Easter Egg Hunts

We had our first Easter egg hunt of the day at our church on Saturday morning. While we were there the girls got to color eggs and make a craft. After they were done with that they got to go outside and go on a hunt. They each got 5 eggs and were so excited with their spoils.

Here they are posing before we left. Jasmine just couldn't smile normal with those bunny ears on.

Here was Jasmine getting ready for her egg.

Victoria was so excited to get her egg colored.

Here they are getting ready for the hunt with Nana by their sides.

Here is after the hunt with their finds!

The second hunt we did was at home. After their nap Grandma R and Grandpa R, as the girls decided to call them, went outside and hid a bunch of eggs. The girls were thrilled to go and find them.

Easter Bunny

We went to see the easter bunny at the mall. We couldn't take pictures and I sure wasn't going to buy any. So, I took pictures of the kids with their bunny ears on. We kept telling Jasmine to not make that face, but apparently she just couldn't resist.

Egg Dying

Matt's Mom and Roger came to see us for the weekend. This was the first time they got to see the girls and boy, were they ever spoiled. On Friday we decided to dye some easter eggs. The girls had a ton of fun. Warning: they had their shirts off because I was worried they'd get dye on their clothes. I think the pictures are still okay though.

The Flower Song

We got a new piano on Friday and Matt and Jasmine decided to do a performance for us. The quality isn't the best and you can only hear parts, but you can get the general idea of it. (Okay, not a new piano, but new to us!)

Foreign Objects

Today Matt took Jasmine to the doctor's office to see what his recommendations were for her in regards to her behavioral issues. But before I address that Jasmine's allergies have been a hot mess this week. She's woken up with just a snotty mess of a face and she just can't breath. So yesterday I went and bought her some Clariten to take. I knew she needed to take it in the mornings, so for bed last night I gave her some benadryl so she could sleep last night and breath, which worked. She woke up and could actually breath this morning. I gave her the Clariten this morning, and she took the pill like a champ.

So anyway, when Matt got her to the doctor he mentioned her allergy issues, and the doctor said his recommendation is to give her Clariten in the mornings since it won't make her drowsy. (Man I'm so good ;-)) He then listened to her chest to make sure there was no congestion and he said it sounded good. He then looked in her ears and said to Matt, "there's something in there." Matt asked if it was just ear wax that we missed, because we do clean their ears every night, and the doctor said no there was actually something in there. So he turned to Jasmine and asked her if she knew why there would be anything in her ear. She said, yeah I do. He said do you know what it could be? She said yeah, I stuck a piece of paper in my ear when I was still at Murray Elementary! Can you believe it!? As Matt was telling me this I just kept laughing because he said she was just so matter-of-fact about it. So the doctor proceeded to get it out. Matt said he just pulled out of ton of ear wax (sorry for the gross factor) and then finally pulled out this little piece of paper. It was about the size of half a thumbnail. Jasmine looked at it and said Hmm, mommy must not have gotten it all. And that was it!! haha! She also said that must have been why my ears were hurting at Nana and Grandpa's house. She makes me laugh so hard sometimes.

The doctor then said he's going to call and get us into a counselor for her to go and see. He said her lack of feeling and remorse for things could have a lot to do with the separation anxiety and other such issues. So we're just waiting on a phone call from them to see when/where they are going to get her into.

Both of us are very pleased with this doctor and really felt like he was very thorough. Hopefully we'll see some good come out of this, and maybe Jasmine will start listening better since there are no blockages in her ear anymore. :)

Our week

This has not been such a hot week for good behavior in our house. Monday and Tuesday were AWESOME days for Jasmine. Wednesday, not so much. I got a phone call from the principal telling me that Jasmine was not going to be suspended this time, but she was going to have to be in ISS (in-school-suspension) the following day. Why, do you ask? While at recess she was looking at one of the teacher's turtles and kicked one of them! When Ms Hannah the assistant teacher asked her why she did it she just laughed hysterically. I'm not going to lie when I say this has really bothered Matt and I. Granted, it is just a tad funny when you say she kicked a turtle. (just say it to yourself in your head :)) But it is absolutely not okay. So, when she got home from school we asked her why she did it and she couldn't give us a reason. Then I asked her how she would feel if the turtle had died because she kicked it and she told me nothing. I told her that I really didn't think I could trust her around Macy and Brutus now because she kicked a very innocent and defenseless animal. None of this really even bothered her. She didn't and still doesn't feel sorry for kicking the turtle.

So, Thursday comes and goes and I get home from work and ask her how her day was. She was so excited because she had a great day. I had to explain that since she was in ISS it didn't count towards her weekly goal of being good.

Well, today I got another call from school. Ms Hannah called me on her way home from school on her personal cell phone. That should tell you how much this situation bothered her. She said that to make a long story short, she was in the back of the class and she stuck her middle finger up in the air. This is the second time this has happened. Ms Hannah told her to come to the front of the class to apologize to the class for doing that. She came up and said sorry, and Ms Hannah told her she needed to say I apologize. And Jasmine yelled I already said I'm sorry!! So, she was told to go stand in the corner and as she was walking to the corner she kicked a filing cabinet and I think she said hit a wall. Ms Hannah said it was the end of the day so she didn't send her to the Principal's office, but she took her into the bathroom and told her she wouldn't be disrespectful to anyone in the classroom.

This week just stunk. Matt and I are really trying to be consistent with her punishments, but boy is it getting difficult. I really wanted to come home on Wednesday and beat her, but of course I didn't, but it doesn't mean I didn't want to. :) I think one of the most difficult things about the whole situation is the fact that she is truly one of the most lovable, sweetest children you'll ever meet. She's such a snuggler and just loves to be hugged and kissed on. I'm hoping I get a return call from the counselor next week so we can get her in, because obviously, there are some deep rooted issues here that Matt and I are not capable of handling. I know that things are going to get better and I know that in some ways, Jasmine just can't help herself. We just want to help her so that she can be able to enjoy her time with us and her time at school.

On a different note, Victoria is doing well. She is very enjoyable too and she's just so eager to learn anything new. She keeps me on my toes every morning, because every morning I have to come up with some new tactic to get her out of bed. The past few days I've told her to get up quick so we can beat Jasmine to the bathroom and that's got her jumping out of bed. I sure hope it keeps working! She can be an absolute bear in the morning! Mind you, on the weekends she wakes up at 6:30 which is when I wake her up during the week, but she does this on her own and is as happy as can be. :)

Positive Discipline

When I had my meeting with Jasmine's school, the guidance counselor suggested I get a book. The name of the book is Positive Discipline by Jane Nelson. I am about 15 pages into it and oh my goodness!! This book is very enlightening and I am learning a ton. So, thanks Nicholas & Casey for letting Matt & I practice on your kids. :) My, oops! I mean our, parenting skills are going to rock in no time at all!!