Brainwash #1 in place!

Somehow my parents instilled in us all that we are going to college. It was never "if you go to college" it was always "when you go to college". So I thought I should do that with Nina as well. She has a little can with a slot cut out in the top that is very colorful with circus animals on it and we call it her college fund. Everytime she finds loose change on the floor, in the couch, in the dryer, or wherever, I say, "O.k. Now go put that in your college fund before you lose it." And she does.

Of course this made her ask about college and what it is and we talked about her going and that I went and Grandma and Grandpa went and listed all the others in the family that went. She also likes to hear stories about "Princess Nina" which I make up. Each one of them is different each time but each one always involves Princess Nina going to college and getting her degree and helping others either through various volunteer opportunities or giving money or whatever, the specific helping behavior also different each time. The rest of each story is just fun and has something to do with what is going on at the time.

So the other day we are riding in the car and listening to the radio. A commercial comes on about funding college and state savings plans, etc. Nina pipes up from the back seat, "College! Hey! I am going to college!"

In my evil little mind I am thinking, Cool! It's working!!!

Nina is so mature!

Life is not complete until you hear things from Nina's perspective. Thursday night I called her from NYC before going to dinner. I asked about her valentine's party at preschool that day and she chatted away about that. Then she asked me what I was going to do that night:

Nina: So what are you doing tonight, mama?

Me: I am going to dinner with some friends and maybe we will go see a show.

N: I wanna see a show with you, mommy, can I come? Please?

Me: I am sorry honey, I am very far away so you can't come with me. I will take you another time.

N: Daddy, will you drive me far away so I can go see a show with Mommy?

I LOVE NYC!!!

Ok, I have only been to NYC (Manhattan) a few times but I LOVE IT!!! Strangely I feel very at home there. I love to walk for blocks and blocks and soak in the sights and sounds (don't really enjoy all of the smells) and just feel the energy. I have been out at all times of the day and night and the city really never sleeps. I am NOT a morning person but yesterday morning I was out at 6:45 on my way to Starbucks for my favorite morning drink (chai latte) and couldn't believe how few people were out. It was really amazing!!!! For those who know how much I love mornings I was only up and out that early because I had to fly out at 9:20 so was waiting for my ride to JFK.

I got to NYC on Thursday for work. I had several appointments for site visits for possible venues for future alumni events there. Then I met some colleagues for dinner at the Ellen Stardust Cafe, which I highly recommend to everyone who finds themselves in NYC!! It is american food and a sort of 50s style cafe. The waiters and waitresses are all asipiring actors who perform songs while you eat. The prices were very reasonable for NYC and it was A LOT of fun! Jared, they even performed the devil went down to Georgia song - sorry I don't remember the name of that song.

Then we had heard of a place - sorry forgot the name but it is on Broadway in Times Square and is something like NTKS or something. Anyway, this place sells tickets for certain (not all) Broadway shows at a reduced rate, and the shows are listed on a board. I have this sickness where I have to have a reason for everything, so in my head I reasoned that they must only list shows that are not sold out that night and then offer the reduced rate tickets in order to fill the seats. So we were able to score tickets for Mama Mia which was really fun, I loved it! My first Broadway show and it was TOTALLY worth it! Tickets for this show online were around $120 - we got them for $62 and were 3 rows from the stage.

Afterwards we were trying to get a cab back to the hotel - not an easy task, as you might imagine, since everyone who had attended the show was trying to do the same thing at the same time. A stretch Hummer was coming down the street and one of my co-workers said "We'll just take the hummer!" Well wouldn't you know it the Hummer actually pulled over and stopped and asked if we wanted a ride!!! One of the other co-workers asked how much and the driver told her (not sure what price he told her) and she said "$20" and he said yes!!! So the four of us piled in and they were just thrilled to be taken back to their hotel in a stretch Hummer limo!! I don't really care about that kind of thing but as I remember my life I do believe this was the first time I rode in a limo. They were so funny and wanted pictures, etc. I took one of them standing beside it when we got out at the hotel. They tried to take one of me next to it too but #1, I don't like pictures of myself, and #2 I am just not that impressed by things like that. It was a lot nicer and more fun than a regular cab but didn't really need a picture to document the occasion. :)

Friday night was the alumni event - which was the whole reason I was there. I didn't really have much to do with planning this particular event so it wasn't as stressful for me as I normally feel. It was very nice and all who attended loved it and had a great time. I met some really nice people and saw some I already knew and was nice to catch up with them too. I met one of our trustees for the first time and he found out I am from Texas and got very excited because they have friends who have a large ranch about an hour south of San Antonio. They wanted me to "talk Texas" but I can't just turn that on anymore. I was able to do the Mexican sound of rolling your tongue and ending in "AHA". (If any of you have a clue what I just described I am impressed!!) He thought that was really great and literally grabbed my arm and dragged me over to his wife, whom he pulled out of a crowd that she was chatting with, and demanded I do it for her as well.

Now I ask you - what possesses me to do these kind of things???? Now one of our well known and distinguished trustees knows me because I can do some Mexican cat call. How nice!!

Anyway the event went very well - everyone was happy and I ended up hanging out with a few colleagues, a recent grad, and another trustee (whom I already knew and have been to his house) for several hours afterwards - to bed at about 12:30 that night. Great trip and I can't wait to get back!!! :)

Barack Obama

Sorry for two posts within an hour of each other but forgot something and figured it deserved it's own post:

Nina learned about Barack Obama in preschool on election day and then that he was our new president the day after. Now whenever she sees his picture anywhere or sees him on TV she shouts, "Hey there's Barackobama!" Gets some smiles.

Last summer I hung a map of the US in our upstairs hallway at her height and we put ladybug pushpins in all the cities where our relatives are. One day after a bath she wanted to know where Barack Obama lives so I showed her D.C. She wanted to put a push pin there and so we did. Then she insisted that we have to go visit him. I explained he is not our family and we cannot just visit him.

For several weeks now every time we see him on magazines, etc in stores she shouts her usual (above) and then says, "Mom, I know he is not our family but I have to go visit him right now." She is not letting this go!!

The Boss

Ok, sorry all...I did not have my wits about me to get an "after" picture for the haircut but this one might give you an idea. Didn't really look all that different from the front. Just a couple of inches off the back. This picture also shows off her wonderful fashion sense. :) Sometimes she comes downstairs and looks SO cute with outfits that look very nice. Other times we get this.

So I got an email from Bretta Weatherholtz today that listed horoscopes. Keep in mind that I don't really believe in them but I had to laugh at Nina's since it was dead on!!! Here it is:

LEO - The Boss (July 23 - Aug 22)
Very organized. Need order in their lives - like being in control. Like boundaries. Tend to take over everything. Bossy. Like to help Others. Social and outgoing. Extroverted. Generous, warm-hearted. Sensitive. Creative energy. Full of themselves. Loving. Doing the right thing is important to Leos. Attractive.

She is absolutely the boss and definitely can quickly take over and run the show. We often have discussions (arguments) about whether she is the boss or me. I am not sure but I think we may be at a point that we agree to disagree - ha ha. I had some friends over during my Christmas break and all of a sudden she has a marker in her hand and she is standing at the head of the dining room table - where we were all sitting and snacking - and she is leading us in song!!!!! I was in shock that it was happening and had to get the camera for pictures. Lol...she does have moments of shyness but mostly she is managing the world!

One friend was commanded to sing solo - and she did!!!! Another friend was commanded to sing solo as well but declined saying that she sounds like a frog. Nina said - "Ok, frog, we will skip you." My little darling!

First Haircut

I was chastised by Julianne for not blogging about Nina's first haircut so even though this is old news - here's the story.

I had known for months that Nina needed a haircut. The part that was her mullet in the back had gotten very long and was full of split ends and tangled too easily, hard to brush, etc. The thing about first haircuts is that it always makes the kid look older. No matter how old they are when they get the haircut, the baby part starts to disappear.

I am usually not a sentimental person - I forget my own birthday, anniversaries, etc. However, for some reason I was feeling sentimental about her first haircut. The only reasoning I have for this is because she grew up SO very fast and acts like a teenager right now. Her baby hair was the only baby part left. So everytime I thought about scheduling an appointment to get it done I just chickened out.

One night in early December I had to go to the grocery store for something and there is a Supercuts (or whatever it is called) right in the same plaza. You don't have to have an appointment there. So, in the spirit of my philosophy of ripping the band-aid off fast, I took her in and got it done. Her hair looks SO much better now - like someone actually cares about it. But sure enough, she looked older and the last bit of baby was gone.

Of course, since it was a sudden decision to get it done, I did not have my camera, an envelope for her hair, etc. I was totally unprepared. Luckily my cell phone takes pictures so I was able to get these two pictures, and the haircutter gave us a nice certificate for the occasion and some hair that i taped to it. The certificate was put on the stack of stuff in her closet for the scrapbooks that I will probably end up asking someone else to make for me someday. I have little faith in myself that I will ever actually get it done.

So there you have it, at three Nina got her first haircut - made me a bit sad but I got over it - time marches on!

Fun in the snow!!

On Wednesday last week I decided that I would take my friend up on her offer to come to visit them for the long weekend last weekend. I took Nina and Kyleigh, who was a big help with Nina the whole weekend, with me and we left Friday morning and headed to Medford (just outside Boston). Nina refused to sleep on the drive but did VERY well in the car during our eight hour drive. A few hours after we got to their house in Medford we headed to Jackson, NH to the house they are building in the mountains there. The background of the picture on the left shows that the house is unfinished. It will be beautiful when done. If you were standing in the room where I was to take the picture and looked to your left you would see a wall made of windows that overlooks a GORGEOUS view of trees and the village below. She is playing with Alexander (on the right of her) and Adam. She also played with their brothers Anthony and Aiden and their sister Amanda as well. She really loves them and had a great time with them. They were SO good to her. Anthony is 16 and was extremely helpful and thoughtful, as were Alexander and Adam. Aiden is 4 and had a few jealous moments as did Nina but they seemed to play together well most of the time. :)

Saturday we took the kids to a local ski resort and they went tubing. Kyleigh was good and took Nina up twice. Both times Nina got to the top and refused to go down but then at the bottom she was laughing and said, "That was fun - I want to go again!" After the second time though Kyleigh said that it was too embarrassing to have to force her to go down while everyone was looking at her like she was very mean to her. Poor Kyleigh! Luckily Aiden didn't want to go again so we were able to distract them both with each other in the warm car while we waited for the older ones to finish. Sunday we got a huge storm that left tons of snow. So we all went outside and the kids played in it. Above is a picture of Nina buried in the snow. Alexander carved out a cave for her and then she climbed in and begged him to bury her legs so he did. She was having a blast! You can only see the snowfall when you try to see her face and can't because the snow flakes are in the way!

We drove back to Medford Sunday night and then left for Canisteo Monday morning. Nina was a bit sick so we had to stop more than we would have liked but I still made it home by 6:30, not too bad! It was a great weekend getaway and she was thrilled to FINALLY be able to go on a trip with me instead of being left behind. My friend's family is really wonderful and after we had been back home a bit Nina said wistfully, "I wish I had stayed with Barb."

Nice to have a fun getaway - now back to the grind!