My Mother’s House
6 years ago
Showing posts with label Mikayla. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mikayla. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Mikayla Week Part 2
Today's her birthday, and I didn't expect to be sad about it! I really was thrown for a loop when I started crying this morning that my little angel is a 10 year old now. Wow. Here's some photos from October 2006 when Izzy was born through 2008.
Monday, September 17, 2012
The BIG 1 - O
September 18th marks the day my first child was born. This girl is nearly perfect and I'm always so proud to call her mine. Here's some pictures of pictures of Mikayla when she was just born through age 4. They are pictures of pictures because it would take much too long to scan them all and this was before I had a digital camera. Mikayla was practically born in the stone age people.
More pictures to come!
First Birthday
5 Generation picture.
I love the way Granny Ruth is adoring Mikayla
Mikayla would hug this big Santa at Nana and Papa's house every time she came over
Master of the Nuk
Monday, April 30, 2012
We're Off to See the Wizard!!
Last weekend was opening weekend of The Wizard of Oz which both my girls were in! Mikayla plays the roles of Crow, Poppy, and a Candy Shop Girl in Oz; and Izzy plays Toto during the Kansas scenes.
Mikayla continues to show no fear on stage, while Izzy has been riddled with anxiety since the beginning, but both girls are doing an awesome job! The hours have been long, not getting home and in bed until about 11:00 this past week (which explains why at 10:30 on a non-play night they are both in their beds still awake and reciting lines from the play) but it has been worth it!
The entire show has surpased my expectations, and those of most of our audience members. We have sold out two of our 4 shows so far before even opening the doors, and are looking forward to another busy weekend of performances. I'm not going to go into it too much tonight, but wanted to show you a few pictures for those of you haven't seen them on facebook already (my facebook friends are getting tired of hearing about the Wizard of Oz by now I'm sure)
Mikayla in stage makeup before dress rehearsal. Mikayla loves being in plays and has no stage fear. I wish I was more like that! She is enthusiastic and a pretty awesome singer!
Izzy as Toto holding the Toto that sits with the narrator Dorothy. Lots of things throughout the process of rehearsals and performances have worried Izzy to tears, and the late nights have made her pretty tired, but she is having a lot of fun making new friends and playing in the dressing rooms with the other kids. She is such a cute Toto and gets lots of laughs and "Awww"s from the audience! She is having fun and once she gets past each of the little details that worries her she enjoys herself quite a bit!
We have 6 Dorothys, 2 Totos, 2 Wicked witches, 2 Glindas, and some double-casted munchkins as well. Partly to accommodate a very large cast of 115 kids!
Toto scoping out Professor Marvel's roasting marshmallow.
Mikayla in her crow costume for the scene where Dorothy meets the Scarecrow. She likes being a crow, they get to sing and dance with the Scarecrow and tease him throughout the scene.
So you put makeup on her and she becomes a 13 year old?
Opening night was one of their sold out shows, and was a huge success!
We are so proud of our kids!
If you are interested in coming to see the show, you should order online before it sells out! youththeatreworkshop.org
Saturday, April 14, 2012
The Day I Killed Santa
What do Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy have in common?
Less than a week ago, they all died.
At least to Mikayla they did. A couple years ago Mikayla asked me, "Mom, are you the tooth fairy?" and since she was almost eight years old I gave it to her straight. "Yes, I am." and she instantly felt part of a big secret. But she didn't ask about any of the others, and we had planned on waiting until she asked before we told her the real deal about Santa and the Easter Bunny... but she didn't ask. Ever.
I even tried to coax it out of her last fall, knowing that Christmas would be coming up. Asking her leading questions about if she had any questions or wanted to talk about the fact that the Tooth Fairy isn't real. She didn't bite.
As we neared Easter we decided we'd wait until after Easter and tell her the truth, not wanting to break it to her 2 days before the holiday. It had gotten to the point where we worried she'd start getting teased about it at school, but she takes being lied to really hard. One of her close friends lied to her at school a few months ago and she came home sobbing like someone had chopped off her foot. Needless to say I was a little nervous about telling her that it had all been a "lie".
The first chance we got after Easter was Monday evening on the way to Wizard of Oz rehearsal (both the girls are in the Wizard of Oz which opens in less than 2 weeks!) when it was just Mikayla in the car.
Me: Do you remember when I told you about how the Tooth Fairy isn't real and that it's really me and dad?
Mikayla: yeah?
Me: You know Santa and the Easter Bunny?
Mikayla: Are you saying they're not real too? (looking shocked and bummed)
Me: me and Dad are Santa and the Easter Bunny.
Mikayla: Does that mean nothing is real?
Me: like what things do you mean?
Mikayla: (a little bit frantic) So Leprechauns aren't real!!?
Me: (stifling a giggle) No leprechauns are not real. These things are just fun to imagine and think about. They're all just magical make-believe fun for kids.
She took it pretty well. I told her that now that she was in on the secret she needed to keep the secret, and not tell anyone and ruin the fun for them. She said it would be easy to not tell the little kids but she'd have a hard time keeping it to herself with her friends... and we were 3 minutes away from play rehearsal where there are over 100 kids of all ages.
As we pull in to the parking lot she's got her hand on her mouth saying, "Oh I'm going to tell someone! I'm going to tell someone!" Luckily she didn't. And since getting through that first time around friends I think she has it under control. I'm just happy she wasn't furious with us for "lying" to her all these years, but she understood that it was for fun.
But now, as far as my oldest child goes, Santa and the Easter Bunny are gone. But she'll still get all the goodies! :o)
Less than a week ago, they all died.
At least to Mikayla they did. A couple years ago Mikayla asked me, "Mom, are you the tooth fairy?" and since she was almost eight years old I gave it to her straight. "Yes, I am." and she instantly felt part of a big secret. But she didn't ask about any of the others, and we had planned on waiting until she asked before we told her the real deal about Santa and the Easter Bunny... but she didn't ask. Ever.
I even tried to coax it out of her last fall, knowing that Christmas would be coming up. Asking her leading questions about if she had any questions or wanted to talk about the fact that the Tooth Fairy isn't real. She didn't bite.
As we neared Easter we decided we'd wait until after Easter and tell her the truth, not wanting to break it to her 2 days before the holiday. It had gotten to the point where we worried she'd start getting teased about it at school, but she takes being lied to really hard. One of her close friends lied to her at school a few months ago and she came home sobbing like someone had chopped off her foot. Needless to say I was a little nervous about telling her that it had all been a "lie".
The first chance we got after Easter was Monday evening on the way to Wizard of Oz rehearsal (both the girls are in the Wizard of Oz which opens in less than 2 weeks!) when it was just Mikayla in the car.
Me: Do you remember when I told you about how the Tooth Fairy isn't real and that it's really me and dad?
Mikayla: yeah?
Me: You know Santa and the Easter Bunny?
Mikayla: Are you saying they're not real too? (looking shocked and bummed)
Me: me and Dad are Santa and the Easter Bunny.
Mikayla: Does that mean nothing is real?
Me: like what things do you mean?
Mikayla: (a little bit frantic) So Leprechauns aren't real!!?
Me: (stifling a giggle) No leprechauns are not real. These things are just fun to imagine and think about. They're all just magical make-believe fun for kids.
She took it pretty well. I told her that now that she was in on the secret she needed to keep the secret, and not tell anyone and ruin the fun for them. She said it would be easy to not tell the little kids but she'd have a hard time keeping it to herself with her friends... and we were 3 minutes away from play rehearsal where there are over 100 kids of all ages.
As we pull in to the parking lot she's got her hand on her mouth saying, "Oh I'm going to tell someone! I'm going to tell someone!" Luckily she didn't. And since getting through that first time around friends I think she has it under control. I'm just happy she wasn't furious with us for "lying" to her all these years, but she understood that it was for fun.
But now, as far as my oldest child goes, Santa and the Easter Bunny are gone. But she'll still get all the goodies! :o)
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Bullies
Bullies.
image taken from google images
Every grade has them. Most classes have them to some extent, even among the Kindergartners (and some preschool class rooms probably I'm sure).
Mikayla is nine years old and has already dealt with a few different bullies. In Kindergarten and 1st grade it was a couple boys who were mean to everyone and pushing them around, threatening them with nasty looks. In second grade it was more the mean girl kind of bullying. She's in third grade now and has a particular boy in her class that is both obnoxiously distracting and physically aggressive. I'd pick him up by his collar and scream in his face if I didn't think I'd get arrested.
The bullying this year has just recently started, and her class has been a mess of teacher switching because her main teacher has had a lot of back problems, so when Mikayla told us about this kid last weekend I told her if it happens again to tell her new teacher. We are hoping her new teacher is strict and vigilant about this kind of behavior and will turn it around.
If the teacher doesn't do anything or it happens again though? We told her this: First get in his face and yell at him in your angriest voice, "Don't hit/kick me again or I'll hit/kick you back harder!!" And if he takes it as a challenge and keeps it up then we gave her full permission to use what she learned in 21 months of karate and knock him on his nasty little butt. She's a really strong girl, she could do it! We told her if she were to get in trouble for it, and only if he got physical first, we would stand up for her.
I was bullied when I was a kid. First in Kindergarten, then again in 6th grade, with some mean-girl junk somewhere in between. In Kindergarten I had to walk quite a ways (at least it felt like it to my 5 year old self) down the road to my bus stop. There I'd have to wait for the bus with two other Kindergarten girls who lived right next to each other and were good friends, and little b*&#@'s. I'd have to get there about 5 minutes before the bus came to make sure I wasn't late or anything, and then they would torment me. Pushing me around, knocking me to the ground, and when there was snow on the ground they'd throw big hard snow chunks the plows left at me until I cried.
Once there was enough snow to have created a big mound at the end of a driveway about half the way to the bus stop, I'd crouch next to that, hidden from those girls, and watch for the bus to pull onto our street. Then I'd have to run like hell to get to the bus stop, where the bus driver would very irritably tell me to get to the bus stop sooner so he wouldn't have to wait. I was five.
My parents had no idea this was going on because I never let on. I don't know why I didn't tell them, I know they would have helped me if I had told them but for some reason I didn't. I really wish I had. They didn't find out until after the school year I think when a neighbor mentioned to them that they had seen me sitting in that other driveway before the bus came. I don't remember what all the story was there, but I wish she had mentioned something to my parents sooner.
In 6th grade I was sitting in the back of the bus with my little sister and 2 other 6th grade boys. For whatever reason those boys decided I'd be their kicking bag and the object of their constant teasing. I came home crying most days, hiding it well from my parents. I don't know exactly why I didn't tell them about it, whether it was out of embarrassment or fear of it being worse if they did something about it. I wish I had told them about it earlier because when I broke down crying one night and told my parents, my dad got pretty pissed at them. He got in the van with me and I showed them where the boys lived and he drove to each house and went in to talk to their parents. I don't know exactly what was said, but it did get better after that. I'm glad he talked to them, and I'm sure he would have rather kicked them right back for me, but knowing my dad he was probably much more of a calm storm than what was going on in his head.
I only wish I had been the kind of kid that would have been able to stand up for myself better. I was quiet, shy, and other than some weird game where my friends would call me "Abigail" and I'd punch them in the arm, passive. I guess I was an easy target, which is what I don't want for my kids.
We told Mikayla, and will be talking to Izzy about as well very soon, not to let herself be an easy target, and to always come to us when stuff like that happens because we (like most parents) will always be in her corner. At the age she's at right now, most kids will back down if the victim puts up any kind of believable fight. "Get in their face and make them be afraid of what you will do to them" is what we told her. It's not the kind of thing I had the guts to do in elementary school, but I really wish I had. Lots of things made me stronger as I grew up and learned more about life, and though I'm still pretty quiet much of the time, and the idea of confrontation fills me with anxiety, I'm a lot stronger.
Bullies are everywhere, and unfortunately we can't always count on teachers and school staff to see or do anything about it. There are lots of teachers, some that I know personally, that are fantastic anti-bullying advocates, but there are too many out there that stand idly by and do nothing, or not enough. And if the bully's parents are told about the behavior and do nothing about it, then there's not much a school can do other than expel the child when it gets to a certain point. We've all seen the articles and news stories about kids getting bullied to the point of suicide in middle and high school, and the teachers and staff can't be everywhere and sometimes just don't know what to do about it. It's worse these days than when I grew up, because it's not just school, parks, neighborhoods that it happens in, it's online. Kids are getting viciously harassed on facebook pages and through text messages. Nasty lies and names can be spread to an entire school in a matter of seconds.
I don't have the answers to the big stuff, except to raise your children to accept people for their character no matter how different they act/look/believe/are. [[edited to add: I also realize that being a strong kid and them standing up for themselves will not always save them from harassment and violence. I don't for one second mean to imply that a child is being bullied because they aren't standing up for themselves properly, only that it can help when no one else is standing up for them. ]] I don't have the answers, but we're trying our best to raise strong daughters and a strong son that will be compassionate and stand up for themselves and their peers. Because, unfortunately, bullies will never be a thing of the past.
image taken from google images
Every grade has them. Most classes have them to some extent, even among the Kindergartners (and some preschool class rooms probably I'm sure).
Mikayla is nine years old and has already dealt with a few different bullies. In Kindergarten and 1st grade it was a couple boys who were mean to everyone and pushing them around, threatening them with nasty looks. In second grade it was more the mean girl kind of bullying. She's in third grade now and has a particular boy in her class that is both obnoxiously distracting and physically aggressive. I'd pick him up by his collar and scream in his face if I didn't think I'd get arrested.
The bullying this year has just recently started, and her class has been a mess of teacher switching because her main teacher has had a lot of back problems, so when Mikayla told us about this kid last weekend I told her if it happens again to tell her new teacher. We are hoping her new teacher is strict and vigilant about this kind of behavior and will turn it around.
If the teacher doesn't do anything or it happens again though? We told her this: First get in his face and yell at him in your angriest voice, "Don't hit/kick me again or I'll hit/kick you back harder!!" And if he takes it as a challenge and keeps it up then we gave her full permission to use what she learned in 21 months of karate and knock him on his nasty little butt. She's a really strong girl, she could do it! We told her if she were to get in trouble for it, and only if he got physical first, we would stand up for her.
I was bullied when I was a kid. First in Kindergarten, then again in 6th grade, with some mean-girl junk somewhere in between. In Kindergarten I had to walk quite a ways (at least it felt like it to my 5 year old self) down the road to my bus stop. There I'd have to wait for the bus with two other Kindergarten girls who lived right next to each other and were good friends, and little b*&#@'s. I'd have to get there about 5 minutes before the bus came to make sure I wasn't late or anything, and then they would torment me. Pushing me around, knocking me to the ground, and when there was snow on the ground they'd throw big hard snow chunks the plows left at me until I cried.
Once there was enough snow to have created a big mound at the end of a driveway about half the way to the bus stop, I'd crouch next to that, hidden from those girls, and watch for the bus to pull onto our street. Then I'd have to run like hell to get to the bus stop, where the bus driver would very irritably tell me to get to the bus stop sooner so he wouldn't have to wait. I was five.
My parents had no idea this was going on because I never let on. I don't know why I didn't tell them, I know they would have helped me if I had told them but for some reason I didn't. I really wish I had. They didn't find out until after the school year I think when a neighbor mentioned to them that they had seen me sitting in that other driveway before the bus came. I don't remember what all the story was there, but I wish she had mentioned something to my parents sooner.
In 6th grade I was sitting in the back of the bus with my little sister and 2 other 6th grade boys. For whatever reason those boys decided I'd be their kicking bag and the object of their constant teasing. I came home crying most days, hiding it well from my parents. I don't know exactly why I didn't tell them about it, whether it was out of embarrassment or fear of it being worse if they did something about it. I wish I had told them about it earlier because when I broke down crying one night and told my parents, my dad got pretty pissed at them. He got in the van with me and I showed them where the boys lived and he drove to each house and went in to talk to their parents. I don't know exactly what was said, but it did get better after that. I'm glad he talked to them, and I'm sure he would have rather kicked them right back for me, but knowing my dad he was probably much more of a calm storm than what was going on in his head.
I only wish I had been the kind of kid that would have been able to stand up for myself better. I was quiet, shy, and other than some weird game where my friends would call me "Abigail" and I'd punch them in the arm, passive. I guess I was an easy target, which is what I don't want for my kids.
We told Mikayla, and will be talking to Izzy about as well very soon, not to let herself be an easy target, and to always come to us when stuff like that happens because we (like most parents) will always be in her corner. At the age she's at right now, most kids will back down if the victim puts up any kind of believable fight. "Get in their face and make them be afraid of what you will do to them" is what we told her. It's not the kind of thing I had the guts to do in elementary school, but I really wish I had. Lots of things made me stronger as I grew up and learned more about life, and though I'm still pretty quiet much of the time, and the idea of confrontation fills me with anxiety, I'm a lot stronger.
Bullies are everywhere, and unfortunately we can't always count on teachers and school staff to see or do anything about it. There are lots of teachers, some that I know personally, that are fantastic anti-bullying advocates, but there are too many out there that stand idly by and do nothing, or not enough. And if the bully's parents are told about the behavior and do nothing about it, then there's not much a school can do other than expel the child when it gets to a certain point. We've all seen the articles and news stories about kids getting bullied to the point of suicide in middle and high school, and the teachers and staff can't be everywhere and sometimes just don't know what to do about it. It's worse these days than when I grew up, because it's not just school, parks, neighborhoods that it happens in, it's online. Kids are getting viciously harassed on facebook pages and through text messages. Nasty lies and names can be spread to an entire school in a matter of seconds.
I don't have the answers to the big stuff, except to raise your children to accept people for their character no matter how different they act/look/believe/are. [[edited to add: I also realize that being a strong kid and them standing up for themselves will not always save them from harassment and violence. I don't for one second mean to imply that a child is being bullied because they aren't standing up for themselves properly, only that it can help when no one else is standing up for them. ]] I don't have the answers, but we're trying our best to raise strong daughters and a strong son that will be compassionate and stand up for themselves and their peers. Because, unfortunately, bullies will never be a thing of the past.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
My Kids Names
Hello out there!
If you haven't noticed, I haven't blogged much lately, or at all in the last couple weeks. The longer I took to get back into blogging, the more I felt like I needed to do some massive recap or something which made me want to write even less. So I'm going to skip any kind of massive recap and just pick myself up off my ignored blog's floor and get writing! It won't be every day but hopefully it will be more often than... never. Hopefully.
A while back I had mentioned that I was thinking about using the kids' real names, and after hearing lots of helpful input, and thinking about it a bunch, and running it by the hubs, I've decided to go ahead and introduce you to my kiddos! I will not be using our last name though. For those of you who don't know my kids' real names, here they are:
Aren't they cute!? :o)
If you haven't noticed, I haven't blogged much lately, or at all in the last couple weeks. The longer I took to get back into blogging, the more I felt like I needed to do some massive recap or something which made me want to write even less. So I'm going to skip any kind of massive recap and just pick myself up off my ignored blog's floor and get writing! It won't be every day but hopefully it will be more often than... never. Hopefully.
A while back I had mentioned that I was thinking about using the kids' real names, and after hearing lots of helpful input, and thinking about it a bunch, and running it by the hubs, I've decided to go ahead and introduce you to my kiddos! I will not be using our last name though. For those of you who don't know my kids' real names, here they are:
Mikayla
Isabelle (Izzy)
And this is Connor
Sorry! Wrong picture!
This is Connor
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