Day Six through Eleven

Day #6
Took the kids to Belmont Park and the beach. It was a great day and very relaxing. My daughter tried her hand at boogie boarding and learned its a big workout. She wasn't quite up to riding the rides. I didn't want to, our son is too young and my husband can't ride. We spent six great hours together.

Day #7
My sister came in last night and would spend the day. Her main purpose for the trip was to visit the international cottage in Balboa Park which are only open on Sundays. After a great Sunday service, we picked up some fast food and headed down. The kids did pretty good but after a while they started they usual complaining. I let it be know that that attitude was what kept them from having certain blessings because I don't reward bad behavior.

It was great to visit with my sister and see how she is doing.
The kids are on a television fast, so it will be interesting to see how well they will find other things to occupy their time.

Day #8
My sister returned home and my son returned to preschool. My daughter began to clear out her room of old clothes and things she no longer wanted. I had a $10 gift certificate to use....can you guess what I bought??? One pair of sleep pants for myself and four bras for my daughter. If my son would have had his way he would have gotten more shirts. I understand Sinbad's statement more than ever, "human atm."

The kids had some withdrawal wanted to watch tv or watch me play a game. I decided I'll wait till they are in bed before I attempt to play from no on. My son was so automatic in wanting to turn the tv on when he got home from preschool. It really doesn't take a long time to make a bad habit.

She started fretting over her face. Her skin was showing it got some sun on Saturday, she had some major peeling going on, and she was starting to get frantic.
I explained it will pass but that wasn't enough.

Day #9
My son was invited to be part of a panel that was investigating how children reconcile when a person says pieces, parts and whole. Capt. Blue was my son's reference point. For example he was shown a whole shoe and a shoe but in two pieces. He was asked was it a good job or bad job when Capt Blue said he had 3 shoes and why. My son's answers were very inventive, sometimes saying Capt Blue broke his shoe, so he did a bad job. Other times he made up such an elaborate story all I could do was shake my head. Its amazing how our kids think but it also let me know that I must be patient when communicating with my children because they may not understand at first and might need to rephrase so they get it.

Helped my her prepare spaghetti for the first time. We used the leftover ground beef from taco night so teaching her how to brown ground beef will come later. Everything turned out well and I will be putting her to use in the kitchen more often.

I pulled out various board games and the kids kept very busy and had fun. For sure I'll make sure Sun, Tues and Thurs will be non television days and we'll play board games. We did finally hear from my son's soccer coach, now to go spend more money.

Day #10
We put off our major shopping trip, hubby's request, and that was just fine with me. After a discussion about cost, we agreed to let her get an mp3 player. She was been looking at ipods and we spent a good portion of time looking at websites so she could get an idea about what she wanted. So we headed to WalMart and did some shopping: Me for household items, Her ipod. She saw an RCA mp3 player for $20 less and decided on that. Wow spending her own money made her be frugal about the purchase... and of course I told her she could get other things with the money she saved. I had her start using the skin repair cream immediately to help with the freckles and peeling.

Now come the tears....well we needed to work on her hair. For 3 days I didn't say anything about her hair...wanted to see if she'd take some initiative. Well she did, she washed her hair with leave in condition. I had my work cut of for me. She showed me a hairstyle and we went at it. Unfortunately her dandruff is starting to concern me...how could it creep up so quickly! Anyway I got her bangs back and there wasn't a tangle to be found...but she way crying. What!? Did I miss something here??? I didn't say anything I just gave her a box of tissues and continued working on her hair. I bumped some curl in the bottom and explained that we would need to "teach" her hair to behave the way we wanted it to behave.

While picking up my son and pizza.. my stress level had significantly elevated, I stopped by Big Lots and purchased a journal. I wrote a few comments in them and told her she could write me back and put in on my pillow. I told her I loved her and it will all work out. My husband got caught up in work so I took her to her youth group and we processed to put rollers in the hair for the first time. We'll see what happens.

Day #11
Okay what happened was.... just kidding.
I still had not achieved the look she wanted but she did look nice. While in the bookstore, spending that $20, we looked at a few hair magazines and she told me what she wanted...spirals and bangs. Lord, I need a guide on how to do curly Qs!! We had a good day returning a few things my son didn't need and window shopping. Of course she found another style she wants me to try....Lord help!

I put her in charge of making dinner, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans. I made the cornbread. Things went well again. It was great to eat dinner as a family.

While she was in her room I noticed the journal on my pillow. She apologized for being emotional yesterday, didn't understand why. I wrote her back and told her to be patient with herself because it is going to be alright. I slipped in back on her pillow while she was brushing her teeth. I made sure to reinforce how much better skin was looking and the importance of sun block.

And the adventures continues...