Trish and the zoo crew

Confused

2012-02-03T22:35:00.000-05:00

The day started out pretty well but as the day progressed I started to get more and more annoyed.

After I picked up Tee from preschool, I let him play on the playground for a while with one of his friends. The Mom and I were talking about what we feel is missing from the preschool. She said let's see what they brought home today. There was a note in the folder talking about Valentine's Day. Valentine's day falls on a Tuesday so when would you expect the kids would celebrate? I would think on Tuesday, but the teacher wants to have the party on Friday the 17th. What would be the point? The issue is that the public school are off that day and more than likely Tee won't be in school. I was so upset that I marched back into school and spoke to the director and asst director. I explained the situation and asked them if they could remedy. I certainly don't want to have him miss the party but why would you not celebrate on the day.

The boys have a birthday tomorrow. We debated on how to celebrate because they did not want to do the same kind of party. I am not ready to have two separate parties at this point. Since I am the planner it does have to be convenient for me. So we settled on a dodge ball party. The boys were told that they could invite 5 friends. They were having a hard time and we spent some time working on their list.

E decided to not invite one of his good friends. This friend tends not to do well with lots of boys. We really didn't think that dodge ball would be his thing. Well, the other day, E came home telling me he felt so bad that he didn't invite him. There was a friend who was going around telling people he was invited to my kid's birthday party. I felt bad for E. We talked and I decided I would call his Mom and let her know the situation. She was ok with it and her son has decided he will join us.

And if that was not enough. One of Jay's friends is a little upset he is not invited. One of the boys invited doesn't like this other boy and keeps reminding him that he is not invited.. I feel terrible because I made him invite this not so nice boy. He claims to be his friend and I just didn't understand how he could not invite him.

I think parties may be a thing of the past. I just can't stand all of this nonsense that goes on.

Hoping for a better day tomorrow!

Is it really February?

2012-02-01T22:05:00.000-05:00

We have had such a mild winter so far. As I was walking the dog today, I had to take my jacket off. It felt like a spring day. I had to come home and check the calendar to make sure we are in February and winter is not over yet.

I have to admit I am a little miffed that we have not had a good snow. One where the kids could play, make a snowman and even go sledding. I am hoping for one good snow and then off to spring. Nothing but a little rain and mild temperatures for the next week.

We had a great weekend. The Mother in law came in for a visit. She was able to experience our chaotic days. The boys had a great time visiting with her. She was able to see them play basketball and practice baseball. The visits always seem to go by so quickly.

I was so touched on Monday, after school E says I wish Grandma was still here. It does suck to live so far away from family.

Well, I finally took my test and passed. So I am officially food safety certified for the next 5 years. How exciting.

Report cards were issued on Monday. I am so incredibly proud of them, they both came home with straight A's. Wow. I was not expecting that.

I also had a conference with Tee's preschool teacher. I just came out of the conference thinking it was a waste of time. I know what he knows. He knows all his letters but may get confused on a few. He knows all his sounds. He can count to 100. But really that just doesn't mean that much to me. I want him to have fun because after this it will be non-stop learning for the next 13 years. I am not sure what I expected. Maybe I wanted her to tell me that it was such a pleasure to have Tee in class. Instead I got that he needs to be reminded to keep his hands to himself or doesn't share toys.....and it just goes on. I feel like the other boys' preschool experience was so different. I feel like Tee has missed out on something good.

This week has been non-stop so far and will just continue on through the weekend. We have birthdays to celebrate and a scouting event.

Time

2012-01-23T21:32:00.000-05:00

I have come to the realization that it is just so hard to keep up with everything, including this blog. So much has happened in the last few months. So many cute stories to share. But short on time. I personally just want to get it down so that I don't forget it.

I have always been a huge PTA supporter. I join and have held a position for the last 4 years. This year I am the 2nd Secretary and Website Administrator. Someone created the website for me and she showed me how to update. This year I have had a change of heart. There was an issue that happened at the end of the year that caused the President (my neighbor) to resign. So the 1st VP stepped up and found someone to replace him. When he took over, he made a few remarks about the website and how I was not an expert. So the 1st VP decided he was going to create a new website.

Really??? Who does that? I had the website and was updating it. Don't you think that it would have been better to sit with me and let me know what you would like to see? No, he decided that he was taking it over.

I decided at this point I was not going to spend any time updating something that was going to be changed. So I stopped updating it. He has created a new layout and is in the process of trying to transfer the domain name.

I will keep my Secretary role for now but will not be signing up for anything next year. I am sure I can find another organization that will appreciate what I have to offer. Yes, I am a bit bitter.

So, I get extra time on my hands and what do I do? Volunteer for something else. I have been studying to be certified in food safety. Not sure why I agreed. In order for the scouts to serve a hot meal at a banquet that is held in February, there must be someone who is food safety certified. The person who is certified can't make the banquet. Yes, I should be studying now.

Sadie has been a handful. She certainly understands that Dad is top dog. But she fails to realize that she is not second in charge. We have a trainer who comes to the house to help us train her and work through any issues I am having. We have moved from a cloth chock collar to a metal choke collar. This has helped me a lot. She still wants to "play" with me. "Playing" entails her attacking my ankles or biting my clothes. The she sits back and starts jumping around and barking. It doesn't take long with the choke collar to get her under control.

Last week, Tee got a stomach bug. A lot of kids at his preschool had it so it was just a matter of time. So I wasn't shocked when Jay got sick on Sunday. He started throwing up on his way home from baseball practice, in someone else's car. I still feel terrible about it. He threw up the entire afternoon. I felt terrible for him also. What really surprised me was when E got sick around 10:30. Of course, he got sick in his bed, made a trail to the bathroom and then didn't hit the toilet much. Even the dog got sick this am in her kennel. I am done with the vomit.

It made us think. E already had a stomach bug during our holiday. So we feel like they got food poisoning from out dinner out on Saturday. They both had eggs. Of course, we will never know for sure. But one thing is for sure....they will be back to school tomorrow. They had the day off today for a teacher work day. Me? I spent the day (my birthday) striping beds, doing a ton of laundry and making beds back up.

Christmas at our house

2012-01-13T21:28:00.001-05:00

It seems like we sped through the Christmas season. We got our tree, put it in the stand and waited a week to decorate it. The majority of our Christmas decorations and ornaments didn't make it out. Yes, it was such a hectic season.

Our church offered a service on the eve of Christmas eve. We decided to attend that service, which was a very nice candle light service.

I started not feeling well on Christmas eve. I managed to get the turkey in the oven and started baking the other dishes to our meal. By mid-day I knew it would not be possible for me to actually eat dinner. So the husband cut up the turkey and put away all of the other dishes I had made. I spent a lot of the day in bed, catching up on the housewives of NJ. I knew I was going to have to rally for the evening activities.

Can you guess what I got for Christmas?

I got it a little early

And was able to catch these images of Tee.

You guessed it, a nice camera. I wanted to be able to use it for Christmas day.

The annual reading of Twas the night before Christmas!

The normal stop on the step before letting them run to their pile of presents!

Santa visited!

Having fun looking at their presents.

Santa was so nice, he installed the xbox in the playroom.

Mom and baby!

Dad and his oldest sons!

There was a bit of a mess when all was said and done.

We had a very nice day. The boys indulged in all of their gifts and we watched them. The best part was that we only had to warm up our dinner.

Tee has still been singing some Christmas songs, which seems very funny to me. He enjoyed hearing the songs on the radio for about the 2 weeks leading up to Christmas.

Insanity

2011-12-26T22:12:00.000-05:00

It seems as though the season has been so much more hectic then in years past. I am not sure if it has to do with our addition, Sadie or if we are just have too much going on. But we made it through and we had a great Christmas.

Sadie is definitely a lot of work. I have had to change my schedule a bit to get home for her so my morning errands sometimes have to be cut short. She is like a little baby, putting everything in her mouth that she can find and biting like crazy. I can't tell you how many holes she has put in my clothes and Tee's. She likes to use Tee as her personal chew toy. Tee just loves her so much and wants to kiss her all the time. E has really bonded with the dog and helps us care for her. Jay on the other hand is very scared and doesn't want much to do with her. Hopefully, once she gets a bit older this will change.

Sadie is now 11 weeks old. I was able to regain some sanity once I got a play yard for her. She did have several accidents prior to the play yard. It is nice to be able to put her in there so that I can get things done in the house without worrying about what she might be into.

There has been so much that has happened in the last month that I don't know where to start.

Tee has a preschool Christmas program. He was adorable. They sang Feliz Navidad and a Kwanzaa song. Yep, not sure how the Kwanzaa song plays into our Christian preschool, but whatever. He sang so loud and while on stage he says hey Mom. He says the funniest things sometimes. The other day he said Mom will you still love me with boogers on my face? I said of course, I will always love you. Then he proceeds to wipe his nose on my pillow. Another time he kissed me and said every Kiss begins with K. Maybe a little too much TV. We have looked at him recently and realized he is growing way too fast.

Jay had been in some trouble lately, the story for another day. He has asked the big question many times. You know, is there really a Santa. I have blown him off saying that you have to believe. Well, he has a week ago again. My husband asked me what to do. We decided that maybe he was ready to know. So he took him to his room and told him the truth. Jay cried for a long time. He was so sad. Of course, we threatened him if he spilled the beans to his brothers or his friends. The husband has explained that nothing has changed, we love doing Christmas just as much as they love Christmas. I think he is ok with it.

E has been doing well. He was so excited for Christmas. It is funny because he never asks for much. He had two things on his list. We decided last minute that we should at least get one of the items. I don't know that he will ever ask us about Santa and I think by this time next year we will need to sit him down. He has been really good in helping with the dog. He will even help pick up the poop in the yard. Once the dog settles down a little, I think they will have a great bond.

The husband is on vacation this week. This week will be about regaining some sanity, organizing and getting ready for the new year. I will post pictures of Christmas soon.

Thankful for so much

2011-11-29T21:22:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving week was a great busy week. The husband took the week off from work. The boys had a few half days off from school. Attended the boys conferences. Celebrated Thanksgiving with family. Took a trip, picked up the dog and wrapped up the weekend with the festival of trees. Whew!

The boys did amazing on their report cards. I am so proud of their hard work. We keep them very busy with extra activities and they manage to keep it all up. The teachers had such nice things to say about the boys.

Thanksgiving was celebrated at our house with my brother and three of his children. We feel very blessed that we were able to be with some family. It is hard to be away from our families. We would love to be able to be with everyone but it is not possible. I can't believe I didn't snatch one picture. It was a nice relaxing day.

We woke up Friday morning and headed to Hershey Park for their Christmas Candy lane. We went with friends of ours. The have an older daughter, a son E and Jay's age and a daughter Tee's age. So it works well with our family.

We could not have asked for better weather. It was a gorgeous day.

We started at Chocolate world when we first got their. We received an education on chocolate and the best thing was we were able to taste lots of chocolate. We then took the tour that explains the process of making chocolate bars.

We then made our way to the park. There were no roller coasters open but there were 30 rides open. We split up a little because the younger kids did different rides than the older kids.

In chocolate class

Tee liked this ride!

Tee did not like this ride! I didn't think it would ever end.

Family picture

It was a warm day but that didn't stop Frosty.

Our handsome boys on the train ride!

We were able to see a light show at the park and then headed to dinner. Dinner was really good.

After dinner we headed to the Sweet lights. A 2 1/2 mile drive of over 600 light displays. It was nice but a bit long.

We finally called it a day after that.

The next morning we woke up and went shopping at the outlet that was really close by. I had no idea it was there. Then we headed home to pick up Sadie.

She cried some of the way home. I don't think she likes to ride in the car.

The boys absolutely love her. Jay seems a little scared of her, Tee can't keep his hands off of her and E has a real connection with her. He is very responsible when it comes to her.

Sunday we headed to our annual visit of the Festival of Trees. I was a bit disappointed in the Santa but I really wanted to get the picture of Santa with the boys.

The boys racing cars.

Tee and Dad were the big winners.

It was a jam packed week but a good one. This week it has been back to our routines.

Temporary Insanity

2011-11-22T22:07:00.000-05:00

I remember in 1997, we decided to get a puppy. We had just moved into our house so it was the logical next step. Charli was the last girl puppy left in the litter. She was adorable.

Shortly after we brought her home, my husband was put on an assignment in Boston.  I did the single puppy parent for a good long while.  Those first few months were very difficult. She was a handful. But every time I walked into the door she was always so happy to see me.

Charli was such an awesome dog and a member of our family.  Unfortunately, we had to put her down 4 years ago. We were crushed when she left us.

The boys have been asking for a dog for a long time. I love dogs but they do add a lot of work/attention to an already hectic schedule.  Vacations now mean that we have to figure out who will watch the dog.  And don't forget the dog poop that needs to be picked up. I have not budged from the answer of NO for a long time.

Recently, we started talking about getting a dog. All I had to do was mention it and the husband was all over finding a breeder nearby. Conversations ensued.

So without further ado.......meet Sadie! Our soon to be addition to our family. I can't tell you how excited every single boy is in this family.

Sadie, the dog with her right nails painted blue!

She has big shoes to fill after Charli.....but look at that face.

The boys know that they will have responsibilities with the dog from walking to feeding to picking up poop. I walk around the house and look at all the junk on the floor and tell them that Sadie will eat everything on the ground.

Tee has been going around making sure there is nothing on the ground. In fact, he think Sadie will be sleeping with him in his room so every morning he ensures that there is nothing on the ground. He is very proud that his room is so clean. He has also started making his bed.

Sadie is about 7 weeks old and will be joining us on Sunday. Tonight we made our trip to the pet store to stock up on puppy supplies. Yes, I plead temporary insanity.

2011-11-20T21:46:00.000-05:00

I love having twins. I really do. But sometimes it is hard to make sure everything is fair. What I do for one I like to be able to do for the other. Sometimes it is just not possible.

I volunteered to go on the field trip with the 4th grade class. I thought about requesting both of my boys but in the end I didn't.  Jay was able to pick who he would have in his group. E had not heard who's group he would be in.

I had 5 boys in Jay's class. One of my friends was also chaperoning and she had 5 boys. We decided in the very beginning that we were making our boys all stick together.

The boys were well behaved on the bus ride over. We were running a little late.  As soon as we got to the science center, we were shuffled to the planetarium. I saw E and was able to sit next to him. He unfotunately was not with ONE of his friends. It made me a little upset.

I asked E if he wanted to hang with my group and after waffling a bit (yes he is not such a good decision maker) he said yes. Jay's teacher was sitting next to me and I asked her if it would be ok. She hesitated a bit but eventually said yes. This teacher also has twins who are just 1 years old. I told her that she would see that it is not always easy.

E was very quiet the entire time. We didn't have much time to roam. We had to eat early and then head to the 3D show. Once we left the 3D show, E decided to head back to his group. The field trip was ok. We did have several people that we had to watch closely because they kept wandering.

When the boys got home from school, E was very quiet. I didn't really think anything of it. He acted strangely at basketball practice. The husband and I discussed his behavior and decided I would speak to him before bed.

I spoke with him and finally got him to admit something was bothering him. It took a while. His brother was at a sleepover/birthday party. I thought he was upset at that. He ended up telling us that his feelings got hurt when he went up to the boys in Jay's groups and they told him they didn't want him in their group. I had heard a little bit of teasing going on but they were just joking with him. I tried to explain that to him but I am not sure he agreed.

I felt guilty because I feel like I pushed him into staying with us. Next time I will ensure that I have both boys in my group.

Speaking of Jay's sleepover, that did not go very well for the parents.

I dropped Jay off and the Mom mentioned that her son got in trouble because she found out that her son was stealing matches and starting (or trying) fires in the woods. It took a lot for me to not walk back in the house and take Jay home.

The Mom called the Fire Marshall and has enrolled her son in a fire safety class. Good punishment!

I picked up Jay a little early on Saturday because we had a busy day planned. The Mom looked at me and said that she felt Jay was really trying to do the right thing but the kids were awful. They had not slept at all. They were so loud (they slept in the basement) that she was down there at 2 am and at 5 am.  She could not get them to calm down and sleep.

Jay mentioned that he was trying to sleep on the sofa but someone got a glass of water and poured it on his head. He was really trying to sleep and the other boys were goofing off. I do believe him because he needs his sleep and is not used to staying up that late.

Sunday is when we had a discussion about when you should talk to your parents if your friends are doing something that you know is wrong.

Fun times!

The week

2011-11-14T20:40:00.000-05:00

The husband has been working a lot lately that he decided to take a few days off. It is always nice to have him home. It does throw the boys off a little bit as they don't get how he takes a "vacation" day and he is vacationing at home.

Basketball season has started. This year the boys will have 2 games and 1 practice a week. Games do not start until December but the kids practice 2 times a week. The husband is the assitant coach for the team. Our friend is head coach. He also coached the boys for flag football.

The boys will continue to have baseball practice through the winter. Practice is set for 2 times a week. As luck would have it, one day conflicts with basketball. So most weeks they will only be able to practice one time a week.

The boys have continued scouts this year. We meet 2 times a month. Luckily, our den leader is very good about changing our meeting day based on all of our sports schedules.

Recently, I found out that E was being pulled out of class 2 times a week. So, of course, I inquired with questions. I determined that the assistant was pulling him along with several other kids. They play games. I decided to send a note to the teacher to get some answers. She explained that he is getting a little more assistance with being able to summarize and cause and effect. This would help him with his class writings. So we ended up deicding to get a tutor. We are having both boys tutored for the time being. I think they could both use help with writing. I am just sad that the school doesn't have more resources for this. But in the end my goal is to just make writing a little easier for them. We have a former teacher who taught middle and high school English. She comes on Thursdays to help with their writing assignment for the week.

Tee is taking a swim lesson once a week. He is taking the class with one of his friends. I am hoping to keep him in swim shape for summer. After the holidays, I may try to get him involved in a sport. He says he wants to do soccer again. He has a very busy social life. Some weeks he has many play dates.

This past weekend, we were invited to the Univ of Md vs. Notre Dame football game. Tee has been asking to go to a Ravens game. We were hoping this would cure his curiosity. We went early and tailgated a little. Unfortunately, the game was late so we weren't able to stay long. It was a fun evening.

This week will be another busy one. I am having a Pampered chef party tomorrow evening. I love PC products. On Friday, I will be chaperoning the older boys' field trip to the Science Center. I have been on this field trip before. It is a hard one to chaperone because the kids want to separate. I had not signed up but the teachers sent out a note asking for more volunteers. Tee will spend the day at his preschool. Luckily, they have an afternoon class that he will be able to attend.

A second apart

2011-11-07T21:33:00.000-05:00

Every year the boys prepare for the Golden Shoe race. A class is a team and the team must run a mile. The goal is to have all of your classmates/teammates run as quickly as they can. The Golden Shoe is coveted by all, but only 1 class can win. The boys' first race was in 1st grade. Neither class has ever won.

PE class prepares the boys for the run. I hear the boys often talk about how far they have run. The teachers do keep track of how many miles they run.

The boys both started off strong. A few time Jay stopped to walk. It is so fun to cheer them on. Jay came in at 7:11 minutes and E came in at 7:12. They were both a little winded, but they did great.

In the end, E's class won golden shoe. They get to proudly show it off in their classroom for the entire year.

I was very proud of E as when he finished he went back out and ran with people to push them to the finish line.

It was so close!

But in the end, Jay pushed a little harder.

Spooked out

2011-10-31T21:58:00.001-04:00

We had a really nice weekend even though it rained/snowed all day on Saturday. When it rains that means it is inside project time. We had a lot going on this weekend.

Friday night was the dance put on by the PTA. It was a fun night. I was very glad to be done with this event.

Saturday night we had a Halloween party to attend. They have a 4 year old son who is Tee's best friend. They also have a 8 year old son who the boys enjoy playing with. The parents planned the party as a surprise for their kids. The kids were gone with grandparents all day while the parents prepared the haunted house.

It was another fun evening.

Tee was determined to get an apple!

And he did!

Yes, I know that putting your mouth in a big pot of water filled with apples after several other people have tried to put their mouth on an apple is totally disgusting. In fact, my older boys wanted nothing to do with trying to bob for apples. Everyone needs to try it at least once.

Tee and his best bud. These two have an unbelievable connection!

Although the older boys did not have any costume parties at school, Tee did. I was one of the parents who signed up to help with the party. The kids had a parade and then back to the classroom for games. Tee loved that I was able to help out.

No masks allowed at school.

This evening we went to a neighbor's house for dinner. It was a last minute invitation. The boys were so excited for Halloween.

Jay as the cool ghoul, Tee as venom and E as the dementor!

We ended up splitting up a little tonight. The husband took the two older boys with some of their friends. I took Tee with one of his neighborhood buddies. I made it back to hand out just a little bit of candy.

It seems as though there was not so many people out this evening. My neighbors said they had a lot of candy left over.

I would love for Halloween to be the last Saturday of the month. It would be nice to not have to rush through dinner to get them out and back in to get ready for bed.

It is fun.....but I am glad to be done with costumes.

Oh boyz.....

2011-10-30T20:43:00.000-04:00

It seems as though there are big issues in 4th grade in regards to the boy's bathroom. The problem seems to follow them year after year.

The bathrooms are located at the entrance to the 4th grade pod. The pod has 3 closed classrooms and two open. It appears that someone likes to clog the toilet on a daily basis. The kids have lost out on recess time due to the bathroom issues.

My boys think they know who is responsible for the over abundance of toilet paper in the toilet. Yes, this child does have a behavior problem. It would not surprise me but they don't have any proof.

I was really shocked when the boys came home and told me that someone pooped on the bathroom floor. How incredibly gross. How does that happen? Was it an accident or on purpose? I guess if it was an accident, I could see a 4th grader being very embarrassed.

A few days later, I was really grossed out. Not only did someone poop on the floor again, they covered it with a piece of toilet paper and the janitor slipped and fell. YUCK!

So now the boys have to go to the bathroom in pairs. One goes in to use it while the other waits. When the first one is done the second one goes in and check the bathroom.

I am totally grossed out by the entire thing.

This is concerning to me. E does not like to use public restrooms. He will hold it ALL day rather than subject himself to such filth. I had to threaten him to use the bathroom during the day or I will email his teacher. He does not want me to do that so I think that he has been ok. I can tell he has not used the bathroom when he runs home from the bus and goes straight to the bathroom. I watch out for this daily.

****************************************************************************

Tee and I were in the car the other day having a conversation. He started talking about being able to walk dogs in order to earn money. He really wants to make some money. I thought wow, that is so cute. My response was that he was too young to walk dogs to earn money. He came back very quickly and said no, you walk the dogs and earn the money and give it to me. Where does he come up with this stuff? He cracks me up.

Day off from school = forced family fun

2011-10-22T21:00:00.000-04:00

When we were driving today, Tee tells me I am the best Mommy in the world. Sound nice? He should have stopped there, but said when you are mean you are the worst Mommy. I told him that hurt my feelings and that I loved him very much and had to take care of him. I guess he felt bad and he said ok Mom, you are the best Mommy in the world even if when you are mean. I left it at that!

Friday was a day off from school, although Tee had school I let him take the day off. In the morning, I told him we would go to the zoo and he was so excited. He said Mommy, I have never been to the zoo. Yes, I feel like the Mom of the year. He is 4 and has NEVER been to the zoo.

I purchased a groupon a few months back for a family membership. The membership expires in December. It was a bit of a chilly morning but that didn't stop us. I had never been to the zoo here but had heard that the area on the way is not a great section of town. I put the address into my GPS and away we went. Yes, I got a bit lost but was able to find it after a few minutes.

We could have taken the tram to the animals but the boys wanted to walk.

We tried to get as many pictures as possible.

Change of photographer.

Tee is working on his skills.

The Raven!

My animals!

We spent the first part of the morning in the children's section. Lots of animals and we didn't miss one. After lunch, we took a train ride. It would be nice if they had a ride that took you around some animals but it just goes out and back.

We then hit the African animals. There are the bigger animals: lions, elephants, giraffes, chimpanzees etc. The last stop were the polar bears. We did a lot of walking and decided that we would ride the tram back to the front entrance.

I love it when the older kids have such a good time doing something that Tee enjoys. We had such a good time.

Unbelievable

2011-10-19T21:46:00.000-04:00

Early on I decided I would volunteer my time in the school. I got involved in the PTA when my boys were in first grade. We moved here soon after they started Kindergarten and I needed a little time to settle in.

I have held a role on the PTA since then in many capacities. I have done special events, fundraising, membership and currently holding the role of secretary. Sometimes I have done 2 roles at once. As is typical, it is difficult to find volunteers and it is usually the same people every year.

The president is was serving a 3rd year because no one wanted to take on the role. The President just happens to be my neighbor and good friend.

What many people don't understand is that you should join the PTA every year and that does not mean that you have to volunteer your time.  Our school seems to have minimal members. Why? I haven't figured it out. The PTA does so many nice things for our kids and teachers, from assemblies (4 a year) to special events to teacher appreciation events to so many other. It sounds like a great thing, right?

Well, what has transpired the last couple of weeks has made me re-think my role in this organization. I will never be able to explain in detail, that would take too much time but hopefully enough to understand.

The principal of our school has decided to no longer have a Halloween parade at school. The parade consisted of kids having to change into costume in order to parade outside where parents are waiting and watching. Then they have to go back inside to get out of their costume. Typically each class has a celebration with a sweet treat and games. The only item getting axed is the parade. There are many who do not celebrate Halloween and a teacher must be responsible for them while others are parading around. It is time. The communication was done in the weekly newsletter that only gets posted on-line.

A local on-line news source got wind of the demise of the parade and posted a story. As you can imagine the comments that were left were not very nice. One comment was encouraging people to get to the PTA meeting so that this could be discussed. On the advice given by the county PTA, our president posted that the parade was not on the agenda, however, the principal would stay after to discuss with those interested. The PTA meeting was adjourned and no word was brought up about the parade. The Principal and VP stayed around and no one said a thing.

Well, the next day comments went crazy blaming the PTA president for everything. The personal attacks on both the President and Principal were unbelievable.  It said that the President did not have the best interest of the kids and that the principal was lazy. And no one liked either one.

In response to the cancellation of the parade, the PTA changed from a Hawaiian party to a dance and come in costume party.

Another article was printed about other schools in the area and how they were going to continue their tradition of parading. And once again people started commenting.   Each and every comment really just made me get angrier. The PTA does so much for the children in the school and the president has dedicated so much of her time for everyone else's kids.

During this time, the president decided she needed to resign. She was done with the personal attacks. At a certain point everything you do will be scrutinized and who can live with that.

And if that was not enough, a third article was posted yesterday. It was a letter that was written from the president of the PTA council, over a week ago. The letter was not posted in its entirety. Once again, the comments started to trickle in.

I have to say, I just don't understand why everyone has their panties in a wod over a silly parade. If you want to fight for something, fight for a way to better the education of our kids, fight for a better spelling program. If you want your child to parade do something at home for them.

I think about how incredibly silly this issue has been and how much of my time I have spent discussing it. I have spent time reading comments and listening to the PTA president. I have started to think maybe it is time to do something else with my time. This bothers me because the PTA does so much for the children and that is the only reason I have stayed on at this point. But maybe it is time to do something else that will be appreciated.

Apples.....Apples

2011-10-16T20:46:00.000-04:00

I am a bit behind. A week ago Saturday, it was a beautiful day, we had no plans and we thought it was a good day to go to the farm. We visit the farm a few times a year and the boys love it.

We headed around lunch in order to stop on the way there. We stopped for sandwiches. On the way, E made some comment about not wanting to go. This was our first outing in a long time as a family and I was not going to let him ruin it. My response was we were having a family day and we were ALL going to have fun.

We made our way to the apple orchard. We were able to pick 4 different kids of apples. It was spread out a bit so we got a lot of walking in. We got lots and lots of apples.

The boys standing in front of the apple trees!

My piggies!

They have a maze for the kids. Jay and Tee went right in, with Dad of course. I was afraid that Tee was going to get separated then get lost then get upset. They went in and had a great time making their way through. E stood next to me just looking. After a few times through, I asked E again if he wanted to go through. He said yes. And he had so much fun. I can't tell you how many times they all made it through the maze. We started timing them to see how quickly they could make it back.

In front of the maze!

We also went for a hay ride. As you ride through the woods you see many different characters from Winnie the Pooh to Harry Potter. It was fun for the boys. They tool pictures of each and every character. As you can imagine the pictures were not great.

Our hay ride!

We managed to spend our entire afternoon at the farm. The apples are delicious. I have only made one dish with the apples so far. It was a crock pot recipe for Apples. It was really yummy. Tomorrow I think I will try another recipe for apple bread.

The older boys have flag football on Saturday afternoons. Even though I had to push them into playing they absolutely love playing. They wished that game would last longer than 1 hour. I have yet to take my camera with me to a game.

Our pool was finally closed this past week. With all of the rain and colder weather we have not been able to swim since August. We were a little late this year and I am glad it is finally closed. The pool is covered in the winter. The cover sits in a storage bin outside. We have had to wait until that came out in order to put away all of the pool toys.

Yesterday was a really nice day a bit windy but nice. We ended up starting a fire in the pit to make smores. We invited some neighbors over to join us. It was a fun night.

Our Sundays involve Tee's t-ball game and E/Jay have baseball practice for a few hours. It seems like weekends fly by.

Nature Center trip

2011-10-10T21:33:00.000-04:00

Our Saturdays have been busy. A couple of Saturdays ago, my two little scouts and I made a trip to a nature center in Delaware. Yes, I wondered the same thing......aren't there nature centers in my area instead of having to go on a 2 hour drive. Well, I guess we don't have a nature center like the one we visited.

It was a really long day but the boys earned 2 badges and parts of other badges. So the 2 hour drive there and the 2 hour drive back was definitely worth it.

Our morning started at 7:30 and we didn't get home until 9pm. We rode with the our den leader and we had 5 boys in the car.

We were fortunate that our weather was a little chilly to begin (it was mainly cold and rainy in Baltimore) with but the sun did end up coming out for a large part of the day. As the sun set it did get a little chilly but we were inside for the last part.

Our leader at the nature center was awesome. He was with the 20 scouts and parents all day. We all learned so much. The boys learned about the various types of trees and their uses. The common theme was that most plants are not good for you. There are also many poisinous plants around.

The boys were also able to net out sand from the stream to find different insects and organisms. That was a lot of fun and luckily all boys managed to stay dry.

We had breaks for lunch and dinner and a bit of play time in between. The boys had a blast. The ride home was really quiet.

I am not sure what E is doing....I think he is pondering something

Jay with his friends

The praying mantis stayed in the leader's hair for a really long time.

This is a fungus on the tree.....just in case you wanted to know.

I was really dreading the trip, driving two hours and not sure what the dinner was going to be like. But it ended up being a great trip. I am glad the boys have stuck with scouting at least for now.

This past Saturday was also really fun......more on that later.

Short Lived

2011-10-05T21:44:00.000-04:00

The most stressful part of jury duty is trying to make sure all your kids are taken care of for the day. You don't know how long you will be gone. I tried to google what to expect with jury duty, but didn't find much on the subject. I am a planner and I like to know what to expect.

Tuesday morning was an early morning. I had to get up, showered, breakfast and lunches made. As I was in the kitchen, Jay asked my about what I was doing. I had explained to them the day prior what I was doing. Our conversation went something like this:

Jay: I am going to ask my teacher to turn on the tv.
Me: (puzzled)Why would you ask your teacher to turn on the tv?
Jay: So that they could watch me.
Me: (even more puzzled) How would you watch me on tv.
Jay: You going to be on Judge Judy.
Me: (laughing) No, not judge Judy....Jury Duty. No offense Judge Judy I would be happy to be on your show anytime as long as I am not the one being sued. He just had it wrong.
That made my morning.

I delivered the older boys next door and Tee down the street with my preschool carpooler. I then made my way to the courthouse. We are fortunate that the courthouse is not downtown where parking would be an issue. The courthouse is very close to my house.

I arrived a little prior to my assigned time. I had to walk through the metal detector, which went off but the officer told me it was as it was the buckle on my shoes. We were shuffled up the steps around a few corners into a room. The room was standing room only. They did bring out a few chairs. We waited for a while as people continued to show up. It was so crowded that people were sitting on the steps.

The man who was standing outside the room as prospective jurors showed up went up to the front of the room. He said that many years back jury duty consisted of about 200 people a month. Back then you had to be available for an entire month. They now call about 200 jurors a week. Yes, that means lots of trial juries. The man also mentioned that sometime cases will be settled as they are walking into court or if there is evidence missing the trial must be postponed.

After his spiel, he had us all sign in and paid us our $15 for showing up. It took a while to get everyone signed in. He said his next job was to get things moving in the courts so that he could get us in or out.

When I got up to sign in, someone ended up taking my chair. So I then was stuck sitting on a step. A very uncomfortable step. I read a magazine and talked a little bit to the lady sitting next to me. Of course, I people watched also. Many people were on their phones or were reading. One lady was knitting. The lady next to me was working on a crossword puzzle.

They say the jury summons are random but I just don't know if I believe that. I looked around, there seemed to be the same number of women and men and then a breakout of young, younger and older. I guess I will put me in the young category.

Then the good news came. It was announced there would be no jury trials and we could all leave. We were done for the week and could not be called back for at least 3 years. I guess I made $15 for sitting 1 1/2 hours.

I know....civic duty

2011-10-03T21:22:00.000-04:00

I was originally summoned for Jury duty in August during the time we would be on vacation. As the directions stated, I immediately sent a letter stating that I would be out of town and need to be reassigned. What I wasn't expecting is a letter a few weeks later giving me another week. That week just happens to be this week.

As I mentioned, I called on Friday and my group number 42 was not called. Groups 1-19 were to report. My thought was that Tuesday groups would probably be 20-39. That would make sense to me.

I called today around 4:30 to listen to the message for today. The guy on the system started with the group numbers to report. Group number 20, 21......then he got to 39 but kept going and then 40, 41 and you guessed it 42. All groups are to report at 8:30.

After my 5 minutes of panic, I had to start thinking about what to do with my kids. The two older ones are not the problem, it of course, is Tee who has preschool for just 3 1/2 hours. I ended up getting it all taken care of. It is times like this when I wished we lived closer to family.

I am fortunate that the courthouse is close by and parking will not be a problem. I do dread the fact that the majority of what I will be doing is just sitting and waiting. I have a stack of magazines and some other things to do while I am doing my civic duty. I am just glad that this civic duty will go away for at least 3 years. Stayed tuned as I am sure I will have some good stories.

It has been a while.....

2011-10-02T21:31:00.001-04:00

I had trouble logging into my account this evening. Yes, it has been a long time since I have been here. I think about it many times but wait until it gets too late. Many things have gone on in our house in the last month, some good and some not so good.

The boys are growing up (literally also). We are all back into the routine of school and activities. Tee cracks us up a lot these days. I love it when he says something followed by "I trust you Mom". I keep trying to tell him it is "trust me".

There are a few things that I have noticed lately that I just don't understand. I have to say that I am with the majority of people who wish the FB format would remain unchanged. It now lets you see what your friends comment on even if you are not friends with those people. The only way to stop it is to ask your friends to create that privacy. Doesn't that not seem wrong to anyone else? Well, one of my boys was sitting next to me telling me that his friend has a FB page. I looked him up and he certainly had one and then I found several other 4th grade students who had a FB page. Some of the kids had no privacy settings and their walls were open for viewing. Are you kidding me? What are these parents thinking? They need to watch a few episodes of Dr. Phil and the dangers of kids being on-line.

I am a little frustrated with the preschool. I am almost glad that this will be our last year, but I don't want my baby to grow so quickly. The preschool hired a new director, they had an interim director (who was awesome by the way) up through the end of the summer. Oh yes, the director decided to start the week school started. So she knows absolutely nothing and she has little personality. I have tried to speak with her a few times and had to hold my tongue. Everything is difficult with her. All I tend to hear is I can't. I am not alone as there are many parents who agree. I have to say I don't love the teachers Tee has this year. He seems to like them and has a great time at school, but I had just hoped for a little more.

I love it when we do clean up around here. I cleaned out toys a few weekends ago but had to get my husband to help me. I tend to look at the toys and get really sentimental and end up keeping junk. I have a few large bags full to donate. We are also working on the man cave in our basement. Hoping to have it completed in the next couple of weeks. I love to get organized.....but for some reason I have a hard time getting into my office.

I am all over the place tonight. I hope to get it back together and write more.

Where was I.......

2011-09-08T21:24:00.000-04:00

Oh yeah....vacation. Now that school has started, I really miss vacation. We left Savannah and headed to Jacksonville to see my parents. There was a lot of moving around in the first part of our trip. After the one night at my parent's house we left for the beach. The beach is where the big event was going to take place.

One of my good friends recently relocated from Conn to Florida. We were able to slip in some visiting time with them. The boys really enjoy her daughter's company. They got a little swimming in also.

We were able to spend a lot of time at the beach. I have to say the kids were exhausted during our stay. We were here and there and everywhere.

My sister rented a large house (beautiful) on the beach where she would hold her exchanging of vows and then have a cocktail party to celebrate. Only family was invited to the exchange of vows.

On the wedding night, we got there a little early to help the bride get dressed. Us ladies were freaking out a little bit when the zipper broke on my sister's dress. We worked at it for so long. We ended up having to sew her in literally. It ended up working out but boy was it stressful.

My sister was walked up the steps by her son.

It is not that he wasn't interested but he was exhausted. Too much fun in the sun.

The happy couple!

My family. It was nice to have us all together.

Sisters!

The husband and the kids ended up leaving the festivities early. It had been a long few nights. I got to stay and play.

I definitely did NOT take enough pictures. What was I thinking. I had my camera. I didn't take any pictures of the kids with the grandparents. The kids were with cousins and I have no proof. Frustrating.

It is always fun to be with my family. It is a big bummer that we live so far away from them all. But it does make the times we are together more special.

We left on Sunday for the last stop on our vacation.

He is growing up so fast

2011-09-06T21:38:00.000-04:00

Today is the last first day of preschool for Tee. When I took him to meet his teacher last week, he didn't want anything to do with the teachers or any of the toys. We actually had a play date so we had not planned on staying long so it worked out for me. But I did have a talk with him about when school started he would walk into class like a big boy, hang up his backpack and participate in class.

Well, there were no problems this morning. He was happy to be going to school and was even happier when he saw one of his best friends.

This year Tee goes to preschool 5 days a week. I think this will prepare him for ALL DAY Kindergarten next year. School is only 2 1/2 hours, which is really not a long time. But lunch bunch can be added on for a an additional fee. I am bummed that lunch bunch went from 1 hour last year to only 30 minutes this year.

I was talking with Tee this evening and told him that we would wait until Thursday to start lunch bunch. He said no. I thought for a moment that he was not wanting to do lunch bunch. How wrong I was, he wants to start lunch bunch tomorrow.

He is growing so fast. The other day I was talking with him about T-ball starting soon. He said "Mom, I need to fill out". I was totally confused so I inquired more. How are you going to do that? He said you know Mom I will eat sandwiches and chips to fill out for baseball.

An extra day added on already

2011-08-30T21:22:00.000-04:00

We were very fortunate to not have any damage during Hurricane Irene. We did have a terrible night's sleep because of all the wind and a leak in our bedroom window but other than that we fared well. In fact, most of our neighbors lost their power early Sunday morning but we had no interruption of service.

Sunday was a beautiful day. The kids played outside most of the day with their friends. And all of our outdoor furniture had to be put back in place. The husband ensured everything was tied down.

The email came around dinner time. School was not going to open on Monday as planned because there were still too many power outages. Many schools did not have power.

I was very happy to get the email on Monday that said our school would open on Tuesday. The boys were ready and I definitely was ready.

This morning we started our normal school mornings routine. I asked the boys to get ready and Tee immediately got his shoes on and was ready to walk the boys to the bus.

The typical first day of school photo.

The boys getting on the bus.

We did a headcount at the bus this morning. Last year there were 42 plus kids getting on at our bus stop. This year we are down to 36. The bus stop was jammed pack with parents and siblings.

Tee and I went to a neighbor's house for a Mom's breakfast. Once we returned home it started. Tee was non-stop, Mom what do you want to play, do you want to do a puzzle, Mom can we go outside and on and on.

Tee has one week until he starts preschool. We will go meet his teachers on Thursday.

The fun has started. We are back to homework and sports.

Ride a bike or take a walk

2011-08-25T21:43:00.000-04:00

I am old fashioned and conservative in many of my views. Not too much I can do about it. I have caved in many times and gone against my beliefs.

Several years ago, we opted to purchase the boys a DS system. They loved them, but I always thought my kids would never have a gaming system like that. Like most new things, they played with them a lot for a while but it had been cyclical for the most part.

When we moved to Md. I again gave in and purchased the kids a Wii system. I did almost feel like I was pressured into it. The boys would have friends over and the first question was, "do you have a wii or xbox?" My justification was that it is so cold here and we unfortunately have to spend a lot of time indoors. And like the DS system, playing is cyclical, sometime they play a lot and other times they have no interest. Our kids like to read and play outside so I don't worry as much about them playing video games.

I am sure there are other things where I will be swayed in my beliefs.

What I do know is that I will never purchase a motorized scooter for any of my children. I will stick with the old fashioned bicycle. You know where you have to pedal to expend some energy. And when and why did those become so popular? I absolutely can not stand to see kids riding those in our neighborhood.

Now let's take that one step further, what about a golf cart. Yep, there is a family who owns a golf cart in our non-golf community. Just for clarification, my kids will not have one of those either.

So the daughter in this family, who is about 13 years old, rides the golf cart up and down the street. In a matter of a few hours, I probably see her ride past one way and then the other 6 or so times. Sometimes it is her and a friend and other times she has girls piled in. It bothers me every time I see her. Forget that it is not safe I think she needs to be walking or riding a bike.

A neighbor just happened to be home yesterday and witnessed what I have seen just about all summer. He started a thread regarding how dangerous it is. The father of said girl commented back that he would only have his daughter ride on the sidewalk and make sure there are no more than 4 people in the golf cart. He was actually a little ticked off and couldn't believe that this is a concern in the neighborhood.

Many neighbors have chimed in with what they have witnessed. And many neighbors have said that riding a golf cart on the sidewalk was not appropriate. Thank goodness they said it because I was thinking I would have to chime in also. My kids walk and ride their bikes on the sidewalks. Tee gets freaked out if someone is walking towards him, I can't imagine what he would do if he saw a huge golf cart coming towards him.

After all of these threads were posted, the father got really mad. He thinks we need to stop worrying about an innocent situation and start worrying about important things like vandalism and other community issues. This father is clueless. Luckily, our new HOA president, who just happens to be an officer of the law, posted a thread on the laws of our county. Guess what, it is against the law to ride a golf cart in a neighborhood such as ours. Shocker.

So rest assured no motorized scooter or golf carts will reside in our garage. Now on to more important things.

We interrupt this show.......

2011-08-23T21:39:00.000-04:00

We had an earthquake today. I have only been in Md for almost 4 years and we have had 2 earthquakes. It is 2 too many for me.
The first one was a long while ago, it was early in the morning like 5:30, mild and quick. It basically was over before we figured out it was an earthquake. The kids were asleep and didn't feel a thing.

Today, E had an orthodontist appointment (this was before all the boys' dental appointment which is all in the same place). E is sitting in the chair. We feel a little tremble and the hygenist looked at me and asked me if I felt the movement. Then we looked at each other and said that was an earthquake. We all went outside. The kids were really shaken up. E said his knees were shaking.

We waited outside for a little while and then went back inside to carry on with our appointments.

The husband works in Baltimore and definitely felt it in his building. They all evacuated. Very scary.

When I got home the boys came into the house first. They came running to the door and told me we had some things fall. I had a mirror just sitting on the mantle above the fireplace. It slid off, hit the floor and shattered. I cleaned up all the glass and have vacuumed. Glass was everywhere. Every once in a while I look and see a glimmer on the floor.

I am glad that is over. Now if we can just get a miss this weekend of the winds and rain we could get.

First Stop

2011-08-22T21:38:00.000-04:00

The alarm went off really early on Wednesday morning. We got up and were on our way a after 5 am. The boys did really well in the car. Tee kept us laughing in the car. It was only a short time before he was asking if we were almost there.

We decided that instead of trying to make it all the way to Florida we would stop in Savannah. We would stay the night and tool around a little. I really like Savannah, it is such an old town with lots of history. I have been there a few times a very long time ago.

On the 9 hour journey, a thought popped into my head. I really love the Food Network channel. How fun would it be if we could eat at Paula Dean's restaurant, Lady and Sons. With my handy dandy droid I started researching. I looked over the menu and then saw that reservations are made each morning at 9:30. So you wait in line at 9:30 and then are given a reservation time. They do have a buffet available for people who don't have reservations.

After we checked into our hotel, we took a bus down to the River area and walked around a bit. It definitely is the party area as there are many bars along the river.

We then made our way to find Paula's restaurant. We finally found it and saw the hostess to see if by chance we could make it in. She looked at us and said she couldn't seat 5 together. We could split up and both my husband and I were thinking, sounds good the kids can sit on their own. But that didn't fly with the hostess. I was TOTALLY BUMMED. Maybe I need to plan ahead and send Paula a note prior to our next vacation down south.

On Thursday, we took the boys to the Savannah Railroad Museum, which lucky for us was right behind our hotel. Yes, sure it is vacation but who says you can't learn a little on vacation. We took a self guided tour but we also had a guided tour of the Executive cars. Usually the President of the Railroad was the one who would ride in this car. They have restored them. We learned some interesting facts: ice was put in the bottom of the train and that is how the car was cooled

The boys also were able to work the hand car (we are unsure what the name is). Tee and I got to ride along but I could tell that it was much harder than I thought it would be. The guide had to help the boys. The men who worked these back in the day sometimes had to go 50 miles a day.

After the nice morning, we tredge on in our road trip of 2011.

Minnesota visitors

2011-08-21T21:40:00.000-04:00

We were so happy when the husband's sister said that they wanted to visit us. The boys have developed a relationship with all of their cousins but they have one that they communicate with often. They text each other on their itouches and occasionally they will skype. It is nice because we are so far away and we don't get to see them often.

They had close to a 17 hour drive done over two days. The boys were texting the entire trip so we knew where they were until they arrived at our house.

The first day they were here we all spent the day hanging out at the pool. It was a HOT day so it was nice to be able to stay cool.

It was nice the husband was able to take a few days off to spend with us. We decided it would be nice to take a trip to Annapolis. We decided to take a sailing trip on the Chesapeake. It was a nice afternoon.

A nice passerby took a picture of all of us in Annapolis!

The husband and E.

Tee and Mom chilling.

Jay and Ry

Nath and my boys.

Cooling off with drinks.

Quite the crew.

the family

He finally got brave enough to move from the safe area.

Future sailor!

The next day we decided to visit the Aquarium. Baltimore does have a nice Aquarium. And we even got snuck into a dolphins show. We only caught the end but it was good.

Yes, more pictures.

And the kids spent a lot of time outside in the pool. My sister in law got a lot of neat pictures of the kids but I only got a few.

The boys (except Tee) all went to a minor league baseball game. They all had a really good time. A few of the boys got game balls and one got a soft ball that was thrown into the stands.

We were so glad they were able to visit. The boys were so sad when they left. Jay was finding all reasons why they should come back or why we should meet up with them somewhere. We hope to be able to see them again sometime soon.

Home again, Home again, jiggity jig

2011-08-20T20:43:00.000-04:00

It is hard to believe that there is only one week left before school starts. The summer has been fun and August flew by. The boys have said that summer has gone by so quickly. I guess that is a good thing right. They are not ready for school to start yet.

We were so happy to have the husband's sister and her family visit the beginning of the month for a week. The boys LOVED playing with their cousins. They so looked forward to their visit and it did not disappoint. We had some fun outings but mostly hung out and played in the pool.

Once they left, I switched gears to get ready for our vacation. We visited 3 states, which included lots of driving, visiting a good friend, a wedding, beach time, some cool sight seeing, more beach time and much more. We were gone 10 days and we had a blast.

I have lots of pictures that I have to go through with lots of stories. More postings soon.

Another summer week

2011-07-24T20:40:00.000-04:00

Nothing like spending a few weeks on a 1000 piece puzzle only to get to the very end and realize you have lost a piece. The boys and I spent so much time doing this really hard puzzle. We had fun and are looking forward to the next one that I purchased.

Well, this week started off with Tee getting into a fight at a birthday party. This really caught me off guard. The kids were playing in the yard. She had a big water slide, there was a playground and a little playhouse. It ended up that the birthday boy and his cousin were throwing toys at Tee. He ended up trying to fight the cousin.

I did make Tee apologize and explained that the best thing to do is to walk away. The birthday boy came over the next day to say he was sorry for throwing things at him.

The boys had fun at golf camp but I wasn’t extremely happy with the camp. I am not sure that they were really taught much. I feel like there was a lot of messing around vs. instruction. The boys seem to like the golf pro but I personally don’t think he has much personality. I am going to try to find a different golf program for them next year.

We did go up to the gym pool this week also. It is a big pool with a zero entry area and a few big slides. I kept trying to get the boys to go down the slide and they did not want to. I then realized that Tee could go down the slide. I asked him and he jumped on the offer. He spent a lot of our time there going down the slide and loved it. Then the boys finally started going down the slide.

It has been so incredibly hot here. I feel like a hermit. We have everyone one of our blinds closed and all fans going. Friday made me realize that we needed to close up a little bit because it got way too hot in the house.

We are fortunate enough to have the pool and we have definitely used it this weekend. We have all been emerged in the water the entire time.

This week is a quiet week. We are done with camps so I will have to make sure to find things to do to keep us busy.

Randomness

2011-07-17T15:00:00.002-04:00

The husband got tickets to the O’s baseball game today so he took the boys and I get some time alone. The boys were excited. They get to sit behind home plate.

The boys finished vacation bible school on Friday. They had a nice time but I noticed it didn’t seem as great as it was last year. There was a different leader this year and I think it made a big difference.

Our afternoons are typically spent outside in the pool. It is effective in wearing the kids out. We have had lots of friends over too.

Tee has such an imagination. He is constantly telling me stories and they don’t make much sense. For example, what if our house filled with water. Yes, crazy situations. Yesterday we were outside and Tee got stung by a wasp in his head of all places. He eventually calmed down. Later on, he said Mom, I hit the fence by accident and a daddy or mommy wasp came out and saw that I did it and stung me. It is funny how his mind works.

We have decided to have the boys tutored this summer. She comes one time a week and works with them individually. I don’t know specifics but I do know that during the summer kids lose so much of what they learned in school. It has worked out really well. The tutor is a teacher and she has worked on both fluency and math facts.

The boys and I went to see the Cars2 movie one rainy Friday afternoon. They enjoyed it!

E is an avid reader. He started reading this series called Warriors. The books are 300 pages (small print) plus. There are several series and he was read through the first 3, each series had 6 books.

My garden has done really well this year. I have a bunch of zucchini and cucumbers. I have made a batch of zucchini bread and plan to make many more. Green beans have also come in well. I do enjoy having the extra vegetables during the summer.

Next week, the older boys have golf camp. It is just a few hours for 3 days. They did this same camp last year and had fun. Tee is done for camps for the summer.

Low key

2011-07-11T21:18:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, it was 3 cookouts in 3 days and 2 of those were at our house. We went to a friend's house on Saturday evening. I ended up making a cake batter and baked in ice cream cones. Then I frosted them. I got the idea out of a Rachel Ray magazine. They turned out really cute, but transportation was an issue.

On Sunday, we had a party for the boys' baseball team. The boys typically only see each other on the field so it was nice to socialize a little off the field. We had over 40 people here, that is a lot of people. The party turned out really nice, even though a storm moved in during the middle of it. I am talking a wind blowing storm. Our lounge chairs ended up at the bottom of the pool kind of storm. We were all stuffed into the basement but the kids managed to find things to do. After it settled down, the boys went swimming again and the party didn't end until 8:45.

I decided on Monday, July 4th, that we needed to get rid of some of our leftovers. So we invited a few friends over for swimming and food. It was a nice evening and definitely not 40 people here.

We had nothing last week but the week went by fairly quickly. Rain came in on Friday and I decided to take the boys to see the Cars 2 movie. They all really enjoyed it.

This past weekend was really low key. We spent a lot of time relaxing by the pool. Saturday evening we spent with our neighbors, swimming and hanging out.

Yes, I don't know what we would do without our pool. It does provide us a lot of entertainment. The boys had friends over on Sunday and they played out there for a good few hours. And we spend time out there just about everyday.

This week, all the boys have vacation bible school at our church. Today at pickup Jay says wow that was short. Well, compared to their all day scout camp I am the 3 hours felt like no time at all. They had a great time.

How to get things done.

2011-07-06T22:02:00.000-04:00

In April, we decided to make a change. I don't particularly like change. I like to keep things the same for the most part. But my husband finally convinced me that we needed to switch cable companies.

The cable company decided to change to digital and every TV needed a box. We figured it out after the fact. Yes, we had received a letter but it didn't make much sense to us as our TVs are digital. So we get all the boxes and put them on our TVs. We had trouble with the one in our bedroom. ~~We,~~ my husband, made several phone calls that made him incredibly frustrated. As a side note, I am usually the one who handles these types of phone calls, but he took this one on.

He was transferred to an area that was closed on one particular day, on one call the rep was yawning on the phone and no one really offered much help. We wanted someone to come fix the the problem, but there was a question on whether we would be charged. After many calls, my husband finally escalated it to a manager who said it would not be a problem to get someone out the next week.

After thinking about it for a few hours, we he, decided that it was to move to fios. In addition to this situation, we had problems with our phone. During conversation, people would say that I was coming in and out.

Our transition was great. As soon as fios was installed, we returned and disconnected the other cable company.

I ended up receiving an invoice in May with a credit balance. I thought that I would be receiving a check. I wasn't shocked when I received an invoice again the next month with a small credit balance. I decided to make a phone call.

I spent the next 2 plus hours on the phone. The first time I called, I was transferred and on hold for over 30 minutes. I called back and although the rep was very nice and held with me for the next 30 plus minutes he ended up disconnecting me. During the conversation, he told me I had to be taken care of by this other area. It appeared they must have been having problem with the phones. Yes, they are a cable, Internet and phone company. My third call back is when I decided that I would no longer be nice. I immediately asked for a manager. I went over the situation and explained that I was done with the company. It needed to be handled, I was not going to be transferred and did not need to speak with anyone else.

The next week I did end up getting 3 phone calls from corporate. Why do they need to talk to me? I returned my equipment and canceled my service. They had a total fail of closing out the account.

Well, just yesterday I ended up getting an invoice for an amount due. I was beyond angry. They are charging me for Internet and Cable that I have not had. I decided that I was going to send a letter to corporate outlining the situation.

I did a little research trying to find an email address to corporate. I found this website that an executive carpet bomb. Not sure why it is called this. But people determine format of the email (@whatever) then take the executive and make a list of all emails.

Oh yes I did. I wrote a letter and thought about it a little and re-wrote some of it. I copied every single email address and hit send. Out of the 100 emails, I had less than 30 not deliverable.

Today I had a message on my machine from corp (maybe the same person who called me several weeks ago). She stated that she had closed my account and is expediting the shut off outside our house. I have a credit balance of $138 that will be sent to me once the shut off is completed.

It makes me sad but that is how you get it done.

Instinct

2011-07-05T21:04:00.000-04:00

Many people have told me that Tee is every one's friend. The Moms tell me the girls in his preschool class all talk about him. In May I had a conference with the preschool teachers, they mentioned that he gets along with everyone. They also said that everyone fights to sit next to him. As a parent, that makes me feel really good.

I did probe a little more into the kids fighting to sit next to him. Tee said that he wanted to sit next to two certain friends but a boy named C wanted to sit next to him all the time. This was very frustrating to him. This boy was also on his T-ball team and he never had any interaction with him. This is just not like Tee.

The boy's Mom emailed me last week to see if Tee could come over for a play date. I have not asked him yet but I know his answer will be NO. I just don't know what to say.

I mentioned this to one of my friends who has older children. She told me to trust his instincts. You can't and should not force friendships. She did this with her daughter when she was young and then found out that the other girl was not very nice.

I don't want to ignore the email although I have so far. I also don't want to say that my child wants nothing to do with hers. We have been very busy as of late but we obviously won't be busy all summer. I was thinking that I would have them come here for a little swimming so I can see the interaction. I need to figure this out quickly because I really need to say something soon.

The first week of Summer

2011-06-28T21:10:00.000-04:00

E and Jay are exhausted.  The boys are doing a Scouts camp this week. The boys are up and out of the house by a little after 7am and don't get home until around 5:30. The camp is about a 30 minute drive. Talk about a long day.

They are having fun and doing so many requirements of their next rank. But needless to say they are so tired. They wished it wasn't all day. Honestly, I wished it wasn't all day too.  The good news is that there are only 3 more days left.

I also put Tee into Nature Camp this week. It is only 3 hours a day and he has had a blast. One of his friends is going also. They take hikes everyday which he loves. I was a little worried about the camp at first since it is outside and I wasn't sure how many kids or who was running it. But it has all worked out.

The husband is on vacation this week also. Well, not much of a vacation for him.  We got 12 yards of mulch delivered today. So he spent much of the day transporting to the backyard. I was only able to help a little today. Still lots more to move.

I am hoping we can accomplish lots this week.

They did it!

2011-06-27T21:34:00.000-04:00

That is right, NUMBER 1.

The boys' baseball team improved greatly this year. There was some inconsistency throughout the season. Sometimes they were on and other times we weren't sure what they were doing. But as the year continued they did start to put it all together.

A few weekends ago the regular season ended with a league tournament. The boys ended up losing 2 games on Saturday so they did not move onto the finals. It was definitely disappointing.

The team entered a tournament this past weekend about 1 hour from our home. This is the absolute last game for them until next spring. The boys played 2 games on Saturday and lost both. They were seeded number 7 out of 8 teams.

I was totally surprised when the husband called me Sunday morning to tell me the boys won. So Tee and I packed up and drove to see the next game. We were ecstatic when they won that game and moved on to the championship game. I thought at one point my husband was going to faint. Oh yeah, my husband was head coach on Sunday. The regular head coach was not able to make the tournament.

The 3rd game of the day was played right after the 2nd. The boys were totally pumped up for the game. I am sure I will get the stat wrong, but we were losing up though the 5th inning. The boys put it together and ended up scoring several runs.....more than the other team. In the bottom of the 6th inning, it was just a matter of getting 3 outs quickly for them to not score. We ended up winning 10-4. I can not describe the excitement of the boys. This was such an awesome way for them to end the season.

Now for the drama, you know there has to be some. The team has 13 players. That means each inning 4 kids sit out. 13 is a lot of kids to have on a team, but if we are out that takes 2 players from the team. Detailed stats are kept, believe me they are detailed. One of the items tracked is how many times you are sitting on the bench. There are some kids, mine included that have sat out the most.

At the game on Saturday, one of the parents got really upset that their child was sitting on the bench too much. They thought he sat out a lot although in reality he had not. The Mom came over during the 2nd game on Saturday and told her child they were leaving. The coaches tried to calm her down and it ended up that she stormed away and left but her child remained with his Dad.

The coach approached the Dad to find out what the issue was and he let in on the coach. No one was sure where this all came from. So the coach reviewed the file with the detailed info. and it turns out that this child has sat out the least. The coach did contact the parents that evening and the conversation did not go well. They ended up quitting prior to the game on Sunday. I find the situation incredibly sad. What are they teaching that child about being on a team. I do have to tell you that it was nice to have the big win without him.

The Dad did eventually send a note apologizing but I think it was too late.

2011-06-24T20:49:00.000-04:00

I grew up in a pretty strict household. I remember my Mom sitting us kids down and making us listen to a tape of someone speaking about how rock music was devil music. If you played the lyrics backwards there were satanic messages. I was always a top 40 music listener, rock was not my thing but I am not sure if my Mom understood that. So I sat in the room not listening much. You did get that it was on a tape recorder.

Concerts were always out of the question. My first concert was in college with one of my good guy friends. I was into more alternative music in college. We went to see The Cure. It was a good concert but lots of freakishly dressed people. It was in a coliseum so pretty mellow.

My next concert date was my husband, boyfriend at the time. We went to Pearl Jam. I like their music but I so much enjoyed people watching. I wondered what the strange smell was that took over our space. Yes, I did not hang out with people who smoked pot so I did not know the smell. I also remember a guy in front of our space who was selling shirts or something. He took his pants down and stuck money in his special underwear. Interesting to say the least.

Luckily, my next concert was very mellow. I loved the Lilith Fair. Lots of great female singers. Would love to see it again sometime.

That is the extent of my concert going until the other nights. My husband mentioned that he entered his name in a drawing at work to win 2 tickets to the suite. You had to answer all the questions correctly. I got a text the next day stating he had won 2 tickets to U2. He is very lucky, maybe he should start playing the lottery.

There was a lot of juggling taking place on Wednesday. I had a friend who asked if I could watch her child because they were going to the concert as well. I had a teenager sit with the kids for a while until my niece got off work.

I was able to catch a ride with some friends fairly early. We went to a dinner at a nice restaurant before catching a cab to the stadium.

As soon as we got to the stadium, the others told us we missed Bono by 15 minutes. He was having dinner in the suite right next to ours. Many of them got pictures of him leaving the suite. How cool would that have been.

The stage was amazing. It was a great concert. We had a great time.

After the concert we walked all the way back to my husband's parking space. It was a 45 minute walk. Drenched in sweat we were.

They all do it at one time or another

2011-06-14T20:25:00.000-04:00

It seems inevitable that at one point or another a child will pick up scissors and do a little cutting. Yes, they like to cut papers, sometimes important ones. But what I am talking about it cutting your hair. Tee took a little chunk out of his head. It appears it will be a buzz cut for him this weekend. See for yourself.

The last month in our house has been a very challenging one. I am frustrated beyond belief and something has to change soon. The boys argue all the time. They will start playing together and then it ends in an argument. It is all three boys.

The attitude of those in this house is just terrible. Lots of eye rolling, stomping, door slamming and sighing. Ok, the sighing may be coming from me because how much can a Mom take.

Friends tell me the same thing is going on in their house as well. I guess it could be the transition to summer. Speaking of summer, we only have 1 week left of school. And next week it is only 3 half days. I am definitely ready to be free from the daily routine. It is time for a break. And time to get rid of the attitude and fighting.

Hazy

2011-05-30T22:00:00.000-04:00

There are times when you wish you had a certain profession in the family. Like when you need a lawyer or a doctor. Me, I have a few civil engineers, a computer ~~geek~~ guru and insurance experts. But right now I could use someone who specializes in teeth.

When I was younger, I had a lot of work done in my mouth. I think one of my first visits to the dentist and I had 7 cavities. As I got older, I had to have 4 teeth pulled because my pallet was small and my teeth were crowded. Then it was on to braces. My teeth were straight. This was huge based on how crooked my teeth were to begin with.

Several years ago, I had to have 4 crowns done as my fillings were so deep. I also have receding gums. How much worse could it get?

I finally decided it was time to get my gums looked at. It doesn't seem to be getting worse but it is time to get it taken care of. So I make a visit to the periodontist. After getting pictures of every angle of my teeth and doing a mold, he tels me his thoughts. He would like me to get my teeth straightened again so that he can do gum surgery. He feels that gum surgery would not be as effective as long as my teeth are crowded and not at a perfect arc.

From what I understand gum surgery is NOT fun and is lots painful. So I don't really want to chance doing surgery that doesn't stick.

I am in the process of getting ready for invisalign. The first thing I had to do was to get root scaling on some of my teeth. I decided I just could not sit through this type of cleaning and asked for sedation. It is conscious sedation but you are at a point where you just don't care.

I tried hard to go to sleep as he was working in my mouth but it never happened. I guess the oxygen and nitrous gas keeps you awake. I think back to the day and I asked my husband if I was awake when we drove home. He said I slept the entire way home. Not only that, I slept the entire day away. I woke up to eat dinner and then was asleep for the night. I guess it wasn't so bad.....I got the day off.

Conversation for another day.....E has to get some work done in his mouth also just as Jay got his braces/expander out. Also, wondering what if any issues we will cause for our kids putting the expanders in their mouths.

2011-05-23T21:47:00.000-04:00

I guess I have been on a little sabbatical from blogging. No real reason other than time or lack there of. I have been a little busy and now I am gearing up for the end of the school year.

A few weekends ago, my MIL came for a visit. We ended up going to the beach for a long weekend as the boys were out of school. The weather didn't exactly cooperate with us but we managed to have a nice weekend. The beach was a bit cold but the boys had a great time digging holes and playing baseball. It is early in the season so people were very scarce. It was a nice little get-a-way. We are fortunate to be fairly close to the shore.

Baseball is consuming much of our time although we have had several rain outs. The boys are participating in a tournament this weekend. Well, actually it is a tournament that we are putting on so that means lots of work for the parents on the team. Should be an interesting weekend.

I have been helping out at the boys' school. This year the boys did biographies for their books. They have written books each year here. It is really neat. They write then it gets typed. The typed pages are cut and pasted in a book and then they draw pictures. Then there is a tea where the kids get to read their books to parents. Such a cool program. But I can't tell you how many books I assembled. I was doing them in the evenings at home. Glad that is over with.

I am planning the end of the year picnic for 3rd grade. I am feeling just a little pressure to make sure everything gets done. Lots to do between now and June 10th.

The weather has been really lousy lately. Rain Rain and more Rain. Usually it would not be a bid deal. But it has caused pool issues for us. The pool needs a little work done. In order to get the work done it needs to be dry for a few days straight. The pool has to be drained in order to get resurfaced and needs a day to dry. It is memorial day weekend.....time for swimming. And our pool may not be done this week. ugh!

We did go out with some friends this past weekend to an annual event called Wine in the Wo@ds. You were able to do many wine tastings and have lots of food. They also had lots of crafty items to purchase. We brought some seats and just hung out for a bit did a little wine tasting and ate a bit. It was a fun event but next time we would plan much differently.

So all is well and I will be happy when things slow down a bit.

Slow

2011-05-04T14:28:00.000-04:00

Recovery for Tee has been slow, but we expected that. Monday was probably the worst day he has had. I think the combination of pain and being tired caught up to him.  He had a 3 hour nap and then went to be just a little later than normal time. Tuesday was definitely better.

I definitely think we are on the upswing. He woke up this morning and did NOT ask for medicine first thing. He really seemed ok until he sat down to eat.

He is able to eat lots of different kinds of food but when he certain foods he says his cheeks hurt.  I can't pin it down to any particular food. I would say mainly sweeter types of food. But I gave him spaghetti o's for lunch and he was not able to eat them either. I am not sure what it is but if it is not better by tomorrow I will definitely call the doc.

He wakes up once a night for medicine. He is in such pain. Lucky for me he wakes up typically before I am asleep. It does take a little while for him to down the medicine. I have to admit it smells horrible. I wonder if we could have gotten it flavored somehow.

I have looked in his mouth and all I see are big white splotches. I am sure it hurts.

And a cute Tee story.  A few weeks ago, our trees were full of blooms. The tree blooms look like flowers until they turn into green leaves. Tee was picking the "flowers" off the tree and putting them in my hair. He said it looked so beautiful that I could get married.  He wishes he could marry me and wishes that he married me before his dad did.  Such a sweet little boy. Not a Mommy's boy at all.

Glad this is over

2011-04-28T13:48:00.000-04:00

I don't think you ever understand how becoming a parent can change your life. Not in a bad way.  I just never imagined that when one of my baby hurts I will hurt along with him.

Tee was born 4 weeks early. He had complications after birth. His blood sugar levels were really low and his platelet counts were dangerously low. He was being given formula to increase the blood sugar levels and his platelet counts were done every day. They were creeping up but no where near what they should be. Later we would find out that I had positive platelets and Tee had negative so we had to wait until his could reproduce and mine where out of his system. Scary stuff especially when the sent us to a blood cancer Doc.

With these issues, Tee would have to wait until he could be circumcised. When he was a couple of months old, I was finally given the go ahead and made the appointment.  I talked the office into doing IT on my first visit. They wanted me to have a consult and then come back all because of insurance purposes.  Yes, I was probably a little hormonally charged.

The Doc comes in and takes a look. And after I hear about the insurance issues I will likely cause he started getting prepped. My dilemma, do I stay in or do I walk away and come to him to comfort when it is all over. Well, there would be no one in the room except the Doc so there was no way I could leave.  I stayed in the room over my baby's head and tried to comfort him as much as I could. He cried all the way home and I just felt terrible. I knew it had to be done (it was our choice but we did want him to be like his brothers) and there was no way it would be right for my husband to take him.

A few months ago, we noticed that Tee was snoring. The snoring concerned us because Jay used to snore a lot like that. We knew Tee had big tonsils just like Jay but it didn't necessarily mean they would have to come out like Jay's did.

I took him to an ENT doc who confirmed via x-ray that his adenoids were 2 times larger than they should be. He also tested him for strep, he had just finished the medication for strep. The Doc made a suggestion of trying nose spray to see if we could reduce the size of the adenoids. I guess I had gone in with the fact that he was going to have surgery and the Doc sensed that. Tee did end up having strep again.

I scheduled surgery but there was still this little bit of doubt about whether we were doing the right thing. During this time he had an ear infection but I didn't know until he had his pre-op appt. He had only complained a few times about his ear hurting.

Yesterday was the day. He was so brave and didn't complain. Of course, having the itouch helped. It wasn't until I picked him up to take him to the OR that he started to get nervous. He hugged me tight and would not let go. I stayed while he was given the gas to get him to go to sleep. He did well but towards the end he started fighting it. At this point he was facing me and the nurse helped me keep his head up.  It didn't take long until he was out. I will never forget how he looked when I left him. As soon as I got him on the table they escorted me out to the waiting room.

The Doc came out after the 40 minute surgery. He said he did great, the tonsils were huge as were the adenoids. He also split open his ear drum to let the fluid drain. I mentioned his ear infection and he took a look before he went into surgery. He ended up adding this to the paperwork and said he would look at it when he was in there.  It was good to hear confirmation that we made the right decision.

A few minutes later we were taken back to recovery. Tee was crying.  It is so hard to see him in such discomfort. I ended up holding him and after crying on and off for a while he finally fell asleep. He woke up after an hour or so. He was able to eat a Popsicle and drink some juice. We were then sent on our way.

He has been doing ok since he has been home. I know it hurts. He doesn't like his pain medication taste so that has been a challenge. But loves the shakes I make him. We are hoping and praying that he recovers quickly. I hate to see him in such pain.

Easter 2011

2011-04-26T14:00:00.001-04:00

It wouldn't be Easter without dying and decorating eggs. The boys had fun and really took their time.

The boys were anxiously waiting the go to get to their baskets.

Scoping it all out.

The Easter bunny was sneaky this year and hid the eggs in the basement.

Emptying the goodies out of the eggs and eating a little on the way.

The boys decided to leave carrots out for the bunny. How cute! The bunny must have been hungry.

We had a nice day. We went to church in the morning and spent the afternoon working in the yard/garage. It was a really nice day except we did have storms roll through in the late afternoon.

E had asked a question recently about if the Easter bunny was a real person or not. My husband's response was it is an Easter bunny. I had an indication that would not be the last question we would receive. So I spoke to my husband before and went though what I would say.

Sure enough a few days before Easter, Jay asked me if the Easter bunny was real or if his Dad and I filled his basket. I asked him what he thought and his response was that it was us. Iasked him if he really wanted to know and he said yes. So I admitted it. What I wasn't ready for was the Santa question. He did ask and E blurted out that of course Santa was real. That was my cue that E was definitely not ready to know. I told Jay that he had to believe in order to get gifts.

I did ask where this was coming from and Jay said that his friend told him. Darn friend. But at the same time they are 9 and I really don't want them being made fun of by their friends.

I have threatened both boys that if they ruin this for Tee that would be in so much trouble. It would be the end of it for them. They have had a good 9 years and Tee has about another 5.

I am a little sad that they know the truth, it just confirms that they are growing up. It is going by way too fast.

Opening day

2011-04-25T21:10:00.000-04:00

Baseball season is in full swing. E and Jay have games on Wednesdays and Sundays with practices on Fridays and so far many Tuesdays. As of now they have lost 2 games and won 1.

The Coach and his boys!

Jay pitching!

E playing second base....maybe.

The boys play well and seem to enjoy playing most of the time. I think E tends to get a little anxious and decides he doesn't like baseball. But as always he ends up doing fine.

They have played for the head coach for many years now. I have really liked him and thought he has done a really good job with the kids. I am really struggling with liking him this year. I do realize he has invested a lot of time with the kids and wants to win but we are dealing with 8 and 9 year olds. He tends to send emails after the games attacking the kids. I could go on and on but I won't. I hope it will get better.

Tee has started t-ball. He has been so excited about playing. He has been so upset when his practice/games get canceled, which has happened twice now. His t-ball is on Thursdays and Saturdays. Nice how it works out with E and Jays schedule.

Tee in uniform.

Practicing batting!

Tee has a few boys on his team that are also in his preschool class. It makes it a lot of fun for him. He really seems to want to play t-ball. Once I tell him it is time to start getting dressed for his game, he immediately runs upstairs and starts. Maybe he will follow in his brother's footsteps.

13 years of blissful marriage

2011-04-18T22:06:00.000-04:00

13 years ago today we said our "I dos" in front of family and friends. It is funny how I still remember the day. It was one of the best days of my life.

We have been so blessed during the last 13 years. We have a great life with great kids.

A few years ago my husband forgot our anniversary (and me, I will never let him forget that he forgot.) He will claim he did not forget because he remembered the morning of. But he did not plan a thing....so in my eyes he forgot. It was a good thing I had a sitter lined up so we could celebrate our day.

This year the husband planned a night away for us. He booked a night at a B&B in Annapolis and got the sitter (our niece) lined up along with a reservation at a restaurant.

The rain tried to dampen our night away. It rained for most of the day with just a few breaks. Our B&B was near the harbor which was flooded. We had to drive down a one way street to get to the place. To get to dinner we had to drive up and around, but it was so worth it. Dinner was spectacular.

It was a nice night away. It is always nice to have a little peace and quiet just for a little bit. Sunday we got home around noon and jumped right back into the normal Sunday routine.

Tonight I was greeted with a dozen roses. And in turn I made a ~~semi~~ homemade pizza for dinner.

Looking forward to the next 13 years.....

What?

2011-04-17T20:59:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I don't feel like I belong in the current century. Maybe I would have done better living long ago. Probably not too long ago, don't know how well I would do without the modern conveniences of today. I would need to be in the computer age, otherwise, I would not be able to blog.

Alright maybe I do belong where I am but sometimes I feel like an old fashioned parent. I got an email on Thursday evening from the father of one of the kids in Tee's class. Tee and this boy get along really well and have had a play date. I know the father from preschool. He sometimes drops the child off. The Mom is a doctor, he is a lawyer and they have a nanny. I know them all.

Anyway back to the email. The email asked if Tee could go to their house on Friday evening for a sleepover. I had to read the email twice and then had to have my husband read it also. REALLY???? A sleepover at 4 years old. I could not help but laugh.

My response was heck no I am not letting my 4 year old sleepover...maybe come over for a few hours to play but he will be back in his bed here with his family. No not really. I told the Dad thanks but that we don't do sleepovers. My other two boys are 9 and they just had their first sleepover this year. He has about another 5 years before I will even talk about it.

I am that out of it or am I old fashioned?

Text me

2011-04-12T20:49:00.000-04:00

E and Jay have a friend who has older brothers. So their friend learns much from his brothers and shares with E and Jay. We often say that Tee is going to be that boy. You know the boy.......who teaches others things that makes Mom cringe.

OK, so back to the subject. I am friends with this Mom. I get to hear stories about the goings on of pre-teens/teens. Both of her older boys have cell phones with texting. Her rule is that she must read all texts. So every evening or sooner if need be she scrolls through and reads. She doesn't read every text but skims them all to make sure they are appropriate. They know she can get a report at any time so there is no cheating.

So the younger brother got text free on his itouch. And of course shared with Jay on how he could get it. Jay ~~asked~~ begged us to let him get it on his itouch. After much discussion between Dad and I, we decided that maybe it is ok.

My thought process. They can only text at home because they have to be connected to our network. They will only be able to text me, their Dad, and they each have a friend that has it on their itouch. Lastly,this is the beginning where it is understood that I get to read ALL of their text from here on out. So when they do get older and have a cell phone with text, nothing will change.

Smart thinking right??? Well, time will tell.

Trust your instincts

2011-04-10T13:57:00.000-04:00

I finally remembered to call the Pediatrician on Friday to determine what I needed to do to get Jay's sleep study results. A message was taken and I had to wait for a return call.

The call came Friday evening around 8pm. She mentioned there were a few items of note. He has been diagnosed with Periodic Limb Movement Disorder (PLMD). The measurement should be less than 5 and he was at 50. Yes, I would say that would be cause for concern. His limb movement could very well be waking him up during the night. It was also noted that, at times, his breaths are not as heavy. This is not a huge concern as he remained at least at 95% oxygenation level. He has already had his adenoids removed so not sure anything could be done.

We have a meeting with the sleep Dr. in a few weeks to discuss the results in more detail. We hope that she will be able to provide us some direction on the PLMD. Of course, we have googled and read articles on this topic.

We do not like the idea of medicating but we may not have a choice. I imagine that this has been going on for years. I think he needs a good night's sleep. I assume that he has just adjusted to functioning even though he is tired.

I am a little upset with myself for not pushing for the sleep study earlier. I knew something didn't seem right. My husband said even after he had a consultation with the sleep Dr. he felt like maybe we were over exaggerating. All questions the sleep Dr. asked Jay were answered with "nos."

We had no idea what we would find out and if there would be anything we could even do about it. I have to tell you that I am glad we finally know what is going on and can start to solve this problem.

It makes me so sad thinking of this situation. I know he will be ok but......

Ingrained on my mind is to always trust my instinct and push and advocate for my kids.

A good night's sleep

2011-04-03T15:58:00.004-04:00

It has been about two years now that Jay has been waking up in the middle of the night. Yes, every night he wakes up at some point, sometimes more than once. There are times when he falls back to sleep easily and other not so much.There is also no sleeping in for him. He is up by 6am just about every day.

When he would wake up, he would go use the bathroom. I thought he was waking up because he had to use the bathroom. So being as smart as I am, I made a deal with him. If he would NOT get up to use the bathroom, I would let him have the much wanted sleep over. It took him a while but he did it. What I found was that he was still waking up just not going to the bathroom.

I did finally let Jay have a sleep over with his friend. He enjoyed it a lot, but they were both up really early, like 5:30 early.

There are many times when Jay comes to wake me up because he is having a hard time going back to sleep. My answer is always the same, read a book for a little while until you get tired and can fall asleep. Many times I am still have asleep while talking with him.

Some days Jay just seems so tired and has the attitude to match. I think it is unfair that he can not get a good night's sleep every night. I spoke with his Dr. two years ago about his wakings, but again I thought it was more of a bathroom issue than anything else. She dismissed it. So when I went for this year's exam, I mentioned it again. I explained the situation and how long it has been going on.

Honestly, I don't ever remember waking up during the middle of the night. I was a fairly heavy sleeper and still am most nights (you know when I don't wake up in the middle of the night for no reason and then can't fall back to sleep.)

With a referral from his Dr. we decided to have another sleep study done on Jay. I am not really sure what it will tell us or what we will do about it but I just feel like we need to at least try to determine what is going on.

Friday evening, Dad and Jay packed up to go on their overnight. He was very anxious about the sleep study. They arrived after 8:30 and it took about 30 minutes to get him all wired up.
Looks comfortable?

Can you guess what this is a picture of?

Yep, this is where Dad got to sleep. Talk about comfortable.

Jay was up at 1am, 3am and at 5am for the day. Needless to say neither one of them got a good night's sleep.

His Dr. should have his results sometime this week. So I am hoping to be able to make an appointment to see what it says.

The corner was further than I thought....

2011-03-30T20:48:00.006-04:00

Turning the corner took a little longer than I hoped. Tee was wheezing this weekend. In hindsight, I probably should have taken him back to the Dr. on Friday but didn't. I really like to see only his Dr. I am sure that all of the other Drs. are very competent but his Dr. knows his history. So first thing Monday morning I called and got in to see his Dr. After listening to him, she agreed that he did not sound good. She gave him a special nebulizer treatment. It didn't take long after that for him to start feeling better. Today was his first day back at school. He told me this afternoon that one of the little girls came up and gave him a hug at school. I told him that she was probably glad to see that he was back. It is nice to get back into our routine. ****************************************************************************

This evening, Tee and Jay were showering in my bathroom. I was folding clothes in my room. Jay was having a conversation with Tee but I didn't clue into it until a bit after they were talking. Jay was explaining that it was good manners to chew with your mouth closed. He told Tee that he did it sometimes but not all the times. Then Tee was singing the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song. Jay said do you want me to teach you the song. Then Jay proceeded to go through each of the lyrics letting Tee repeat them. Yes, the TV has been on way tooooo much during Tee's illness. I wished I would have tuned into their conversation before I did. It is funny to hear what they talk about. And how nice that Jay is giving Tee such good advice. I can't imagine what there talks will be like as they get older.

Turning the corner......maybe

2011-03-24T12:02:00.003-04:00

Tee has been sick for the last 5 days. It started with a little cough then escalated to a non-stop cough and a fever. He has been fever free today but still hacking a bit. I have had him on nebulizer treatments which have helped.

I am thinking he will be home from school tomorrow. He can relax and recover without spreading our germs to others.

Tee and I were playing Wii downstairs this morning. He got a little difficult and I warned him I would stop playing with him. He chose to continue being difficult so I stopped the play.

He came upstairs and started crying and this is what happened:

He fell asleep in that position. So after I took my picture, I moved him up onto the couch. He woke up, started crying again saying he didn't want to nap and then fell back to sleep.

I am hoping today is the day where he starts to feel better and gets rid of the cough.

I look at my calendar and find it hard to believe that we are almost at the end of March. We had a fairly busy month. Sports, scouts and the never ending appointments.

The husband and I actually got 2 date nights this month. I know not nearly enough but enjoyed the two we had. We went to an auction for a local private school with some friends. It was fun and my husband got a little lucky, like always. Another weekend, we drove down to DC to eat at Carmine's. It was so yummy and can't wait to go back.

The husband was gone for a week for a leadership class in Pa. It was a long week for both of us (different reasons of course) but we managed to make it through.

I am sure most of you know that I am a reality tv fanatic. I don't know why I am so intrigued. When I found out Bethenny Frankel was coming to our city on her conversation tour, I decided I needed to go. I went with a couple of girl friends. Ok, she was 30 minutes late. Really! Big huge turn off. She did start off strong and then kind of fizzled with the long conversation of her new book. The worst part was listening to the questions from the audience. Funny how everyone relates to her and needs to tell her. I am glad I went. It was my first try of the skinny girl margarita, which was very good.

We have enjoyed some really nice days this month. It brings hope that warmer weather is on its way. However, this weekend is not looking so good. It is supposed to be cold with the possibility of snow. Someone needs to explain that it is almost the end of March and snow should be out of the picture. As luck would have it, the boys are set to play in a pre-season baseball tournament this weekend. The tournament is over 1 hour away, north of us of course. So my husband/coach is trying to figure out what he needs to bring in order to keep them warm in the dugout. They are possibly staying the night up there somewhere because of a 9am game time on Sunday.

Well, it was a short nap today for the little one.....off to feed him some lunch.

Ouch!

2011-03-14T20:32:00.002-04:00

There are some things that you just wish you could make go away for your children. But you know that you need to move forward and take care of it to ensure there are no future issues.

A few months ago, we were at the orthodontics place when the Dr. was baffled as to why Jay's front teeth had separated. So instead of making a mold for a retainer, he sent us to an oral surgeon. Apparently, his Frenulum on the upper lip was too tight. Leaving this as is would mean that it would wedge between his two front teeth leaving a gap. I asked the Dr. to look under his tongue and he felt he was tongue tied.

The oral surgeon agreed with the ortho. He also said if we did not take care of under the tongue, it would eventually start pulling at his gums, thus causing receding. So we decided he needed to have a frenectomy on upper and under the tongue.

Surgery day was this morning. What was interesting, Jay had a classmate and friend who also had to have oral surgery and was done right before Jay's.

I got Jay there at 7:30 but they didn't call him back until closer to 8. This was nice as Dad was able to join us before they knocked Jay out. We were able to stay in the room as they gave Jay laughing gas and then started his IV. Once they got it in we left so they could finish putting him under to start the procedure.

It seemed to go quickly. They called us back to recovery. Jay was definitely groggy. We talked about his friend being there. It was Dad's little joke with him. Every few minutes, he would say, Jay did we tell you we saw your friend. And Jay would go no.

We left and I stopped to get him a shake. I got him home and set him up on the couch. He got very emotional. He started crying because it hurt. He wanted his Daddy. Yes, he is definitely a Daddy's boy(Dad stopped by before going to work). I was finally able to calm him down enough to get him to let me put some shake in his mouth so that he could swallow it. Once he was able to get some food in his stomach I was able to give him pain med.

He spent the day on the couch watching tv. I tried to keep him on his pain med. for the majority of the day. One of his friend's came over this afternoon and they built one of his Lego sets. I think that was a nice distraction.

Dad made him an omelet for dinner which he had a hard time eating but eventually ate it all. I am hoping he is able to sleep through the night with no pain. I can't say I was the very best with keeping him iced down. Although he did have a few popsicles and some other cold foods.

It is really hard to see your child in pain. We know it was the right decision but it is heartbreaking.

One of my friends took Tee home from preschool with her daughter. I actually didn't see him until she brought him home at 5pm. I missed him.

We will see how he sleeps tonight and how he is in the morning.

My baby turned 4

2011-03-07T20:33:00.005-05:00

My little baby turned 4 on February 27th. It is so hard to believe that it has been 4 years since he entered our lives. He came 4 weeks early and he has not stopped.

This we Tee's first birthday party with friends. We invited all of his friends from preschool and one neighborhood friend. I was a little shocked when I got all of the yes responses.

We did a gymnastics party. I guess those are very popular. And they are fun because the gym person takes all the children out on the floor. Tee had such a great time at his birthday.

Waiting in line to go into the gym. Talking to his girlfriend!

One of the many fun activities.

All the kids. E and Jay were very happy that they got to go out and play with the 4 year olds.

The pit was a favorite.

The trampoline!

This was the surprise for the birthday boy. He was able to take a ride on the catapult. He got to go way high up in the air and he was able to swing. He enjoyed it. The video was really funny.

Tee's cars cake. He didn't understand that he had to wait until after we sang Happy birthday to blow out his candles. We had to light them twice.

Happy Birthday Tee!

I had such a hard time explaining to Tee that we were having his party on one day and how his real birthday was on the next and how we were taking treats in to class the next day. I don't think he ever got it but it all worked out.

He has mentioned to me several times that he is 4, sometimes I wonder if it is more of a question than a statement. Now he is looking forward to turning 5. Me, well, I would just like time to slow down. All my boys are growing up way too fast.

From vacation to bridge

2011-03-03T21:28:00.002-05:00

Jay was chosen by his teacher to take part in an enrichment program at school. There are only a select few that are chosen. This program was about bridges.

He would be pulled one time a week to go to this class. To end the class the kids were given a project to make a bridge out of anything they wanted. The only requirement was that it is able to hold the weight of 40 pennies.

Because Jay was out one week because he was sick, he missed getting the assignment. So we got the project late and did not have the opportunity to complete it early.

So once we got home from our trip we had to run around to get the project moving. As luck would have it, we had snow fall the Tuesday after the kid's were off for President's day. But unlucky for Jay, Mom is not a builder of bridges.

So Dad came home from work and helped Jay finish his bridge. Dad did try to have Jay do the bridge but he needed some help and guidance.

I think the bridge ended up turning out pretty good.

Making sure the bridge would hold the 40 pennies.

Jay and Dad so glad to have the project completed.

Jay said there were some pretty elaborate bridges brought in. There was one that was floating in water. We will get to see them at school during the enrichment fair held later on in the year. Should be interesting.

The long weekend in February

2011-03-03T21:08:00.003-05:00

And what do you think this is about?

Well, if you guessed a very tired boy after a weekend of skiing you would have guessed correctly.

We spent President's day weekend in the Poconos. We were able to rent my cousin's home which had a great layout. My friend and her family from Ct. joined us for the weekend. She has a girl that is a little younger than the twins.

E and Jay were not excited about going skiing. They told us they did not want to ski. Tee on the other hand was counting down the days for the ski trip.

Tee getting ready to go down the slopes with his Dad.

The boys in the morning ski lesson session. They did not want to have skiing lessons. I think they could not forget how cold it was last year when they did snowboarding lessons all day. It was so cold that weekend. We were fortunate that Friday was a nice day, the sun was shining.

All of the kids were getting ready to go skiing for a little while.

Warming up in the lodge. Saturday was much colder and windier. But that didn't stop Tee from wanting to ski. E also wanted to ski. Jay was done after a few runs in the morning.

The kids had a great weekend together.

Me and Molly. We had such a nice time catching up.

The kids had a great time skiing.

I did not ski. I sat in the lodge and read or tinkered on the computer.

We had such a fun weekend! Skiing is done for this year but I think we will try to get them out a little more next year.

Rebound

2011-02-19T11:41:00.003-05:00

Basketball season is coming to an end and I am an very excited. Don't get me wrong I love love love to watch basketball. I especially love to watch my boys play. But I have not been very happy with our organization.

The boys play on a 7/8 league which means they are the older ones in the group. The teams are formed by draft. The coaches pick numbers and pick in order. We had a friend who had first draft and wanted to pick my boys. Lucky for us, the boys come as a pair. What we didn't realize was the league coordinator actually had first pick. She is someone we knew and she had coached the boys before.

I was disappointed they did not get on our friend's team but it was ok. The main coach on our team was one of the boys' dad and the coordinator was the assistant.

I took the boys to their first practice and wasn't sure what the team would be like. E and Jay were the tallest and oldest players on the team.

As the season progressed, I was unhappy with the coach. He spent so much time talking to the kids and not enough time running them through drills. In fact, I don't think he ran them through the correct drills the entire season. I bet you didn't know I was an expert in coaching basketball. Well, I am not but I have seen enough practices especially of teams practicing next to ours.

If you don't know me I am a planner. I like to have everything planned out and in my calendar. We would only get a practice and game schedule for a month at a time. This is extremely aggravating for me. I had several things to schedule in February.

I decided I was done waiting so I decided to move forward with my plans. I ended up scheduling a ski trip for us during President's day weekend. Shortly after I get a schedule that shows our league tournament was being held the same weekend. I was a bit upset but felt like they would just have to deal. E and Jay are 2 of the team's really good players. And did I mention that they are tall and are the ones typically blocking and rebounding.

The couch seemed a little upset that the boys would not be at the game. But this was obviously not our problem. The team lost and our consolation game will be held on Thursday. The boys also got picked to play on the all star team and will play on Saturday also. Interesting thing is they will be on different all star teams and play against each other.

I look forward to the last few games. But I will look into a different organization for next year.

Enough Already!

2011-02-19T11:17:00.003-05:00

I guess as a result of the kids being fairly healthy the majority of the winter, February has proven to be our month. Maybe it was because I opened my big mouth and said that the boys had not been sick this winter. It always seems to happen that way.

The boys all started out with sore throats and a little fever. It started with Tee and ended with E. It was a 24 hour bug. The next week I find out the Tee has strep. I immediately got E tested because he a red throat and he tested positive. Jay had been suffering from congestion and was having a hard time sleeping. So we took him to the minute clinic. I thought he could possibly have a sinus infection. But his strep test came back positive as well. Yes, now all three boys were on antibiotics. And we were able to get some additional medicines to help clear up Jay.

I had been suffering from really bad headaches from last Sunday. I knew I was the one with a sinus infection. I am not sure why I wait so long to get some relief. I ended up going to the clinic on Wednesday and it was very clear that a sinus infection was what I had. So another one of us on an antibiotic.

On Wednesday evening, as E was getting ready for the shower he called me in to look at his stomach. He had a rash all over his torso and was spreading to his hands, legs and face. I immediately called the Dr's. office. I spoke to the Dr. on phones that evening. She said I needed to bring him in the next day for evaluation.

More concerning was that we were getting ready to leave for a ski trip the next day. Luckily, I ended up getting a morning appointment. The nurse practitioner was certain that it was a reaction to the antibiotic but not really an allergy. An allergy would more than likely happen soon after the medication began. I was concerned that he had a strep rash, but I did look it up on the trusty Internet and realized it would look much different.

It seems like many of the kids at school were also sick. Not only has strep been going around but it appears as a stomach but has been going around also. I am glad that the boys have a few days off from school, maybe a little airing out will help.

Thank goodness the boys are all recovering and so am I although a little slower than normal. I am ready for spring!

Why I dislike Valentine's day

2011-02-14T21:32:00.003-05:00

My husband asked me yesterday why I had such a dislike for this day, today, Valentine's day. I am not sure when it happened but it definitely did.

Why do we need one day set aside for love. Love should be celebrated everyday. In my opinion, it is a hallmark holiday in order for you to spend money on cards, flowers and candy.

Maybe I am frugal or better yet practical!

I despise all of the cards and candy the kids get on this day at school. This morning I was in Tee's preschool class for his party. It was utter chaos. The kids could not read the names on their cards so they needed help. After passing out 3 or 4 Tee was done. Well, he was probably done because he saw a cupcake and cookie waiting for him at his seat. I ended up having to finish for him. Every card he received had some sort of candy with it. There was even laffy taffy included in his candy. Who lets their 3 year old eat sticky candy like that. He received at least 2 bags that were full of candy.

The older boys had parties at their school this afternoon. Tee and I volunteered in Jay's class. They both received so much candy with their cards also.

So now I have 3 decorated brown bags of V-day cards and candy sitting on my counter. They will be emptied many times in the next few day and I will be the one putting everything back in the bag. My hope is that in the next few days the bags and candy will disappear.

I did try to make this morning a little special for the boys. I bought them each a little Lego set. They found them when they got downstairs for breakfast with a little note on them.

I was surprised by the boys who purchased a really LARGE card to give to me this morning. It was very sweet. I feel very loved by all of the boys in my house.

I hope all the boys in my house, especially the big one, know how much I love them........today and everyday.

The birthday celebration

2011-02-14T11:00:00.000-05:00

With such busy schedules, we had to delay E and Jay's birthday celebration. We allowed them to invite 3 friends for mini golf and dinner. Saturday evening was the night.

We took the boys to an indoor mini golf place. We were shocked when we were told it would be 1 hour to be able to play. So we allowed the kids to play some arcade games until it was our time to play.

I had heard so many good thing about this place. I was a little disappointed. I heard that things pop out at you while you play. My thought was that you would go down halls and be in and out a little more. But the course was all out in the open. It was ok. But the kids had fun and that is what matters the most.

We then took them to a good burger place for dinner. The husband and I both drove because we had so many kids. After we dropped the last boy off, E said this was the best birthday. So I think the boys had a lot of fun.

From Bear to Bobcat

2011-02-13T21:00:00.002-05:00

Blue and gold. Yes, nice colors but referring to the scout's ceremony. The boys are recognized for earning the next badge. E and Jay have worked very hard to earn their bobcat badge.

Last Sunday, we spent the morning in a church hall. We had lunch, the kids enjoyed a nice show and then the kids graduated to the next level.

E and Jay showing off their badge!

Tee is such a trooper. He must endure the scout functions along with many other activities the boys are involved with.

The next few months will involve more fun scout activities as they work to earn arrows.

I am very glad the boys are involved in scouts. I recently found out about a scout's summer camp. The boys will be ahead of the game after the week at camp and I am sure it will be really fun.

Mother of the Year

2011-02-09T21:13:00.002-05:00

Mother of the year award is a prestigious award that I often crown myself with. Motherhood is hard work. Yes, I manage schedules, make breakfast, lunch and dinner, help with homework, do laundry, clean the house (well at least part of it) among the many other responsibilities.

The mother of the year award is only for very special times. And today I feel like I have earned the award.

The boys have been sick. Tee started two Sundays ago with a sore throat. He ended up getting a little fever also. Tuesday he woke up and was fine. On Wednesday, Jay got sick with a sore throat and ended up running a fever. He went back to school on Friday. Friday evening, E came home from school with a sore throat and ended up running a fever the next day. He seemed to hold onto the sore throat but was also nauseous.

I know what your thinking, why can't they all get sick at the same time. It sure would make it a little easier on Mom.

On Monday, he was really nauseous but I told him he needed to go to school. We had been dealing with this for 3 days and he never vomited. I gave him permission to go to the health room if he did not feel well during the day.

Tee has been snoring for the last 2 weeks. His sleep is not very restful and it seems like he is moving around too much. Because he is not sleeping well he is very tired during the day. The preschool teacher said something to me on Monday about how tired he was. As back round, Tee has been waking up most nights sometime one sometimes more calling out for me. This has been going on for about 2 months. The husband and I are very tired!

Well, today I decided it was time to take Tee to the Dr. I felt like he was headed down the same road as Jay when he was younger. He too snored and it ended with his tonsils and adenoids being removed.

The Dr. noticed Tee's throat was red and his tonsils were enlarged. She decided to do a strep test. I was shocked when the test came back positive. He has not complained of a sore throat, a headache and he has been eating fine.

So Tee went to school on Monday and Wednesday. He had a play date on Monday and Tuesday. Great.

When I got home, I checked the other 2 boy's throat. E's looked a little red so I decided to take him to a minute clinic for testing. Another positive.

As I researched the symptoms of Strep, one of them is nauseousness.

So yes, with all that has gone on.....I feel like today is my day.

Must be prepared!

2011-02-06T16:40:00.003-05:00

Last week, the boys and I were eating a quick dinner before having to jet off to basketball practice. The husband was out of town on a boys' ski trip so Tee and I were taking the boys to practice.

In the middle of a bite of my pizza, Jay asks how babies get in bellies. Oh my gosh, I was so not ready or prepared for this question. After I picked my mouth up off the floor, I was able to answer him. I explained that it was a great question but one that we did not have time to answer right then and that we would wait for Dad to be present to discuss.

A little part of me was hoping that the question would be forgotten and we would be off the hook. But my mind could not let go of being able to talk to my kids about this very important subject (so that they don't learn from friends).

As soon as the husband returned, I informed him of his need to prepare for this very important discussion. We didn't know how far we should or wanted to take this yet. But at the same time, Jay is very inquisitive and likes to ask questions.

So I asked some of my Mommy friends who have older children. One friend said she had a talk with her daughter in third grade. She had her read the book, What is the big s*cret. Then if her daughter had questions they would talk about it.

The next day I went to the book store and asked the nice young book store worker to point me in the direction to "the" books. He ended up sending me over to the young kids book where there is a section of "growing up" books. There I found the book mentioned above along with another book called something like the amazing body. I then got another book from Laura B*rman regarding the subject. This book has more information as your child gets older as well.

So I have my arsenal of books. The husband and I talked again and we were unsure how far to take the conversation. We were just sure that they would not be satisfied with just the basic information.

I then had a conversation with another neighbor who has older boys along with a third grade boy. She said we were stressing and making too much of it. That all he needed to know was the basic, the seed and the egg. She was sure that they would not take it further.

The boys kept asking the question, so we finally sat them down and discussed. Dad took care of the explanation. They listened to the explanation. Jay then says, Mom that didn't take 5 minutes to explain. The boys were getting off the bed and leaving just as I opened my mouth. I told them if they had any questions they needed to come to us. Why I had to say anything at all I don't know. They then asked how the seed and egg meet. Does it just happen when you get married? Does everyone have to have a baby? So we did the worst thing a parent could do and really brushed the questions off.

Yes, I do think this subject will come up again. But I do think that 3rd grade is just too young to know too many details. I do want our kids to know that they can and should come to us for information. So before long we will start these conversations in a little more detail.......

The twins are 9!

2011-02-04T21:55:00.006-05:00

Where does the time go? It has been nine years since I gave birth to two very beautiful boys. I still remember so much from being pregnant (and miserable, I was HUGE) to the night when they were born.

My Doctor strongly suggested having a C-section the evening of Monday, February 4, 2002. We did not hesitate much to make that decision. My biggest fear was to have to recover in two areas instead of one. I am intrigued by surgeries and births so I tried my hardest to look int he big light to see what I could. My husband who is not so interested was demanded by me to stand up and see his boys being born. I think he could have done without seeing what he saw, let's just say it wasn't a pretty sight (my insides not the babies).

I was also relieved to know that we could have possibly averted an issue when Jay was born with the umbilical cord around his neck. It is a sight I will never forget, yes, she lifted him up so that I could see.

I remember thinking that we would NEVER get through the first year of life. Now I wonder why life won't slow down a little. I can't believe they are 9 years old.

Last year during the auction, I purchased the right to post a message on the sign in front of the school in the month of February. I had a birthday message posted and I think the boys thought it was really cool.

The boys opened some gifts on their birthday.
Jay getting ready to open gifts and cards with his helper.

Funny after 9 years, they know to open cards from the same people at the same time.

The boys have become big Ravens fans, Jay more so than E. Dad was able to bid and win a few signed pictures of Ray Rice. The boys were very excited about their pictures.

Don't let the expression fool you....he was so excited!

Saturday morning we took the boys to a birthday breakfast. They will have a little celebration next weekend. They have each invited 3 friends to play mini-golf and then go out to dinner. They are looking forward to that.

No more goody bags

2011-01-28T21:21:00.002-05:00

Tee is in preschool with 19 other children. He has gotten invited to many birthday parties. He has gone to some but not all. One of my friends told me she doesn't let her daughter go to any party unless she is good friends with the child. She got me thinking and made me realize thatmy child doesn't need to go to every party and I don't need to feel guitly because of it.

Tee was invited to a party where the Mom suggested we drop off our child and pick him up 2 hours later. I decided that was not going to work for me especially since I don't know this Mom well. So without any guilt I declined the invitation.

Tee is also invited to another party that starts at 6:15 and ends at 8:15, which is way past Tee's bedtime. So I will have to decline that invite also.

But this post is not about party invites it is about goody bags being handed out at school. Parents are allowed to bring in a special treat on their child's birthday, which I am ok with. But in the last 2 weeks, Tee has brought home 4 goody bags. Yes, 4 bags full of candy and junk. Two of the bags had whistles in them, which I despise most of all.

I wish I could tell these parents that I really think the goody bags are a bad idea.

2 Days and counting

2011-01-27T20:32:00.004-05:00

I woke up to a surprise on Wednesday morning when the ground was covered in snow. We all were expecting the snow to move in Wednesday evening into Thursday. So school was canceled on Wednesday. The boys had a good time playing outside in the morning.

E could not get his snowman to work.

Tee had fun making his castle in the snow!

Jay's great snowman. He got creative and made the eyes, nose and mouth of snow.

Wednesday evening into Thursday we got some additional snowfall. So again no school today! The neighbor and I took the kids down the road to the big hill to go sledding. We spent a good hour and a half sledding. The kids had to trek back up the hill every time they went down.

Tee going down the hill!

Jay sledding on a purple sled!

E speeding down the hill on a blow up tube....definitely the best.

A huge lunch was consumed by all boys in this house. Hopefully, that means good sleepers tonight.

Now it is a waiting game to see what will happen for tomorrow. In my excursion today (yes, I had to get out of the house for a little while) I noticed many of the neighbor hood streets are not very clear. So unless there is a lot of work done this evening I am thinking that school is iffy for tomorrow.

Decisions Decisions....

2011-01-23T21:26:00.004-05:00

I remember being so happy last year after I made the decision to have Tee go to our church preschool. I had visions that it would be very similar to the preschool experience that his brothers had. It was a warm environment with such wonderful teachers.

I really had great hopes for the preschool and the beginning seemed to go really well. The lead teacher seemed very organized with great ideas. She seemed to do ok with the kids.

There was one instance where she did talk with me regarding Tee. She apparently had to get a little firm with him, which I think she raised her voice and he started to cry. He is a very sensitive child and does not typically need a raised voice. But she said they hugged it out.

I started wondering about the preschool sometime before Christmas. The lead teacher seemed like a downer all the time. The kids are allowed to enter the room around 9:05 and many times she was not in the room yet. I understand her start time is later, not sure why. Many times us parents will pass her as we are leaving and she is walking as slow as molasses with no pep in her step. She is with kids all morning....I think she should be full of energy.

The lead teacher is very attractive and dresses to the nines to teach preschool. As much as I don't like to think this, it does give the impression that she is not on the floor with the kids or interacting with them as they do art projects.

Oh wait, I don't know that they do many art projects. Last year, Tee brought home an art project just about every day. They also had projects hanging around the room. So yes, this is a big problem for me. One main reason I send him to preschool is for him to be exposed to different types of projects. Facts are that we don't have much time to do them at home. I feel like tuition is high enough to cover the cost of art projects.

I had considered leaving the preschool and trying to get him into another preschool. I know several families that are not returning. One of my friends went back and forth on what to do. She eventually decided to go to another preschool and ended up getting a teacher with a good reputation.

After a lot of thought I decided that I was going to stay and try to institute change. I just felt like I could not leave for a few reasons. Tee would not have been at the same preschool for more than one year. I did not want the stress of having to decide what preschool he would go to. In the end, I decided that he is safe, has fun and is learning all at the same time.

So before my friend decided she was leaving, she had a talk with the director. The director is in place until a new director is named at some point in the future. The original director got fired, which was a good thing for the preschool. So she discussed her concerns with her, basically everything I have mentioned above.

Apparently the director spoke with the teacher and repeated verbatim what this mom said. How do I know? The teacher has approached some parents and asked them if they spoke to the director. How wrong is this? Now the Mom thinks she knows it was here as she had a situation on Friday where the teacher did not look at the Mom or at the child.

What is really bad is I had another friend ask me about the preschool today. I honestly had a hard time answering her question. So as I struggled for what to say, she said that is what I keep getting from people. So the reputation has started that it is not a good program.

Fortunatly, I know the president of the board. I do plan on having an off the record conversation with her because if anyone can institute change she can. Although she did hire the first director.

Lots has been going on......will update more tomorrow.

A running start to the year

2011-01-16T21:25:00.003-05:00

The new year started and we were off once again to our busy schedule. School work is a little heavier this year. In addition, we are back to practicing baseball 2 times a week and basketball is 2 times a week (one practice and one game).

The husband scurried the first week of the year to get Pinewood Derby cars completed. This was his first attempt at Derby cars and the cars ended up looking really nice although they were not very fast on the track. E was a little disappointed but Jay handled it a little better.

E holding up his car!

E was very happy to get a trophy for a best in show!

Jay's bat mobile looking car!

The husband learned a lot during this process and has some ideas to improve the cars for next year.

The boys have been enjoying scouts. They are close to earning their next rank. The ceremony is held in early February and I am helping organize the event.

Since the beginning of the year, I have been to two sporting events. The husband had a work function in the suite for a Ravens football game. He was able to get two additional tickets so that the older boys could attend as well. Jay was in heaven as he is a really big football fan. E enjoyed himself also but doesn't love the game as much as his brother. It was a cold day so I stayed inside the suite and E joined me for a good portion. It was nice to be able to attend the game and what a way to watch.

This past weekend, the husband and I got away for a night. It is so nice to have my niece in town and able to watch the kids for us. During the holidays, my husband's work had an auction. He bid and won tickets to the Washington Wizards game. Not just any tickets, coaches tickets. The seats are on the floor right behind the players and access to food and drink. The game was really fun. The guys are so tall and we were so close.

A picture from the game.

We stayed in Georgetown, actually arrived around lunch time. After checking into our hotel, we were able to walk around a little and had lunch. I kept seeing everyone with bags from Georgetown cupcakes. I thought that the cupcakes had to be really good so we searched and found them. There was a really long line waiting to purchase cupcakes. We weren't going to stand in line but definitely will look into it next time.

I have enrolled Tee back in soccer for another 5 sessions. He is adamant about playing. We have a new teacher this time and he is really funny and the kids love him. He definitely has more parent involvement and the kids love that as well. We are going to sign him up for baseball in the spring. He can not play soccer on a team until he is five. No we are not trying to steer him into any particular sport....

It is only mid-January???????

It's a new year

2011-01-03T21:37:00.003-05:00

In our house New Years is also the husband's birthday. So we started the day taking the husband out to breakfast. We did a little shopping, mainly for me although we did manage to get a few things for my husband too.

The evening was quiet at home just us. I made a lasagna and cheesecake in honor of the husband's birthday.

I typically have a dinner party at my house but a neighbor decided she wanted to have one at her house this year. Her invitation was for 7:30 for dinner and drinks. Tee's bedtime is no later than 7:30. I feel like sleep is really important and keeping Tee up way past his bedtime is not worth it in my book. Had the party been here he would have been put to sleep at his usual time. So we spent the night as a family.

After Tee went to sleep we played a few games. Rummikub is one that we have been playing a lot lately. It is definitely a thinking game and the boys are slowly getting it. The husband and I have been playing a fun card game, Five Crowns. Ok, he did beat me badly but I am not giving up. I am going to get him soon.

The start of the new year always makes me want to get organized. I have been working hard on my office. The office has been disastrous for some time and I need to work on keeping it all together. We did manage to sort through some games/toys. We weeded out a little and put away new games.

As far as a new years resolution....the only one I am making is to not make one.

I can tell you that many people made the resolution to get back to the gym. My kick boxing class was jam packed this morning. Barely enough room to move around. I can't wait until February when those resolutions are thrown out by the wayside and the class size is smaller.

We are hoping for a blessed and healthy new year for us and those around us.

Christmas and beyond

2011-01-03T21:04:00.004-05:00

It came and went in the blink of an eye. I really felt discombobulated this Christmas. I am normally organized and have all the gifts in one place with a list of everything we have. Well, I had stuff all over the house but in the end it all got done. I was able to send cookies home to my parents although not as many as I typically send and all gifts were mailed on time.

We attended service on Christmas eve and had a nice Christmas dinner. It was an early evening for us so that Santa could work his magic.

The tree with Santa gifts and the gifts from families and friends under the tree.

Santa does not wrap gifts for the boys.

The typical morning picture of the boys on the steps before going out for a peek. In my family, my parents would make us come out one at a time. They wanted to see each of our reactions to the gifts we received. I am the last of 5.....so I would be waiting in the hall dying to be the next one out. We let the boys see their gifts at the same time.

We always have to get a goofy picture for every nice picture.

Jay went straight for the Itouch he received.

E wanted to check out his stocking first.

Tee was excited about his cars!

Opening presents

Lots of presents.

The ping pong table has been a big hit. We all have played a lot.

Christmas day was a lazy sort of day. I think we stayed in our pjs all day and played with toys. We enjoyed a little white stuff in the morning but nothing stuck. What a great day!

Gotcha

2010-12-20T20:29:00.002-05:00

Someone in our house has an impending 40th birthday. Yah....not me, I am not that old yet. I have often complained about how difficult it is to have a birthday on New Year's. Not just for me wanting to plan a special day but for my husband who has to share his day with the New Year's celebration. I know it is not the worst thing that can happen in life. But think of his Mother who was going to have a party on New Year's and went into labor. And yes his Dad is an accountant and loved the tax write-off.

I was very stumped as to what to do. Do I wait until after Christmas or try to plan something before Christmas? I wanted to surprise him with something but wasn't sure what. I went through a lot of possibilities before deciding on having a party at a restaurant with some of his friends.

The harder part was finding a restaurant. I inquired from one of our favorite restaurants which seemed ok until I heard what the minimums were for their private areas. Yikes! I thought about an Italian restaurant that I have been too with some friends. I inquired and determined they had a private room on the 3rd floor that I could have with no minimums. I didn't even have to do a fixed menu. I decided that a Sunday evening would work best. It is the holiday season and a busy time for most.

Now how to get him there. I schemed with my neighbor. The plan was that she would call me on Saturday with a story of how their plans fell through for Sunday, they had a sitter and wondered if we would like to go out to dinner. I casually asked the husband and he said ok. Part one down. On Sunday, my neighbor called me to tell me that her sitter got sick, no she never had a sitter lined up. We had planned on my niece watching all the kids.

The husband and I discussed where we would like to go, he suggested Italian (after he suggested our favorite steakhouse). So I suggested going to this Italian Restaurant. It was close and it was after all a school night.

What I failed to plan was what to say when we got there. So my friend and I went up to the hostess and didn't know what to say. They were going to take us to table 251. I said no we would like to go to the third floor. The hostess said they had a private party and luckily my friend said we are the party. So what does the hostess do, she yells out take them to the third floor. At that point my husband knew something was going on. Yes, he was surprised!

He ended up putting things together. Like the text I received from one of the people saying they could now make it and was it ok as I quickly got out of the message. The babysitter story.

Dinner was really good. We had 8 other couples celebrate with us. One couple could not make it.

Then comes the cake. I picked up the cake on Friday. As I went to put the cake in my car I dropped it. So I quickly picked up the box to get the cake to go back into the correct spot but ended up messing the side of the cake also. And just for the record the cake tasted great.

I brought my camera and forgot about it....so I didn't get one picture. I am very bummed. Happy 40th birthday....early. I love you and hope you had a great celebration!

It can't be December 12th

2010-12-12T20:25:00.003-05:00

Wow, hard to believe that Christmas is 13 days away. I am in no way ready and I am not sure where the first 12 days of December went. Well, actually I do know what we have been doing but just seems like it is going too fast.

Basketball season has started. The boys have one practice and one game a week. The games are held on Saturday morning. The boys are playing on a 7/8 league so they are the older and much taller boys on the team. This past Saturday both E and Jay made most of the baskets. They have played very well this year.

We did manage to get our tree and decorate for Christmas this first weekend of the month. We got a beautiful tree around 9 ft tall for a really good price. Pictures will follow. I think it would be fun to go to a farm to cut our own tree but we just didn't have time this year and the weather may have played a little part in our decision.

The weather here has been so incredibly cold. It is actually the wind that is so brutal. And it has been windy here.

Every year our church holds a walk to Bethlehem and this is the first year we attended. We have been to something like this before but it in no way compares. The event was really nice and walked us through the story of the birth of Jesus. It was amazing and really cold since part of it was outside.

That evening we went out to dinner with some friends. I met the Mom a few times at different places before I actually put it all together. I met her at the elementary school right before school started at a function. I then met her again at the preschool. So she has a boy in 3rd grade and a girl in preschool with Tee and she also has an older daughter. They are such a nice family and we hope to be able to hang out with them more often.

I am finally done with one of the fundraisers and I am still working on wrapping up another. I will be glad to have all of this behind me.

I am gearing up for yet another busy week!

Thanksgiving Week

2010-11-29T20:57:00.003-05:00

Thanksgiving week started much like it did last year. Our friends from Georgia stopped by for a night on their way to Connecticut. It is always such a nice visit but way too short. It is always an awkward few minutes before the kids interact. Once it is over it is like they have been friends forever.

The kids had a nice time playing.

It was nice having the husband home for the week. On Wednesday, he took the boys out to lunch and then to a movie. The boys enjoyed a day out with Dad and I enjoyed the time at home alone. I was able to get most of my baking/cooking done for Thanksgiving.

We have not traveled at Thanksgiving for a very long time. In the past, my husband has not taken off of work and typically had to work on the Friday after. So we have celebrated Thanksgiving on our own or with friends for a very long time.

Last year, we were thrilled that the husband's Mom was able to join us. This year we were joined by some of my family. My brother, his wife, his youngest son and his oldest daughter and her family joined us. We had a lovely day.

I am not sure what Tee was doing in the front!

We have made it our annual tradition to go to a Festival in our area. Our first stop was to visit Santa in the big children's room.

Here is Santa!

Here is Santa asking if the boys have behaved. The first response was yes. Santa said, let me ask this again, have you behaved. Then the boys came clean. He told them to make sure they were nice to each other and that they helped Mom around the house. I had a good laugh.

The boys enjoy watching the trains that are set up in one of the rooms. They get to sit here and I get to walk around a bit to look at the craft booths.

On Thanksgiving day, the boys started a puzzle we had. We all worked on the puzzle during a 4 day period. The puzzle was finally finished on Sunday evening.

In which she rambles

2010-11-23T20:39:00.003-05:00

It seems like all the boys are getting invited to party after party. Tee has had 2 invitations within the last few weeks. One of them was this past weekend. He had a great time at this gymnastics place. I am thinking of having his party there. They do it all. I may just book it so that it is taken care of. I ended up declining an invite for Jay. He isn't friends with the boys and I just had to draw the line. Lots of present purchasing.

The husband is on vacation this week. It has been nice having him home. He gets to work on house projects. He installed a new closet organizer in Tee's room on Sunday. This would be the 3rd one he has done. Last year he put in nice organizers in the other boys' rooms. The closets just had a shelf above the bar to hang clothes, just not practical for our needs. There is still more to do.

We had conferences with the boys' teachers yesterday. The boys did great on their report cards. We are very proud of them. The teachers had such wonderful things to say about our boys. I have to admit it is great hearing such nice comments from others who have interactions with your children.

The school would like to test Jay for the gifted and talented program early next year. I haven't researched it in great detail but I believe he will do 2 years of math in 1 year. He currently is doing 4th grade math.

E is on grade level, which is where he is supposed to be, in both math and language arts. He is actually above grade level in spelling. He needs to work on a few areas and he could be classified as above grade level.

E has a great love of reading. I purchased a few books for him at the school book fair, ok more than just a few....it was 6 split between both boys. E has read all 6 between yesterday afternoon and tonight. It is crazy. I guess we will need to hit the library tomorrow or I think I may end up with more books than Scholastics.

A funny thing happened this week. I volunteered at the school book fair on Monday so the husband was responsible for getting Tee from preschool. As soon as he left the classroom, the teacher called me to make sure it was ok that Dad picked him up. In all fairness, he typically stays for lunch. She needed to check with me because she didn't know what to do. But even funnier was that he had already left with Tee. Even though E and Jay do not have school tomorrow Tee still does. I will make sure that she knows Dad will be there once again to pick him up.

Tee's preschool did a thankful tree. The children were asked what they were thankful for and it was put on a hand. I finally found Tee's hand. He is thankful for the pool. Yep....we have lots to help him understand.

What would you do?

2010-11-17T20:44:00.003-05:00

I found out recently that one of my gym instructor's (I will call her Jill) husband was convicted of embezzling money from his company. I googled his name and found out the specifics of the charges and noticed he had been sentenced to 1 year in prison. I wondered where he had gone as he used to do the class many Mondays.

I know someone who is an acquaintance of Jill's and Jill almost broke down to her today. She didn't give her specifics but more about what is happening today. Apparently, he had a terrible gambling problem. She had no idea and I assume he was in trouble which is why he stole the money. He is now in town and is at a half way house. My guess is that he got his prison time reduced for time in the half way house. He has a job waiting for him once he is freed, which is surprising to me.

I feel bad for Jill, she is such a nice person. She has two young children and it seems like it all is wearing them down.

I told my husband about the situation. Jill seems to be standing by her man. I told him that I don't know that I could do the same. I think I would resent him terribly for turning our world upside down for a very stupid act. Everything would change. I would have to go back to work to support the family and our living status would change drastically.

My husband called me shallow. He could not believe I would not stand by him. He asked me if I would leave him if he cheated and my answer was probably. He could not understand why I would definitely leave if he stole but would "probably" leave if he cheated.

He couldn't leave it at that. What if he made a mistake at work, got fired and caused him to be unmarketable. I don't think they are comparable.

The answer is very simple, just don't mess up!

A funeral, a date and some other stuff

2010-11-14T20:38:00.003-05:00

What to start with. Well, I guess I will start with the other stuff. Saturday evening we decided to have takeout from a well know chain. We got the kids meals set up first. I ordered a salad as did my husband. I opened my salad and saw a bug crawling on the lid of my dressing. My husband got rid of the bug as I sit there wondering what to do. He sits down and opens his salad. What does he find? A hair in his salad. Definitely not our night and no we did not pay for any of our meal.

We had to make up for our bad meal on Saturday so the husband and I had a date night on Sunday. We had a fabulous meal at PF Changs. We had not been there in a very long time. It is nice to be able to go out and not have to get a child's menu.

We get home and gave E a hard time for leaving his bedroom light on. He has a very bad habit of leaving lights on. The penalty, sentence writing. I have gotten very tired of repeating myself, so instead I give sentences to write. The bathroom light was on also and we decided it was Tee that left it on. So I told Tee that he was getting 10 sentences. He looks at me and says "Mom do I look like I am 8". You just never know what is going to come out of his mouth.

I guess I end with a sad story. My neighbor's father passed away on Friday. He had gotten a kidney transplant last year and seemed to do well for a while until he was diagnosed with cancer. The last few weeks have been really difficult for him. My neighbors are Indian. My friend and I next door decided to attend the funeral. We thought we would make an appearance. That is not how things are done.

As we entered the funeral home we stood in a line that we found out was to sign the guest book. As we approached the entrance we noticed that there were so many people there. We ended up tucking ourselves into a corner on the other side and had to stand. And there we stood for one and a half hours. The first part was ceremonious. Then our neighbor and his sister gave a eulogy. Then there were about 7 or 8 others who went up to speak about him. Interesting that the family of the person giving the eulogy stood up at the podium also.

Once the eulogy was done it was time to pay your respect to the dead by placing a rose bud in the casket and then walking around the casket. We decided we were going to make our way out of there and pay our respects to the family. Definitely an interesting experience.

Space Derby

2010-11-14T19:55:00.003-05:00

The husband and the boys, well mainly the husband, have been working on rockets for the scouts space derby. It was held this past Friday. We have had so many busy weekends prior to this past Friday that he had to start early.

The husband shaped the rockets and the boys painted them. Prior to Friday, I tried to get as much information as I could regarding the specifics. I ended up panicking a little and telling my husband that he still had work to do to complete. Yes, I doubted him and he assured me he had it all taken care of like usual.

We spent a lot of time getting the rockets ready to go and ended up being very disappointed in the event. I didn't even get any pictures of the rockets or the rockets being raced. The guts ended up being taken out of the rockets. We did not get to wind our rockets, someone else did. Some rockets were wound more than others, so some went fast and furious and others at a turtle's pace. There was only one race for each rocket. Very unfair to the children.

The kids were shuttled from one area to another until it was their time to race.

The boys received a few advancement badges earned, a few belt loops and their whittling chip.

We were asked to bring in items for the kids to put together bags to send to the men and women overseas who protect our country.

There is a Pinewood Derby held in January and we are hoping they rethink how to arrange the schedule so that it is a little more organized. But the kids had fun.

Not much to report!

2010-11-10T21:21:00.003-05:00

After having 2 days off last week and being gone this past weekend, we are getting back into the swing of things. Although, in two weeks the boys will have2 days where they go for 1/2 days and then off the rest of Thanksgiving week. The husband has the week off which will be nice. We will also have conferences with their teachers. It is hard to believe that Christmas is right around the corner. Time to start planning.

The boys start basketball practice this week. They were unable to make their evaluations but luckily the coordinator has coached our boys before and knows their ability. Practices will be on Thursdays and games begin in December. We are hoping the boys will become a little more aggressive on the court.

Recently, Jay has become a list person. He keeps his notebook handy and writes himself notes. Oh like mother like son. I love me a list or two. Jay has also typed out a Christmas list. He sits at the PC with the big toy edition from ToysRus and I think has listed almost every toy in the book. E on the other hand is good with just writing his items on a piece of paper. He originally had 6 items on his list but added additional items that he then crossed off. Yes, I love their differences.

I am now working on the Fundraiser for Tee's preschool. They are selling a coupon book, a really good one for this area. I spent a good 6 hours getting it all ready and delivered to school. Hopefully, this will go smooth because their are not too many families. The older boys school fundraiser will be completed in December with the delivery of cookie dough, but I have some work to do prior to then. We have not raised enough money so we are looking into some different ways to generate some funds.

The weather has been really nice here. The weatherman said that this would probably be our last warm spell for a while. Tee has soccer tomorrow and after that we will head to the park to have lunch and play for a while. When I reminded Tee about soccer tomorrow, he was so excited and said I will go and be the star of the league. That cracks me up....where would he have gotten that.

Cousins

2010-11-07T20:26:00.006-05:00

It has been a very long time since we have visited the husband's hometown. It has been over 8 years. Now through this time we have seen his family but have not seen his sister's and their children in a long time. Grandma visits us a couple of times a year.

The boys had last Friday off so we decided to take the long weekend for a visit. The boys were excited to see where their Grandma lived and see their cousins.

We pulled the boys out of school early on Thursday to catch our flight early afternoon. Tee sat near his Dad. As the plane was taking off, he looks at his Dad and says "I don't like this we need to land now". But he ended up doing fine as did the boys.

It was a weekend of revolving houses. The first night we were at Grandma's house and everybody came over for dinner. The second and third night were at his sister's houses. It was a weekend filled of yummy food and fun.

The boys loved playing with their cousins. E and Jay got two of their older cousins to play football with them. They were in heaven.

My boys stayed up late most nights and they were all exhausted each night.

Grandma with all of her grandchildren! What a great looking group of kids.

All of us. Thank goodness for the timer on the camera.

Funny enough, many years ago we had a picture taken of all the adults sitting on each other. Grandma decided she needed another one because we were missing a husband. The kids decided they wanted to have the same picture taken.

Mom and her kids!

Siblings!

Tee's cousin Ryan buddied up for the weekend. Everyone came over to Grandma's for lunch on Saturday. Tee went over to his aunt and asked where Ryan was. He was so good with him.

Sunday morning we were waiting for our flight home. All was going well. Our flight was there waiting for us. At take off time the pilot came on and says we are waiting for about 15 people who were coming from another flight. So we took off about 30 minutes late.

The only part of traveling with the 5 of us was getting through security at the airport. It gets very hectic to get all of your belongs in the bucket, shoes and all. Then walk through one at a time and get all of your stuff from the buckets.

I am really glad the boys got to spend time with their cousins. It is so nice to see.

Let's try Soccer

2010-11-07T20:25:00.003-05:00

Tee has said that he would like to play soccer among many other sports. He definitely wants to play t-ball but he mentioned soccer a lot. I thought it would be nice for him to try soccer. It is something different from what his brothers play and would give him his own sport.

Soccer is held indoors at a place close to our house. At this age it is just basics, how to kick the ball. No games. We go on Thursday mornings for 1 hour.

Tee got to kick the ball around.

And learn how to stop the ball.

He had such a great time. The best part was that Dad had Thursday off and was able to come watch. At the end of lesson, he came up to his Dad and said that he was the star of the league. That made us crack up and I am not sure where he got that from.

Halloween

2010-11-07T20:23:00.004-05:00

It seems as though the boys have more of a social life than I do. They were invited to a Halloween party the Friday prior to Halloween. They had a nice time although I think they were there a little too long. It was a long day for them with too many festivities and candy.

On Saturday, we went in and picked up pumpkins. I, of course, thought E and Jay would carve their own pumpkins. But after they emptied the pumpkin they were done. Each of them picked their own design and their Dad carved them all. Tee doesn't really like to get his hands dirty but he did clean out his pumpkin a little and then came in and washed his hands.
Dad did a great job on them and got a lot of compliments.

On Halloween, we had some neighbors over for dinner before heading out to trick or treat. The boys were very excited.

E was the zombie, Tee was Spiderman and Jay was a scary skeleton.

They did a lot of the neighborhood. Tee kept up pretty well but pooped out after a while. He came home and helped me pass out candy. They got a ton of candy. We sorted when they got home and they kept only a small portion.

The plan was to take the candy to the Dentist's office to sell it but the week was so busy. I think the only buy back date was on Thursday and we were not here. So now I need to find out what to do with all of the extra candy we have.

He decided it was time

2010-10-30T20:52:00.002-04:00

Our twins are different in so many ways. This was evident from the time they were born. And they remain very different. Of course, we love them and their differences.

The boys have always had different sleep patterns from very early on. E had no problems where as Jay had issues going to sleep and staying asleep. These have remained the same even now.

Why am I talking about sleep habits? Well, once Jay was potty trained he immediately was able to make it through the night dry. E not so much.

I brought the issue up every year with his Dr. and I got the same answer every time. He is a hard sleeper, his bladder had not matured yet and it would happen eventually. This is very common.

I didn't like this answer because I wanted him to be dry. E didn't care much about having to wear a pull-up to bed. So about a year ago I purchased a bed wetting alarm. I read the book and we went through the exercises. We tried the alarm for maybe 4 or 5 nights. Each night I had to get up to this really loud annoying alarm to make a bed. He gave it up, I didn't push and that was that.

This past July, E asked me if he could try the alarm again or as he called it that thing in which I had to ask many questions to find out what he was talking about. So I got the alarm out, purchased new batteries and he tried it again.

The first night the alarm went off and we got up to change the sheets and pajamas. The following night he was ready to give it up. He was tired. We encouraged him to give it another try. One night was not a try. The next nights were better. The alarm would wake him up in time for him to make it to the bathroom. No more sheets being changed and many nights I did not hear him. He was able to do it all on his own. It happened very quickly. Yes, now and then we may have an accident but that is ok.

I am very proud of him. He set out to do this and he did it own. It happened just like they said it would, when he was ready. And I am saving the alarm for Tee who shows absolutely no desire to be dry at night.

Now my excuse of no sleepovers (because of pull-up wearing) is no longer valid. I better think of something good quick.

Wonderland

2010-10-28T20:36:00.004-04:00

Our October calendar was very full. I don't know that we had a free weekend. Last spring, we bid (at the school auction) and won tickets to Dutch Wonderland. It is an amusement park about an hour away from us. It is a little smaller on scale and good for younger children. The tickets expired mid-October so we felt that we had to use them.

We left early one Saturday morning and spent the entire day at the park. As luck would have it my camera ran out of battery life so my pictures were limited.

A little fun with Tee while waiting for his brothers to get off of a ride.

Mom and boys on the train ride!

Tee was not sure about the train ride at first but loved it.

The husband had to do bumper cars 3 times, one time with each child. Tee liked the ride but he was very scared.

The husband took all the boys down the flume ride. We ended up having to buy the picture of their flume coming down the hill. E was in front and doing fine, Jay looked like he was going to barf and Tee looked like he was holding on for dear life.

It is nice that the park is not large because we did a lot of walking around. We played games, we saw a Thomas show and did many rides. E loves the swings. Jay is not much of a ride goer. I guess he takes after his Mom.

The park had a "guess the pumpkin" contest. All the boys entered the contest. I ended up getting a phone call a few weeks ago letting me know that Josh won the contest. He was one pound off. The husband gave the weights to each of the kids. We were so excited. I wasn't really sure what we won as my cell phone was cutting out.

Well, I got the letter in the mail and we received 4 complimentary tickets to go back. Nice right? Yes, but the tickets expire in December of 2010. Come on Dutch Wonderland....really......you couldn't splurge and have the tickets expire sometime in 2011. The park is only open from 3 to 9 on the weekends at this point. So we should drive up there 1 hour to get there at 3 to stay for a few hours and the drive home would be another hour. We have young children who go to bed early. I thought that Dutch Wonderland could really do better than that.

Maybe we will go back.....or maybe not. I am still trying to decide whether to write a letter and let them know my thoughts or not.

A trip to the petting farm

2010-10-26T19:45:00.002-04:00

Tee's class went to the petting farm this past Friday. It was required that at least 10 parent chaperones on this field trip. The preschool hired a bus company to take the 3 and 4 year old classes.

Tee has had recurring nightmares about buses. So as you can imagine when I found that they would be taking a bus that I HAD to be able to chaperone this field trip. Luckily, I got my name on the list early enough.

We boarded the bus and Tee was still doing fine. I had one of his friends also. Tee sat next to me on the bus. As we took off, Tee grabbed on to me and didn't let go until we arrived at the farm. But I think he enjoyed the trip.

Tee on the bus, still not sure at this point.

Tee did not want to pet or feed many of the animals. He fed the sheep and that was that. He immediately wanted to wash his hands afterwards. He definitely has issues with clean hands.

I did manage to get him to pet one of the animals brought out.

Once we were done with the animals, we were taken on a hay ride. The kids were able to eat their snack along the way. The hayride dropped us off at a pumpkin patch and each child was able to pick one of their own.

Tee picked out a greenish looking pumpkin and he was very proud of it. We have it displayed on our front stoop.

Golden Shoe

2010-10-25T20:30:00.004-04:00

Last week the boys had their Golden shoe race. The race is held by class. The students run a mile and their time and place is recorded as they enter the finish line. Points are somehow assigned (basically you want the kids in your class to come in first) and the class with the least amount of points are allowed to brag and hold onto the golden shoe for the year.

I had the boys practice a little running before the race, but they have so many sports that it was a bit hard to schedule.

It was a little hard to keep track of the kids as they were running. They both ran by me and I didn't realize it until it was too late. But I did manage to get a few pictures.

E came in 13th of the 125 kids in his class. I have to say I was shocked to see how fast he was running. He just kept going and going. I saw him stop once just to catch his breath for a moment.

Jay came in 21st. He did very well also and I believe he only stopped once for a few seconds.

The boys waiting patiently for the results. Neither of the boys' class won, but E's was a close second.

E has really taken to running. On Saturday, he went out for a run with his Dad. Maybe he will keep it up. Maybe I will get him to run a 5K sometime soon. Well, maybe we will wait until the weather warms back up.

Camping at Camp Rodney

2010-10-21T14:42:00.016-04:00

This past weekend, the boys had a camping day with the scouts. The camp site was located a little over an hour north of where we live. The husband decided he would camp with the two older boys. Tee and I drove up separately but spent the morning with the boys.

This was the view from the tent that we put up. The site was located on the Chesapeake. Could not ask for a better view, but that wind was blowing up pretty good for the majority of the day.

The den leader took the boys to do a marble game. The marbles were really balls for a pool table. I got there late and could not understand the object of the game. But they all enjoyed playing and they earned a belt loop for it.

After the marble game which took a long time we decided it was time for lunch. Hot dogs and chips! Tee is wearing E's jacket because it was so cold.

Jay

E.

I didn't realize how many different sports they would be able to do at the camp. The boys started off with shooting a BB gun.

Dad had to get in to help!

Jay needing help.

More shooting.

The rest of the pictures are a bit out of order but they got to do so much.

Candle making.

E doing Archery.

Jay doing archery.

E excelled at archery. He looks like a pro.

Jay needed a little help.

E. bouldering.

Jay Bouldering

Jay slingshot.

E. slingshot

Even Tee got to try the slingshot

I was very happy to not be present to see this creature.

Jay and his friend standing near the tent. It is a nice size tent, sleep six.

The boys had to earn the bobcat badge by learning the motto, pledge etc., which we completed prior to this event. The boys were presented with their badge at the campfire with the pack. Unfortunately, the pictures did not turn out well as they are all very dark. My friend got some that I hope she will share with me.

The boys had a great time camping overnight. Jay woke up once during the night and then was up for the morning at 5am. But they can't wait until the next trip.

The boys got home early Sunday morning with enough time to get ready for their baseball game. Needless to say they were exhausted on Sunday.

Just because we don't have enough to do

2010-10-17T14:51:00.002-04:00

Last year I asked my boys if they wanted to join the cub scouts and I got a firm no. I asked again this year and got a shrug of the shoulders kind of response. Jay's good friend is in scouts and his Mom heads up one of the dens. She had lost some scouts from her den and had room for them.

The boys and I discussed and we all decided to go for it. The husband and I thought it would be a great experience for them, they would get to do things they wouldn't otherwise and I would hope it would help them get into a little more community volunteering.

It all began with a carnival and campfire in September. The boys had a great time and even participated in a skit with the den.

There are two den meetings a month and then a pack meeting/event once a month.

The boys had to do a little catching up. We successfully accomplished all the steps in order for them to become a Bobcat.

We follow the guide in the book. Some chapters have to be accomplished at home while others are done with the den. For example, earlier this month the boys earned their whittling chip. They learned pocket knife safety as well as whittling.

Last week the boys went on a field trip to the police station. This was a very fun night for the kids but it lasted over 2 hours, on a school night.

The boys standing in front of the station! I think they look darling in their cub scout shirt!

They were able to have their finger prints taken.

E getting fingerprinted.

All the parents stressed how you must make good choices in life so that you don't end up in jail.

I enjoyed the field trip as much as the boys. We found out that in order for you to carry a taser, you must be tased first. This is also the case with carrying mace. The officer giving us the tour said that the taser last 5 seconds but it feels more like 15. As with the mace, he said it was worse than being tased. It would feel ok when you had running water on your eyes but as soon as you stopped the burn sensation came back.

We also were able to talk with a canine officer. Interesting that their dogs live with them in their home. The dogs are very aggressive when out in public but are much different when they are home. This particular officer had small children and the dog has no problem with the kids hanging all over him.

Yes, we have one more to do on our plate but I think this one is worth fitting in. We have lots of fun stuff planned in the coming months.

Where were we.....

2010-10-17T14:38:00.004-04:00

Oh yeah, the lack of time to get much done and me just getting more to do. I have a few things that I need and have to get off my plate this week. I am trying to complete the end of one fundraiser as we started another one. The next one should not be as difficult. You either want to order cookie dough or not with nothing to return. I am still missing so many coupon books.

I am running the fundraiser at Tee's preschool but that one won't start until November 10th, so I should have some time to rest.
_______________________________________________________

Seems like bullying is a hot subject these days. I have heard there is a situation in our school of bullying. It doesn't seem like it has been handled correctly from what I understand. Each year our principal holds a coffee and conversation for the parents, which was held earlier this month. We as parents send in questions and she get to answer them. It appears that the 5th grade class this year has been a little difficult to handle. In addition to the above mentioned bullying, it appears there are many who have a lack of respect for authority. The principal made mention of kids blatantly laughing at her while she was talking with them about their behavior. I think the saddest part of it all was when she called a parent at work to discuss their child's behavior and they said don't ever call me at work about this again. You handle it. WOW! It all starts at home doesn't it?

We try to let our kids know as often as we can that they need to be kind and considerate to others and show respect for others. I think that is lacking greatly in current times.

Lots has been going on in the last month....I will update as I can.......

Life.......

2010-09-23T14:50:00.003-04:00

Life has just seemed not to slow down since the start of school. I am running a few positions on the PTA which have kept me very busy. Sports have kicked in plus I am having to run Tee back and forth to preschool.

I thought I would have more time but it seems like my time keeps diminishing.

I am co-chairing the fundraising committee for the PTA. We have a coupon book that is out right now and it has bombed. We are kicking ourselves for not backing out of this. The coupons really suck, to say it nicely. This year we have decided to try something different. Instead of hounding people to sell, we are asking for a direct donation. Many school PTA's do this so I am praying that we are successful. However, it would have been nice to be able to sell a good amount of something just in case.

I am also trying to get a website up for the group. Well, I am not creating the website, my FIL's wife is creating. She will then teach me how to update. I am excited about learning something new. But again probably will be a time sucker.

The boys have baseball 4 times a week. They practice 2 times a week for the Spring Travel league and then they practice 1 time a week for the fall league with one game on Sundays. If that wasn't enough, they are in an after school basketball club for the next 4 weeks. I am sure I can add more to their plate, just give me time.

Tee does like going to preschool. He loves ordering his lunch from me in the morning. He especially loves it when he gets a nice little treat.

I am at my time quota off to something different. I do hope to find time to update soon.

All beaches are created equal

2010-09-09T14:55:00.004-04:00

I don't think so but all have sand, water and waves. What else do you need?

I LOVED going to the beach as an older teen/young adult. Love is actually an understatement. I didn't know many people who would go to the beach in between college classes. Of course, my college was near the beach. So I spent a lot of time at the beach. Then reality hit and I was a working adult so beach time was restricted to the weekends.

There is something about the beach that is so relaxing. I still love sitting on the beach listening to the breaking waves and running the sand through my toes. I would love to be able to sleep on the beach but it is not relaxing with 3 young boys running around. But the beach is very therapeutic for me.

A move from Florida to North Carolina really dampened the beach time. I was living about 3 plus hours from the coast. We would schedule summer beach vacations, which is how we found Hilton Head.

Really I was (and am) ok without going to the beach so often. My skin is thanking me now because I know I have done a lot of damage but that is another story. The only time I miss the beach is when I am at the beach.

We have lived in Maryland for almost 3 years and have not been to the shore. We have many neighbors who own places at the beach and spend a lot of time here. It was time for this to change.

We bid and won a weekend stay at a town home on Fenwick Island, Delaware from the school auction. The place belongs to one of our neighbors. Since the boys are off once again today, we decided to pull them from school on Friday and take a long weekend at the beach. We arrived late last night. The drive was about 2 1/2 hours and we had to stop to get something to eat.

The weather is beautiful. A little chilly this morning. The morning was spent at the very quiet deserted beach. The beach is a little different. For example, there is not much of a sandy area on the beach. There were so many shells on the beach. I haven't seen such large non broken shells in a long time.

We sat in our chairs swatting at the biting flies that kept landing on us watching the boys play in the sand. Where did the flies come from and why are they on the beach? We saw dolphins out swimming. We played ladder golf, which is a fun outdoor game. I was able to actually read a little bit of a magazine. No swimming for us as the water temperature is a bit too cold for us. We had a great morning.

I am looking forward to enjoying time at the beach. And although this beach is a little different than what I have been to it will work out just fine.

First day of 3 year old preschool

2010-09-08T16:36:00.003-04:00

Tee's first day of preschool was today. He is going to our church preschool. The preschool took a year off (due to a location change) and is now up and running again. It is almost like it is new since it is being run by a new director, which from what I understand is a good thing.

Tee spent the morning saying he did not want to go to preschool. He wants to spend the day with me and who can blame him. I am so much fun.

I ran a little late this morning. It seems like I need to give myself a little more time in the morning to get there. It was a bit hectic and I was late. There was one little girl who was crying her eyes out.

Tee was ok when I dropped him off. I thought he might cling a little but he didn't. Before I left in the morning, I did notice that he found a little boy he went to preschool with last year and was playing with him.

I picked him up and again a little bit of chaos. The parents had to enter the room to pick up their child. But some children stay for lunch. So a little awkward. I am hoping they develop a better strategy. If not, I will be in talking to the director.

He did have a great day although he doesn't want to go back.

It is good to know your neighbors

2010-09-02T11:46:00.003-04:00

Last night, before 10 pm we heard Tee up in his room wake up from his sleep with a cough that sounded much like a seal (croup) and some other strange noises. We both headed to his room to check on him. He was coughing and having a hard time breathing. Every breath in would lead to a big cry and him telling me it hurt.

I called the pediatrician's office and she asked us to put him in a bathroom with the hot water running to see if the humidity would clear him up. She also said to go ahead and give him a breathing treatment. I sat in the bathroom with him and it was painful to watch. His chest would sink in each and every time he breathed. Phlegm was coming out. He was a little hysterical. I could not calm him down.

While doing his breathing treatment, my husband called the neighbor who just happens to be a pediatrician at our practice. She came over to look and listen. I have to say she is so good at her job. She is such a nice, calm, soft spoken person. She looked at us and told us to take him to the hospital because he was not moving enough air and seemed very tight in his chest. She said a steroid treatment would help him. She left but said she would call the hospital to let them know we were on our way.

Luckily, the trip to the hospital went well. He could not speak loudly and he knew it. I was just happy he had calmed down and was smiling a little. He did say some of the funniest things on the way to the hospital. I think I used the word "hate" for something. He looks at me and says Mom you should not say that word. How right he is because I tell that to my boys all the time.

We checked in and were taken back to the pediatric area of the er. They confirmed croup and also said he had stridor which means that his airway had swollen so much that it would be like breathing through a straw. A breathing treatment and liquid steroid were given to him and then it was sit back and wait. They wanted us there 2 hours to ensure once the medication wore off it would not come back. I guess there is a possibility of it returning a little worse than when it started.

We got home around 1:30 am. And are we all tired today.

I was looking at the paper work I received regarding his condition. I am assuming he had spasmodic croup which is caused by a cold or allergy. He had been fine yesterday with just a little runny nose. So this did catch us a little off guard.

The neighbor called this morning to check on him. She is so sweet. I think I will send them a little thank you gift.

Tee just fell asleep in my bed as I was folding. So off to get housework completed.

2010 First day of school

2010-08-30T14:45:00.004-04:00

My computer is running as slow as a turtle today for some reason. I have been trying to get my pictures ready to upload for some time. It must be a little sad because there is not much activity in this house today..........

Let the school routine begin. Today was the first day of school for the boys. It is hard to believe they are in 3rd grade already. Where did my little boys go?

Last Friday, we were able to go in and meet their teachers. Jay has a fairly young teacher. This is her 5th year teaching I believe. She is very attractive. I heard that the one of the American Girl dolls was modeled after her. E has a male teacher this year. The only male teacher in the building. I have heard great things about both of them. Luckily, my boys tend to be able to adapt to any type of teacher.

I had to get the first day of school picture of the boys. E was being a little silly while Jay was definitely more serious.

And another. He wouldn't budge.

Mr. cranky pants didn't want his picture taken. He has been missing his brothers today.

The best part was that the husband took the day off today. He was able to walk to the bus stop with us.

The bus stop was unbelievably filled with soo many children. We didn't lose that many children from last year to middle school but we have added many more children. It seemed like the bus was jam packed.

I can't wait to hear how the first day went for the boys. We are going to treat the boys tonight and take them out to dinner.

I would like to be done with 3 please

2010-08-25T13:55:00.004-04:00

I said please.

When E and Jay were young I was prepared for the 2's. I went out a bought a book called "Making the Terrible Two's Terrific" by John Rosemond. I took the advice the book gave me and kept it around as my guide. The two's came and went and I thought I had survived. It is hard enough having to deal with one child at that stage so two is so much more work. Ya, I thought I was supermom with really great kids.

I was not prepared when one day they were 3 and they were awful. Much of my time was spent punishing them for one thing or another. I do have to admit that there were times when only one was misbehaving but I never knew which one it would be on any particular day. Funny that I don't really recall details of that year any more just bits and pieces. I guess if your mind didn't let go of some stuff then people would stop reproducing.

I do remember as they approached their 4th birthday how different they behaved. They were much easier to reason with and suddenly all became good in our house once again. Of course, we all had our days but for the most part ok.

So here I am again with one 3 year old who is just being well I guess 3 years old. He is such a darling at times. And I love it when he comes up, crawls in my lap and tells me that he loves me. It melts my heart. He is a Momma's boy for sure.

3 started off ok but has progressively gotten worse. It is the whining and screaming that really can be bothersome. If you look at him in the wrong manner he will cry. We have tried to be patient with him. He is also starting to listen to us when teaching him about asking nicely when you want something instead of crying. It is slowly starting to sink in but there always has to be crying involved first.

I noticed when we got home from our vacation that Tee was especially clingy. No doubt had something to do with the week he spent sleeping in the same bed as me. He was also even more whiny than before.

Now he is peeing in his pants. He waits until the last minute and then decides he won't go to the bathroom without me. He calls my name (the reason was unknown to me) and run around in circles. So he would just stand where ever he was and pee. He has peed on the stairs once and peed on the floor in or around the bathroom several times. Yesterday, when we were outside he came and sat on my lap and then proceeded to pee. Luckily, I figured out what he was doing before it was all over me.

He has been working towards getting a sweet treat after dinner. We have been at this since Sunday.

I had asked Tee if he needed to use the bathroom prior to me going to get in the shower today. I left him downstairs to watch his show before his nap. I called for him at 1:30 and he did not answer. So just as I was headed downstairs he is standing there with his shirt drenched with nothing on below. I asked if he peed on the floor and got a positive response. This time he locked and shut the bathroom door. Ya, like I wouldn't be able to figure this one out. The shirt alone gave it away.

I am tired of cleaning up pee. What could be causing this sudden accident streak?

My guess is that this is the only way he can express his stress. What stress could he have at such a young age? Seriously, he has it made. I guess it might be the fact that he is going to start preschool in a few weeks. He has told me that he doesn't want to go to school. But we have talked about where he is going, our church and the teachers. Every time he mentions his teachers from last year I have to tell them he will have different teachers.

I am hoping that 4 comes quickly. And Mr. Rosemond I think you need to write another book regarding the 3's.

My calendar must be wrong

2010-08-19T19:41:00.004-04:00

It is hard to believe that in a week from Monday the boys will be back to school and we will be getting back to a routine. I am not sure where the summer went. I had grand plans to get some organizing accomplished. Boy....did I fail miserably.

We have had a lot going on this summer. It has been a really nice summer and we have all kept busy.

Our garden this year gave us a nice supply of cucumbers and zucchini. The green beans did ok in the beginning but then failed me. I think they were not getting enough water and the zucchini plant was so large that it blocked the sun. I will remember this for next year. I also grew a strawberry bush in an Earth box. It did well and even produced a few strawberries. The Earth box had to be moved off the deck and I think some bunnies have feasted on them. I would like to plant in my garden but I need to figure out how to protect them first. We have planted pumpkin seeds and hope to have a few good pumpkins for the fall.

We have had some work done in our house this summer. Every year we try to take on a project or two. Our plan is to keep our house updated and also design it our way. Of course, there are things we can't change but we are doing what we can. We had granite counter tops installed. We also took out a desk in the kitchen and added a cabinet for additional pantry space. The contractor is now working on installing our trex deck. Our deck was really showing it age. Our choice was to smooth and re-stain or put in something that requires little to no maintenance. We chose the latter.

Well, I guess we are not practical after all. We decided to get another Sequoia. The husband went to the dealership this past Saturday to negotiate. He feels like he got a good deal on the car (it is a 2010 which they are trying to clear off the lot). The car feels so much bigger to me but I have noticed that it is a little easier to manage because it turns so easily. I still miss my old car just a little.

So much to do so little time.......off to do something productive while I have a few minutes.

Home at last

2010-08-15T11:42:00.004-04:00

Exhausted! We made it home safely from our vacation. I still have not recovered but hope to get back to our routine tomorrow.

The rest of the beach trip was so nice and relaxing. I think we all finally mellowed out towards the end and were able to enjoy our last few days.

We spent a lot of time on the beach. E is truly a beach lover like his Mom. He wanted to stay when it was time to go. It was VERY hot and humid during our stay. The weather held out for us though. We got in as much as we could during our last few days. We biked, played miniature golf and went on a hike. The hike was mainly to find the GO Cache located in HHI for a friend. I have never heard of it but it is like a scavenger hunt.

We made our trip down to Jacksonville on Saturday. We spent a lot of time with family, which the boys loved. We were only able to visit with my brother's family (they have two young boys) for a short time. E and Jay loved playing with their cousins. They were sad when they had to leave. They would like to see them again soon.

My sisters and I took our kids (theirs are grown up) to the water park. E and Jay each had a buddy for the day. E had a blast going down the slides. He even did the half pipe. I couldn't watch, I was scared for him. He liked it but did not want to do it again. I had to literally pull him off the slides so that we could leave. Jay had a good time but didn't seem to enjoy the slides as much. And Tee had a great time playing in the water. He also went down a big slide with no raft. He had a look of terror on his face as he came out. He said he liked it but didn't want to do it again.

My nephew, C., was my saving grace. He bowled with us one day and went to the beach with us the next. He stayed in the water and helped the boys boogie board. The waves were really choppy and the current was so strong. Tee and I played at the water's edge.

We had a really nice time visiting with my parents.

I had a hard time sleeping during my stay. Tee slept with me and he is a non-stop mover. It would take him sometimes until 4 am to stop moving so much. He kept turning towards the end of the bed that I thought he was going to fall off. No carpet in my parent's house just a hard floor. The bed was so uncomfortable. It is good to sleep in my own bed once again.

By Wednesday the boys were ready to be home. Two weeks was a long time for them. We started our trip home on Thursday when I picked up my husband from the airport. We drove to his Dad's house in South Carolina where we stayed the night. The boys went fishing with no luck.

Friday morning we started our 8 1/2 hour drive home. It wasn't too bad and the boys did really well.

I have pictures that I have not downloaded yet. I hope to work on those soon.

Vacation at last

2010-08-02T20:43:00.002-04:00

It was a lot of preparation but I finally got it all together. Yes, I forgot a few things but nothing we can't live without or buy here. Saturday we left early in the morning and boy was it a long day. Thank goodness for the GPS system, we were able to get around 2 backups on I-95. We arrived at our destination around 4pm.

We unloaded and hit our normal first night restaurant. Then we loaded up on groceries for the week.

The boys love the beach. It is unfortunate that jellyfish in the water are high. In the last 2 days we have seen about 20 people come out of the water crying or holding onto a particular part of their body all in pain. I have not wanted to be in the water and neither do the boys. The boys love to boogie board but are a little scared they will get stung. Today E and Jay spent a few hours digging a huge hole while Tee played at the water's edge.

We rented bikes for the week. This year Tee is on a tandem bike with his Dad. Funny that he kept hitting the brakes as his Dad was pedaling. He enjoyed the bike ride.

I don't think the boys got the memo on vacation rules. They have been arguing and not listening since we have gotten here. It has been very tiring for the parents. I guess we are only 2 days in maybe things will be better tomorrow.

To be practical or not

2010-07-29T14:02:00.002-04:00

As I mentioned previously, my car is getting older and has needed a lot of work. We are torn because we have dumped so much money into it lately. We wonder, should keep it a while or unload it as fast as we can. It has a fairly decent trade in value for a 9 year old car.

I love my car and am finding it hard to part with it. It is just the right size for our family. But I feel it is probably time to get a new vehicle.

I test drove a new Sequoia the other night. It is really large, so much more than my 9 year old one. It was a nice drive but the thought of having to park it leaves me a little uneasy. It is a good amount over what we would like to spend for a vehicle.

We have also talked about a Sienna. Yes, I said it a mini-van. Something I swore I would never drive. It has automatic doors. Second row has 2 captain chairs, which means less arguing of children who are now forced to sit right next to each other. It even comes with a dual DVD player and GPS. It is large enough for the luggage we take on our excursions. It is definitely more affordable than the above.

What to do?