The Doodle Bug Hits the Big Girl School

For years, the Sophie Doodle has been begging to go to the Big Girl School with Olivia.  She had spent the last three years napping in a stroller in the copy room, or looking at books, or playing kindergarten computer games in the hall, or coloring on the floor, while I was busy carrying on the PTO business.  Sophie truly felt at home in the elementary and was familiar with all of the staff members, who were ALWAYS kind to her.  And thankfully, the principal was always happy to have her, and she understood, there would be no Tonjinator without Sophie.

So glad I took this for both of them.

Yesterday, Sophie's big day finally arrived.  We had visited the classroom on Tuesday, so that she could meet her teacher, take a look around and get comfortable with her surroundings.  The night before she was worried, but she had a pretty good idea what she was getting into.  When she woke up, Sophie quickly got dressed, and shot downstairs, ready to go.  The Tonj stayed home a little later to walk with us and Olivia (who wouldn't even let me walk her to school on Monday).  Once we turned the corner, Olivia took off running to meet the BFF for the walk, leaving the Tonj to hold Sophie's hand.  I walked behind with a camera and Max, the 5 pound Maltese-Chihuahua Destroyer, on a leash.

How to Ruin Shopping for the Tonjinator

As a child, I was coached and guided by my mother, stepfather, and father in the matter of shopping.  Clothes, shoes, handbags, cars, and houses -- They made sure I'd seen or done it all in terms of Making the Deal.  And, I LOVED every minute of it.

My father lived across country near San Francisco, and when I was a teenager, I would fly to visit him and he'd take me into the city to shop for school clothes. The Nordstrom at the Westfield San Francisco Center and/or the Macy's at Union Square in San Francisco are still two of my favorite places in the universe, because I can always find fashions there that I can't find at home.  I'd take an empty suitcase with me when I'd visit, and return with my new wardrobe. The arts of shopping and making the deal brought me tremendous joy for many years.  Until today, that is.

The Tonjinator, as Little League Cheer Coach

About six months ago, my friend, Karrie, who is the mother of Olivia's BFF, Rylee, drops the bomb that she will not have time to coach their cheer squad this fall, as both of Rylee's brothers will be playing organized sports.  I must have had a lot of Coronas when I innocently said, "Since I won't be on the PTO board, maybe I can do it."  WHAT WAS I THINKING?

I'll say that I was NEVER a cheerleader.  Back in the day, I was something called a Cruiserette, which was a member of my high school's dance/drill team.  We wore lots of sequins and white go-go boots.  With the big hair and heavy makeup of the day, it was an AWESOME look.  Take a look.  I fell off a similar yellow box during a record 12 performances.  Don't bother trying to find me in this picture, because I'm not in it, but it gives you an idea of what the ensemble was like: Late 80s hair was AH-MAZING.

Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun?

Tonight's battle royale between my daughters began over a piece of chewing gum.  The Tonj picked up a pizza, sub, and the ever-critical (to me) diet Coke on their way home from cheer practice tonight.  And, I guess he bought each of them a pack of gum.  ::props to the Tonj for taking care of all of this tonight while I was making the blog pretty::

It is my firm belief that Olivia took the last piece of Sophie's gum.  How two children managed to chew 23 pieces of gum in 90 minutes is beyond me, but this caused Sophie to knock Olivia's glasses off of her face, which wouldn't have been a big deal if the glasses hadn't been broken before and Gorilla Glued back together.  It is a HUGE deal to smack glasses off your sister's face, in my mind.

What's up, Sophia Claire?

When Olivia was four, life as she knew it came to an end.  The Tonj and I had been trying to have a baby for a while, and finally I got pregnant and STAYED pregnant.  But, oh, did this child try to scare me to death.  Dr. Friday called me after that stupid alpha-feta protein test and told me that the levels indicated the possibility of Downs' Syndrome.  About a week later I had the amniocentesis, and holy God that was a big needle.  Results indicated no Downs, and about six months later, we got our first glimpse at those glorious blue eyes.

Sophia Claire was, and still is, my angel baby.  She ate everything, slept through the night early (like her sister), and cooed like a baby bird.  And those eyes are such an extraordinary color, like a cloudless summer sky. ::not a clue how to rotate that photo, folks::

Livvie Layne is in my ears and in my eyes....

I had wanted a baby of my own since my cousin Adam was born when I was eight, but I wasn't in a major hurry.  When I was about thirty, I got in a hurry, and thankfully there was no difficulty in getting pregnant.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Olivia, ever.  I think she was four months old here.  I couldn't get enough of those chocolaty eyes, or that chubby yumminess.  She must have been teething.

What the Sam Hill is a Tonjinator?

Who is the Tonjinator, you ask?

The Tonjinator, aka Mandy or Mommy or Mrs. T, is the wife of the Tonj, who will be nameless through the life of this blog.  You see, the Tonj enjoys his privacy.  Poor thing married the wrong woman for that.  Plus, when I was pregnant for the first child, we bought a house a mile from the one he was raised in.  And unfortunately for the Tonj, he was blessed with a surname shared by only three households in all of central Ohio - Yes, we are related to the other two.  So, everywhere I go, I am asked, "Do you know J--- Tonj---?" because he inevitably went to high school with, or dated the child of, or sold an appliance to the inquisitor.  And I'm forced to reply, "Yep, he's my husband." Fortunately, he no longer sells appliances, or I would be unable to be the stay-at-home mother of our two darling children.