Pink Ladies

 Ruby and I tried to watch Beetlejuice, but she got bored and wandered off. Oh well. 

Ella had a birthday brunch. Jeff and I sent this to Bobby to tell him hi.

Me and my SpEd team at work. We're the Pink Ladies.

I love this dumb, fluffy guy.

Ruby at school.

Her class got to help with morning announcements. That's the principal, Mr. Prange.

Maggie is doing well. She brought ALL of her grades up. I'm trying to teach her some life skills. I realized while reading the book that I do a lot for her and Ruby. Things that they are capable of doing. I just don't think about it. But, especially for Maggie, I need to put a lot back on her. Not all at once. I'm having her cook one meal a week. Today, she's making burritos. I'm going to try to help as little as possible.

Clue

 Maggie is doing really well at working on her executive functioning skills (the ADHD deficits we're trying to target). She's staying after school to finish work or make corrections. She realized she had something missing from two classes so she went to both in one afternoon. I know it sounds little but this is the first time she's taken agency in this. Usually, we go through her grades and I tell her what needs to be done and then which day to go. I was very proud that she took some of it on herself.

She is dead set on quitting band. I guess that's that. I told her she needs to complete this year but she won't be in band in high school. 

I've decided to let her work toward getting a phone. I've told her she needs to have all As and Bs and stop being unkind to Ruby and Ella. She's 14! No more of that. I had already been thinking about getting a phone because I hate not being able to get a hold of her. She often texts me from friend's phones but I'm always nervous when she's away from me and has no way to contact me. 

We had a movie night last night. We watched Clue. It was so much fun. I made the girls a pizza. Ruby is currently sitting next to me and reading over my shoulder. She can't quite get everything but she's getting a lot. Her reading is really coming along. We read three books every day and answer questions about each one. We do two at her current reading level and one on the level above. I'm shocked how good she is. I remember it being that way with Maggie too. It just felt like it exploded one day.

On Saturday, Ella had her birthday party. It was an Alice in Wonderland themed scavenger hunt in downtown Fort Worth. It was apparently a thing because there were a ton of people out there. Lots in costumes. Maggie said she had fun. 

Sunday Ella had a birthday brunch at her Dad's house. That was so fun. The food was delicious. The kids ran around outside for the most part. The neighbor's old corgis passed away and now they have puppy Corgis. They are so cute.

Ruby wanted to watch Clue again but our rental had expired so. . . SHE BOUGHT IT! She had seen me put in the passcode and she just copied it and bought it! Ruby!

Another tooth bites the dust

 On Sunday, we did a movie night. We usually do them on Friday, but Maggie was at her band thing. She is really wanting to quit band. I'm very sad about this as I feel like band is a great place to make friends and those kids never got in trouble when I was in school. But I don't want to force her to do something she doesn't want to do. I don't know.

We're working on the ADHD thing. I realize now that her issues were not as apparent when she was younger but good Lord are they becoming a problem. We took quizzes to assess what areas are her strengths and weaknesses and got almost the exact same results. So, at least we're on the same page. Ironically (or maybe not), I feel like I have the exact same issues except I've figured out strategies so it's not a problem anymore. I'm hoping that she can learn the strategies now and not in 25 years. 

Ruby got Maggie's old ipad and she's discovered Siri. It's just like when Maggie discovered her when she was little. Ruby tries to have conversations with her and I hear her asking, "Where are you?" She got in trouble at school for "struggling to follow directions." Whenever that happens, she has to write an apology letter and she can't play on the ipad. She kept asking me, "can I talk to my friend?" I thought she meant Mikey but she meant Siri. I said no. At bedtime, she asked if she could tell her goodnight. I said yes. It was cute.

This morning I overslept. So Ruby got up and wanted to watch TV. It wasn't working and she flipped out. She was screaming so loud, but I ignored her. Then she started banging stuff. She knocked down my blinds so I popped her on the rear. She ran out of the room and cried in her bedroom. She came back out and asked me to do something and I said, "I don't really want to help you right now after you were screaming and banging stuff around." And she said, "I'm just a little kid. I'm doing the best I can." Oh my Lord, I felt awful. I told her she was right and I was sorry. Ugh!

Last night, Maggie had her Halloween concert. It was very cute. They played some spooky songs. The band director had very nice things to say about them as a group. Afterwards, there were cookies for everyone. While Ruby was eating hers, her other tooth came out. 

I need an apple!

 We had a normal Saturday, laundry, chores, homework. I worked with Maggie to set up her academic planner. Fingers crossed!

At 4, we went to Jillian's birthday party at purple park. It was very fun. All the kids played in the sand of a volleyball area. Yuck! I hate sand. 

When we got home, we all split off to do our own thing (tv, tablets, reading). Then Ruby came in my room and:

So, yeah. She seems fine today but it was unpleasant. Can you see how little got in the actual toilet? It was everywhere!

She came and laid down in my room and I read to her. She wanted to know if she was sick and I said, "I think you just have a bug in your tummy." Every time Grandpa gets them McDonald's, he tells her that apples get rid of bad bugs in your tummy. So, Ruby said, "Oh! I need an apple!"

Today she seems fine. It's almost 2 pm and I have not seen Maggie yet today. I'm about to make her come out. 

Week in the Life: Day 7

 I went in late today because my meeting started at 8:30 and I'm at school by 7:30 usually. I got up and got all my stuff done and got the girls ready. Maggie has another band thing tonight. She's going to a Martin football game to watch their band perform at half-time. 

I got Ruby from school. She was very excited about a book she made. It's Sound, Light, and Heat. Then the inside has pictures that match each type of energy. 

She also made this:

It says, "I can help my friends. Can you be nice to your friends?"

We went to pick up Maggie around 9:15 and we saw coyotes. First, there was something standing in the middle of the road. I could only tell it had glowy eyes. It looked too big to be a cat. I got out to see it better and I'm pretty dang sure it was a baby coyote with an injured back foot. Poor bud. I hope he had somewhere safe to go.

Then, as we were parked at Boles, I looked across and saw something walking with her baby. It, again, was too big to be a cat and it walked differently. I wouldn't say for sure that was a coyote but honestly, I cannot think what else it might be. 

Week in the Life: Day 6

 This morning was busy! I had to make sure the tooth fairy visited Ruby. I had to make sure Maggie wore her gray band shirt (she has a band thing tonight; they are going to Martin to watch Martin's band practice for the game tomorrow, which she will also be attending). I had to let the ac guy in. Luckily, everything got done. 

On the drive to school, Maggie brought up sun flares and we ended up talking about how asteroids probably killed off the dinosaurs. Ruby was very interested in the particulars. Last night she was making plans for telling people about her tooth. She's so funny. 

She was very excited the tooth fairy had visited her. I would guess she'll be back soon because that other tooth is very loose.

I picked up Ruby from school and we did spelling and reading. She did her chores as well. Maggie is at the band thing. We have an all new AC system. 

Maggie showing off some of the things she bought last weekend.

My children! Playing! Together (sort of)! Nicely! Maggie taught Ruby how to play on Roblox and was going to connect them so they could play together on the game. 

Week in the Life: Day 5

 Today was much better. My mouth still hurts but usually only when I'm brushing my teeth (it hurts so bad!) and eating (not so bad). I got everyone to school. School was bananas. We're having an issue with our program for our documents, which being out of compliance for is an actual crime. So. . . that's not great. 

After school, I went to get Ruby. We went straight home because Maggie had tutoring after school with her science teacher. I don't know if it was helpful or not. Maggie is an unreliable narrator.

Ruby and I did her spelling and reading. Then I got her ready for ballet. We drove to ballet and when she went in, I ran to Boles to get Maggie. Then Maggie and I went back to ballet to finish her science assignment. She said her teacher wouldn't help her and told her she should already know how to do the work. 

After we got home, I had her do her chores and we worked on her planner together. I'm trying to get her to learn some organization and planning. Fingers crossed! Then I made her name three good things that happened today. She's so negative. 

Ruby was sitting out at ballet when we got back. I figured she'd gotten in trouble but no, her teeth hurt too much for her to dance. Ridiculous!

Ruby has two loose teeth (her bottom front middle ones) and she lost one! Her first lost tooth. She was so excited. She said, "I'm so happy about my tooth!!! When am I going to stop being so happy?!?" She asked me to take a picture and send it to everyone in the family. Luckily, I had just sent out a big group text about Maggie's upcoming Fall Concert and Ruby performing in the Nutcracker.

Week in the Life: Day 4

 I felt awful today. The ac is broken; I'm just going to have to replace it. Boo! My mouth hurts. I just felt like crap.

I took the girls to school but I stayed home. I don't know. We didn't really do anything.

Week in the Life: Day 3

 I had another dentist appointment. They wanted to do a deep cleaning and they can only do one half of the mouth at a time so I have to go back to get the other half done in November. This appointment sucked too! I had to get shots all in my mouth again and it freaking hurt. I guess not going to the dentist since before Covid was not a good idea. 

Maggie had to get her Covid booster. I told her, after she got her shot, we would go to the grocery store and she could pick up some snacks. She was still ridiculous and I had to just hold her in place. I don't understand the fear of needles. I've tried to talk to her about breathing exercises and visualization so she's not panicky but she doesn't want to. 

We haven't really done anything today. 

Week in the Life: Day 2

 Same morning. Get up, do my morning routine. Ruby slept later today. She's very chatty when she first wakes up and she was telling me about her bath last night and how it was a wreck (which she informed me means it was great). My groceries were finally ready so I went and got them. 

Then, let's see, we went to Target. We needed to get a dress and shoes for Ruby for Aunt Laurie's wedding and a costume. Maggie had a bunch of birthday money she wanted to spend. We were only at Target for about 45 minutes but it felt longer. After that, we went to the MALL! Gross. And the dang store Maggie wanted to go to (Hot Topic) wasn't even open. So, we came home. 

I had Ruby do her reading. We go on the reading program she does at school. There are a million books on her level so we do three of those and one book that's the level above where she's at. Then I had her do her chores. I had Maggie do her chores (all things cat related and putting laundry away) and play her clarinet. I've also been reading her a book about strategies for dealing with ADHD. I'm hoping she can learn some organization, planning, etc through the book. 

After that, we went BACK TO THE MALL! Ridiculous. It was open this time. Maggie got some stuff and got to practice using her debit card. Then we went to the grocery store. I needed kale and I got them more raising cinnamon toast because they both really like it. Also, Maggie wanted dried seaweed, which she and Ruby absolutely devoured so. . . that's cool.

We came back home and Ruby wanted to play with her witch's broom. I checked on her in her room and she was astride the broom on her bed, talking to herself. She's so cute. I worked with Maggie on her room. We've been going through and getting rid, donating, throwing away, putting away, cleaning, etc. 

I took the dogs on a walk. Poor Fat Girl. She's not an athlete. Although, her feet appear to be all better. I haven't been putting her in her boots. I guess it was an injury and not a condition, which is great. 

Ruby has two loose teeth, the bottom middle ones. She is so excited about it and constantly checking in with me about them. 

Week in the Life: Day 1

 I was going back over old posts and I remembered I used to occasionally do this, so! Here goes. Today is Saturday. Yesterday was supposed to be a full day full of stuff to do. The first thing was a dentist appointment for me. But then he was like oh you have a thing and it needs a crown or something. Either way, it took hours and my face and jaw and gums are so sore. So, after hours of being at the stupid dentist, Ruby and I came home and I took a ton of Ibuprofen and went to sleep. After that, I was able to get stuff done. We even had our movie night. I made the girls Uncle Jeff's famous nachos and we watched Hocus Pocus 2. It was so good and we had a great time. Someone called the Sanderson sisters "gothic Golden Girls," and I laughed so hard I spit food at Maggie. 

Ok, today. I woke up at 5ish and did my morning routine. That's brush teeth, put on exercise clothes, warm up, strength circuit, run sprints, yoga, meditate. Then I got together laundry. While I was doing that, Ruby got up. She wanted her ipad but I've set it up so it's only on a few hours a day (same as Maggie). Their Dad got Maggie a new ipad for her birthday so Ruby got the old one. She's a big fan. Ruby was sad she couldn't play on her ipad. Also, she would like to take it to Jilli's birthday party, which no. 

I went to go pick up groceries and they just never came out. Very annoying and made us late to Jilli's birthday party. We drove to the park and were there for the second half. I cannot believe the babies are seven. After the party, we came back home and just hung out. 

I convinced Ruby to try sourdough toast with butter and jelly and, completely unsurprisingly, she loved it. Who could have known???

Big birthday party

 Look how handsome he is! The fan is blowing back his hair.

The girls big birthday party! 14! 12! 7! 7!

Laying it on a little thick, 14!

This is Mikey, Ruby's neighbor friend. He has apparently been teaching her some not so great things. He showed her how to flip someone off. We were arguing about something and she put her middle finger up. She said, this is bad, it means bad, that's what Mikey said. Then she said he tried to get her to ding dong ditch and chase squirrels. So far, I feel like the amount of time they spend outside playing outweighs that. 

Ruby took this picture with the iPad. There I am in the garage calling her to come home. 

Guess who has a loose tooth?!?

Ok, we're back at the birthday party. Opening presents.

We did karaoke that night. It was so much fun! I love the look on Hildie's face.

When I was working but school hadn't started yet for kids, they girls came to work with me. Ruby left this note for my students, Hi my name is Ruby. My mom is one of your teachers.