Murphy's Law - I spoke too soon

I should have known I'd be jinxing myself and that things had been running too smoothly... *sigh*

Who knew that a plate lunch of Hawaiian chicken with rice and oranges would be so offensive to a 5-year old? I asked her if that was okay and she said yes. As soon as the plate appeared, she freaked out. Apparently - she didn't remember being asked about the choice and second - she said she HATES this chicken (never mind that it's one of her all-time dinner favorites). Whining soon blew up into a huge tantrum.

Daddy Dude responded to my email updates and called to talk to her. She refused (see picture on right) but never knew - the entire time - who was on the phone. I'm happy to report that she finally agreed to eat her lunch (no other alternative was ever offered) after we picked up Mika from school. As my dad used to say, "hunger is the best spice!"

So that Daddy Dude can see what has been happening, here's a brief summary. Nothing exciting happened on Monday (Grandma showed up that evening but before that, it was all homework and reading for Mika). Tuesday, Mika had Joggers' Club and I couldn't believe that Marika decided to run again (she threw a couple of infamous tantrums last fall).

I think she may be a sprinter, rather than a long-distance runner like myself. She shot off like a bullet for her second lap - some of Mika's first grade classmates tried to run after her and catch up, but they couldn't. =)

Here's my sweet (at that moment) baby here... "out standing in the field"... =)

And there are those famous Jaguar stamps for each lap run. The big kids have to run with cards that get stamped. They drop them, step on 'em and frankly... it's pretty awkward to run around with one of those things! Unfortunately, it's the best way to keep track of mileage...

Yesterday, too, was the day the kids got their balloons for one of their fundraisers. You paid by the balloon and some supposedly have pieces of paper announcing that you're a winner. The girls have until Friday to pop them. There's something endearing about a little kid holding balloons, don't you think?

Here's Marika on the last day of Mika's softball practice. The adults (and siblings) were asked to play against the girls. Mika got tagged out twice and wailed both times. How embarrassing! Better to have it happen during a practice than a game, though...

So now that Marika is finally happy again (the girls are singing a medly to "Grease" in the kitchen while they snack), maybe I can relax a little bit. =)

As my graduate professor used to say: "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."