Texting



As much as I despise texting I have been texting a lot.  It is so much easier that actually having to pick up the phone say the niceties and then 10 minutes later get to the point of the call.  With a couple of keystrokes you can ask a question and get an answer.  I am even getting good at text language. 

For Christmas, the two older boys got IPADs.  Yes, not sure what Santa was thinking on that one.  They got itouches a few years ago but they really wanted ipads. 

We set up text accounts for the boys.  It started out as a tool for them to make plans with their friends.  It comes in handy when we need to get in touch with them while they are at other's houses (where they are connected). 

The rule in our house is that Mom reads all texts or emails.  It is a rule that was established at the very beginning. 

It all started out so innocent.  Jay is definitely the more social one of the two.  He got himself, and eventually Ethan, included in a  group text.  There were 15 people in this group.  All kids from school. 

I read their texts and decided I did not like the language and content and sometimes pictures that were included in the group texts.  It forced me to have another rule.  They were no longer aloud to text in the group texts.  They could text their friends each individually.  Jay tested us many times by texting in the group text.  Punishments ensued. 

Sometime after Christmas, Jay had a few texts from some girls that were inappropriate.....disgustingly inappropriate.  I was shocked to read what these girls would say.  After a long discussion, we decided that Jay's texting would be no longer.  We explained that it was not his fault but we felt we had to do something.  My thoughts are that many people will write things that they would never have the nerve to say.  So he was able to keep his email ability along with facetime.  He does have to communicate with his girlfriend you know.  Yes, he has had a girlfriend for a while now, a story for another day.

E was not involved in the texting drama so he was able to keep his account active although he is not allowed to read the group texts that come in.  Honestly, I am not worried about him as he is so disinterested.  But he does text his best friend to make plans. 

I went to clean up Jay's emails the other day and realized that he had deleted every email he received and sent.  Not only that but he deleted all his Internet history.  Needless to say I was a bit mad. 

I decided his punishment was to lose his ipad for the month of February.  This is NOT the first time he broke the rule and received a punishment.  If he can't follow the rules then he will lose his privileges. 

So the husband approached me the other day and asked me if I would consider giving him his ipadi/itouch, yes he lost both, back before the end of the month.  After he saw my reaction, he said that we could take all of his email and Internet capabilities off and just let him use it for the gaming aspect of it. 

I am not sure I buy into it.  I made Jay sign a piece of paper describing why he lost his electronics for the month.  I put the caveat in it that I may give him the ipad back with the stipulations above. 

I have really tried to explain to my kids that whatever they say to others in email and texts can follow them forever.  All it takes is one person to take a snapshot  and they can send it on to others.  Point in case, I intercepted a text that was sent from a friend's phone by an 8th grader.  There was a picture of this 8th grader shooting a bird with incredibly inappropriate racist language.  Guess what I did, I took a snap shot so that it could be shown to the parents.  I think the kid lost his phone for a month but this will never go away. I know all I can do is repeat and hope that it sinks in.

Birthdays!

I can't believe it has been over 3 months since I have been here.  It seems as though life has taken over.  I run around all morning and do as much as I can before the kids get home from school.  Once the kids are home it is homework and our extra activities.  By the time my butt hits the couch at night I find that I am too tired to type.

What I do miss is keeping up with everything that is going on in our house.  So many funny stories and stories that are unbelievable.  I hope that within the next month I can get caught up.  It has been very interesting.

But I can't go on until I wish my two boys a very happy 11th birthday.  I am not sure where the 11 years have gone.  I remember the day they were born and how overwhelmed I felt.  Some days I have that same feeling.  But at the end of the day, I feel so blessed that I get to be there Mom. 



I forced them to get close for their birthday picture!



The boys and Dad



This year the boys have decided to celebrate their birthday separately.  It seems really weird to me but I think they deserve to celebrate their day how they want to. 

This past weekend, we took Jay and two of his good friends to Dave and Busters.  We played games for a few hours. then to dinner and then back to the house for a sleepover.  It was nice to just have it be about Jay.  Tee and E were home with a sitter.  

This coming Saturday it is E's turn.  He is taking three friends to Laser Tag, then dinner and one of his best friends will spend the night.  We will once again leave the other two home with a sitter. 

We celebrated the boys' birthday this evening with dirt cake (as requested).  

Hmmmm....wonder what this year will bring us.

Golden Shoe time

The boys look forward to the golden shoe competition every year. They train in PE class in the weeks prior to the race.  E even trained a little bit at home. 

The kids all run a mile.  They are given a number as they cross the finish line.  All of the numbers are added up by class and the class who has the lowest number is the winner.  The winning class gets to brag and keep the golden shoe in their classroom. 

Excited about running

He won't look at me.

E comes in 7 with a time of 6:50

Jay comes in 11 with a time of 7:11

Neither of their classes won, but it was a fun run.

Kindergartners also participate in the race but they don't run as far and their is no golden shoe awarded.  Nevertheless, Tee was very excited. 

So happy.

He was the 4th student to cross the finish line.

Tee ran hard the entire way.  He shocked both his Dad and I.  At home he bragged to his brothers that he was the first in his class that finished.  What a fun morning.

Halloween 2012

Although Hurricane Sandy caused 2 days off of school, we were fortunate that Halloween was a go.  You know Halloween is really important.

The older boys purchased scary hooded costumes and Tee was able to "shop" in our bin.  His choices were a blue power ranger, a red power ranger or a puffed up spiderman.  He decided he would wear the two power ranger costumes(we had a few parties to attend).

We went to a friend's house for dinner on Wednesday.  The kids were all very excited.   



A picture of the group!

 

I managed to NOT get a good picture of my kids at all.

Most of the kids in the picture above went house to house together.  Just call me Sally social planner.  I tried hard to make sure everyone was happy.  The group started out with 8 kids and 3 adults (my husband being one of them).  At one point the group ended up with 2 adults and only 7 kids.  Then at the end is was only my husband with 5 kids.  Tee and his friend did a great job keeping up with the older boys.  



After the first couple of houses, the masks on E and Jay came off.  Unbelievable to me.  So I told the boys from now on, no more expensive costumes.  They will need to be a little more creative and definitely no more masks.

Tee ended up tuckering out about 1 hour.  He came and hung out with the ladies.  The older boys kept going.  They got a lot of candy.  In fact, we just went through today and sorted.  They kept some and we are donating the rest.  I have a friend who will take the candy to a homeless shelter.

An update on E

E has been seeing a psychologist once a week since July.  I remember the first day I had to take him.  He had a huge meltdown earlier that day.  I had to force him in the car and pull him into the office.  We got into the office and he sat slumped in the chair not even wanting to show his face. 

She called us both back to her office to explain the situation.  It was basically that we had already talked with her and explained some issues he was having.  Everything they talked about was staying between them and the walls of the office.  At that point I was excused and they started working.

He came out with a smile on his face.  I imagine that it was such a relief for him.  It wasn't as bad as he thought and finally someone who could get into his thoughts.  He told me he liked her.  When asked if he thought she would be able to help he, he gave me a definite yes.

So he has been talking with her once a week.  We, the parents, have had a meeting with the psychologist on our own and the three of us have met.  I can't say enough good things about her.  She is wonderful and works really well with E.

In our meeting with her, she was able to tell us a little bit of what they had been talking about.  She actually told us much more than I thought she would be able to.  It was good to finally get a peek in to what he is thinking. 

E thinks (or used to think) that he needs to be perfect in everything he does.  He gets so mad at himself when he messes up.  This was a big problem on the baseball field.  When he got yelled out for doing something wrong he would totally breakdown.  He would cry and throw a fit.  There was NO reasoning with him.  He was not able to recover quickly or at all sometimes.  It was a rough June and I was wanting to get through the season as fast as we could. 

His issue was an obstacle in more than just playing baseball.  But it was definitely more prominent during the season on the baseball diamond. 

We had a really big decision to make during July.  The coaches, including Dad, were very frustrated with E.  I totally understand why.  Based on a conversation that Dad had with the head coach, it was very questionable about having E try out for the team again.  Yes, they have to try out every year.  I can't tell you how upset we were.  We felt bad for E because we were not going to stop Jay from trying out. It was heart wrenching.  I can't even describe it.  It was even worse having to break the news to him.  I think he was a bit upset.

So this is why we have 3 different baseball games in a weekend.  E is playing on a recreational team.  It has frustrated us beyond belief.  The rec team is run so much different that a travel team.  The coaches are a bit less experienced.  It is definitely more relaxed.  We are hoping to work him back onto his travel team and if not that one a travel team somewhere.

Well, at E's appointment today, we were told that we can scale back to 1 visit a month.  He was worked really hard and has really improved dramatically.  He still gets upset but he manages to use his skills and recover.   

I feel so relieved to see his improvement from June.  I felt a bit hopeless at the beginning of this.  I am a true believer in therapy.  She has worked wonders for E and our family.  It is so wonderful to have a happy child again. 

Here is what we have been up to

We are four weeks into the school year and we are all getting used to our routines.  We are back to homework, sports and other fun activities.  So here is what we have been up to:

• Tee has adjusted to Kindergarten very well.  He has made many friends.  I was able to go in and help at lunch the first couple of weeks.  You know Kindergartners need help opening this and that.  One day Tee was sitting next to a girl.  They were talking to each other nonstop.  I asked him what her name was and he wasn't sharing.  So I asked her.  It seems as though he sits next to her many days.    One night at dinner, I asked him if he liked this girl you know as a friend or if he liked liked this girl.  Yep, answer was he liked liked her!  Oh boy.
• E and Jay have both adjusted to the 5th grade.  Yes, I can't believe they are in 5th grade.  They both seems to be doing well.  In past years, I have complained that E has not been placed in the correct math class.  He was not being challenged at all.  I just found out recently that he will be working on 6th grade math like Jay.  The best part is that he will not have to change his math class and will not be in class with his brother. 
• We were able to take the boys to the Baltimore Grand Prix.  We were spectators from a building (yes inside) overlooking the course.  The boys really enjoyed watching the race.  So glad to be indoors.  The cars are so loud.
• We were able to go to a Nationals Baseball game down in DC.  It was a very nice stadium.  We were being threatened with rain but luckily it just sprinkled.
• The boys are all playing baseball.  In fact, we have three boys on three different teams.  We have E taking a break from the travel team.  That is a story for another day.  He plays on Saturdays.  Tee plays on Sunday mornings and Jay plays Sunday afternoon.  Yes, we have full weekends.
• This past weekend, the husband and I were able to get out with some friends.  We went to a Maryland winery for a tasting.  We then sat at a table to talk and have some wine and snacks.  It was a fun time with fun friends.  We really needed that.
• The boys will continue with scouts this year.  The will complete their Weeblos this year.  I don't believe the boys will continue after this year and I am ok with that.
• We recently had our sun room tiled.  The carpet was really gross and we needed a change in that room.  It looks really nice.  I was able to clean it up, which was needed desperately.

The weather has been really nice.  Low humidity and in the high 70s.  In line for the weekend, you guessed it more baseball. 

The first day of the 2012 school year

I think the last few weeks we have been experiencing the funk before school starts.  This happens at the end of the year also, not sure if I know which is worse.  There has been a lot of bickering and a lot of anxiousness. 

So today was the first day of school.  Tee saw the weather forecast and heard it was going to rain today, by the way it never ended up raining.  He asked me if he should stay home from school today because of the rain.  I wanted to say, yes that make perfect sense but obviously that would not happen. 

The boys got ready in the morning and I was able to snatch a few pics.

5th grade and Kindergarten

A little hesitant but got on fine.

I did end up finding someone to sit on the bus with him.  He has to sit in the front of the bus and his big brothers get to sit in the back.

After seeing the kids off to school, I went to breakfast with some friends.

I did go to the school to help out with the Kindergarten lunch.  Tee was so happy to see me.  It was a little funny to see all of the kids.  Some still a little nervous.  It was a lot of work, opening lunch items and managing bathroom visits.

So my friends decided that we needed to make a little gift for the kids when they got home from school.


So we made little fruit baskets.

I wanted to catch his coming home reaction.

Not really sure where to go.

And sure enough he was as happy to see me as I was him.  I got a big hug!

He had a really good day, but it was a long day.  I could tell from the behaviors of the boys this evening.  They were all very grateful that I made them the fruit basket.  They loved it. 

Before bed, Tee asked if he had to go to school tomorrow.  He was a little disappointed but I am sure he will be fine.  He wants me to go to help out at lunch again....you know like every day.

Twas the night before Kindergarten

It is hard to believe that tomorrow I will send my little baby to Kindergarten.  I think it hit him last tonight as I tucked him in.

He said "Mom I am a little sick of school". 
I said you mean you are a little sick that you have to go to school tomorrow?
He said "yes"
I told him we would be fine.
He said "without you"

He went to his classroom on Friday and met his teacher. 

The older boys also met their teachers on Friday.

I guess I have to admit I have a bit of a knot in my stomach too.  We will see how it goes tomorrow.

Ahhh.....Vacation

It seems like just a distant memory now, but it was just last Saturday that we got home from our wonderful vacation. 

We always have the same thought as we start our drive down to SC.  Is it worth it?  We were questioning it even more this year.  Someone decided that we had to take our four legged puppy.  You know the one who doesn't like being in the car.  She drools like you have never seen, cries like a baby and sometimes it involves vomit and or poop.  But I know that so, of course, I got her medication.  The medication I guess is like puppy Valium. 

As directed, I gave her the medication about 1 hour before the start of our trip.  Our drive started at 4:30am.  A bit early but we thought the earlier our drive the faster we get to our destination.  Sadie was not liking the drive.  Not more than 30 minutes in she vomited.  Poor Jay was next to her and had to deal with the stink.  And she was drooling like crazy.  We stopped for breakfast and to clean her area up.

I did have to medicate her a little more but she eventually settled down for the rest of the trip.

We were fortunate enough to have a big enough place and invited my parents to come up for a few nights.  My nephew, who has just completed law school, drove them up.  It was nice to be able to see my parents as it had been a year since I saw them last.  It is hard to be so far away from family.

We took everyone out to lunch at a place called One Hot Mama.  The owner of this restaurant was on The Next Food Network Star.  She didn't win but she did go far.  The food was really good.  We then stopped by the Harbour for a few pictures.




My parents and the grandchildren.




Tee was able to get across the monkey bars.




A lesson in tic tac toe with Popi.




We have to get the picture on the tree.  The tree gets smaller every year....or my kids get bigger every year.



The kids love their cousin.  He was throwing the kids into the pool.



There he goes.



And another child.



Up in the air.




Family picture on the beach.



We had one day of fairly decent waves although that didn't stop the boys.....

Tee loved the ocean

Lots of digging in the sand.



A big hole and sand castles.


  Not only were we lucky to have my parents come up, the husband's Mom was able to fly down and spend some time with us. 

Our house was on the golf course.

Our trolley ride to Harbour town. Even though we were close enough to walk



Gregg Russell.  Of all the years we have vacationed in HHI we have only seen a part of his act one time.  The boys were not overly thrilled but it was nice.




Family shot



Love my boys!



The dog loved the ocean.



Got to the beach extra early for Sadie to have one last swim.



Yes, Sadie does think that Tee is one of her playmates.




114 steps up to the top of the lighthouse.



It was a bit windy up there.



We had such a great relaxing vacation.  I felt like we did a lot but managed to spend some time relaxing. 

We spent every morning at the beach with the exception of one.  The water was so warm and felt really good.  Tee LOVED the ocean.  He told me before we left that he was not going to get in the ocean.  He would just jump the waves.  I had a hard time keeping him out of the ocean. 

The boys spent a lot of time playing in the sand.  They also played beach golf.  By the end of our vacation, I think they were getting a little tired of the beach but they managed to stay entertained.  By the last day, they were catching little fishies in the water. 

One evening we went to another location for singing and games.  There was a baseball stand and you could buy balls to determine how fast you pitched.  The boys took part in the competition.  E and Tee both made the board with the fastest pitches in their age group.  They both won $15 gift certificates for a restaurant on the island.  So cool. 

We were lucky that our first week swimming in the ocean did not involve jelly fish.  We were able to swim freely with out much worry.  Then after a week the jelly fish appeared.  The first day there were just a few stings here and there.  The next day there was sting after sting after sting.  I got a two stings.  It must have been just a little brush up but it did well sting a little.  I put sand on it and after a while it got better.

One day we were called out of the ocean because a shark was in the area.  Many days we would see the dolphins swimming.  Sometimes they looked like they were so close to shore. 

After spending time in Hilton Head Island we realize why we go back every year.  It is such an awesome place.  But it always seems as though our drive home is so hard.  It took us an entire hour more to get home then it did to get down there.  And Sadie, well I gave her medication about 2 hours before we started our drive and she did great.