I've always wanted to learn how to quilt, and it always seemed so out of reach, something only old ladies did.  Boy, was I wrong!  Until a couple years ago, I didn't even have a sewing machine.  I kept telling myself I'll do it later when I have more time or when the all the kids are in school or when I'm not so busy.  And one day I realized that I'll long be dead before my life calms down at all.  So, a few years ago my Mom bought me a simple sewing machine for Christmas.  I re-learned to sew, and made skirts and pajama pants for the kids.  But, wanting to learn to quilt was always lingering in my mind.  

I decided there was no good reason to put it off any more.  So, I took a couple classes, did some reading, went to a quilt show, bought a pattern and even made the quilt top.  But, then it was time to actually put the batting & backing on and quilt it.  It seemed too intimidating, so I decided to make a small sample quilt that I could practice on.  I gathered a bunch of fabric, and made a little doll's quilt, and quilted and bound it with the help of many youtube videos.  And, WOW!  What a trainwreck!  I made every mistake possible, and it was so bad that I almost gave up and threw it away.  I also realized my sewing machine was not capable of quilting, so I went out and bought a decent machine, and what a difference that made!!  So, I pushed through and finished it anyway.  And, I gave it to my daughter for her AG doll, and she loves it!  I must admit the colors look pretty good, and from far away you can't really tell how bad it is :-)  But, I learned a TON, and then I decided to finish the one I started like a year ago.  And, I made a decent amount of mistakes, but it's a million times better and is functional.  I gave that one to my youngest daughter, and she loves it too!  

I love being able to make something special and functional for people I care about!  I love picking out fabric and patterns and thinking about who will be using it.  I'm currently working on another one, which is proving to be a little more difficult and time consuming because of all the pieces, but I hope it will turn out well.  I think I'll add a tab to share all of my crafting things.  

Here is my first official quilt - the doll quilt.  I totally messed up the corners and many other things, but Saige the AG doll doesn't seem to mind.  Sometimes learning the wrong way to do things is the most valuable way to learn.

This is not the best picture, but this is the 2nd quilt I made.  You can see my 3 year old behind it for scale.  It turned out pretty well.  I bound it in purple which I thought would look cool, but I don't love it.  Another lesson learned and overall it's not that bad.  

In December, I started thinking that maybe I could start looking for a part time job or something.  Everything seemed to be going well, and I thought I could maybe squeeze in some time to do something to make a few dollars.  Well, then January happened.  You know the saying 'People plan, God laughs'.  I think that's what happened to me.

It all started on New Year's Eve with the lice.  Well, the lice adventure turned out to last for almost 3 weeks since they were strong little buggers, and refused to die.  I treated my middle daughter twice (which did the trick), and after 3 OTC treatments in the very thick hair of my youngest, I had to call in the big guns - the $200 (Yes, TWO HUNDRED DOLLAR) prescription.  It worked.  DIE DIE DIE you crappy lice!  I must have picked through hair for a total of at least 8 hours overall.  And, every towel, sheet, blanket and stuffed animal must have been washed at least 6 times.  I despise laundry on a normal day, let alone when I have to wash the same crap every single day.  It was like a bad version of Ground Hog's Day.

In the middle of the lice business, my youngest woke up one day with extreme pain in her hip.  She couldn't walk, stand or barely move it.  She was screaming and crying, and she is not normally like that.  Ever.  So, I took her to the doctor to find out she had transient synovitis, which is basically an inflamed joint resulting from a prior viral infection, likely a cold.  TS could last up to 3 weeks, and luckily for her she was mostly fine after a couple days, but we didn't escape an expensive X-ray and a few minor flare ups over the next couple weeks.  

Then, the same little girl came down with a bad cold that started with a small fever.  No big deal - fevers happen and I don't usually do more than treat it with some ibuprophen and rest.  Well, after 2 days her fever rose to 103 to which we promptly treated with advil and tylenol (we were told once after she had a febrile seizure to be very diligent with her fevers).  Two hours after giving her meds, her fever was still 103.6!!  And, it was midnight.  Why must everything happen at midnight??  We were about to pack her up and visit the ER when it finally started going down.  So, I was going to take her to the doc the next day, and of course they were totally booked.  We visited her allergy doc who thought it was just a nasty virus (thankfully not pneumonia or anything worse) and prescribed many breathing treatments to keep her viral-induced asthma under control.  And some antibiotics just to be safe.  When she gets sick with a virus, it's always exacerbated by her asthma.  And it's very scary.

That led to breathing treatments every four hours for several days (some treatments last as long as 30 minutes), then twice a day for another week. Towards the end of her antibiotics, she started coughing A LOT due to some drainage, so we had to spend the night holding her upright to prevent massive coughing fits.  It's now been a few days and her congestion isn't totally gone, but she seems to be OK.  

Add in some stupid remnant pain from my ankle sprain ONE YEAR ago, a fever/cold for me, and a variety of other things that I can't even remember now because I'm so tired and spent from the whole month of January.  When it rains at this house, it definitely pours.  But, in the end, it's all manageable and not life threatening, so I'll take it.  With lots of coffee, naps and take-out dinners, but I'll take it.  

Here's to hoping February will be much more uneventful, and Dear God, I promise to not to even consider working outside the home for many more years!!  

After a ridiculously crazy December and Christmas, I was looking forward to a relaxing New Year's Eve with a few friends.  I woke up to my youngest wanting to get into bed with me and she kept itching her head.  She had been itching a few days earlier, and I checked her head at that time and saw nothing.  Well, Happy New Year's Eve to me, I spotted the silvery glistens of little lice eggs on her hair!  

This time, I did not panic or freak out, as this is the third lice experience we've had, and the last time (which was the 2nd time overall) I found lice on my middle daughter, my youngest had a febrile seizure later that day putting it all into perspective.  I'd rather deal with lice than seizures any day.  Anyway, I ran to the store, got the shampoo and some fancy donuts to pacify and unhappy little girl and began the process of washing her hair then combing it out.  Which. takes. forever.  And, also washing every blanket in the house, every sheet, pillowcase, towel and stuffed animal that belong to all three of my kids.  We also treated all fabric couches and chairs in the house with spray.  Thank God my Mom was here to do all that while I spent at least 2 hours combing through her hair while wearing a headlamp because if you don't have the right light it's impossible to see the lice or the nits.  Especially when they are the exact golden blond color as your daughter's hair.  

So, I checked my other daughter daily, and lo and behold I finally discovered little eggs on her hair 5 days later.  Luckily I caught her's early, but not before she had just spent the afternoon at my next door neighbor's house.  While I was washing and combing her hair, I sent my husband next door to break the news to our neighbors.  I'm sure they are really happy about that, but the upside is they have dealt with lice before.  

The good news about all this is I did not freak out like I did the first time when I found lice on my middle daughter at Disneyland on my birthday, and had never had a lice experience before in my entire life.  The other upside is that lice prefer clean hair, so I must be keeping my kids clean.  And the last upside is after all my lice experiences I know that it's just a HUGE pain in the ass - not dangerous, not a health concern (like an asthma attack or something) that will land someone in the hospital.

The downside is that I hadn't wanted to spend my New Year's Eve day picking through my kids' hair like some kind of monkey.  But, we seem to have solved the problem and I got to have a great NYE with good friends! 

Happy 2014 Y'All!

So, the other day I heard that a group of people at my kids' school are still upset about the new rules and are planning on boycotting the school festival, which I'll call Schoolfest.  I did a little digging and found out there are some numbers (less volunteers, etc.) that could support this.  There could be other explanations such as the government shutdown causing people to be tighter with money right now, but those people should have more time to volunteer.  Either way, I thought I'd do a little plug for the festival because it's such an awesome fundraiser!  

Schoolfest raises more than $100,000 for the school.  The kids love it, they participate and are excited about it, which is significantly better than having to go out and sell candy, candles and wrapping paper door to door.  The festival runs from 11-4 and features games, some rides, cake walk, silent auction, raffles, food from local restaurants, performances from local dance/singing groups, and a chance for the kids to run around and have a great time with their friends, family and teachers.  The whole school plus many parents have been working for a year, and the kids have been preparing since the first day of school.

The money raised purchases things like sun shades for play structures, ipads for classrooms, technology training for teachers, school improvements and so much more.  The kids and their classrooms directly benefit from this, and it is something that makes our school great.  In fact, I've talked to 2 separate people (random strangers) recently who said they moved to our community specifically for the schools.  

Now, the festival is a big undertaking, and I often have a hard time committing to volunteer the day of (due to schedules, traveling husband, etc.), but I always commit to at least an hour of volunteer time plus helping before the event because my kids directly benefit from it.  It's pretty amazing to see the whole community come together to support education, and it's a great way to get to know other parents in the community.  

If you are a parent at the school, I encourage you to take an hour for our school festival and volunteer.  This is a great opportunity for working parents who can't otherwise help at the school during the week.  If you are a community member, I encourage you to bring your kids or grandkids for a couple hours of fun.  All the money directly benefits the children in our community, and nothing is more important than educating our kids.  Plus, it would be really sad if we couldn't fund some upcoming improvements for the school because we didn't raise enough money!

So, come join us next Saturday, October 19!

I hate politics, and find it all difficult to follow mostly because I also find it horribly boring. With that being said, I try to pay attention and understand what's going on since it is our government.  

This week I am disgusted with our politicians.  From what I can tell, the events of the past week show that our politicians are interested in nothing more than siding with their party at all costs.  It seems it has become a nothing more than a childish game of whose side wins regardless of what is best for the country.

The Government has shut down.  As a result, hundreds of thousands of hard- working Americans are without pay.  Congress, however, still gets paid.  My husband, who flew out of town yesterday to attend a meeting that begins today, must fly back immediately or be formally reprimanded.  He does not receive a paycheck until the Government re-opens, and is not allowed to do ANYTHING related to work.  He is our only source of income, and there are many, many families in the same boat.  Luckily, we have some savings to fall back on, but there are many families who don't.   

Everyone is worked up about Obamacare, and I certainly don't know a lot about it.  But, as far as considering the good of the whole country, it really doesn't seem that bad.  It gets rid of pre-existing conditions, adds mandatory coverage for mental health, and allows children to be covered under their parents for longer.  

It also requires everyone to be covered, which I know many people are upset about.  Here is one scenario I would like people to think about.  There are many people uninsured by choice, understandably since it's so expensive.  However, what happens when those people have a catastrophic medical situation?  I've known families like that, and when a life or death medical issue arises (think appendicitis, car accident, high risk pregnancy/birth) that ultimately costs $20,000, $30,000 or more, those families had those costs reduced to almost nothing since they didn't have insurance.  The cost of the medical care was not erased from existence, but paid for in a round about way by the rest of us who pay for our medical costs.  Now, that seems more unfair to me than asking those people to have insurance in order to cover their own costs.  

Anyway, I hope Congress can get their act together and start thinking about the good of the whole rather than what is going to get them elected next or make them appear 'strong'. Newsflash: compromise is not a sign of weakness.  I hope they start thinking more about the American people, especially the ones who are now suffering financially because they can't figure this out, and learn to get along.  The extreme partisanship in our government is nauseating.  And they keep saying they are speaking for the people of the country, but somehow it seems they've lost touch with the American people in their efforts to win, win, win. 

And, so, I guess I'll be enjoying a little vacation with the husband this week.  We need to finish season 5 of Breaking Bad, so I have that to look forward to.  Thanks Congress.

Recently controversy has befallen my community, specifically our school district.  Our school district decided to change the policies regarding visitors to the school, and this partially came about because holiday parties and lunch time had gotten out of control.  Previously, anyone was allowed to attend school parties and lunch was open for parents to come every day of the week.

School parties were completely out of control.  Hundreds and hundreds of parents, grandparents, etc. were attending the holiday parties (Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's Day).  So many visitors arrived (800-1000 at least) at about the same time that it was impossible to check them in, so visitors signed in and headed back to classrooms.  The doors were basically open to anyone.  The classrooms were filled with parents sitting around mostly talking to each other and maybe snapping a few photos of their kid while 1 or 2 assigned room parents ran the games.  Parents brought elaborate fruit skewers, snacks and treat bags as though it was a competition to be better than the next class.  Most of the food wasn't eaten by the students.  As a volunteer, I threw large amounts of food away after each party.  

I remember viewing the parties differently after the Newtown tragedy last December.  Our school Christmas party was about a week after the shooting, and as I walked through the school it was obvious that anyone off the street could just walk in to the school and do whatever they wanted.  There were probably close to 1000 visitors (in addition to around 900 students and staff) for that party.  Perhaps it wouldn't be a deranged shooter (though it's possible), but consider people in the midst of bitter divorces/custody battles, parents with drug/alcohol problems, unstable family members, angry parents etc.  The possibilities for some kind of dangerous situation is endless.  

The superintendent said there were even a few cases where some students had to be removed from their own parties because they had anxiety over the amount of people in the room.  Think about how sad that is, and imagine it was your child who couldn't participate in holiday festivities.  She also said after conducting a district survey, students felt the most unsafe on these days because of the amount of strangers in the building, and teachers were most unhappy - they could barely join in the classroom celebration because of the amount of visitors.  I attended the parties because my kids asked me to since 'all the other Moms come'.  They were not fun.  

The days lunch visitors could come was also limited (to three days a week instead of five) just to lessen the number of visitors on campus for safety reasons.  More visitors means more monitors where the visitors are, which means education professionals had to put their work on hold to monitor for safety.  Imagine telling a doctor or lawyer they would have to stop working for an hour once a week to monitor visitors in their building.  Sounds absurd, doesn't it?  Having many visitors roaming around a campus can be stressful for everyone, including the staff.  Teachers attend many trainings on what to do in emergency situations, including what to do when unidentified or un-badged visitors are roaming around.  Monitoring for extra visitors campus takes attention away from the main objective of schools - educating children.

So, of course, there are many parents who are very upset by this, and then a local news station did a story that sounded as though the district is telling parents they can't come to the school any more.  First of all, that is incorrect.  The facts are that parties will be limited to a maximum of three room-parents who are there to lead the party and games.  Treats are limited to a snack and drink and treat bags are not allowed.  It's back to the basics which means to let the kids relax and enjoy not doing any school work for one hour.  Parents are VERY WELCOME to come and volunteer at any time during the year.  Some of the volunteer opportunities that were sent home are: library, school festival (needs 100's of people for help), classroom assistance, reading, car line, box tops, and the list goes on.  

Many parents had comments following the news story.  Parents felt they have a right, no matter what, to come to the school any time they want, and damnit, no one better tell them any different.  They are tax payers after all.  Many said they would pull their kids from the district and feel the school is trying to assert control and push parents away so they can indoctrinate their kids (yes, this was actually said on a facebook thread).  Many parents said the 45 minute parties were a special time with their kid they just didn't want to miss.    

I am appalled.  It is unbelievably selfish for parents to think they can come in to a school at any time just because they want to.  Are the parties for the kids or the parents?  And why do parents feel entitled to do whatever they want?  It is not your right to just do whatever you want because you want to because your kid goes to school somewhere.  There are guidelines that need to be followed like most situations in life.

What about the right of every kid and teacher in the school to feel safe.  It is the right of the school to turn anyone away for any reason, although that is very unlikely to happen in most cases.  In the wake of Newtown and other tragedies we rely on our school to do everything in their power to keep our kids safe.  Well, in the end, that means that everyone has to follow the rules and no one is any more special than any other parent or adult in the school, no matter what your situation.  Everyone wants the best for their kid, but it still requires a collective effort.  Remember that every parent in a school is a stranger to probably at least 95% of the people in the school.

Some parents said they don't trust the teachers, and parents need to be in there monitoring what's going on.  First of all, parties are not the time to monitor your teacher's professional abilities as an educator.  Secondly, hovering over teachers because you don't trust them for some reason only undermines the role of the teacher in a classroom.  If you have a legitimate concern, there are pathways in which you can address the concern such as meeting with the teacher, meeting with the principal or removing your child from the situation.  You are always welcome to attend private schools or homeschool if you truly feel the school is doing a terrible job.  That is certainly within your rights. 

It is time that we collectively look at the good of the whole over the good of the individual.  The policies create safer environments for our kids, with a side effect of parties that are fun for the kids and serve as a bonding time among the members of a classroom, including the teacher.  Parties are not bonding time for parents and their children.  Parties are not a time for parents to visit with each other.  There are many ways parents can achieve those objectives such as family dinner time, reading together, helping with homework, weekend activities, playing boardgames, setting up playdates with other families.  Message me if you need more suggestions on how to have quality time with your children outside of school.  

It is our jobs as parents to raise functional adults, or rather, to 'parent ourselves out of a job' as I heard in a parenting class once.  If we are eating lunch with them and hovering over them at every chance that they have to explore independence, we are hurting them.  We are preventing them from having the tools to make decisions on their own, solve problems on their own and feel confident in situations away from Mom and Dad.  We want to let our kids know we trust them and that they are individuals capable of making decisions and solving problems on their own (if not, we need to give them the chance to fall down and learn from it) so that they may grow into successful adults.

I know I'm in the minority in supporting the school district on this decision.  I feel that parents are being selfish, and are foregoing the good of everyone for their own personal wants.  If our society is filled with people who feel entitled to do what they want and feel they are the exception to the rule we will be raising a generation of untrusting, self-righteous, entitled adults, and I will truly be worried for what will happen to our society.  

Everyone needs to refocus on what is really important - the safety and education of our children - which means everyone will have to follow rules that were well thought out, very justified (the superintendent explained the reasoning behind the decisions in depth at a PTO meeting) and in the best interest of those we care about the most - our children.  

All it takes is one tragedy to turn a community upside down.  Had the school district not changed the policy and something happened, what would the community be saying then?

It's been one of those days.  We recently got a puppy (that's a whole other story).  I took her out to do her thing this morning, and of course she decides to sprint across the cul-de-sac to do her business in the neighbor's yard.  I ran after her in my pajamas and robe trying to get her before she drops her load, but I was too late.  So, I run home, grab a baggie to pick it up (because I'm a nice neighbor like that), and return to the steaming pile only to notice it's topped with a few disgusting worms.  I thought I might barf from total disgust, but I was too busy freaking out that the damn dog has worms!  We JUST took her to the vet five days ago!  UGH!

Shhhh  . . .  what's that sound?  Oh, wait.  There is no sound!  It is the sound of a house filled with nothing but the soothing whispers of a blowing air conditioner.  Nothing but a brewing Keurig and happy sun shining gently through the windows.  The birds are chirping.  There is no whining, complaining, fighting, teasing or crying coming from three kids who are soooo bored because there is NOTHING to do in this house.  Nothing.  Oh, except the 4,000 Barbies, Monster High dolls, Legos, airplaines, cars, Lalaloopsies, crayons, markers, coloring books, play kitchen, and games that I guess they overlooked because they were too busy writhing with boredom on the floor.

The first day of school is glorious.  So, very glorious.  Don't get me wrong, we had a great summer and I love my kids.  But, I think I love them a little more when they are gone several hours a day, separated into their different classrooms without anyone to argue with.  I'm sure they don't whine to their teachers and they don't argue over one of fourteen purple crayons with their closest classmate.

One of the best parts of going back to school is how excited they are.  They finally get to meet up with their friends, have a routine, get up early (which means they are tired at night!), and wear their brand new clothes that have been sitting in their closets just waiting to be worn.  

The morning of the first day is filled with smiles, excitement and happiness.  This will all fade eventually when they get tired of getting up early, but we must rejoice in the moment.  Pictures are taken, a special first day of school lunch is packed (complete with a little surprise note by yours truly), and then the whole family loads into the car so we can walk everyone to their classes.  This year it was pouring rain, so we had chauffeur service courtesy of the hubs to the front door of the school.  

I walked them each to their rooms amid the parents of nearly every kid in their school (there are 975 kids in their school, so that's A LOT of people!), some a little teary as they drop their babies off to the first day of kindergarten.  The school buzzed with happiness - new clothes, new shoes, new backpacks, and adorable hugs among the kids who hadn't seen each other all summer.  I took photos of each of my kids at their desk then found the hubs waiting for me outside and went home.  

I went home to that beautifully silent house I mentioned earlier.  I cleaned up breakfast, and the table actually stayed clean for longer than 35 seconds!  I was able to make some phone calls without interruption and sent some e-mails without having to save a draft and finish later.  I even took a nap which I desperately needed since we recently started watching Breaking Bad and we can't seem to get to bed without watching like three episodes a night meaning we don't go to bed until 11:30 or midnight, which is super late for me.  Morning comes early at 6am.  

And seven happy hours later I walked happily and stress free down to the bus stop to retrieve my happy kids.  What a glorious, quiet, stress-free day.  The first day of school is truly a second Mother's Day.  I hope yours was just as awesome.  

I recently hosted a high school graduation party for a close family friend.  We had a huge inflatable slip-n-slide in the back yard and a smaller inflatable waterslide for kids on the side yard which was visible from the kitchen windows.  My house was filled with probably 30 - 40 people I didn't know, many of them high school students, scattered around the kitchen and yard.  

After standing for most of the day, I sat down for about five minutes in the kitchen, with full view of the kiddie water slide.  I noticed my youngest daughter fiddling with her bathing suit bottom and commented that you could see her little butt.  So, the people I was talking to looked and before I knew it her suit bottom came all the way off and some little turds shot out of her backside as fast as a dart from a nerf gun!  I was mortified, especially since my house was filled with a bunch of people I didn't know, and she's NEVER done anything like that ever before!! I also wondered for a second why everything must happen within five minutes of me taking a short break, but I'll ponder that another time.  I jumped out of my chair, got a little baggie, went outside to clean it up and bring her inside to change.  She smiled the cutest little smile as she marched her naked butt through the people and towards her room upstairs to find a new suit.

Looking at the bright side, she didn't go in her pants and she didn't go in the pool at the end of the waterslide.  It's the little things . . .

One thing I can always count on is that my children never cease to amaze and surprise me! :-)

We are Orthodox Christians.  We are not Jewish (a common question many Orthodox get), and we belong particularly to the Antiochian Orthodox archdiocese.  Most people associate Orthodox Christianity with the Greeks (think 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding') or the Russians (this iconic cathedral is Orthodox) for which Orthodox Christianity is the main religion.  We belong to a different archdiocese in which the only difference is the language and culture.  The Antiochian Orthodox church is middle eastern and so when you visit a church you will hear Arabic and if you're lucky you'll get a taste of some wonderful middle eastern food.    My Dad's family is Lebanese and Orthodox, and so that's how I grew up.  And, similarly to 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding', I married a waspy non-Orthodox who was eventually baptized Orthodox, so I'm sure Toula and I could share some stories!

I'm always surprised at how little most people know about the Orthodox church, and it's been that way my whole life.  The only time it really is weird is around Easter.  Because the church follows a different calendar from western Christianity, our Easter most often falls on a different Sunday,which does allow us to get smokin' deals on Easter stuff!  This year, it is VERY different - Orthodox Easter is this Sunday, May 5, making it difficult to explain to almost everyone, especially living in what I would consider part of the Bible belt.  So, I usually just do my best to gloss over it and not mention it.  It's challenging, though, since my kids didn't celebrate Easter when everyone else did this year, and they won't be getting Easter baskets until this Sunday.  

The Orthodox church is beautiful; it is seeded in ancient tradition and prayer, which is something I love about it, but it is not for the faint of heart.  Our church is about 45 minutes in the best of Houston traffic, so it makes getting there difficult and we'll be missing tonight, Good Friday, and Pascha (Easter) which is usually celebrated with Liturgy around 10pm on Saturday night.  Eventually the kids will be able to go, but it is long and they need to be older.

Anyway, Rita Wilson (Tom Hanks' wife) wrote a column about Orthodoxy here, but other than that there's not a whole lot of popular culture references to Orthodoxy.  Recently two Orthodox Bishops were kidnapped by Syrian rebels, though I never heard much about it in the main news media, just via my church.  We continue to pray for their safety as well as the safety of everyone in that region especially as we move through Easter weekend.

If you are Orthodox, I wish you a blessed Pascha, and if you aren't, I hope you are perhaps a little more aware of one of Christianity's best kept secrets!  Should you ever have the opportunity, I encourage you to visit an Orthodox church sometime. The iconography, chanting, singing and prayers are unlike anything you'll find in any other church!  

Al Masiah Qam!  Kristos Anesti!