Zuzu's Petals

Video Montage of Mari & Sam!

2010-12-14T19:02:00.001-06:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

in my dreams...

2010-11-02T19:29:00.002-05:00

Tonight I made caramel apple dessert and Sam mused, "That doesn't make sense. They don't call an apple a red, but they call an orange an orange." I laugh. He says "That's not funny. That's weird."

Then I put the dessert in front of him, warm with whipped cream all over the top, and he said "Mmm...I think I've had this in my dreams!"

THEN he proceeds to eat his delicious treat and said "Mama, do you know why I close my eyes when I eat?"
"No, why?" I ask.
"Because when it's so good, I close my eyes and go like this...mmmmm!"

It's BIRTHDAY MONTH around here!

2010-05-24T17:16:00.004-05:00

Sam turns 4 years old! We have a robot party in his honor. :)

February 2010

2010-05-24T16:43:00.002-05:00

She's not a hillbilly, she's losing her tooth! For days, Mari was driving me nuts pushing this tooth out with her tongue that was hanging by a thread! She finally lost it. :)

January 2010!

2010-05-24T16:24:00.009-05:00

Fun with the Pla-Do Fun Cookin' Kitchen!!

Cheeseburger and french fries, anyone?

How about spaghetti and meatballs?

Brownie sundae?

Merry Christmas kiddos!

2010-01-03T22:32:00.000-06:00

Instead of buying the kids their favorite toys this year, I suggested that Jeff and I meet in Kansas City and spend a fun weekend together. It's SOO important to me that Mari and Sam get to know Harper and create a relationship with her. We decided to go to Great Wolf Lodge and BOY the weather made it TOUGH to get there, but we did it! (I left a day early and spent one night in Kansas before finishing the trip.) It was sooo fun to swim while it was a blizzard outside! Here are some pics:

Christmas fun of all sorts

2009-12-13T23:28:00.000-06:00

What a weekend! Man, we packed in the yuletide joy! We went to see a Christmas light show with hot chocolate, went on a "sleigh ride", visited Santa Claus, went ice skating AND snow tubing and made gingerbread cookies! Phew!

An evening at the Capitol

2009-12-13T23:14:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-03T00:26:00.000-06:00

Sam in his "pumpkin pie shirt", as I dubbed it.

I learned something this year. The kids love pork tenderloin, but that's IT. Apparently gravy is not supposed to touch mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole is the most hideous inedible thing to ever touch the planet. The okra and black olives were a MAJOR hit.

Our fabulous cousin Harper came to visit a few days later! It was wonderful for the whole family to be together and we had a GREAT day.

Warm November day

2009-12-02T23:30:00.000-06:00

what a waste...

2009-11-23T13:19:00.001-06:00

Ok, I do try to keep this page uplifting. I want to fill it with good. There are days, however, when the good is not overriding. I have been emotionally single for a year and a half now, (legally for 5 months). I feel sad that I am not with someone special, but I feel even more sad that the person who I predict I WILL end up spending the later part of my life with, is missing out on my kids! I'm not exactly patient, but I know eventually I will meet someone I fit with. I will be different in one year or 5 years, or (dear god) 10 years, but my KIDS. I will want them to have a relationship with this person, and I feel that each day they are growing out of the most special time of their lives. Childhood is so fleeting. So, I'll continue to take their pictures, journal about the funny things they say, and document their milestones, so that someday, someone very special to me, can become someone very special to them as well.

2009-11-03T19:44:00.001-06:00

My favorite movie of all time is It's a Wonderful Life. I first saw it when I was around middle school age. I liked it, but when I saw it again years later, I loved it. It became my favorite Christmas movie, and I have LOTS of favorite Christmas movies, (A Christmas Story for one)!

When I taught 7th grade Reading, I even played it right before Christmas break, to teach plot, cause/effect, etc, lol. I told my students that they would see this movie on a lot around Christmas time over the course of their lives and not to just flip past it, because it has such an important message. I like to think that perhaps one of them, when feeling low around the holidays some day in the future, might happen upon it, and remember that love and family are the most important things in this world.

I always liked the name Zuzu and even considered naming my baby girl Zuzu, but knew she'd hate it, lol. So I guess *I'm* Zuzu, and Mari and Sam are my petals. They snap me back to reality sometimes and remind me what's REALLY important in life. Everyone needs that.

HaLlOwEeN 2009!

2009-11-01T22:52:00.000-06:00

Mari was a veterinarian, and Sam was Batman.

We went to a Halloween carnival and so many people talked to Sam and complimented his costume that he started yelling out to groups of people, "Do you like my costume?" Once instead of saying "trick-or-treat" he said, "Batman is here!"

Mari wanted to pet EVERY DOG at EVERY house. They got a HAUL of candy, so we should be sugared up until Christmas!

We went trick-or-treating in Mesta Park. There was one house where the people went ALL OUT! It was set up like Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory. You followed a blood trail and it wound around 3 giant picture windows on this wrap-around porch.

I lifted Mari up and she said, "Let me down!"

The blood was flowing and squirting! The jars were lit up! The patient was animatronic! It was amazing!

Fall is here!

2009-11-01T22:34:00.000-06:00

A Day Out with Thomas the Train!

2009-11-01T22:11:00.000-06:00

On October 13th, Mari, Sam and I went to A DAY OUT WITH THOMAS! It was great! Sam loved it! Unfortunately, it dipped to about 50 degrees, but it really only seemed to bother me. The kids didn't care, lol.

My 3rd grade team

2009-11-01T22:06:00.000-06:00

Bluegrass Festival 2009

2009-11-01T20:58:00.000-06:00

The HUGEST SMILE EVER!

2009-11-01T20:54:00.000-06:00

When I played a little animated funny on the computer once, Sam asked me to do it again and again. He cracked up so hard, I had to get my camera. His smile was HUGE!

An evening in Bricktown!

2009-11-01T20:28:00.000-06:00

On August 22nd, I took the kids out on a Saturday evening to Bricktown. They had been asking to ride a horse carriage for a long time. Mari loves horses, so that was a really big deal for her. The carriage driver asked her a few horse questions during the ride and she knew them! One was what type of horses they were and she answered Clydesdale. She knew one that I had no idea about! (Must have been from that horse book you got her, Auntie Missy!)

First Day of First Grade!

2009-11-01T20:00:00.000-06:00

Mari was very excited to be starting first grade! She is really into dogs right now, so she chose a pink backpack with a Scottie dog on it. I asked her what she was most excited about and she said, "being read stories" and "seeing my friends."

School Days!

2009-11-01T19:58:00.000-06:00

School is about to begin! It's such a relief to have done this once! It doesn't seem like a new position should be so much to figure out, but with a new school and new grade level, I was flying by the seat of my pants a lot last year just trying to stay caught up! I know that this year will be smoother. I cannot WAIT to meet my new group of kiddos. I work with such a wonderful team. We got adorable t-shirts that say "Queen of My Classroom" and are using the medieval theme throughout the year. I'm looking forward to a great year!

A person's a person no matter how small!

2009-11-01T19:10:00.000-06:00

I took the kids to Seussical the Musical on Aug. 1, 2009. They loved it. Afterwards, we went to a fancy restaurant, Cheever's, and had delicious dessert!

I decided to paint Mari's room. Here's the ceiling after I scraped off all the popcorn ceiling. Phew! What a chore!

Here's the after. I darkened the center beam too. Now I just need to replace the hideous white and brass ceiling fan. :)

Studio Pics!

2009-11-01T18:42:00.000-06:00

We were overdue for some studio portraits, so we got some taken in July 2009. I'm amazed at how big Sam looks! They are about 6 1/2 and 3 1/2 here.

4th of July 2009

2009-10-29T19:16:00.000-05:00

NO DOUBT!

2009-10-24T14:49:00.000-05:00

July 9th, I saw No Doubt in concert in Kansas City. It was FAN-tastic! I actually nearly overslept through the concert, (I was just going to take a lil power nap), and missed Paramore, but didn't miss a single NOTE of No Doubt, thank goodness! They rock!!

Gwen's abs were mesmerizing, so now I'm on a "reform my abs" kick, lol! (I stole these off the internet.)

My Little Drummer Boy

2009-10-24T14:26:00.000-05:00

July 23, 2009
((HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!))

Sam has shown himself to be a real rocker in the making. I think it's hilarious that he can hear one note at the beginning of a song and say, "I like this song." His favorites so far have been The Doors, Tool, The Offspring, and the opening music to NPR's All Things Considered.

Mommy Daughter Afternoon

2009-10-24T13:29:00.000-05:00

Mari and I went down to Bricktown today, just the two of us. We strolled around, she was fascinated with the ducks, of course. ;)

We stopped into Nonna's and sat in the Purple Bar. We split strawberry shortcake. :)

I can't believe how big she is and that she'll be a first grader soon!

She's back in the game!

2009-07-22T00:20:00.000-05:00

Yes, my living room has a large table covered in scrapbooking supplies, but I'm BACK at it. I keep vacillating between home improvement projects and scrapbooking, but here are my results from last weekend, when scrapbooking won!

These are from February and March 2008. In January 2008, I began a "family album" concentrating on both kids plus a little of me thrown in. They will SOMEDAY continue to have individual albums, but one spread a month of the very best pics of us as a family is my goal for now. Next up is April 2008, our birthday month! That will have to be 2 pages. Hopefully I can post that soon as well. :)

Hello! I'm here!

2009-07-19T23:00:00.000-05:00

Yea! I caught the bug again! I have been away from blogging/scrapbooking, even taking pictures for too long! Well, here I am! I'm back!!

Ahh SUMMER! I know I complain a fair amount about not having more money, but this teacher is LOVING her job right now! ;-D It's so nice to be able to indulge my night owl tendencies.

I got a waitressing job and I like it overall. La Baguette in Norman. It's an authentic French bistro and bakery. I LOVE everything there! (I really should take some pics of the food and the dessert!) At times, it's hard to get bossed around for $2.50/hr, but on nights when I walk with decent tips, I'm glad to have it.

I have my usual projects going for the house. :) Mari's walls are still "builder grade white". I would say long overdue for some color, wouldn't you? After much discussion, we have decided on a rain forest themed bedroom! I have made the task absolutely gargantuous though by deciding to scrape off alllll the popcorn from the ceiling, which is semi-vaulted, and also replace the white and brass ceiling fan (wretch!) Yes, this will make the project take FOREVER, but it will look so much nicer and we can do some fun stuff with leaves and branches on the ceiling. Joey has agreed to help paint a mural of some kind. Mari will be soooo thrilled. I'm already excited to see her face. :-D I tried to talk her into a hot pink and black bedroom, but that's just not her. It's more me. hee hee. I found this duvet cover and may spring for it as a final addition to the room.

She loves blues & greens, so the tropical punch blue should be perfect.

Sam's room needs attention too. I bought some Thomas the train appliques and promised those to him when he was potty trained. Well, he only occasionally has nighttime accidents, so I need to get on it! The boy is about to outgrow his toddler bed too! I am considering getting Mari a double bed and doing something fun and funky with the daybed and give that to him.

Being single has its frustrations (broken ice maker, lawn mower that won't start, drippy back yard faucet, kitchen sink that routinely clogs, lol...), and these can get annoying, but overall, I am HAPPY and I am SO THANKFUL for my children and where I'm at in my life. We got studio portraits done last week. :) It had been a year and 5 months. February 2008 was just before Joey moved out. Well, I sat in on these and will share soon. I am so so proud of my little family of 3. :-D

Harper Dziedzic performs in her own show!

2009-05-13T19:37:00.000-05:00

Here's my niece Harper rockin the ukelele!

Mari's 6th birthday!

2009-05-09T17:14:00.000-05:00

Easter 2009

2009-05-09T15:54:00.001-05:00

Sam's 3rd birthday!

2009-05-09T11:47:00.000-05:00

Sam turned 3 years old on April 1, 2009. My he went from a baby to a boy quickly. Sigh... I don't suppose things will be slowing down any in future years either. :) He is such a sweet, smart boy. Really, he is very easy compared to Mari at this age. I've never even put him in time-out, really. The worst thing he does is argue with Mari at times, but who doesn't? ;-D lol... I love you Sammy! You are such an awesome boy!!

Mari's new diary

2009-05-09T10:17:00.000-05:00

I got Mari a diary for her 6th birthday.

Here is a recent entry, (yes, I'm snooping!):

The Moon
The sun and the moon they are beautiful.

Big boy undies!

2009-04-25T10:36:00.000-05:00

Sam started wearing BIG BOY UNDIES! (I have to remember not to call them panties!)
As you can see from the video, Mari cheers him on just as much as I do.
He also got croup and was very sick for a while. He's a little trooper though. Still in good spirits even when he's sick.

That silver lining...

2009-04-25T09:52:00.000-05:00

Well, one of the fortunate things about my brother, Jeff, and I both having gone through divorce is that we are able to empathize with one another's situations and I think it has drawn us a bit closer. We regularly talk about how it would be nice to live closer together, but for now, we keep in touch as much as we can. (He is better than I am at this!) When I went on a little jaunt to KC to see Kings of Leon, I got the chance to hang out with Jeff at his favorite dive, Davey's Uptown. We had a GREAT time. Jan. 24, 2009

2009-04-05T23:20:00.001-05:00

"I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't eat any candy."

My friend Amber & I

The boy is train crazy!

2009-04-05T23:07:00.001-05:00

I bought Sam a train table for his room. He LOVES it.

Here he is in his Thomas bed, with a new Thomas book... :)
He was doing some weird giggly thing and I had to grab my camera to record him. :)
Jan. 18, 2009

Christmas 2008

2009-04-05T22:43:00.000-05:00

This year, it was all about HORSES and TRAINS. :-)

December 2008

2009-03-07T10:30:00.001-06:00

At the Nutcracker

Our annual Gingerbread Party

Thanksgiving 2008

2009-03-07T09:47:00.000-06:00

It was just the three of us and I kept it simple, since I knew their favorite food would be the canned green beans and brown n' serve rolls. Oh, and of course, the black olives and baby corn were a hit. :-P

Stepping out of the fog...

2009-03-06T11:52:00.000-06:00

It's been too long since I've shared about the amazing things that go on daily with my kiddos. (5 months?) It's been a strange and busy time. In order to get this up, I'm keeping it brief, but vow to write more often. I will add some pics. Mwah! ;-*

2008-10-12T11:18:00.000-05:00

Well, we have started "dabbling" in potty training! Sam has successfully peed on the potty a few times and pooped once, but I bought him a TRAIN TABLE and it is in the box in the garage and I am keep telling him when he poops in the potty, we'll put it together. He keeps saying "I poop in the potty!" lol. I think he thinks once is enough.

"Mama, me happy!"

2008-10-12T11:16:00.000-05:00

Oh, it makes my heart melt. When I tuck Sam in at night, as I pick him up like a baby out of my arms, where we've been reading a book together, I lay him down, cradling his head. I start to pull the covers up around him and he'll say,

"Mama, me happy."

Is there ANYTHING better in the world?
I just hug him tightly and whisper, "I'm happy too, Sammy."

Life has just kept me away...

2008-10-12T11:13:00.000-05:00

I have been here - doing the mom thing, the teacher thing, probably failing at the friend thing. I'm trying to keep my head above water and doing a fair job. I know it'll get easier. :) Honestly, if I could just win the lottery, life would be GRAND!!! lol... SO many people on this planet have it worse than me, so even in the midst of a bit of turmoil, I have SOO much to be thankful for. I will try and blog more often.

If you're reading this, thank you. :) Mwah!

Robin

Mari turns 5 years old!

2008-05-20T22:56:00.001-05:00

Mari had a horse party for her 5th birthday!

Sam turns 2 years old!

2008-05-20T22:27:00.000-05:00

Sam turned 2 years old on April 1st, 2008! He had to have a Thomas the train party of course. :)

All his friends were there: Hailee, Ari, Asher and Caedon, and of course, Sissy!

Look at these crazy kids!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T12:06:00.001-05:00

A day at the zoo!

2008-03-23T11:54:00.001-05:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2008-03-23T11:49:00.001-05:00

Our trip to Sea World!

2008-03-21T23:16:00.001-05:00

We had an AWESOME trip to Sea World with our friends Jess, Dawn and Hailee. The kids had an unforgettable time and it was so cool to see them so excited about all the animals. Mari and Hailee get along very well, but I think like each other so much they sometimes inadvertently hurt each other's feelings and a bit of drama comes out. (She's not being my friend!) But that was rare and most of the time, they were rambunctious and playful and joined at the hip having a blast.

The first day it was rainy and cool, so we spent the day on the Riverwalk just doing some shopping.

Of course, it was super fun to just get away and do something new for ME as well! I had never been to Disney World/Sea World, so I had a great time too. Dawn and I got to hang out and there were many "margarita opportunities"!

One of the funniest moments came when we were watching the dolphins swim in a big rectangular pool. We were right at the edge hoping to see one up close and one swished Mari with its tail. It was like someone dumped a bucket of water on her back.

She was so shocked she didn't say anything at first, just looked at the former cotton candy in her hand (now just blue sticky dribbles) and then finally laughed, "That dolphin got me wet!!" She wanted him to do it again! It would have been hilarious if I had been videotaping, but I happened to have the camera out, so at least we got photos of it.

The seal show was hilarious!

Feeding the Lorikeets - Mari didn't want to leave!

We had quite a lot of fun (and a few screams!) in the 4D Pirate movie!

Our last night on the Riverwalk, we ate outside at another great Mexican place and went for a riverboat ride.

Sweet! I've got a new look!! ;-D

2008-03-17T10:57:00.000-05:00

How do you like the look of things? I LOVE it! My longtime internet friend Jaimee shared her talents with me via her new blog design business (see link in my sidebar)!

I have toyed around with the idea of having this blog be a place of utmost honesty and I have come to a decision that I'm going to keep it a "smiley happy" place. You know growing up, whenever I dealt with something that upset me, I spewed it all out in my little diary. Looking back, it seemed like nothing but bad times! I realized the good far outweighed the bad, but looking at my diary you'd never know it. So, yes, there is a lot of personal stuff going on within myself and within my marriage, but you know what, THIS is the place for ME to focus on what makes me HAPPY -- hopefully on a more regular basis! :-D Thanks for reading. :-* Kiss kiss!

When you're feeling like whining...

2008-03-15T12:15:00.000-05:00

We got her in!

2008-03-03T11:12:00.000-06:00

Well, it has been an interesting morning. Today began Kindergarten enrollment for Moore School District. Only select schools offer all day Kindergaten and those that do usually only have one full day class, the rest are half day. The school we are assigned to is Briarwood Elementary. I didn't know how many slots there were but the secretary at my old school joked that I'd have to show up at 5:00 in the morning to get a spot because it's first come, first served. It was very windy all night, with tornado warnings and sleet. I wasn't sure how early to be there, but I was there at 6:45 and I was #17!!!! I found out there were only 20 spots! Can you believe that?! It was still dark outside and I saw all these bodies huddled in lawn chairs and blankets in the breezeway of the school. The person right next to me said they were there at about 4:30. Person #7 was there at 9 pm! Person #1 was there at 6:30 pm the night before and sat outside ALL NIGHT LONG!!!!! It was nutso. Anyhow, she's in. I dropped my name to the principal and they said I should get my application in. When she asked me what I was certified in and I said that I have a Master's degree in Special Education and I've taught 1st - 7th, her eyes opened wide and said I needed to get my application in and that they are always needing special education teachers. I kind of just want a regular classroom position, but I'm open to anything.