Today's the day

Today's the day, that special day.  Six years ago today, Monkey entered our lives.  Only we didn't call her "Monkey" then because we didn't know she'd be one.  We called her Little Bit, because she was just a little bit of a baby.

 

We had no idea what we were doing - but then who does when they're first-time parents?  Watching her grow and change has been an amazing journey.  Some great, some not so great, but I wouldn't change a thing.  Not ever.  It was just yesterday that she just started walking, the day before that she started talking and the day before that she started crawling.

 

Now she's a big 6 year old - 6 YEARS - and starting first grade.  Now she's into Hannah Montana and really excited about getting nail polish and lip gloss (I thought I had a few years before this!).  Now she's not my little bit any more, she's my big girl.  I look at her and sometimes forget that she can do things on her own.  That's she's big enough to refill the soap bottle in the bathroom without making a huge mess.  There are still things we need to work on, like riding a bike without training wheels, but she's reading like a champ and writes beautifully (for a 6 year old).  

 

Last night, in celebration of her birthday, after she went to sleep, I decorated her room with crepe paper streamers.  I don't remember who I got the idea from, but I think it was a dear friend back in Oklahoma.  Presents from Grandma and Mawmaw and Pawpaw arrived this week, but I saved them for Monkey to open today.  The card from Granddaddy and Nanny she opened when it arrived and was very excited for the money.  We'll be going shopping today, I'm sure.

 

This morning, she got up early and opened presents (kinda like Christmas for her, I suppose).  She got all Hannah Montana stuff from Grandma and Mawmaw and Pawpaw.  Very exciting!  From mommy and daddy she got a Webkinz and a small messenger bag she can color and decorate herself.  We had chocolate chip pancakes shaped like stars (and bears for little brother).  I have no idea what we'll do today, but I told Monkey she didn't have to do her chores on her birthday.  No one should have to work on their birthday.

 

I'll continue with my Frugal Friday later on today, since it is Friday and I do have something to add...

 

I also want to say that I realize that by posting a blog, there's always a chance new people (other than family and friends) might stumble across my blog and read it.  Welcome!!  I hope I don't bore you with tales of our family.  I hope you enjoy what you read and that you come back for more.

Thanks!

 

Transitions

This has been a transitional week for us.  The countdown is on for school to start on Monday - YAY!!  (Never in my life did I ever think I would look forward to school - needless to say, I support year-round schools!!)  So, to honor that, we've been stricter about bedtimes this week, and waking Monkey up at 6:30.  Still not early enough for when school starts, but I'm hoping it'll help with the transition (key word for today).

 

My schedule is starting to get busy with the Moms and More group - T-23 days and counting, the PTA and puppy classes start the same day as school starts.  Little Man starts preschool on the 26th of this month - again, YAY!!

 

I'm on the PTA Executive Board and we had our one/only Exec Board meeting last night where we discuss everything the PTA does/will do over the course of the next nine months.  It was a long meeting.  Our first official PTA meeting is in about a week and a half, so I have things I need to do to get that together.

 

Oh, have I mentioned that Monkey has a birthday this week?  She turns 6 on Friday and her party is Sat at Chuck E Cheese - one of my mostest favoritest places to be.  So there's cake to be ordered, goody-bags to put together (I really want to know who started THAT tradition!!), presents to buy.  And, she has another party to go to for someone else Sat afternoon AND Sun afternoon.  Boy are we going to be busy this weekend!

 

But I digress....  Transitions.  We've discussed the school transition.  I've also taken down the baby gate that was bolted at the top of the stairs.  Transitions.  We're working a little harder on potty training and started letting Little Man wear undies (more on that later).  Transitions.  I also converted Little Man's crib to his toddler bed this afternoon.  Transitions.  It's going to be a hard few weeks in our home.

 

How did this latest transition occur?  I was checking on Little Man for his nap, of which he was having nothing.  As I opened the door, I saw Little Man perched - literally PERCHED on the corner of his crib rails, against the wall.  I'm not quite sure what he was after, but the image that flashed through my mind was of an owl, scouting for dinner.  In Little Man's case, he was probably scouting for HotWheels.

 

Bedtime is gonna suck around here....

Question of the day

Is there anything more mind-numbing than watching 7 and 8 year olds play Monopoly?

Hannah has come home

 

Well, it has finally happened.  Hannah Montana has come home.  She is officially my little Monkey's new favorite thing.  OK, maybe it's not so new.  It's been brewing for quite a while.  We'll watch Hannah Montana at night, sometimes, during the last half-hour before bed.  

 

What's funny is that even our son is singing (at the top of his lungs in Wally World, mind you) "It's the BEST of both worlds!"  Yeah, that's my boy!

 

I was shopping for school supplies this weekend and Monkey wanted a Hannah Montana backpack.  I tried to explain to her that her current Disney Princess backpack is just fine, it'll get her through one more grade and I'll get her a new one for 2nd grade.  Or, she could use her own allowance to buy her bag.

 

That worked.  Not only did she buy herself a backpack, she bought an old-style tin Hannah Montana lunch box and a Hannah Montana wallet for her money.  Assuming I can get Blogger to work with me, I'll upload the picture I took of her purchase.  No, it's not really a big thing, but it's cute knowing that Monkey is out buying her own stuff.  No, wait, that means she's growing up.  No, that can't happen.  Not yet.

 

Did I mention she lost another tooth?

just an update

Just a quick update.  Monkey has survived the Yellow-Jacket Stinging Incident.  So well, in fact, by dinner-time she had completely forgotten about it, except to tell Trey when he got home (and I even had to remind her, then).

 

Final verdict:  I like using baking soda on bee stings.  It works.  There wasn't even a dot where the stinger went in and all swelling was gone within a couple of hours.  Also, I'm thankful to know she isn't allergic!

 

Now, on to birthday party planning, back to school planning, puppy classes (yes, we still have the puppy) and the regular day-to-day life of a socially driven mom who loves to "do things" instead of stay home and clean.  Who wouldn't, right?

Home remedies for bee stings

(Just a note - for some reason I'm having issues with the thingy that I type my blog in, sorry if it's hard to read for some reason...)

How many of you know a home remedy for bee stings?  Or several?  Well, guess what?  There are a LOT of home remedies for bee stings.  I remember as a child I got stung once and Daddy chewed up some tobacco from a cigarette to take the poison out. I also remember thinking that it didn't help much.

Well, Monkey got stung by a bee today. On her finger. She wasn't happy about it. Actually, she screamed. I thought it was her normal "I have a bug on me" scream, 

because those are usually the loudest, shrillest screams.  The kind that when it happens in our yard, I expect the neighbors to come running to see what's

going on. Anyway, I heard her scream so I look to see what bug had the audacity to land on her arm, when in fact it was a yellow-jacket on her finger, hanging by his stinger.

Apparently bee stings are on the same "screaming" level as an innocent flying bug that just happens to land on her arm. Only this time, there were great big tears. Luckily (or unluckily, since this

was probably why the bee was there in the first place) she was holding a cup with a snowcone inside. I scraped out the stinger and held her cup next to the finger to keep the cold on it.

As we were heading home, I called a friend and asked her what to do with a sting. I haven't had to deal with this as an adult so the only cure I remember is tobacco and since I don't smoke, 

I didn't have any tobacco to chew up. She said she remembered her mom using baking soda and something - either water or vinegar.

Well, since the fizzing of combining baking soda and vinegar on her finger would completely FREAK her out, I went with baking soda and water as soon as we got home. She's watching TV

now, completely distracted. So I took the time to do a little research on home remedies for stings.

Let's see, there's:

raw onion

honey

baking soda with vinegar and meat tenderizer

baking soda and water

tobacco

toothpaste

the insides of a tomato

aloe and/or lavender (I'm guessing the lavender is to calm the patient??)

mud

egg yolk

ammonia (aka urine)

a penny or a nickel placed on the sting

raw bacon wrapped around the sting (I guess cooked would be too tempting to eat)

aspirin

antiperspirant

plantain leaves plus a whole host of different herbal/holistic choices.

then there's all the different remedies you can find at the store.

At our house, the baking soda and water seemed to work pretty well, so we may stick to that. Or we might go with the toothpaste. If nothing else, the idea of putting toothpaste on a boo-boo

will distract them enough to keep tears at bay.

Frugal Friday

Has it already been a week?  

Is it really time for more frugal tips?

I'm not sure I can keep this up.  I couldn't make the Wed Week in Review work.  I admire those blogs that I've been reading  that has weekly regulars like this.  Things like Works For Me Wednesday, Favorite Ingredient Friday,  Super Savings Saturday, and I think I saw somewhere else that someone had a Frugal Friday, but I don't remember where it was.

It's tax-free weekend this weekend, that's frugal, isn't it?  I only spent $10 on school supplies for Monkey and a backpack for Little Man (he starts preschool this fall).  

Ok, sorry, that's all I have.  I didn't have a chance to surf the 'net looking for neat, frugal ideas with the house work, tax free shopping and grocery shopping I did this evening.  Now it's time to go veg in front of the TV.