Elf (but no shelf)

Ooh isn't she cute?  She loves preschool and I love it there, too, she seems pretty happy all the time.  Today was her last day of school until the week of January 6, I hope we can keep busy during the break and I hope she has fun.  I will be glad not to get up so early and get them out the door.  Mike makes the lunches, usually, while I am at work AND he gets up early to shower and get ready for work so he can get them ready too so he is probably looking forward to break more than I am.  

I just love this picture, I can't stop looking at it!  Maria went to see Frozen this week on a field trip and I could have taken Veronica but she told me she is not going to a movie until she is ten.  Movies are too loud!, she told me.  She's right, they are super loud, I can't stand it.  But I hope she gets used to it before she's ten because there are lots of movies to see.  

Sunday Update

Things are going well for Veronica.  She had a good and fun Halloween, although the night of our trick or treating (the night after Halloween, because we had bad weather on 10/31) she went as a ballerina, a black ballerina, instead of Sofia the First, which she had been for various other Halloween-like costume wearing.  I got really sick of Halloween this year and I think they did too - they had two costume parties, a Trunk or Treat thing, and then actual Halloween and we were all finished until next year!

A few weeks ago, Veronica started to say that she didn't want to 'stay late' at school and by that she meant she wanted to leave at 12:30, not 3:00 like she does.  She said she didn't want to rest at rest time, that it was too long!  Too long to rest!, she told me.  I told her maybe do something else, read a book or just have quiet time, but she told me that they had to rest.  So I told her that she should rest, what else could I do?  But it's not like her to complain, so I was a little worried.  THEN one day she told me that the one teacher didn't like her and wouldn't let her do anything and that she thought rest time was too long!  So I emailed the teacher and it was like a miracle how fast that teacher called me.  I think she called me by the time I got home from picking them up or something!  I played the voice mail on speaker phone and you should have seen Veronica's face when she heard her teacher calling, it was amazing.  I talked to the teacher and she said oh Joanne, we all love Veronica so much!  She said they did run out of time in the one teacher's room so maybe if I could find out what Veronica wanted to do and couldn't do, they would let her do it first thing on Thursday.  So the thing was that Veronica wanted to play the xylophone and she did it on Thursday and all is well.  Also, she doesn't have to rest anymore, she can just play quietly and Friday she went on a field trip and all is well in Veevsy Voo Land again, thank God.

I felt so happy and - well, like I had done the right thing by emailing her teacher and taking her seriously.  Her teacher was so responsive and I felt like Veronica was really happy that I took her seriously.  I always tell friends of mine who are wondering if they should contact the teacher, that my mother stood up for me in the third grade when my dingbat teacher said I spelled busy (buzy) and nickel (nickle) wrong.  My mom went into the school to talk to her and I will never forget it.  So I am trying to emulate her in that and so far, so good.

Sweetness

Things are great with Veronica, just look at her:

I mean, really!  Look at her!  She is so sweet and adorable, I love her like crazy.  But this girl, while being very sweet and cute, might also be trying to kill me.  Kill me with WORDS.  Oh my Lord, she has not stopped talking for the last MONTH.  I think maybe it's that Maria went to Kindergarten and now Veronica knows that she's the only one home who can talk?  And she doesn't like silence?  I don't know but they are going to lock me up if she doesn't even out soon.  I am so glad when it's bedtime anymore because at least I won't have to keep my ear stretched out toward her mouth to find out what the hell she is saying.  I know it sounds mean, but trust me.  It is a LOT of talking.  A lot a lot.

Three Things for Thursday

Now it's been a month again since I posted.  Oh well, I can only move forward, right?  Try harder in the future?

• Veronica started ballet again a few weeks ago and she is the tallest and probably the oldest in her class!  This has never happened.  Her teacher told me yesterday that next time Veronica can move up to Intermediate Ballet, so that's great, right?  Miss Johanna, her teacher, told me last week that Veronica knows all the terminology so I asked her the other day, do you know what papillon means?  (It means butterfly, I know from past ballet classes). Veronica said YES!  I DO!  I said what and she said ESCAPE!  Ha!  (Miss Johanna told me that's echappe - so not even close, ha!).  She's excited to move up and I am excited too.  
• She is doing well in school, she has a friend named Franny, although she says she has a FLIEND named FLANNY.  She loves her teachers and lately, Mike just drops them both off at the door, he doesn't even go in!  How about that!  
• She is very grown up lately, the things she says are adorable and you can really see her coming into her own as a person, free of Maria.  Maria certainly never did anything on purpose to squelch Veronica but she is, in fact, just 16 months older, and she is, in fact, the way that she is, so I know she feels freer and she is really being who she is and it's so cute and so ... inevitable?  Or something?  When I think about how worried I was about Veronica and how she didn't used to talk very much, it just seems like NOTHING.  It doesn't seem to have anything to do with who she is now.  

Sadness

I follow this blogger at Indy With Kids, her name is Katy.  This week she lost her two month old baby girl, Shaundi.  I do not - how do people get through things like this?  I don't understand it, it is so sad and so horrible and the only thing I can do for her is pray for her and her family and that sweet baby.  I donated here, because I feel like it's the least I can do and I hate the thought of her family worrying about money at a time like this.  I'm asking you to donate too - no amount is too small, everything will help.  And if you can, say a prayer for her, and for all mothers who have lost babies.

Sunday

July 28th is the last time I posted about Veronica, ahhhh!  That's terrible.  I'll do Seven Things for Sunday as penance and try to do better in the future.

1. I cut her bangs today.  She's been asking me and asking me to do it and right before we left for church she asked me and we went and got a towel and the scissors and I cut them on the porch. They came out really good, she stayed so still, and I told her that is the secret to good bangs!  
   
2. She started preschool on Tuesday and it went just great.  She only went Tuesday and Thursday this week, as it was the Monday/Wednesday kids' turn to go on Friday this week and now this coming week she doesn't have school on Friday because they are all off so they can get ready for the French Market, which is a bummer, but whatever!  She started and she loves it.  Her teacher happened to come in to the restaurant where I work this week and she said how sweet Veronica is.  She is, too.  
3. She is starting to write really well, she asks to spell EVERYTHING, just like Maria and she makes her letters just fine.  I imagine she'll do lots of stuff earlier than Maria, because she has Maria to set an example.  I am looking forward to that paying off and not just in the bad way.  
4. The other day she told me, out of nowhere, "if you need energy, go to the JUICE AISLE, Mommy!  The JUICE AISLE!  Then you'll have energy, like one HUNDRED!  In the juice aisle!".  I have no idea what she's talking about but I guess she is maybe watching too much television.  
5. She is getting a little chubby, I think!  She is still as tiny as ever but she is a great eater and a LAZYBONES, so maybe it's catching up with her a little bit, belly-wise.  I've been taking her and Felicity for walks in the mornings when she doesn't have preschool but she always, ALWAYS wants to go in the double stroller.  LAZYBONES.  I'm glad she's such a good eater, she is by far the most adventurous of all of my kids and I appreciate it.  
6. Oh, this was sweet: I picked her up at 3:00 on Tuesday and I pick up Maria at 3:15, so we had some time to play on the playground with just me and Felicity.  So I was just chatting with her, and I said, tell me your favorite part of your day at preschool and she said, just BEAMING, "it was when you comed to get me, Mommy!  It was when I saw you!".  Ay yi yi, isn't that something?  She is a killer.  
7. She is a killer, in the bad way too.  She is lonely, I guess, without Maria, and I thought I'd go insane before she started preschool.  She wanted me to look at every single thing she did, all day long!  I found myself begging, Veronica PLEASE, I have to do some laundry, I have to clean the house, I have some STUFF TO DO!  She is much happier being back in school a little bit and she is going to start back to ballet next Wednesday and we'll be happy with more to do.  

Seven Things for a Sunday

• Veronica is ridiculous in church.  I have to carry her in, and hold her for most of Mass.  She is FOUR!  What the heck?  
• She's super sweet, though.  I don't have any favorites among these kids, but if there were a contest for sweetest and most easy going, Veronica would win that contest, hands down.
• She is doing very, very well at swimming.
• She's started to sing some of the prayers in church.  She always makes me hold her hand during the Our Father, which I do NOT like to do, but I'll break her of that eventually.
• Maria and Veronica and I went for a walk today but Veronica has to ride in the stroller, because she gets so TIRED, she says.  Her FEET hurt.  She is ridiculous.  RIDICULOUS.
• She is really trying to pronounce words better, it's cute.  RRRRRRRRRR Wed!  She says, for red.  RRRRRRRRR Wed!  She'll get there someday, I bet.  
• She can never go to our neighbor's house because they have a dog.  Sometimes, when Maria goes to our neighbors' and Felicity takes a nap, it's just me and Veronica and it's nice.  She is a sweet thing, for real.  

Veronica's Four Year Stats

At four plus two months, Veronica was 39.17 inches tall and weighed 37.92 lbs.  Also, her blood pressure was 92/54, which I guess is probably normal since they didn't measure it.  I want to throw away the piece of paper I got which says all this stuff, so I thought I'd post it here.

End of Days

Ha, I was just being dramatic.  Of course it is not the end of days, just the end of summer.  It's not even really the end of summer, it's just WISHFUL THINKING because this summer sort of sucks.  Veronica is located directly to my left RIGHT NOW, crying in my EAR, because she thinks Maria spoke in too harsh a tone for her.  That happens all the time, some perceived hurt that Veronica has with any of us, it's exhausting.  I would say it was a manipulative thing, but it doesn't seem like Veronica has it in her.  Anyways.  Here's some things about Veronica at the end of summer:

• Things are going much better at swimming.  We start our last session tomorrow and go for three weeks.  I told her last time that if she got in the pool, I'd get her something from the vending machine and now of course it's a thing.  It always, always becomes a thing that I regret.  I Regret Everything:  The Joanne Kehoe Story is the title of my unwritten memoirs.  
• (Now FELICITY is in here, it is a wonder I can ever get anything typed on these stupid blogs)  She starts preschool on 8/26, two weeks after Maria, the same week Felicity starts her Moms Day Out thing.  So it's Tuesdays that I will have no kids from 9:00-2:00, that will really be amazing, right?  I know Veronica will like preschool, she is a cute and social person.  
• We went to the JCC pool the other day, my friend Jill from work came with us, and she and Veronica went to the lazy river a lot, she really liked it.  Veronica loves Jill, because they both have the same favorite color (purple) and they are both 3 out of 4 kids.  I am 3 out of 4 too.  
• We got Veronica's four year checkup out of the way the other day, she is 3'3" and weighs 37 pounds.  She's still low-ish on the percentage charts but she's just fine.  
• She screamed and cried when she got her two shots!  She went first and it was awful, AWFUL, but she was recovered by the time we walked out, she was talking about her band aid, etc.  
• I guess that's it.  I want to keep their blogs updated but it's hard when they are awake and I am super tired and over thinking about them by the time they go to bed.  That probably sounds mean but I don't care, this is too much time to spend with someone!  Lately, Veronica cries and cries when I go to work, and I go to work at 5:00 in the evening.  We've been together for like TEN HOURS by then.  Good lord, child, I want to say, aren't you sick of me?  I'm sick of you!  

Six for Saturday

Ha, I can never do Five for Friday on Friday.  I never can do Throwback Thursday on Instagram either, I'm a mess!  Here's six for Saturday:

1. I took Veronica to swim lessons on Tuesday, with high hopes that she would jump in the pool and we could pick up where we left off, but of course, that was not to be.  She acted EXACTLY like she acted last year on the first day. Sigh.  We are going three mornings next week so maybe she will get the hang of it.  We even have her favorite teacher from last year, Mr. Isaac!  It was so disappointing.  
2. She'll start at a new preschool in like six weeks, her new preschool calls the kids Butterflies.  I mean, they don't think they are butterflies, but like that's their name, Butterflies.  I hope I am being clear about that, I don't feel like I am.  At her old preschool, they are just "2's", "3's", etc.,  but this is cute, right.  I mean, the whole school is called the Monarchs, so it's fitting with the theme.  
3. The other night she pulled her dresser over on herself!  It was my grandmother's dresser, it's big and the drawers are heavy and she must have been using all the drawers as stairs?  Or something?  My guess is that she was trying to get to the top so she could jump onto her bed and POSSIBLY, she was framed.  All I know is that we heard a loud crash and I went up and she was on her bed, in her underwear, crying and saying "I didn't dit it!  I didn't!  I didn't DID IT!".  Ha!  Poor stupid baby, of course she did!  I felt terrible for her, she was very upset.  I hope she remembers it!  
4. Maria and Veronica stayed up late on Thursday, we figured because it was the 4th there would be fireworks around, so they may as well catch some fireflies.  They were cute, they had a picnic, and toys out on the deck, they caught fireflies in sippy cups and had a high old time.  The fireworks were a little loud for Veronica but otherwise it was a success.  They went to sleep around 10:00 and slept until the unheard of late hour of 8:00.  
5. Today I heard Maria introduce Veronica as Veronica and Veronica said "You mean Veevsy Voo!".  Ha!  Who'd think that would be her preferred nickname?
6. We went to the library today to see this percussion group called Clang! and they were just great.  They asked for volunteers and who's hand shot up but Veronica's?  She was adorable, so excited.  Here's a picture:  

Five for Friday - Saturday Edition

1. Veronica IS going to go to the preschool where Maria is going next year.  The spot was available and THEY called ME, so I figured why not.  I thought about it and I thought maybe Veronica would like to be where she is going to be in Kindergarten before she gets there.  Plus maybe some kids she'll go to Preschool with will also be going to Kindergarten and that would be nice, right?  Maria is annoyed that no one that she attends preschool with is going to St. Joan of Arc, so maybe I could circumvent that with Veronica, I figured.  Also, last night I was talking with some friends of mine and their middle child, their son, just graduated from eighth grade and one girl from his class and he have been together since preschool and now they're off to high school together.  So that seems like a nice thing.  We'll see.  
2. Veronica started back to her little preschool summer camp thing this week and it went well.  She also did well in Vacation Bible School, oh you should hear her sing some of those songs, it's adorable.  She sings LUSTILY, no matter what it is - "A, B, C, D, E, F, G!", she'll sing like Bonnie Raitt or Etta James or something, it's hilarious.  From VBS she sings "Soon and very soon, we are gonna see the King, soon and very soon, we are gonna see the king!".  She's adorable. 
3. She will not shut up.  The other day she said to me, remember when I was little and I didn't talk? I said yes, I remember and she said not now!  Now I can talk and talk!   I said I KNOW!  IIIIIII KNOOOOOOW!  
4. She gets really mad, really mad lately when her needs are not immediately met.  I wonder where she gets that from?  Ha ha just kidding, we all know where that example is set.  We are working on it.  We don't have terrible twos around here as much as terrible threes and (not) fun fours.  
5. She had her ballet recital and did very well.  She is a good listener.  Well, not here but for everyone else.  

Five for Friday - Sunday Edition

1. There might be a spot available in the preschool where Maria is going to school this year, but I think I'm going to stick with the plan where Veronica stays where she is.  I think it will be good for her to stay on her own and she can just go to St. Joan of Arc next year.  This way she can do all the stuff Maria did this year - field trips and Carols and Cocoa and Muffins with Mom.  I think it will be okay like this, even though it's tempting to send her with Maria so I could just have two schools and not three.  OH well, what else do we have to do but drive around, me and Felicity?  
2. Veronica sometimes wakes up in the night all fevery and then she is fine the next day.  Last week she threw up twice on Monday night and then was fine on Tuesday, then fevery again on Wednesday night.  What the hell?  What is that?  
3. She is so cute when she sings - she sings Twinkle Twinkle and also a song from the Barbie movie Princess and the Pop Star.  She sings lustily and it's adorable.  Today we heard a song on her cd that we play in the car, and I was singing it kind of absent mindedly and Veronica said "Mom.  That song is over now".  Ha!  
4. She's getting pretty good at riding her bike, although yesterday I went to take a walk with Maria and Veronica, they were both on scooters and Veronica fell and cut her leg before we even left the front of our house!  She is a pain.  She's getting better, though, as I said.  
5. They have two days of school this week and then they're finished for the summer.  Except in just two weeks they start back at preschool camp on Wednesdays, for June and July, and they'll go to Vacation Bible School and also start swimming.  I hope the summer flies by.  

Four Years Old

It's kind of crazy that Veronica is four, right?  That in about four years we went from this:

to this:

Crazy, right?  She's come a long way, baby!  Here's something I wrote to Veronica, when I was pregnant with her and before I knew that she was a girl, let alone a Veronica:

Dear Baby,

Your father and I just found out about you yesterday! I immediately looked up on the Internet how big you were and it said you were as big as a sesame seed! A sesame seed! That's really small. We were so surprised that you were here already, since Maria, your older sister, is just 8 months old! But right away I loved you - I love you so much bigger than the size of you. We are already thinking of names, and worrying about you, and planning on where you'll sleep! So I just want to say right now, on September 22, 2008, that I love you already. I love you, whoever you are. And no matter what happens, if you are a boy or a girl, if you are colicky or not, sick or healthy, I love you and I promise I will take care of you.

With love from,
Your Mother

So.  I think we can safely say that I have kept my promise, ha!  Here she is, four years old, doing just fine, well taken care of.  She is a good and sweet four year old.  She is smart and she is going to do just great this year in preschool, all by her damn self.  I feel excited and happy for her future.  Happy birthday to Veronica!  

Five on Friday

• Veronica rode a horse this week.  It was a pony, maybe, or a miniature horse, but still - she just stood online and then it was her turn and she jumped up and rode that horse!  I was very proud of her, she is getting less and less afraid.  She's not completely over her fear of animals, today she wanted me to carry her to the car because there was a small but loud dog in another CAR, but mostly she is doing okay with it.  It gives me hope that if we get a helper dog for Anthony, she won't be miserable every day of her life.  
• She's going to be four on Tuesday, isn't that crazy?  It is to me.  She is very excited about her birthday, she's telling everyone.  
• We are just having family over on Sunday afternoon to have some cake and celebrate.  I don't want to do a big party until they are five, but it's been hard to stick to, especially since Maria was just five and we just had a big party for her.  Veronica keeps telling me to invite people, just adding to the list, she is crazy.  We'll see, maybe she'll be mad on Sunday but my guess is that she'll just be happy people are here to celebrate her and she won't worry about her school friends who aren't here.  
• She is going to go to preschool three days again next year, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  What will she be like without Maria there?  I can't wait to see.  
• Yesterday she had to come home early from her day of fun with my Mom.  She was burning up and passed out on my chest for an hour.  Today she has kind of a rash on her chest, what is up with that?  She seems fine, she never had symptoms.  Can you get a fever from being tired?  It's weird, right?  
• SIX (!) - except for that yesterday, she's been fine, sweet and cute, as usual.  I'll take them to see the pediatrician here soon for Veronica's four year checkup and Maria's fifth.  I can't believe she's going to be four but it really does feel like she's been here forever.  

Five Things on Friday

1.  Last night, after her bath, Veronica found a brown marker and drew stripes all over herself.  She was a tiger, she said.  Maria immediately copied her, which was a pain because I had JUST CLEANED BOTH OF THEM, but it was nice because it's rare that Veronica instigates something.

2.  Veronica will be four in three weeks!  She wants a Tinkerbell bicycle.  I have to find one for her.  We are not having a big party, just cake and stuff with our family.  I want to try and stick to just big parties for 5, 10 and 15.  We'll see.

3.  This morning, Veronica is demanding ice cream and so far I'm winning.  For a sweet girl, she can be a real jerk about some things.  I told her you can't have ice cream at 10:30 in the morning! Can I have it for dessert?  For after dinner?, she asked and I said maybe.  So I said how about some cereal and she said yes.  I set her up with cereal and milk and a bowl and spoon and she ate and then she said I'm ready for dessert, mama, and she was FURIOUS when I said no.  Sheesh.

4.  Okay, now it's Saturday but I am going to press on.  Yesterday, my friend Jill came over and I helped her with her resume, then she stayed here with V and F while I took M to the store for a birthday present and then dropped her at a birthday party, then I got lunch for Jill and me and then we ate said lunch and we had to go BACK to get Maria at the party and then we came back here and played outside for a while and then I had to get ready and go to work. So.  Anyways it's Saturday.  Veronica is good with Jill, or with any babysitters.  She is not strange at all with her teachers or anything.  That is a far cry from how she was when I used to drop her at the Childwatch at the Y, and I'm grateful for it.

5.  She is getting kind of funny.  She has a good sense of humor for a three/four year old, which is to say that it's not really ACTUALLY funny, but she definitely gets the idea of it.  She loves to make people laugh, it's cute.  She and Maria have been going to Anthony's school on Monday and being peer role models and while Maria is like a behaviorist or something, Veronica is just happy to be there and be playing with the kids and have her hair done.  There was an intern there named Courtney who just LOVED Veronica and Veronica loved her, and Courtney's last day was Friday so they had a big goodbye this week.  Yesterday I had Maria and Veronica sign a thank you note and Maria wrote her name and Veronica's name but then Veronica wanted to write her own name.  She carefully wrote a V and then and E and R and then she said "I'm done".  Ha!  Keep them wanting more, I told her.

Irony

Is it irony that we thought Veronica would never talk and now she never, ever shuts up?  She gets on a roll, it's crazy when she does, where she just talks and talks and talks.  It's different than Maria, when Veronica does it, she requires a lot from the other person. Maria will blather on and you don't really have to be 100% there, but Veronica is always all, right, Mama?  Do you think so, Mama?  DID YOU HEAR ME, MAMA?  I almost always call Mike on the way home from picking up Anthony, but yesterday I didn't.  He asked me why later and I said I couldn't stop talking to Veronica!  It's so weird!

She has had a rough week.  On Monday, she didn't want to go back to school.  She had a week off and last time she had a week off, well, three, she went back and there was a different teacher.  She likes the new teacher a lot but I think it's been hard for her.  But she went back and it was fine but then on Tuesday I got an incident report, someone had hit her in the face with a block!  It said that Veronica had refused an ice pack, ha!  Tough guy!  I asked her later who it was and she told me, it was a boy who has some - well, I don't want to say problems but he's just a rougher kid than Veronica.  Anyway, she was fine and it was unpleasant but I suppose it happens.  It's never, it should be noted, happened to Maria, but she is a little louder and scarier than Veronica, probably.

Otherwise, she's fine, dancing away in ballet, having friends at school, being too noisy in church.  I can't believe she'll be four next month.  Four!  Little Veronica.  I'd say Time Flies but I don't believe it.

Speech

Veronica says a lot of words funkily, because of the L thing.  I forget where I was with her the other day, but the adult I was with said "so ... R is L?" and I said yes, R is L and Y is L and sometimes W is L!  But one thing Veronica won't tolerate is YOU saying anything the way she does.  Two words that she says really adorably are school and beautiful.  She says things are beautiful all the time but it sounds like bluetiflu.  It is a nice sound, really, it's too bad it's not a word.  Bluetiflu.  When she says school is sounds like skewool.  She says school a lot too, because we talk about it a lot when we talk about their schedule and we are ALWAYS talking about our schedule with Maria around.

Anyway, tonight I was lying in bed with Veronica right after I put the baby to bed.  Normally I don't go in and I never lie down but I felt bad for her because Maria was being a jerk and not letting Veronica get into bed with her.  "I need my rest because I'm still a little sad from before", she kept saying, which, whatever, Maria.  Enough about her it's not her blog, ha!  So I was lying down with Veronica and telling her what a fun week we had planned, I said how she'd be going to school tomorrow, only I said it skew-wool, like she does and she cut her eyes at me and said "I think you mean SKEW-WOOL, Mom".  But in her mind, she doesn't think she's saying it strangely.  I think she feels like we're making fun of her and I totally don't want to do that, I mean - I am laughing with her but not at her.  But she is not laughing, so I have to remember not to do it.

She has a playdate on Friday, it's super exciting, old Veevsy with her friends on her own.  She had her little ballet recital on Friday and she'll start again in two weeks.  She is a sweet and cute ballerina.  She's a sweet and cute everything.

Playdate

Veronica had a playdate!  She has a friend at school named Corrine and they are the cutest little buddies, they are both little sweet things.  Corrine is a little younger than Veronica, she won't be four until August, and they are just super cute together.  Apparently they talked about having a playdate and I met the mom at registration and introduced myself and asked if we could get together.  Her dad brought her over on Thursday and they had a HIGH old time.  Of course, Maria was kind of bossy about the whole thing but it was still fun.  I wish Maria would lay off a little, but it's too hard to explain that it's not her playdate too.

She is doing just fine, old Veevsy Voo.  She was licking the hell out of my arm today and finally I said VERONICA, STOP!  Stop licking my arm!  And she got super hurt and she said "I was just kissing you, Mama!".  Ha!  She is crazy.

Last Monday, she didn't want to go to school.  She is a very sensitive person, Lord, ANYTHING makes her cry and in fairness, I was especially screamy last Monday.  I have been really good about not yelling at them, if I do say so myself, but I have really lost it with this damned construction we've had done on our house.  The dipshit floor guy wasn't coming on Monday, like he was SUPPOSED TO, and I was annoyed with him, the girls were doing their usual lollygagging on the way to the car, Maria took off her PANTS right before we got in the car, I was annoyed.  So I MAY have yelled at them to get IN THE CAR!   GEEEEETTTT INNNNNN THEEEEEE CARRRRRRR!, I might have said.  So we get all the way to school and walk in and Veronica says to me "I am not going today Mommy".  I said, who in the what now?  Why not?  I spoke really quietly and sweetly and said why don't you go to school, your friends are here, come on, it will be great!  But she had made up her mind so home she came and even though she was healthy, and even though we were PAYING for it, she didn't go to school last Monday.  And I have learned my lesson and I am not speaking in anything close to a harsh tone to that ninny before preschool.  We won't get fooled again!

Update

I never update these blogs anymore but in my defense, no one ever leaves me alone for a second.  I really and truly think that I might have a nervous breakdown before this super fun vacation of the girls' is over.  Alas, there is nothing one can do about one's impending nervous breakdown if one is in charge of everyone else, so, the heck with it.  If a tree has a nervous breakdown in the forest and no one gives a hoot, has it really happened?  A question for the ages!  

Anyway.  Veronica.  Yesterday was a funny day for Veronica, because Maria went and played with a friend so it was just me and Veronica and Felicity.  I was trying to ease the pain of Veronica NOT going to play with Maria, so when Maria said "Veevsy I have good news and bad news:  the good news is I am going to Paige's house to play.  The bad news is, you are not going, I told V we would do something fun.  Veronica said I want to go to Chick Fil A and I want to get down and go in.  I said okay.  We got to Chick Fil A and she said I want chicken and fries and fruit punch and then she ate every single bite of that, and the fruit that I got her and Felicity.  She played in the play area and walked right up to this kid and started playing with him, she was like a different girl.  It makes me excited to think about this fall, when Maria is in school every day and Veronica goes just 2.5 days and we will have some time together, just me and the littler girls.  

I decided that I'll send Veronica to the preschool at the Catholic school where they'll all go.  I was thinking of keeping her at the same preschool where she is, but I think it makes more sense for them to go to the same school, and it makes more sense for Veronica to be where she'll go for Kindergarten.  I don't anticipate any problems for her but why not avoid them if they are a possibility?  

She is doing fine, otherwise.  I have her parent/teacher conference at the end of the month but her teacher left over break, so I guess it will be with the teacher's assistant.  I never really clicked with her teacher so I won't miss her but I'm sad that they're switching teachers mid year like that.  I'm sure Veronica won't care so I'm not going to either.  

I can't think of anything else to say.  I am so sick of them and being with them all the time and having them YELL at me all the time.  Everyone is getting sick of each other, they want to go do things all day and night and I have to keep Felicity home for a nap and ugh.  This is a cruel break and I'm sure I'll miss these days, but right now I am sick of them!  p.s. I don't think I'll miss them either, but whatever.  Here's a picture of Veronica at CFA yesterday, horrified because Felicity was climbing up the slide.  Which is something Veronica does all the time!