Giving Back

I have always wanted to "give back". Volunteer, donate, do something. But I have never followed through. This year it was really weighing on me. I've had my share of struggles as a single mother but those are nothing compared to what some people have to endure. I'm pretty fortunate for what I have, so giving back in any way possible was important to me. When I had the opportunity to work a food drive, I jumped on the chance. Giving up two hours of my time is the least I can do. So last night I headed down to Ralph's grocery store to help out.

 Ralph's, KTLA, Second Harvest Food Bank, and others teamed up to put on this food drive. I didn't know what I was going to be doing. When I arrived the previous shift volunteer informed me I would be standing in front of the store handing out the flyers and asking the customers entering the store to participate in the food drive. Oh man, I thought I am the wrong person for this. I'm not the pushy, salesperson type although I know it was for a good cause. But I sucked it up and did it anyway. I had people blow me off or avoid me like the plague when they say me with flyers in hand. But there were those that donated... eager to do it, did it with no complaints, and donated generously too and that it made it all worth it. 

One little old lady told me "Bless you for what you do." I felt so guilty because she didn't know I was only volunteering for 2 hours. But it did make me want to be more involved and donate more of my time. Overall, it was an experience and I'm glad to have been a part of it. (A small part, but a part).

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We also had the opportunity to sponsor a child through Carlee's preschool. The children you could sponsor live in Mexico and are in need of clothes, shoes, diapers, etc. We had picked up our sponsor's information card and went shopping for Nancy, a 1 year old little girl.

I explained to Carlee that we were buying a present for Nancy so she has something nice to open on Christmas and how we have to wrap it and take it to school so it can get to her. Now she talks about her present for her friend "Antsy" at school.

Buying an outfit, shoes, and diapers weren't much to me, but I'm hoping it will mean a lot to those parents and to Nancy.

Thanksgiving at School

Carlee had her Thanksgiving Feast at school yesterday. I'm glad the changed it from a Friday to Wednesday because she seemed to be coming down with a cold and probably won't make it to school tomorrow. I'm glad she was able to participate in her school festivities that they work so hard on. Monday they had made cornbread for the feast. Along with their Indian head dresses, candles, placemats. These kids are busy. 

Carlee was so excited to be a little "Indian" girl. (I know that's not the correct term so Indian/ Native American/ American Indian...whatever the non-offensive term is). When her class came out to their table, she was a little overwhelmed. She was looking around at all the paparazzi parents taking pictures and all the kids from the other classes.

 Her class...

 I love this picture of her teacher with her students. You can see the joy she gets from the kids. I have to give her praise because I don't know how she does it everyday with ten 3 year olds.

Hmmm...what to eat?

A cookie and chocolate covered marshmallow it is. (They were cute little pilgrim hats)

Yep, I made the right choice.

Maybe some cornbread??

 All of the classes and the onlooking parents. It was a nice little feast.

Carlee still munching on her cookie. If you ask Carlee what she's thankful for, I'm sure she'd say "chocolate."

I'm thankful for my daughter's preschool and being able to experience everything with her.

Because I don't say it enough

All over the internet (Facebook, blogs, etc) I'm seeing people express what they're thankful for. In the spirit of the season I would like to participate. To me, this goes without saying however I should probably tell her more often how much I do appreciate her. I'm thankful for my mom. 

I'm thankful for the person she is and everything she does.

I'm thankful for her relationship with my daughter.

I'm thankful for our friendship.

I'm thankful for the woman I am because of my mom. 

THANK YOU, MOM. I LOVE YOU.

We've regressed

For Carlee's birthday I wanted to get her a new doll. All her dolls or babies have ended up at different houses and we didn't seem to have any at home. But she loves taking care of her babies, rocking them, feeding them, changing their diaper, and even putting them in time out when they've been bad. So her her birthday I bought her this...

Image from Target.com

Yes, that is a Baby Alive. If you press her bracelet she coos and kicks her feet. It's actually quite cute. She comes with food but I just thought Carlee could pretend feed her like she did with all of her other babies. But I was wrong. This is Baby Alive who really eats, pees, and poops. So we had to make the food so Carlee could feed her and give her a bottle. 

A minute after a "feeding" it's time to change the diaper. Carlee didn't want to do it because she could see the near-blowout through the diaper. So I change the diaper and when Carlee sees it she says "That's disgusting!" That's when I explained that I had to change her dirty diapers for over 2 years!

Yesterday I found myself making my shopping list and saying to myself "Oh we need baby food and diapers." How ridiculous is that! I haven't purchased diapers in over 9 months and now I'm buying them for a damn doll. I think we may give cloth diapering a shot because those little toy diapers aren't cheap!

Countdown to Christmas...

52 days, 14 hours, and 4 minutes until Christmas!

You can find the clock here in case you need a reminder.

Just yesterday, the day after Halloween that I noticed the Christmas commercials. I guess its not too early to promote Christmas since it is just next month. If they can promote Halloween in August, they can surely promote Christmas in November. 

I guess I bought into the hype because I am already looking forward to Christmas time. I know a lot of people have already started shopping and a few have even finished, but I have a rule that I don't think about Christmas until after the little one's birthday. So now I'm ready to make a list of people to shop for and a list of items to bake! I can't wait to bake a few of my favorite things. (Now if only I wouldn't eat them)

Poor Thanksgiving seems to get the short end of the stick.

In honor of Thanksgiving, I will mention one thing I'm thankful for and this shouldn't be a surprise but I'm thankful for my little peanut, Carlee.

I can't imagine a life without her. She gives me purpose and keeps me on my toes. I'm definitely thankful for this little girl.

Some preschool fun

 When Carlee started preschool, I think I was more excited than she was. Not that I was in a hurry for her to grow up, but I was excited for all the festivities that came along with school. For example, school programs! I couldn't wait for my little baby to get on stage and sing. Her school had their Harvest program where each class was a different vegetable or a farmer or turkeys. It was the cutest thing to see all the kids dressed up. Carlee and her classmates were carrots. Cute carrots at that.

 For a couple weeks prior to the program Carlee would sing her "crunch crunchy carrot" song sung to the tune of Frere Jacques. I'd even find myself singing it when she wasn't around. It was quite catchy. She would practice in front of the mirror and belt out "We are carrots! We are carrots! Look at us! Look at us!..." Hand gestures and all.

 Once she got on stage, it was a different story. She barely sang and barely moved her hands. She did a little better the second time through the song, but I was still proud of her.

I still thought she was adorable as a carrot too!

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Today Carlee was able to celebrate her birthday at school. Her teacher made her a special crown and she gets to be the line leader. (Apparently that's a big deal to 3 year olds)

 We made these cupcakes for her class. When we were walking to her classroom, she tells me "Thanks for making those cupcakes!" It was so sweet. Maybe my 2 year old who would throw a pretty good tantrum was replaced with a 3 year old sweet little girl.

That's it for the birthday celebrations (this year)! But as far as the preschool festivities, we're going to be busy with the holidays around the corner!