Simone's Short Stories

Simone has quite the imagination.  She has written poems and now has started writing some short stories.  They are extremely short, but feel like the seeds of the next great American novel. 

The first one she wrote was an instant classic in my opinion.  Translations precede the manuscript.

Naughty Boy

Written by Simone Meyer

Illustrated by Maxton Meyer

Once there was a naughty boy who made fun of everybody.

The teacher asked everybody, "What is the matter?"  The children said the naught boy keeps on telling us we are nasty.

The End.



Love Notes from Simone

Simone loves to write notes to her classmates, but she doesn't give it to them.  She is either too shy to go through with it or she doesn't want to go through the effort of bringing them to school and hand-delivering it to them.

The same is not true for Michael and me in that we regularly receive notes from her.  This might be because we are in the house and she's very boisterous around us.

Left image translated:  Work on the bus, Daddy

Right image translated:  I love you, Mommy.  You are crazy.

Nihongo

Michael and I have been whittling away at our books and files, shredding old documents and donating books we no longer read and probably never will because we're too tired from lugging them to new homes every year.  While sorting an old binder, I found some old sketches!

These are some drawings and labels I made to help myself remember Japanese adjectives that describe location.   The ones below show formal and casual names you'd call your family members.  

I know what you're thinking.  "Wow, Gigi is diligent in her studies!"  The truth is I'm not.  Or at least I wasn't in this case.  The reason these sketches are so fun and well-color-coded is because I had been avoiding studying for my architecture license exams.  Maybe there's a correlation to how much I draw for a subject and how poorly I learn it because I have become a licensed architect and I still have no idea what the kanji mean.

This is 40

I turned 40 years old today!    I actually feel more youthful than when I turned 30!  I remember buying $200 worth of beauty products my last night as a 29-year-old.  Last night - my last one for my thirties, I bought Godiva chocolates and a pair of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans.  Ok, the pants weren't the fanciest but they felt great because they were high-waisted and sucked in my post-baby bump wrinkles!  Ok  speaking of wrinkles - I did buy a moisturizing serum.  But it was Olay brand and on sale for $10!

Life is good.  40 is nothing scary!  I think what makes it feel great is that I have a loving husband with whom I do so many projects and around whom I can fart and burp and he still thinks I'm pretty.  I also feel blessed to have 2 beautiful, healthy (well, not that healthy right now as they have had high fevers this past week) children.  I have great friends, parents, and a sister with whom I speak regularly.  I feel loved!

Walmart

I hate to admit this, but I love Walmart.

I never gave the store a second thought before I moved to Northern California.  Maybe there was no Walmart near me in West LA or maybe Target was more accessible and just more appealing of a store, but I whenever I needed toiletries or new outfits, I never went to Walmart.  I went to Costco and Forever 21, respectively.

When we moved to Berkeley, Lizette told me how she doesn't like the store because they sell guns and don't treat their employees well.  I think guns are alright, but I didn't like that people were being mistreated for the sake of selling products for cheap prices.

Maybe it's because I've moved to South Tampa where I've never seen so many white trailer folk roam and now I've absorbed their culture, but I have come to enjoy my trips to Walmart.  Their clothes are soooo cheap!  Granted I would not go to a nice restaurant in their fashions, but my kids can definitely walk around town in their dresses, pants, and shirts.

I still feel bad for liking the store so much, but if I'm in a bind and need acetametophin and some Uncrustables, I'm headed to Walmart.

Gymnastics Classes

Max and Simone have been taking semi-private lessons with their old gymnastics teacher, Miss Becky.  They had her separately when they were taking group classes and I really liked her teaching style, which was basically that she taught instead of just babysat the kids.  The other teachers would direct the kids, but not help them improve on form.  The other teachers also let the kids run around and goof off, behavior Max was beginning to adopt and something I was getting annoyed paying for.

These semi-private lessons seemed like a worthy, albeit more pricey, path to getting the kids more active.  Simone has improved vastly the last 7 weeks!  Max has too, but he still maintains his clown persona that always wants to make people laugh but that hinders him from learning.  We've had to extract Max from the class for a few minutes so that he can have a timeout.  Looking back, it wouldn't have mattered if he were around kids who didn't listen to their authority figures.  It's just in him to always be the goofball rebel.  Simone too will goof off, but I wonder if it's influence from her brother.  I don't remember her being like this when she was in a class with a bunch of girls.

Donations

Although Max and Simone get along really well for siblings, they get into fights everyday.  It's natural.  And comical.  

I often have to tell them to clean up their scattered toys.  I usually threaten to give away anything that has not been put away.  They usually will put their treasured toys away.  When they're really tired, their discrimination increases and they assess if toys are worthy for putting away or not.  Simone has gladly given up a Melissa & Doug wooden clock because she was tired of picking up the pieces.  I was tired too and as much as I hate to see a good toy go, I took it to the Goodwill store so that a more appreciative child could enjoy it.  

Despite Max's love for his cars and blocks, he is really adverse to cleaning.  He always tries to claim that he doesn't know how to clean.  Well, he suddenly learns the skill quickly when I tell him I'll donate the toys not in their proper boxes.  

I asked Max what his creation was.
"It's a bed for Grandma and Grandpa!"

One afternoon, Michael and I were working outside when we heard the kids fighting.  I ordered them to start cleaning up their mess in hopes that this project will help them forget whatever their tiff was.  I return to the work outside and after about 5 minutes, Max opens the garage door and yells something about donations.  Michael and I make a lot of noise so we were not convinced we heard Max correctly.  I walked closer to him to hear him and clarify what he said.

"Max, what did you say outside ?"

"Mommy, I want to donate my sister!"

Schedule

I never thought of myself as someone who is a "Type A" control freak.  I'm messy in my appearance, in my house, and in my brain.  But near the turn of 2013,  I made a resolution to start scheduling our meals.  My goal was to plan ahead enough to make one trip to the store with a list of ingredients needed for a week's worth of meals.  I didn't want to write about it at the beginning of the year, because if I didn't continue it, it would be embarrassing to say I had done it and in reality only done it for a couple of weeks or so.  I've started many things and stopped doing them after about a month.

But planning out a week's meals continued well into the Summer!  And it was soooo beneficial!  It was a bit of a struggle to think of things to make before the day of, but it was such a relief every morning when I thought about what I had to do for the day and the food part of it was planned out!  I had alerts to tell me, "Thaw the steak!"  "Thaw the shrimp!"  I even started experimenting with new dishes once a week! 

And then, one day in Summer, Michael said he was going to go on a 4-day fast.  That was fine with me because I was going to eat and not have to worry about making a meal for Michael!  But what this did was throw a wrench in the whole meal scheduling routine.  I now had extra food in the refrigerator and didn't really need to plan meals for an entire week anymore.  Or rather, I couldn't really plan because sometimes Michael would break his multiple-day fasts. 

Well, we are done with that whole fasting phase.  And I have returned to scheduling our meals!  It is a sense of order that helps me cope and I love it!  Am I turning into a Type A control freak?  I probably never will, but there will at least be an organized part of my life that I can rely on.

"An overwhelmed mom of three, Tanya relied on her new mobile shower to get through the week."

Max's First Pony Ride

Simone is a pro at riding ponies and with a zoo membership she can ride one every time we visit.

I got this, Mom.

Back in April, when Max had first seen his sister ride a llama, he was not impressed and did not intend on ever riding a four-legged creature in the future.  

Maybe it was seeing a horse as opposed to a llama, or maybe it was witnessing his sister's constant enthusiasm to ride animals, or maybe he was feeling taller and braver than he was 5 months prior, but Max was very game to try a pony ride.

Max still looks concerned.

He looks as if he's starting to get excited.

Looking good, Max!

Ain't no thang ...

Maybe we have a couple of future cowkids in our midst!

While We Work

Michael and I have been working on the bus every weekend.  One day, Simone grabbed my camera and took a couple of pictures.  Here's a child's view of their parents working on a project.

Wacky parents

Max and Simone have become quite creative in finding ways to entertain themselves.  One particular day, they were fascinated with ice!

All body parts get to experiment with ice!

Outdoor Playtime

I came home after doing some window shopping and found out Max had matured in 2 hours!

Max is already sporting a "5 o'clock shadow!"

No, he is just incredibly dirty from playing in the dirt.  

Michael had been working on the bus's electrical system in the back of the bus.  Our neighbor had accidentally dumped a bunch of sand here and the kids saw it as an opportunity to have their own sandbox!  They actually dubbed this as their new beach because we haven't had time to take them to the real thing.  Well, the one thing missing from this new beach was water, which was easily ammended with the addition of water from our garden house.

I normally limit their playing with water and dirt, but since they were already dirty and since I would already have to wash their clothes, I let them run wilder and allowed the water use.  

Of course Simone was as dirty as her brother!

But still as pretty as ever!

Good Times!

Yo Quiero Fish Sticks

I don't know how I got this addiction, but I crave fish sticks all the time.  I did have a lot of fish for dinner when I was growing up so I was thinking that I might crave the Omega-3s.  But then I remember having them for merienda (an afternoon snack) a lot in high school.

Almost everyday for lunch I have 6 or 8 sticks with a heap of ketchup.  My friend Kerry will tell me, "You're addicted to the ketchup!"  That might be the case because the meal is not the same without the condiment.  I also like the juxtaposition (I learned that word at high-falutin' college) of crunchy and mushy.  The dichotomy (another fancy word architect students use to sell the design they scribbled 30 minutes before class) of textures is intoxicating!

A Different View of the Bus

Michael needed to generally check the roof of the bus and to specifically apply some sunscreen ointment to the cover of our bath fan.  Upon seeing their father start to climb through the escape hatch of the bus, Simone and Max's curiosity overcame them.

Beam me up!

Take me with you!

(Fhwoop!)

To make sure the kids stood on stable areas,
Michael instructed the kids to "step on the dots," which are
the rivets that hold the roof to the frame.

The kids helped clean the bath fan cover.

A whole new world!

Roller Girl

Simone got some new roller skates!  When we were ordering them, she could have gotten some training roller blades with the inline wheels, but she insisted on the old-school quad wheel configuration!  Sigh ... it brought back memories of when I first learned to roller skate in the back patio of our El Monte house.  Mine were not as cute as Simone's nor did I have the protection that I got her.  Having rollerbladed up and down San Francisco hills, Griffith Park, and all over Ventura Blvd, I knew that wrist guards and knee pads were the essential things she needed to have to prevent the injury.  She was excited to have the extra protection until she had to finagle them onto her limbs.

Max was getting bored and put on his swimming gear to feel part of the action.

Simone is exasperated and wants to get to the roller skating part of roller skating

Simone's biggest gripe was that the gear was too loose.  Because she's on the younger age of the range that the gear is for, she barely had enough velcro left to secure her straps.  I need to sew some extra strips on to make sure my baby is padded!

Ready, Set, ...

Skate!

Simone's First Lost Tooth!

This could have been also titled, "Simone's First Tooth Lost!"

Her tooth had been so loose for the past week.  I noticed it when flossing her teeth.  Luckily, she had become brave enough to let me wiggle it - and boy was it wiggly!  On Halloween night, she had tried to have some chewy candy but instead got a sharp pain and a bloody mess.

On Saturday we spent a whole day in Webster helping a friend demo an existing house on his property.  Due to the rain, the kids were stuck in the car for most of the day and I thought that for sure the awkward circumstances would bring about the tooth coming out.  Luckily her dental composition stayed in tact ... until we came home!  10 minutes after we walked through the door, Simone exclaimed how wiggly her tooth was.  I suggested she pull on it, and a few minutes later I heard, "IT CAME OUT!"  

Simone carefully placed it on a napkin and when we finally had time that night, we slipped it in a plastic bag and under her pillow.

Inspecting the tooth that Simone had lost, I noticed that it was awfully short.  this meant the root was still inside the gums!  Now, when I was a kid, I lost a lot of my teeth from extraction at the dentist's office.  Since my mouth is small, a lot of my teeth were crowding in and the dentist would periodically have to pull teeth out to make room.  So I grew up seeing teeth with the root attached.  

Not only is Simone's root's tooth still in her gums, but the new tooth is already emerging and it is all the way in the back behind her other baby teeth.  I am not a dentist but I'm suspecting that she will losing a lot of teeth rapidly in the next year or she is going to have a tangled junkyard of old and new dentata in her mouth.  I'm calling the dentist in about 32 minutes to schedule an appointment!

Simone ended up getting a dollar from the tooth fairy and wanted to spend it right away at Target.  I got a perspective into what a child thinks items cost.  She thought she could run to the Barbie aisle and get a doll for $1!  When she saw a pillow for $3, she asked me to give her another $2.   NO WAY!  So I introduced her to the idea of saving money and using it for something she really wants.  She then asked, "How soon can I lose my other teeth?  Will it be today?"  Poor girl is facing the reality of budgets!  She ended up getting some cute Halloween socks and gloves on sale.  We were all surprised when we found out the mark-down was more than we thought and the cashier handed Simone an extra $0.35 in change.  This tooth experience has been both a physical and education milestone!