Easter Egg Hunts and Corneal Abrasions

Okay, so totally not the Easter weekend we were hoping for.  The plan was awesome.  Aunt Melissa was coming with the kids and Ty (Liv's bff).  They haven't been to Dallas in a year.  We were going to die eggs, have a confetti egg hunt, have a great big cook out and just enjoy being together.  And then Aunt Melissa was going to have to leave early Sunday.

So we got up early Saturday, anxiously waiting for Aunt Melissa to get there.  Of course we had to get the girls dressed because they would be mortified if the company came over and they were still in pajamas.  So in a hasty rush to get dressed (and a shirt that is clearly too tight for Juliana) daddy and his extremely dry knuckle apparently scratched the heck out of Juliana's cornea.  She didn't cry at first, just wouldn't open up the eye.  After over an hour she still wouldn't open and then she started crying.  And Juliana is not a cryer by nature.  She will whine or complain at times, but never a cryer.  This of course is right about the time that Aunt Melissa gets here.  So we hugged and welcomed our guests as Juliana and I headed to the emergency room:(

Luckily while we were there, Olivia and Ty managed to die the eggs for us and get dinner going.  We made it home around 5:15 with an official diagnosis: corneal abrasion.  And p.s. she still wouldn't open her eyes.  Like not at all.  Not even for Mickey Mouse.  She was like a little blind girl.  So needless to say it put quite a damper on our Easter celebration, since a. she was in pain and b. she wouldn't open her eye.  So we got through dinner and Juliana went to bed pretty early.

The good news is Liv and Ty still managed to play their hearts out.  They literally played until 1am (I know, terrible parents) until they both literally fell to the ground and fell asleep.  The grown ups quickly followed suit.  Lights out.

Fast forward about 7 hours when Olivia hurls into the room devastated because guess what?  The Easter Bunny didn't come.  Our baskets were empty.  Luckily I was quick on my feet and explained that since her and Ty stayed up so late, he probably came, realized there were kids awake and moved to the next house.  This of course explained the problem but didn't make her feel better.  She was so upset.  So while she was eating breakfast, I. . . . I mean the Easter Bunny left some treats out back.  Apparently when the kids stay up too late he just leaves surprises outside so no one sees him.  Sneaky little bunny.

 We strolled Juliana out to see the glorious treats, but guess what?  She still wouldn't open her eyes:(  Roger was convinced she was punishing him at this point.

 So we decided to proceed with the egg hunt sans our cousins.  And yes, I know this looks ridiculously dangerous considering she has a scratched cornea, but we figured she still has her eyes closed and she wouldn't want to miss out - #parentsoftheyear

 See - there is an almost smile!  I mean who wouldn't smile right before smacking an egg on your sister?

 Yes, even the 15 year old dog got an egg cracked on her.

 So after our hunt and sat on the porch swing and watched The Barbie Mermaid movie, as you do on Easter.  And this just made me laugh, these are Liv's yard shoes that she uses to avoid mud or poop on any good shoes.  She's a hill billy.

 And this was a pic of an amazing carrot cake that I, Kristy Brooks, made from scratch - even the icing.  It was so delicious.

 And this is my little Juj Sunday evening.  Barely opening that eye, but at least it's open!  Thank you Jesus - It's an Easter Miracle!

Good Friday Indeed

So Thursday Ms. Bustos informed us that Juliana had a great day, maybe one of her best days this school year!  Then Friday, guess what.  Juliana made a 100 on her math test!!!! A 100!!!! And guess what, Juliana HATES MATH!  She much prefers reading.  It just feels so good when the stars align and everything's in sync and you just have a perfect day!  Thank you God!

Then to top it off, Olivia got to purple today on the conduct chart.  Trust me this is good.  They have about 8 colors or something, but purple is one away from PERFECT!  So in order to celebrate Olivia decided we should have a wine party!  Her idea, so I had to oblige with our best white wine (JK - it's only water, plus I only drink reds).  Where does she come up with this stuff?

Family Fitness Night

Today was Juliana and Olivia's Family Fitness Night at school.  Each grade would be presenting a song and dance they have been working on in regards to fitness.  Olivia was of course so excited.  She had been talking about it for weeks.  I wasn't sure how Juliana felt about it.  She doesn't typically like the spot light and last years program was a total flop.  I forced her to dance while she was asleep literally during the entire performance.  So I wasn't sure how this year would go.  But as usual we try to go in fresh and see what comes.  So glad we did.  She was so excited and proud.  I wish you could see her face better.  She was actually giggling and grinning from ear to ear.  Thanks Coach Martinez for a great show!

Inside Recess

So today I got to substitute for Juliana's class.  I love getting to see Juliana in her environment at school and how the other kids interact with her.  It was really cool to see them during Daily 5 station rotations how all the girls fought over who's turn it was to read with Juliana.   Awesome to see her rocking out her word work with her aide.  But the thing I found probably most interesting was during inside recess.  So the kids go to recess directly following lunch.  Most days Juliana misses recess because I'd prefer she get enough time to eat.  Kids typically get 30 minutes for lunch, which by the time they sit down and then add in clean up time they really only get 20 minutes which is definitely not enough time for Juliana.  So I brought the kids back to class for inside recess while Juliana and her aide finished lunch.  Some kids played legos, some played computer games and some played school.  The kids that were playing school started announcing who would be the teacher, who would be the principal and then the shocker.  They were fighting over who would be Juliana and who would be Ms. Bustos (her aide).  Initially I was going to jump to "Defensive Momma Mode" and immediately go over and tell them to stop and how disrespectful that would be.  But luckily I forced myself to wait and see how this was going to play out.  And guess what, it was pretty cool.  The child that "played" Juliana did so in a very respectful way.  They did not portray her in any negative manner.  They spoke to "Juliana" in the same way they did to all the other "students" expect "Ms. Bustos physically helped "Juliana" with each activity.  They managed to represent her completely accurately.  Completely competent, completely aware and just in need of physical assistance.  It was actually quite beautiful.  I was so proud of these kids, their compassion and their understanding of my beautiful daughter.  So glad I let the kids play.

Playing Pretend

One of the best parts of having kids this age is their ability to pretend.  For Juliana, it's something we probably don't do enough with her, but she LOVES doing.  It makes perfect sense.  Because when you pretend, there are no limits.  So today, Roger and the girls were playing pretend.  I'm not sure how they got on the topic of Hawaii, but they were pretending to be on a Hawaiian island.  They had a boat (pillow) and the beach (blankets).  They had to swim ashore and laid out on the beach.  They looked up pictures on google and discovered hula girls and hula dances.  So they invented their own hula dances and what the dances were about.  I listened in and thought - How cool.  

So the next day I asked the girls about their Hawaiian adventure and I asked them if they would like to go there some time.  Of course a resounding YES!  So we made a list of all the places the they have traveled and all the places we would like to explore together.  A sort of family travel bucket list.  And it was amazing that they knew of so many places and the excitement they showed in wanting to explore the world.  So I'm not sure how far we will get on this list, or it we will ever check each place off the list, but it's a dream of ours now.  And it is prominently thumb tacked on their cork board, directly above their bed.  So they can dream of all the places we have been together and all the places we have yet to go.  And I hope to add to the list.

Corresponding with the Tooth Fairy

 So, as is common with siblings, Olivia was just besides herself.  Why is Juliana losing ALL her teeth and she doesn't even have a loose one.  Life is just not fair.  So that night as we got Juliana's tooth ready to put under her pillow, she decided on her own to write the tooth fairy a note (as if she regulates when teeth become loose and fall out).

Translation: I believe in you Tooth Fairy.

Did you catch that?  "Please write on one of your "special" papers.  What the h-e-double hockey sticks is special paper?  So this is what the Tooth Fairy left, along with Juliana's $5 for her tooth (apparently the fairy doesn't carry change)

For those that don't know, the girls are back to sleeping in the same bed again.  So when Olivia woke up, she came running into our room and this was the convo:
O - "Look! Look! Look what the tooth fairy brought me.  She wrote me a letter and $5!!!!
Me - "I don't think that is your $5.  Where is Juliana's money?"
O - "I don't know, why don't you check under her pillow, or maybe it got lost.

She's good.

Open Windows

Juliana lost her first top front tooth today and I can't get over how grown up it makes her look.  It changes her face so much.  I'm sure she is so tired of me telling her, I can't stop - every time she smiles and I see that window I gush!  My girl is growing up!

And for those wondering, Yes, Mrs. West had to pull it for us.  After trying for about a week, we gave in and called our dentist.  She was able to get it out in less than 10 seconds with very little bleeding and no crying.  One million thank you's Mrs. West.

Anniversary Date Part II

So after the amazing gift front the hub - we went to a really nice dinner at Villa Real.  We were treated to a delicious chocolate cake

 But then when we got home we had one more big surprise.  Olivia had left us a scavenger hunt.  As soon as we opened the front door, we found this first clue,

 Then this one

 Then. . . .

 And finally

 With this bag (she found and wrapped herself)

 And this note inside.

I almost started crying at her thoughtfulness.  No one told her to do this, it was completely from her heart.  She is one of the most emotionally mature little girls I know.  When she got up the next morning I gave her a big hug and kiss and said thank you so much for the scavenger hunt you left us. She was a little disappointed that she didn't get to stay up and watch us find it (but it was a school night).  So I asked her what made her think of doing that and would you believe she said, "I remembered a long time ago you told me that Daddy made a scavenger hunt when he asked you to marry him.  So I wanted to do the same thing."  The girl is amazing.  Thank you God for such a special little person.

14 Years!

I can't believe we have passed the 14 year mark (actually 19 years since we started dating!)  So my sweet dear husband decided to surprise me this morning with a scavenger hunt/word scramble (Which by the way is totally his MO, it's how he asked me to marry him, but that's another story for another day).  So after he left for work he revealed the clues, which led me to an envelope full of cut up letters that I was supposed to unscramble.

This is what I got.  Umm. . . hello!  I have always sucked terribly at games like hangman and Wheel of Fortune.  This is hopeless!

 Okay, let me give this a try.  How about this?

 Because who doesn't need 3 day protection on a corky tree?  Next:

 Yes, I'm aware it's misspelled, but who couldn't use a terra cotta bed?  Next:

 That would be a treat right?  Either roasted or a nice little cup of elote with all the fixin's.  Next:

 I was excited about a better corner patio rock! Next..........

Yes Ma'am - You know it!  We are going to see Katy Perry!!!!!