Peg’s Journal

revisiting the past

If you ever wanted to know what I looked like in high school, this comes pretty close (although I wasn’t allowed to wear this much make up, and I had more babyfat, braces, and zits).

Over the weekend, I attended a fundraiser for Ashlyn’s school at our local golf club. The 80′s themed event was cleverly called “Totally 80′s Fall Fund-rager”. HAHAHA! I spent the last couple of weeks looking for the perfect outfit. I victoriously won my dress on eBay for $20. It’s sad finding out that clothes from the 80′s are now considered “vintage”.

My date, Marie (a fellow mom), and I had a really fun time. We went, we mingled, we ate, we drank, we bid, we danced, and we went home with some goodies. I won 3 items from the silent auction: a portait sitting, a certificate for a massage, and the birdhouse that Ashlyn’s class decorated. We don’t need a birdhouse. But I had personally invested a lot of time and energy into that project. So imagine how bad I felt when I saw that no one had placed a bid on it. The starting bid was $100 (yeah, you read that right!) and that was very hard to swallow. It’s like paying 10 times the value of an item that I donated.
All in all, I contributed about $350 to the PTO/school that night….mere chump-change compared to what others shelled out. I watched in awe as people paid thousands of dollars for framed autographed Anaheim Ducks jersey, a Platinum Suite at an Angels game, and Grand Wailea Vacation (just to name a few).

You know what I discovered?…that after nearly 2 decades, pumping up my bangs comes second nature to me. Scary! HAHAHA! Click here for more pics (happy faces to protect the innocent).

Aside from my blast to the past and a birthday party, our weekend was spent mostly at home resting. I’ve been feeling under the weather and really need to get better before our Thanksgiving trip. The hubby and kiddies have been having fun with Guitar Hero (for the Wii). ROCK ON!!!

Tags: pictures, school, weekend

Happy Friday! *whew!* I’m so glad this week is finally over….it was an incredibly busy one for me. Aside from volunteering at Ashlyn’s school everyday, it was also parent/teacher conference week (which meant minimum days). I spent most of the week shuttling between school, appointments, playdates, and lots of errands.

Last year I was not as involved with Ashlyn’s school because I still had Summer at home. This year I signed on to be Ashlyn’s room-mom in class and help out during noon duty at school….which resulted in an offer for a permanent position at her school. I wasn’t really looking to get a job, but now I’m going to get paid for something I’d do for free. SWEET! Of course, the employment process for the school district was lengthier than what I’m usually used to (live scan fingerprinting, TB test/physical, and lots of paperwork). Everything should be finalized after my orientation next Monday. I’m so excited!

Noon duty isn’t as easy as it sounds. Supervising two lunch shifts (first – consisting of about 240 lower graders and second – about 160 upper graders) gets kinda noisy and chaotic. I also broke up a fight on the playground yesterday between two girls. I’m still not sure (nor confident) about what I can and can’t say to kids nowadays. I’ve been helping out with noon duty everyday for the last 3 weeks…and in the beginning, nobody really listened to me. I’d blow my whistle and they’d look my way, then continue about their business. Now when I blow my whistle, they’ll actually stop what they’re doing and wait for my instructions. I went from “Hey, Noon Duty….” to “MRS. Noon Lady…”. HAHAHA! I really enjoy it.
…and I get to spy on see Ashlyn at school everyday. *Muahahaha*

Here are a couple of pics from last weekend:

the kiddies at Samantha’s Pump it Up party

new BFFs – Bubble (my in-laws’ dog) and Cookie

The kiddies have a lot of birthday parties to attend this weekend. We’ll be going to Pump it Up again (third weekend in a row). They never seem to get sick of it, and I’m getting some exercise in the proccess.

Have a great weekend!

Tags: birthday party, Cookie, kiddies, pictures, school, weekend, work

Happy Friday! Everyone who knows me has all heard me gripe about not having enough time to myself….but now with both girls at school, I find myself moping around and missing them like crazy. Not that I’m complaining now…it’s just going to take some getting used to. hehehe Wow…it sure is quiet.

I’m happy to say that we’ve survived our first week of school. Actually it’s only been a few of days. hehehe
Ashlyn’s enjoying first grade. She’s making new friends, getting to know her teacher, getting adjusted to the longer school schedule, and gaining more independence (buying lunch). I always worry that she won’t eat enough at school. Ashlyn has always placed playing as a priority over everything else. The first day she bought school lunch, she told me she didn’t get a chance to eat it because she ran out of time. After that, I started packing her a lunch so she wouldn’t have to line up for food. But her lunches come home only half eaten. *sigh* What can I do?…she’s just going to have to learn to take care of herself and manage her own time.

Summer’s transition to preschool has been heart-wrenching (as I anticipated). Unlike her sister, who barely looks back to say goodbye, Summer has been crying every morning…begging to stay home, kicking and screaming as Aric buckles her in the car. She eventually calms down after Aric drops her off (even apologizing to the teacher for crying). The rest of the day goes smoothly though and she comes home happy. But yeah, the mornings are tough.

I’ve been puttering around the house. Cleaning up here and there, but a bit apprehensive to start any BIG cleaning project like organizing the girls’ closets or clearing up Aric’s office, etc… I’m proud to say that the TV is never on when I’m at home. I’m enjoying the silence….the sweet sweet silence.

Anyhow, what’s a pegpower post without pictures? We had such an incredible summer. We spent most of it in NorCal with my family and two weeks touring Japan and Taiwan. I finally uploaded our vacation pictures (ALL 2,188 of ‘em!), and I picked out some to share with y’all.

—-> Highlights of our summer break (warning, it’s still a hefty album). Enjoy!

Tags: Ashlyn, NorCal, pictures, school, Summer, vacation

yesterday

today

Can you believe it?!…..both are off to school! What am I going to do now? *twiddle thumbs* I think I’m going to crawl under the covers and have myself a good cry.

Tags: Ashlyn, school, Summer

Yes, I’m feeling the love today…and the fever and phlegm. We’ve all been feeling a bit under the weather lately, but this morning I woke up feeling like I’ve hit the pinnacle of this cold. I’m weak and achey. While walking up to the gate when picking up Ashlyn from school, I suddenly felt dizzy and disoriented. The ground beneath my feet felt as if it were sliding (similar to standing on a skateboard). Gosh, dropping to my knees would have been so embarrassing. It was scary, but luckily it passed quickly.

Last week Ashlyn and I decorated a shoe box to hold her collections of V-day cards and goodies. This afternoon, we emptied the box and read each card outloud. Over-commercialized holidays like Valentine’s becomes fresh and so sweet experiencing it through the eyes of a child. Ashlyn was beyond herself with giddiness as she went through her pile of cards…cherishing each and every one. Too cute!

my little love bug

enjoying her sister’s treats

I’m resting on the couch and taking it easy today. I’ve turned on the TV (which is strictly off limits M-Th) to keep the kiddies occupied. *tsk-tsk*, I know.

Tags: Ashlyn, school, valentines