cried for about 10 seconds and then asked him to read to her and then she was fine the rest of the day. Her school is really good, all the teachers are very compassionate, it's sort of like one big family there. One of the teachers at Julias' school has a daughter that's in Sarahs' class so that's kind of cool too. I also volunteered at Julias' school about 9 years ago and Julias' teacher was a teachers aide at the time for the same group I volunteered for. So two happy coincidences.
Sarah seems to like school although it's hard to get much out of her on the subject. She talks about kids and stuff that they said, so she's definitely enjoying the social aspect of it. Which is the most important part of school, at least at this age I think. Julia gushes about PreK, she tells us about playground time, her friends, and her teachers. She drew a picture for her teacher Mrs. Raquel this morning. I'd say they both are having a good experience with it all.

I couldn't fit many pics. of Sarah with Julias, so here are some more.

Pictures of Julias hair and action shots of Sarah

Julia did fine at school. Dann told me that she was sleeping on her blanket when he got there. Here are the pictures of her new hair style and also a couple action poses of Sarah. Sarah was wired today, she kept doing flips on her bed, in the grass, and on the couch and each time telling me that she's amazing(she is pretty amazing but I think she said it enough for the both of us haha). Sarah and I had lots of fun today though, she made a craft, we danced, and she convinced me to do a head stand with her at one point too! So with out much more delay;here are the pictures!

Julias' New Do

Let me start the hair cut story from the beginning...
Julia needed pictures of the fam. for her preschool class. So I made a collage and to make a collage I needed scissors. Well, when I was done with these scissors I put them on the counter far enough out of the reach of some little hands,or so I thought. This morning while I'm doing my make up routine in the bathroom, Sarah runs up to me and tells me that Julia cut her hair. I didn't know what to expect but I look at Julia and she's holding a hand full of long blond curls and right away a story of her Aunt Katrina at this age comes to mind. Well obviously I didn't put the scissors far enough out of reach, I could've kicked myself but there was nothing else I could do but finish the job.She told me that Sarah dared her to do it(which she didn't)and then she told me that she cut it because she wanted it to look like mine(thank goodness she didn't cut it to look like mine). It's actually kind of cute, a couple ladies gave her compliments and one of them said she looks like Shirley Temple. I definitely felt a little sick hacking those beautiful curls away but like we all say, it's just hair and it'll grow back.

School Days

Sarah tried the younger class Hula yesterday and when she came out she said "Aloha, Aloha;Do you know what Aloha means? It means I love you.", she was so sweet and I think the half hour was better than the hour for her age and level. Today she started her first full day of school and I pick her up in an hour. I hope she enjoyed herself today.
Julia just got back from her first day of PreK. Well we walked back and I half held her; which I would love to do every day if possible because it gives us quality time to talk about her day. Today I accompanied her, but tomorrow it'll be just her and her class. Julia told me she didn't want to go again but she seemed very happy while she was there. I told her that we're all going to be busy but we can all talk about what we did when we were apart when we get together again. She put herself to bed as soon as we got home so I take that as a sign that she enjoyed herself. I hope she loves it.

Sarah had her first half day of school today. As soon as we got there she made a friend named Jordan. They ran around together until their class started. Sarah sat so nicely, when ever I looked at her she had a big smile on her face. Dann met with Sarahs' teacher after class for parent orientation. He said I didn't miss much and that Sarahs' teacher told him that Sarah did fine but was a little apprehensive during playtime. She'll learn to love it though I'm sure. She also had her Hula Class today and her teacher told me she needs to try the younger class, which I completely agree with. Sarah told me that it was really hard so hopefully the younger class will be easier and more enjoyable for her.
Sarah is starting full time Kindergarten on Monday and Julia is starting Preschool on Monday as well. I'm really excited for the both of them. They'll be able to share all these fun experiences they've had with us. Another nice thing about them going to school is I'll be able to work on a more regular basis. I told Sarah that I was so excited for her because she's going to Kindergarten. Then she told me that she was so excited for me because I have Real estate.

Little Hula

Sarah has been asking for Hula lessons and my mom signed her up for them today! She goes in the morning tomorrow. Lessons will be once a week on Sunday mornings. I'm so excited for her. This is just what she needs! We were going to send Julia to Hula lessons too but she would rather do Ballet. She tells me this while dancing daintily. So we'll have to look into some Ballet lessons for Julia. Maybe they can teach other the different styles and have the best of both worlds.
I'm pretty sure Sarah is going to love this. She learned a little Hula at her preschool and her teacher said that she really enjoyed it. Hula really is such a beautiful dance.