My Little Sunshines

Round as a Ball

2008-08-12T14:09:00.007-05:00

Earlier in the summer an old friend of mine came over. Half of her was missing. She had lost 55 pounds since the last time I had seen her. She looked great. When I asked her how she lost it all she told me she spent 30 minutes on the treadmill at least 5 times a week. I am not huge into exercising and I am even less into dieting, but 30 minutes on a treadmill seemed very doable. I was momentarily inspired. I worked hard for a week and then we went out of town and I kinda forgot all about it.

A few nights ago in the car my boys were talking about ages and how old people looked and I was stupid enough to ask them how old I looked. My oldest son is old enough to say "the right thing". My youngest son is young enough to say it how he sees it. No malice intended - just the truth as he views it. His answer - I must be older because I weigh a lot. Knowing that he doesn't know how much I weigh, I asked him what he meant. His answer, "well, you know, you are kinda round as a ball".

In his defense, I asked. And to him weighing a lot is a huge achievement. He loves stepping on a scale and weighing more each time. He was not being purposefully mean. But I also know he was telling me what is obviously apparent to anyone who sees me. Half of me is not missing.

As of today, I am officially on a diet, running on a treadmill at least 3 x a week, coaching my son's soccer team, and joining a StrollerFit class.

So I have decided I am making it your (all 5 of you who read my blog :) ) responsibility to ask me how I am doing and if I am losing any weight. :) I need a lot of people to hold me accountable. Otherwise, I'll quit in a week. I know me.

I hope that by the end of this year I will no longer feel the sting of being told I am round as a ball by my six year old. I would love to be able to look back and laugh knowing that my present appearance is a thing of the past. (Honestly, it already makes me chuckle everytime I think about it, but I will find a lot more humor in the statement if/when I lose 50 pounds)

Wish me luck...

Milk Duds

2008-07-31T14:56:00.004-05:00

I love Milk Duds. They are my favorite chocolate/candy. Unfortunately, I may have eaten my last milk dud as I think I am way too freaked out to ever again eat another one.
We spent last week in Kansas. I keep meaning to blog about our week, but with laundry and school starting back and so much else going on (like my brother and his wife having a baby), I just can't seem to find the time.
Anyway, on our way back from Kansas I indulged in my favorite road trip buy-it-from-the-gas-station-candy. And I broke my tooth. The same dreaded cavity filled tooth that gave me reasons for nightmares earlier this year when there was a slight chance that I may need a root canal. I didn't. And fortunately, right now, I still don't. I do, however, have to decide whether or not to have my tooth really filled in or to just crown it. Both of these sound terrible. The crown sounds twice as terrible, but will last twice as long.
Any thoughts? Advice?
I so hate going to the dentist.
and I really like Milk Duds............

Washington Square

2008-07-21T00:55:00.008-05:00

I have never seen New York the way most tourists do. I know, once, a very long time ago I went to the Empire State Building and I saw the Statue of Liberty, but usually when we visit New York, we go to the Bronx. We see the places where my dad was raised and we eat real New York Pizza for lunch and then eat great Italian somewhere in Little Italy for dinner.

This time we shook things up a bit. We asked the boys what they wanted to do. They picked Washington Square. We apparently don't like to behave like normal tourists.
So why Washington Square? Because my boys love chess. And they love the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer. And in the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer they learned that great chess is played in Washington Square.

It took us a long time to find Washington Square. GPS was not reliable - it was actually down-right annoying. Once we got there I expected that we would stay for an hour. We were there for over three. My boys had a ball. They did not want to leave.

CiCi was nowhere near as impressed.

But my boys learned a lot and just plain had fun. And they got a little attention from passers-by that was pretty cool as well.

(In the pictures above, check out Kenz slowly drawing a crowd)

All the rest of our plans for the day, which had included a ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty and a tour of Manhattan in a double-decker bus, went by the way side.

And CiCi eventually amused herself by chasing pigeons and owners of dogs. As shy as she can be with humans, she has no fear of being up close and personal with animals.

The Jersey Shore

2008-07-17T00:51:00.007-05:00

My trio had so much fun with their cousins this past week. We went to Jersey/NY for a family reunion on my dad's mother's side. My grandma was one of 12 kids. She died many years ago and only two of her siblings are still living but there are many children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and even a few great great grand children and this makes for a very big reunion with lots and lots of cousins.

I learned quite a bit about my family this week. I have heard bits and pieces over the years, but got a clearer understanding of my grandmother's childhood this trip. Her mother died of complications from childbirth with her 12th child and shortly after her father was killed by a trolley. This left all 12 children orphaned. Some were old enough to be on their own and those that were did the best they could to get the younger ones out of the orphanage. One sibling was sent to a nunnery for a while and even became a nun. Apparently she was the last person one would ever expect to be a nun and that vocation did not last very long. It is amazing to me that with all the separation that occurred in their early years, these siblings were able to stay in contact and that all these years later a family reunion represented all but two families.

The pictures are of our first day. We spent a few hours on the Jersey Shore with a fun group of cousins. My kiddos had a ball.

CiCi did not like the water, but loved the sand. She rolled around in it all morning and had a ball.

My boys played in the ocean and searched for sea shells. They seemed unfazed by the frigid temperature of the ocean. I couldn't even stand walking on the beach with the water only hitting my feet occasionally. IT WAS TOO COLD!!! I am apparently spoiled by the warm temperature of the Florida beaches that I have always visited in the past.

MIA

2008-07-16T15:13:00.003-05:00

Sorry to go MIA on you all, but I just got back from a week in New York/New Jersey with very little connectivity and even less time to read or blog. Will post pics soon, but wanted to let you know I am back and leave you with these rules for living that I got in an e-mail today and thought I would share.

1.) Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is
the
ultimate antidepressant.

2.) Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
Buy a lock if you have to.

3.) Buy a Tivo (DVR), tape your late night shows and get more sleep.

4.) When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My
purpose is to________ today.'

5.) Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.

6.) Watch more movies, play more games and read more books than you did
last year.

7.) Always pray and make time to exercise.

8.) Spend more time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of
Six.

9.) Dream more while you are awake.

10.) Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less foods that
are
manufactured in plants.

11.) Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan
salmon,
broccoli, almonds & walnuts.

12.) Try to make at least three people smile each day.

13.) Clear your clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new
and
flowing energy into your life.

14.) Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues
of the
past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead, invest your
energy
in the positive present moment.

15.) Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are
simply
part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class
......but the
lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

16.) Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a
college kid with
a maxed out charge card.

17.) Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.

18.) Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

19.) Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

20.) Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

21.) You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

22.) Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

23.) Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their
journey is all
about.

24.) Ladies - Go on and burn those 'special' scented candles, use the 600
thread
count sheets, the good china and wear our fancy lingerie now. Stop waiting
for
a special occasion. Everyday is special.

25.) No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

26.) Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will
this matter?'

27.) Forgive everyone for everything.

28.) What other people think of you is none of your business.

29.) Time heals almost everything. Give time, time!

30.) However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

31.) Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will.
Stay
in touch with them.

32.) Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

33.) Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need. God provides,
remember?!

34.) The best is yet to come. (in Heaven)

35.) No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

36.) Do the right thing!

37.) Call your family often.

38.) Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: 'I
am
thankful for __________.' Today I accomplished _________.

39.) Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

40.) Enjoy the ride. Remember that this is not Disney World and you
certainly don't
want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life so make the most of
it and
enjoy the ride.

LIVE, LOVE, LAUGH.
LIFE'S A GIFT ... UNWRAP IT!
Have a Blessed day. Please share with friends!

Ballgirl

2008-07-07T14:33:00.000-05:00

Reposting in case you missed this when I first posted and didn't know how to post a video. I am still amazed by this and must not be the only one because I saw a clip of it on TV talking about how it has become an internet sensation.

Just got this from my dad and loved it. Had to share!!!!!!!
Very cool - I figured out how to post a video...

Fourth of July - An Anniversary for CiCi

2008-07-06T00:09:00.012-05:00

We have had such a busy weekend, but I could not let this day pass without mentioning that last year on the Fourth of July CiCi entered the US for the first time. When adopted internationally the moment you hit US soil you become a US citizen. I think it is absolutely the coolest thing ever that CiCi became a citizen of the United States on the Fourth of July. It also makes for a great day to celebrate her Forever Family Day. And boy did we celebrate. Not formally and not as a specific party for her (at least not this year since she doesn't understand it) but we had so much fun with friends and our kids had an action-packed weekend.

Not great pictures but these were taken right after CiCi was sworn in as a citizen in a tiny room in the Houston Airport.

We spend every Fourth of July with friends of ours from my DH's law school days. One family lives in town and we are the best of friends and see a lot of each other. The other family lives on the other side of our long state and we only see them a few times each year, but always have such a great time together.

On Friday the kids swam, rode bikes, and even attempted a lemonade stand. The lemonade stand made all the adults sad. We could not believe how many people drove by without stopping. This was in a neighborhood, not on a busy street. Many cars drove by multiple times without stopping and I tell you the kids were trying so hard to get customers. They were holding signs and yelling. The girls even got out pom poms. Everyone seemed too busy. Many were talking on cell phones. Some waved but kept on driving. The only people who actually stopped were direct neighbors and a few people we called because we felt so bad for our kids. It was a holiday for goodness sake. Couldn't they slow down their busy lives on a holiday and do something to make a dozen kids happy?

Anyway...

Eventually the dads took the big kids bowling during nap time for the little ones, then we ate dinner and blew off some of our own fireworks. The biggest hit being ones that propelled parachutes into the air. We had all the kids back up far away and then when we said go they could race to catch the parachute on its way down. They had a blast with this and fortunately we had enough for each child to get their own parachute.

Running for the parachutes

CiCi in heaven with the puppy

Playing in the dirt

Kissing the baby. CiCi is very into babies right now and gets so excited whenever she sees one. It is so cute to me.

Then it was time to watch the actual town fireworks. We have a great view of them from our friends house which we discovered many years ago making their house the annual Fourth of July party house. We even brought CiCi to his house last year after only being home for a few hours. (She had a lot more fun this year :)

Fun Day

2008-07-03T22:56:00.009-05:00

Last night Kenz had a tooth hanging by a thread. He really does not like having his teeth pulled, so although he knew it really needed to come out last night he decided that he wanted to wait until his friend came over today so that he could show his friend his loose tooth and then pull it while his friend was at our house. Talk about self-imposed peer pressure - especially since he made this promise in front of his big brother.
So Kenz' friend came over and they played on our new bouncy water slide for a very long time.

Then the gang decided to pick apples from our not yet ripe apple tree. Despite my warnings of how sour the apples would taste, they all picked apples and tried to feign liking them.

The dual motive to the apple picking/eating decision was to help further loosen Kenz' tooth so that he would have no choice but to pull it out. He definitely loosened it even more, but could not bring himself to let anyone pull his tooth.

Finally it was time for his friend to leave. He was determined/forced/strongly coerced to fulfill his promise. As his friend was getting into his car, Kenz pulled his own tooth. He was one happy, proud little boy.

Unless they are in the distance I have never before posted pictures of anyone other than our immediate family, but this time I think the goggles are a good enough disguise. How do you other bloggers handle this? Do you always ask permission?

We then went to my niece's birthday party and had a ball, but I forgot my camera. The party was at Ben and Jerry's. Everyone enjoyed their ice cream, but the best part seemed to take place when we moved outside. Outside there was a blue (although it seemed golden to this group) water jug with little Dixie cups beside it. You would have thought it was a keg at a fraternity party the way these kiddos gathered around the water jug. It was truly the highlight of the party and when the keg (water jug) went dry, a few tears were sadly shed. A cheap form of entertainment for your next birthday party - we may just give it a try :)

After the birthday party we went to dinner. Some ugly bug got into CiCi and she began throwing everything in sight. Then spitting/blowing bubbles. Of course the boys started to laugh and I told them to stop. Immediately all their faces got very serious and somewhat stern and they all seemed to be glaring at CiCi. Poor thing got quiet and then all of the sudden started boo-hooing. We could not calm her down. I had my DH take her to my car while I quickly ate and then we switched off. I left with CiCi and Arby and my DH went back inside to eat with Kenz and then Daddy took Kenz to the movie to celebrate his tooth (and to help Mommy so that I could clean the house for our weekend guests) Once we got home CiCi was fine. Who knows what caused her to act that way???

Happy Fourth to you all. I read an article today posted by a fellow Guate mom about Guatemalan women playing soccer. It was such a good reminder to me of the things I have to be thankful for just because I was lucky enough to be born in this country. I play in a women's soccer league and we play against an Hispanic soccer team. This article really hit me as I wondered whether or not any of the girls I play against have similar backgrounds.

I often find myself wondering the burden that others carry. If you can't physically see it, how do you know? How can you help? It is such a good reminder to me to always be pleasant to others. You just never know what is going on inside and sometimes a person's exterior can be very deceiving.

And just so you know - I can not put my DC down for two seconds without little miss snatching it up and partaking.

So are you guys proud of me? I figured out how to post links, and how to upload videos all in the same week. And have you noticed how much I've blogged lately???

Talk about getting disgustingly real

2008-07-02T23:00:00.004-05:00

My children decided they would give me a perfect excuse to not dig deep tonight in order to get real. Here's my real today:

Went to a new very good friend's house today. Discovered that if CiCi were to be named the tiebreaker in our house, we would be getting a dog very soon. One son and my DH are not animal people at all. Other son loves dogs and kittens and begs for us to get one. I am neutral - I would love for my kids to have a dog to bond with, take care of, love, etc. - but I know that in the end I will be the one working hardest and I am not quite sure that I am up for it. CiCi LOVES animals. She is actually less afraid of animals than she is of humans. She will pet, kiss, feed, laugh with/at, dogs and she just thinks they are the best!!!!
Today she went so far as to eat some dog food. YUM! Arby was in the sun room of my friend's house with CiCi and my friend's poodles. I was inside with my frightened Kenz. With Arby watching in disbelief CiCi popped some dog food in her mouth, chewed and swallowed - all before my stunned Arby could react.

So not to be outdone by his lil sis, Arby finds an even better way to disgust Mom. Back at home playing Wii with Kenz, Arby notices something on the floor. Arby thinks it looks like chocolate, pops it in his mouth and realizes way too late that it is NOT chocolate. Let me point out that Arby is NINE, I do not allow food in the room where this "chocolate" was found, and we do NOT yet have a dog. So this "chocolate" was of the human variety. Probably from lttle sis' friend who played upstairs with the boys while only wearing a diaper and a t-shirt. (CiCi was wearing shorts so I am quite sure she is not to blame) Can I just say GROSS!!!!!!!!!!

No pictures for this one folks - I was way too grossed out to get out the camera!!!

My "Get Real" Post

2008-07-01T22:55:00.007-05:00

Funny you should write about this Angel. I have been struggling with this for some time. I am a very real person. I tell it how it is and I am pretty laid back. In blog world I have struggled deciding what to reveal about me and what to keep safely tucked inside. I still don't know my comfort zone. Because of this I feel very generic. I post pictures of my kids and give a little update but I don't dig in to me at all. I was OK with this for a while because, really, I started the blog as a virtual scrapbook - just a way to document us until I can actually get this stuff into physical scrapbooks, but lately I feel lost in the crowd. I feel like I know so much about other people whose blogs I check regularly, but if you are checking in on me what do YOU really know. Very little. So I have been trying to define my blog in my head and decide my purpose in blogging. In real life I am laid back and I don't play social games, but I am also a private person. I am not one to confide my feelings to others, so why would I want to discuss them openly on my blog? Yet, sometimes I do. Plus, I have changed. Adoption has changed me. Blogging has changed me. The Internet has changed me. I know so much more now than I used to know and so I have opinions and feelings about things now that were never a part of me before. I want to confront the new me. Somehow I find it safer to do that in blog world. Seems weird.
For today I will jump on your platform. THREE is hard!!! It has kicked my butt. My nine and six year old boys had me in a very comfortable place and now I have started all over. I would not change it for the world, but after almost a year of CiCi being home I feel I am just now breathing again...and only barely. My patience has been tested in more ways than I care to admit. I have been snappy and short with my boys. I also feel I lost some major control over them for a while. The past few weeks, I am resurfacing. I am feeling less out of control, less chaotic. I've established some new guidelines for the boys that are encouraging them to behave better and to pitch in around the house and it actually seems to be working. And really it was simple and I could just kick myself for not getting my act together sooner. But I have been exhausted and overwhelmed. I also feel so relieved right now to at least think that we are turning a corner. Pieces of my old self are falling back into place while at the same time these new pieces that I have picked up along the way (raising a girl, adopting, blogging, attachment issues, as well as the worldly issues that I feel so more in tuned to now like true poverty, illiteracy, environmental issues, etc.) are all beginning to fit together into the new puzzle that is me. It feels good and it feels weird. I can no longer look at things the same way. I feel empathy and sympathy in ways I never before felt. I was never purposefully insensitive, I was just blissfully ignorant.
So thanks for the challenge, Angel. It feels good to share...

Chicago

2008-06-28T00:11:00.007-05:00

Last week we went to Chicago for a wedding. We had so much fun. The first day the boys went to Six Flags with Daddy and I took CiCi to visit a fellow Guate mom that lives right around the corner from Six Flags. The boys had a ball at Six Flags. I have been waiting for pictures from DH (off his camera phone) but I gave up and decided to post anyway. When we visited A and her crew, we met them at their church. They were having Vacation Bible School. CiCi loved it. I couldn't believe how she just played and played without worrying that I was not standing right next to her. It started a trend that is making me feel like we have finally turned a corner and can possibly start leaving her with a babysitter. FINALLY!!!

On our last day in Chicago we went to a Cubs game. They happened to be playing the White Sox which made for a very expensive ticket. We decided that we would just hang out in Wrigleyville. We did that for a while and then we noticed that tickets were still be scalped in the third inning. By the fourth inning we were finally able to get standing room only tickets for a price that we were willing to pay. It actually worked out great because we were able to keep CiCi in her stroller and if we bent down at the right angle we had a great view of the game. The boys thought it was the greatest thing ever. The Cubs scored multiple home runs in the fourth inning, which they got to see, and the Cubs won the game pretty easily. We even got to hear our new favorite song which we have been listening to all season - "Go Cubs Go" as it was played on the way out of the stadium and everyone in the stands sang along very enthusiastically. CiCi happens to love the song and will say "Go Cubs Go" and at the end of the song will also say the word "TODAY" (the line is, "Cubs are going to win today") It is very cute!!!!

This was our view. If you sat just so on the rail you could see perfectly. With three kids in tow, we may have found a secret best cheap seat in the house :)

The next two pictures show two very tired children. Kenz just couldn't walk another step towards our car and just had to sit down. He was whining pretty dramatically until an ice cream man on bike strolled by. All the sudden Kenz was running to us full speed so as not to miss out on the ice cream.

I'll post all about the wedding tomorrow.

A pretty day to play outside

2008-06-24T19:19:00.001-05:00

These pictures were taken back before the sun became brutally hot.

I've been tagged

2008-06-24T13:57:00.002-05:00

I've never been tagged before either (Rhonda :)) so I'll do my best...

The rules of the game: Each player answers the questions themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 4 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment letting them know that they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answers.

Ten years ago... After trying to get pregnant for over six months (not a long time - I know now, but it seemed like an eternity at the time) I decided to go on and interview for a teaching position. I accepted the position in May, decided to stop trying for a while so that I could at least teach through my first year and ,of course, two months later I am ...pregnant. My first week of teaching I had to tell my boss that I would be having a baby in April (which ended up being March because my Arby decided to come early - but that is a whole other story)

Five things on today's to do list... VBS for the boys, Kindermusik for CiCi, get a babysitter for tonight after DH forgets that my best friend is in town for ONE night and we have plans for dinner. (My lovely DH has a business meeting that he can not get out of until 8:00 blah, blah, blah - yes, I am a little bitter at the moment) after finding that babysitter decide to extend the night into dinner and a movie with my best friend which I am sooooooooooo looking forward to!!!!!!!!!

Snacks I enjoy... Rocky Road Ice Cream, White Chocolate Mousse Shiver with Oreo cookies, Chocolate Scone from my favorite little coffee shop, Milk Duds, Pringles

Things I would do if I was a millionaire...pay off all our bills, help obtain clean water and do what I could for literacy in Guatemala, help with literacy in my own city (sadly, it is greatly needed), open an enrichment center(whole other post), TRAVEL!!!!!!!!!!!

CiCi Loves Music

2008-06-22T18:11:00.001-05:00

CiCi loves music. She will shake any rattle she sees, strum her brother's guitar, pound on the piano and sing along with any music she hears. When we turn the radio on she immediately starts dancing. My family was not blessed with musical ability. We can't sing, can't dance, have no musical instrument playing ability, and are really rather clumsy and uncoordinated (musically). Most of that has been passed down to my boys. It is funny how much we all hope that CiCi has some talent. She is our only hope. :)

Hats...Not Bows

2008-06-17T17:28:00.001-05:00

CiCi loves hats. She puts one on her head any chance she gets, then she passes them out to the rest of us and insists we put a hat on, too. Usually she gives me the cowboy hat, but today (well, the day I took the picture - I am really behind in the picture-posting category and thought I would take sometime to catch up) she decided that she would wear it.
She does not like bows. Everyday I try to put a bow in her hair, but within seconds she pulls it out along with a small little chunk of hair. So I will quit trying for a while. Maybe she will eventually forget about her disdain for bows. I even went on and cut that piece of hair that hangs down in front of her eyes in every picture I take. I kept holding out hoping she would come to terms with the bow and knowing that when she did that chunk of hair hanging down in front of her eyes would be the perfect piece of hair to sweep back into a bow. But, alas, the hair is gone and I am left wondering if my little girl will always prefer baseball hats, fireman hats, cowboy hats, knights helmets and the small little colander that she absconded from the kitchen and wears around on her head as if it is a perfectly normal thing to do.

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-15T23:39:00.001-05:00

My boys played with Daddy all day. They ran, played basketball, went bowling and ate A LOT of food. A very happy Father's Day indeed. (CiCi did her part playing defense in basketball and cheering when she felt like it, but she would take no part in the group pic.)

Bubbles

2008-06-15T16:43:00.001-05:00

CiCi has been determined to learn to blow bubbles. Today she did it, over and over and over again. She is so proud of herself.

Read this article.

2008-06-04T14:13:00.004-05:00

This article was written by Josh Waitzkin. I met him many years ago when Arby first began playing chess. Since then I have read his books, including The Art of Learning mentioned in the link below. The book is excellent and should be read by both teachers and parents. The link below leads to a link on an article Josh wrote. I love this article!!! I truly believe our society needs to take the future education of our children much more seriously. It should not be a platform for politicians. It needs to be a transformation, from the ground up, led by educators willing and able to think outside the box. Most importantly, students need to be groomed to love learning for the sake of learning and teachers and parents need to provide the tools, inspiration and environment to promote such learning.

http://scholasticchess.blogspot.com/2008/06/must-read-josh-waitzkin-article.html

Butter, Boullion Cubes and Diet Coke

2008-05-30T18:54:00.005-05:00

CiCi loves these things and it is getting embarrassing. My worst vice is my addiction to Diet Coke and I really would like to stop drinking it - because of the aspartame and all - but I have not yet been successful. I give it up for Lent and I have headaches all the time. So I take Tylenol and eat chocolate and wait for Sunday so that I can down a six pack of Diet Coke (yes, years ago I decided that I could break from not drinking DC all week and indulge on Sundays - I don't really believe that I am supposed to indulge, but I'm addicted and so I do) As soon as Lent is over I am right back to drinking my DC's. I even quit while I was pregnant, only to start right back up again (because, of course, I needed the caffeine for those all nighter's and all dayer's :) )

Back to CiCi - she wants my DC. Always. And she is very demanding about it. And LOUD. So I find myself draining them and then handing the very end of it to her, containing probably more backwash than DC - not sure which is worse - and then I count all the stares I get from "adoring" strangers. Of course I get these stares all the time anyway from random people so I never really know if it is the DC or the intrigue that seems to plague every person whose path I cross.

Then there is her fascination with butter. She loves it. Straight. From the packet. And of course she notices the packets the minute bread is brought to our table. And really what can butter hurt. It entertains her. It keeps her quiet. And if she sees it and we don't give it to her, she screams. I mentioned already that she is very LOUD. So she eats her packets of butter through many a restaurant meals. And we get stares. And again I am left to wonder exactly why they are staring.

The bouillon cubes are reserved for home. It started with me having CiCi peel off the wrapper. She loves peeling off wrappers. Apparently, however, she found the beef bouillon cube tasty. I don't get it. So now I can not cook using a bouillon cube in front of her without her screaming LOUDLY for the bouillon cube. And really this isn't a problem. After all this one only happens at home. Obviously, I could let her scream and their really is no reason to actually give her the bouillon cube, but it does entertain her. And keeps her quiet. And, well, it amuses me.

A Backwards Blog Journey

2008-05-30T18:37:00.000-05:00

When we began our journey I had a babyjellybeans account. I have decided to move over what I can easily move over little by little. I will be posting old pictures and journals as a regular post and then after a day or two I plan to backdate the post so that it will go back into the correct chronological time. Enjoy the backwards walk into my journey.
I will still be posting current news so be sure to read between posts if you are not interested in the old stuff (I think it is fun to look and compare)

A New Potty Seat

2008-05-22T01:36:00.002-05:00

After seeing how long Little Miss CiCi could go without peeing, I decided it was definitely time to start potty training. I had planned to start sooner because she has given me so many signs that she is ready, but she was scared to death to sit on the fitted child seat on top of the potty. Both of my boys learned this way without a problem, but for some reason (I think it is the height of the adult potty)CiCi was petrified. So today I went out and bought a Baby Bjorn pink potty seat. I sat her on it, ran a little water in the sink, and voila....
Maybe we just got lucky, but I think we will be spending the next few weeks potty training. Wish us luck.

A Diaperless "Mommy Brain" Moment

2008-05-20T17:37:00.004-05:00

Earlier today CiCi needed her diaper changed. I changed her, then we watched her favorite show, Little Bear, so that we could wind down before nap time. I then put her down for a nap. She slept for two hours before I had to wake her up in order to pick up Arby from his end of the year party. I put her in the car seat and she was most definitely dry. I then gave her some milk and we drove to Arby's party. I got her out of the car seat and she was soaked. So I got out a diaper so that I could change her in the car. I pulled off her pants only to discover that she was not wearing a diaper. Apparently I never put one on her. Through three kids in diapers I have never before done this . I seriously don't know what I did while she was lying on the diaper changer because I obviously did not spend that time actually putting a diaper on her!!!! The part that amazes me even more is that she went three hours without a diaper before actually wetting herself.
The pictures have nothing to do with my story but I have been negligent in that department and felt the need to share - this is regular around the house dress up attire for CiCi.

Not something you see everyday...

2008-05-14T11:50:00.002-05:00

Just had to share.

I just saw a much older gentleman riding his bike across a pretty busy intersection with both hands on the handlebars and a cigar in his mouth.

I'm easily amused.

Happy Mother's Day ... and things that make me laugh

2008-05-11T15:52:00.004-05:00

As a mother of three I have discovered that I am really too tired to give words of wisdom or to think clearly or coherently for the amount of time that it takes to write a blog entry. I think of hilarious things that I should write about in my blog, but by the time I am sitting down in front of my computer without kids I can't remember them or I just don't have the energy to formulate it on paper.

So there is my excuse for my extended absence from my blog.

Friday I was driving my kids home from school and my youngest started farting. He did this "to get back" at my oldest who had taken off his socks which left the car smelling quite bad. Kenz gets mad at Arby everyday for taking off his socks. It makes him gag and I admit it is pretty darn bad. Anyway this was Kenz' first time to try to get his brother back for smelly feet. Once he started his farting, he then started naming his farts. His favorite being the machine gun fart. This escalated to a MGF match between my boys. To be the mom of boys....

CiCi calls most animals ducks and quacks at all of them. She is a really good quacker. It is quite hilarious to watch.

Yesterday the boys went to Arkansas for a chess tournament. They planned to arrive back home in time for church this morning. They left on time to make it, but ran into a huge delay. Apparently a tractor trailer flipped last night in the bad weather. The trailer was left on the interstate until a wrecker could get it this morning. That wrecker showed up shortly before my boys worked their way to that part of the interstate. They ended up stuck, without moving, for 1 1/2 hours. The kind of stuck where everyone turns off their car and walks around outside to mingle. The kind of stuck where both boys eventually ended up needing to pee. Kenz first. Then Arby. So Arby and DH walk over to the side of the interstate near a bush. Moments later, to the amusement of all their new interstate friends, Arby slips and tumbles down a hill and lands in a thorny bush.
they didn't make it to church...

I hope to post lots of pics later - tonight or tomorrow.

Crazy Schedules, Organizing, Dumping

2008-04-28T23:34:00.003-05:00

I am still here. Had a very busy week last week. Seems my kids schools decided that since May is too busy, they would see if they could schedule every possible activity during the last week of April. So we had 2 parent/teacher conferences, a field trip to the zoo, field day, Father/Son Kickball game, and 2 school projects. We also had two basketball games (Arby), two baseball games (Kenz), and two soccer games (me), plus my best friend came in town and we have a talent show at school tomorrow. We are one tired crew!!!
When I wasn't at school, I was dumping junk and organizing my house. I am very much trying to accomplish my first retirement goal of a clean and organized house with "a place for everything and everything in its place".
Will post pictures of our crazy selves soon.

Garage Sale

2008-04-19T23:19:00.003-05:00

Since my "retirement" (love saying that - it makes me laugh) I have been cleaning out rooms and organizing my house. So when our neighbors decided to have a garage/moving sale we decided to have one as well. The boys were so cute deciding what they wanted to sell and pricing all their stuff. Kenz was the ultimate salesman. As soon as someone showed any interest in one of his toys he would go over to them and talk all about it - good or bad :)
Arby was the money man. He was so in his element and he was so helpful. A bit surprising. The garage sale accomplished a few goals - motivation to clean out the unused, clearing space in our garage, and it taught the boys a few good life lessons. Plus it was a beautiful day

so beautiful in fact that my DH thought it would be a great day to drive downtown for a baseball game. I assumed he knew that our team had a home game. I really do know that I should Never Assume Anything. It would have been a great day for a baseball game though...
at least we got out of the house...

Just so you know - I still have A LOT of work to do on the house. Basically I only got the boys rooms cleaned out and the laundry room - then I just ran around the house collecting the things I knew I needed to toss. It will be several weeks before I feel like I have truly accomplished my goal of cleaning out and organizing the house.

Get the balloon.

2008-04-14T23:21:00.005-05:00

Tonight I pulled up to a deli near my house. We have probably been to it about 5 times since it opened late January. We first visited this deli during their opening week and CiCi was given a balloon. Every visit since then she points to the balloons still decorating the inside of the deli. On our last visit she started saying the word - balloon. Tonight we pulled into the parking lot and she immediately starts saying, "balloon, balloon, balloon". I pull into the parking space and while pointing towards the restaurant she says her first ever three word sentence, "Get the balloon". I couldn't even believe that she had put together that a balloon would be inside the restaurant (I knew she would be excited about it once we walked in, but to recognize it beforehand took me by surprise) but when she said "get the balloon", I was floored. So was Kenz. I was glad he was in the car so that he could back up my story.

As a side note:
Earlier in the day we heard a train. We hear it all the time and CiCi always gets excited. So once again I say to her "Yes, you hear the train. Choo Choo." She looks at me, points outside, and very adamantly says, "Get it!". I start to laugh and tell her "I can't get the train for you". She again points outside and says, "Get it!!" This is very much her favorite phrase... and she truly expects everyone to jump at her command.

Eye Exam

2008-04-14T13:25:00.002-05:00

Am I the only one that feels like I am taking an eye exam each time I write a comment on a blog and then have to type the letters in for verification. Do the letters all look blurry, and sideways, and similar to other letters to the rest of you??? Or do I truly need an eye exam???

Not exactly a house divided...

2008-04-13T23:48:00.009-05:00

Growing up in Memphis I was always a Tigers basketball fan. My husband was, too. But then he went to Law School at UT and I married him and we lived in Knoxville for a while. I had no choice but to become a UT fan. But first I had to become a football fan. Believe it or not, it is much easier for me to be a UT fan than a fan of football. I loved sports growing up. Just not football. Under the pressure of DH and all his college friends, I learned the stupid game and even found myself swept up into the madness, wearing orange and cheering obnoxiously for UT. I now consider myself a UT fan. I am also still a Tigers fan. I decided many years ago that in head to head competition I would cheer for UT in football since I became a fan of football as a fan of UT, but I would cheer for Memphis in basketball. Years ago when Peyton was quarterback, UT played Memphis in football. We were living in Knoxville at the time and drove to Memphis for the game. I could not bring myself to wear orange, but I did want UT to win. Memphis won. I was happy for Memphis, but hated it for UT because they had a chance that year as a team to do well and Memphis did not. Earlier this year the Tigers played UT and I was very much for the Tigers. I knew UT had a great chance to win and I sure didn't want them to beat the Tigers winning streak, but they did. This time I was happy for UT, but I sure was sad for the Tigers. That day the boys were all decked out in orange (yes, the same boys that went to San Antonio to cheer for the Tigers), but I put CiCi in a Tigers sweatshirt with an orange bow for UT. The bow didn't last long.

During March Madness the Vols and Tigers kept playing on the same day so I started dressing CiCi like this:

And finally after UT lost I could, without guilt, dress CiCi without the orange (although you may notice, I found other strange combinations).

It has been a great basketball year for both of my teams. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching them play (just not each other) and I am even sad that basketball has come to an end. But never fear we have moved on to cheering for the lovable Cubs........

So the Tigers Lost

2008-04-13T22:56:00.007-05:00

and it will probably be forever before I get the pictures of the boys in San Antonio from my mom and by then who will really care???? So all I have is this picture my mom sent me of her and the boys at the game at some place where I guess you paid to have your picture taken with some fabricated backround (???) with their signs. They were very proud of their signs :)
My boys had a great time. They went to the Alamo, they loved the Riverwalk and they also played basketball for hours at some Final Four weekend event called Hoops City. I hate that our Tigers lost - especially since they so easily could-have-should-have won, but we are also so proud of them for the way they played their hearts out this season.

Our Smoothies

2008-04-13T00:07:00.004-05:00

Tonight I thought it would be fun to make Smoothies using the new blender/food processor I got for Christmas (not much of a cook so I had not yet used it). My sons very excitedly gathered the ice cream, the ice, some strawberries, a pear, some acai juice and some Xango (we have lots of Xango in our house and we need to find more creative ways to get it into our bodies). I let them put in all the ingredients and then take turns pushing the various buttons to chop, puree, crush and stir our ingredients. We taste checked it and stirred it to make sure there were no lumps left in the mixture. I then unscrewed the container from the base of the blender and out poured our smoothies. From the bottom of the container. Onto the counter. And the floor. Apparently I just needed to pick up the container. When I unscrewed - I unscrewed the bottom portion of the container which should only be unscrewed to clean. I wish I had taken a picture of the mess and of the faces of my sweet boys. I felt so bad for them that I grabbed the cups and scooped what I could inside (literally sliding the smoothie off the counter and into the cup). So we still enjoyed our smoothies. :)

Did you know???

2008-04-11T01:26:00.005-05:00

After taking away something from Arby for his bad attitude, he says (yells) to DH and me "you know kids are human, too. I don't think parents realize that."

Thanks, honey. We needed the laugh.

Retired

2008-04-10T00:34:00.004-05:00

That's me. At least for a few years. I have always worked. I got a job as soon as I turned 16. I worked after school until I graduated from high school. Then I worked summers during college. I graduated from college in May, got married in July and started working in August. I am a teacher. I taught until my oldest was 2. Then I started working part-time doing payroll/HR for our family business. Some from home, plus two days a week in the office. Over time our company grew. My part-time job slowly became an after hours, from home, full-time job. Fortunately the amount of time and effort required for my job grew as my kids grew and entered school, so all was manageable. Then we added CiCi and my world has been ruled by chaos and very little sleep. So today I oversaw my last payroll. I still have a few loose ends and it is still my family business so I will always be involved, but I am free.

Free from that constant nagging feeling that I have work to do. Free from using every nap time to work. Free from having to be home from a vacation/trip/outing in order to do payroll. Free from a lot of stress and negativity.

It is an amazing feeling. I am already feeling lost from the lack of work e-mails. I have already purchased books to read, yarn to crochet and ribbon so that I can learn how to make hair bows. I have also promised myself that during naps I will start cleaning up and clearing out all the junk that has accumulated in my house. I am already thinking about the extra time that I will have to update my blog :)

Something monumental will have to happen for me to ever work for our business again but I know one day I will teach again. I look forward to it. But for now I am

Retired. Free. Happy.

The Final Four

2008-04-05T23:23:00.006-05:00

We won!!!! We won!!! We won, we won, we won!!!!!!!
......Go Tigers G0!!!!!!!!!!!!
So excited!!!
Will post much more about this later - especially after we win the championship and my boys return with all their pictures. Yep. You heard me. My crazy parents took my sons to San Antonio to see the games. They drove. A long way. With my two sons that don't ever shut up. When they get home they (my parents) will be exhausted. But right now they won and the trip is already so worth it!!!!!
Don't know much yet, but I do know that they were supposed to meet someone to get tickets a few hours before the game. The guy didn't show up. Twenty minutes before game time, my parents and sons still didn't have tickets. Somehow right before the game started they ended up with incredible seats in the end zone, nine rows up. I can tell you my boys are loving life right now!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh- and they are staying for the championship. Hoping for some more awesome tickets to fall in their lap. Hopefully some sad UCLA or UNC fans will sell them to my crew.

What She's Saying Now........

2008-04-04T15:33:00.006-05:00

I know I posted a list earlier, but I can't find it so I'll do a repeat plus the new stuff.

Words She Signs :
milk, more, eat, night night, bye
She seems to have forgotten how to sign Mommy.
Still puts her finger in her nose when she doesn't like what you say, but not as often.

Words She Says:

Milk - she says this while signing it with a strong emphasis on the K. And she heads for the refrigerator.

Socks - loves to say socks, always points out socks, always wants to put on and take off socks and then tell you to get socks so that she can put them on and take them off and say socks again about 10 more times.

Night - said while also signing and walking towards her bedroom. She knows exactly what it means and always seems eager to go to bed although often does not seem so eager to stay in bed.

eyes, ears - said while pointing to part. Will point to nose, but does not say it.

Hi, Bye

Daddy and both of her brothers' names. Maybe Mimi for my mom (not positive on this one), she still won't say Mommy

Want that
What's that?
Get That!!!! - says this one while pointing ALL THE TIME!!!

says Touchdown while putting hands up in the air - this is said whenever she sees football, baseball, or basketball on the TV (so this a very used word :) )

five - as in "give me five"... and she loves to give five

Hot
Balloon

poo poo and diaper - she will tell me when she poo poos and then tell me "diaper" and heads towards the changing table. I guess we will start working on potty training soon.

Yucky - Usually said while placing something into the toilet or taking something out of the trash. If only she understood what the word meant!!!

Thank you - and she holds that "you" out for a long time. Very cute!!

Good - our favorite word. She actually says goodgoodgoodgoodgoodgoodgood really fast. Usually said when talking about a food she likes, but also if she likes what she is doing. If I knew how to post a video of this I would. It is the funniest thing ever!!!

Uh huhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - said in desperation. Usually when I have finally asked her the question needed for her to tell me what she wants. She sounds so pathetic when she says this.

Boo - said while playing one of her favorite games, Peek-a-boo

If you grab your keys or if you say something that has anything to do with leaving she heads for the garage.

She doesn't say "kisses", but she loves to give them and I love being on the receiving end. :)

I am sure I will add more to this list as I remember. I can definitely say that Little Miss CiCi makes my day.

Easter Morning

2008-04-01T22:50:00.006-05:00

Wiped out from the full day of Easter activity on Saturday both boys fell asleep on the couch.

Easter morning baskets before church.

I wish I had taken a picture of my boys. I told my oldest what to wear and asked my DH to go upstairs and help Kenz. The boys then went to church to make sure we got seats while I finished getting myself and CiCi ready. I did not see Kenz until I got to church. He was wearing BLACK jeans (not pants) and a red, blue and green striped thick sweater. It looked like he was dressed for a Christmas party. The sad thing is that my DH actually did help pick this out. HELLOOOOOOOOO!!!
Anyway at least CiCi and Arby looked liked they knew what holiday we were celebrating.

Easter - Part II

2008-03-31T14:17:00.006-05:00

Needing to update my virtual scrapbook, but oh so very behind.
Easter at my house (on Saturday - which was weird) was nice. We had about 30 relatives over for a little feast and an Easter Egg Hunt. My "DIVA hunter" got the hang of it this time around and actually picked up a few eggs, however she did not leave a three foot radius and once those eggs were all picked up - she was DONE!!!

and I love this picture of my brother holding CiCi. She does not go to men - at all. We have no idea what made her decide to cuddle in my brother's arms So very sweet!!!

Easter Eggstravaganza

2008-03-27T00:54:00.008-05:00

While I prepared to have family members over to our house to celebrate Easter, DH took the crew to an amazing Easter Egg Hunt/Lunch/Fest. They had a ball. Hunted eggs, enjoyed the petting zoo, jumped on the contraption below???, ate, and STAYED OUT OF MOMMY'S WAY :)

Apparently CiCi was not so sure about the whole Easter Egg Hunting Game. She did understand that she was supposed to find the eggs. Once found, she would point and say "get it, get it". She absolutely would not get it herself. DH also said she had a small following. Her "following" made her pretty uneasy. They even realized they made her nervous and would say it out loud, but apparently could not pull themselves away from her. We are a bit conspicuous, I would say... at least so far it has all been in a very good, positive way.

Egg Decorating

2008-03-26T23:33:00.004-05:00

Snow........ I'm playing catch up with my pictures!

2008-03-24T15:42:00.004-05:00

So the snow day was two weeks ago.
I am just finding the time and energy to post...
but since this blog is my virtual scrapbook, I could not pass this one up.

I've heard of burying your brother in sand - which sounds perfectly miserable to me...
but to want him to bury you in snow - insanity!!!!

St. Patrick's Day

2008-03-17T22:51:00.003-05:00

And I promise her sippy was not filled with green beer...

Bizarre 10 Minutes

2008-03-16T23:23:00.002-05:00

So Kenz is zerberting Arby when all of the sudden he screams - I'm bleeding. I look over and blood is gushing from his nose. I yell at my DH to run and get some tissue while Kenz is holding his nose and I have my hands cupped to catch any extra. My DH runs to get the tissue and doesn't come back. As I scream for him to HURRY, I hear him say I'm hurt. Kenz and I run to the bathroom to find daddy lying flat on the bathroom floor. He slipped in a puddle of water left over from Kenz' shower. I see a pool of blood on the bathroom floor and can't figure out where it is coming from. Apparently, DH somehow busted his elbow although it was not hurting - his back was hurting quite a bit. He is fine now, but I think he'll be pretty sore in the morning. It took us about ten minutes to get Kenz' nose to stop bleeding and we ended up with some blood stains on the carpet from our run to the bathroom to help daddy. It feels pretty much like we just visited bizzaro world.

Remember When, She's at it Again....

2008-03-13T13:57:00.004-05:00

Remember when CiCi was waking up in the middle of the night, happy as can be and having her own little party. Well she did it again. I am praying that it is daylights savings time that did it to her, but two nights ago she slept from 8:30 until 1:00 and then we could not get her back to sleep. We tried everything. DH even drove her around for a while, but he said she kept jabbering away completely oblivious to the fact that he was trying to lull her asleep. When he pulled back in the garage, he decided to turn on a movie for her and he sat (slept) in the car with her while she watched a movie. Still not falling asleep we just brought her inside and let her play until she finally crashed on the floor around 7:30 AM and slept until 10:00 AM. Not much of a crash in my opinion. So I just decided I would enjoy a great nap from her. NOPE. She took a 45 minute nap. Then last night while I was cooking dinner and she was sitting in her high chair eating pieces of cheese and crackers, she fell asleep.

I thought at this point she was out for the night, but again she woke up after 45 minutes. Fortunately she went to bed at her normal time, woke up at her normal time and is so far taking a good normal nap.

Pointing out a Cool Link

2008-03-12T22:09:00.002-05:00

On the left side of my blog under Enrichment you will see a link for RV School. This link takes you on the adventures of a family that has decided to trade it all in for life on the road with their two boys for 18 months. They have spent much time mapping out their stops and making lesson plans to correspond. This is my dream. I have talked about doing this so many times (but my DH's job doesn't make this possible and you know that money thing is a factor)
So, instead, we will live vicariously through this family. We will check out the books they are reading and their lesson plans and we will read all about their adventures. How cool is this???

Nine Years Ago Today

2008-03-08T23:51:00.007-06:00

my first child was born. Early. During Spring Break. I was a teacher and this was the week I had planned to do everything that I needed to do in order to prepare for my baby. Arby had different plans. On the Sunday night that was to begin my spring break, my water broke in the middle of the night. Let's just say that I was not really sure if my water had broken. I called the hospital and they said come on in -they could do a test that would let me know. We left the house without a single packed item. I didn't even bring my purse. We laughed and joked about "my situation" the entire way to the hospital. I assumed they would send me home. They did not. I was five weeks early.
My delivery was relatively easy, but we were completely unprepared for what would happen next.
As soon as Arby was born it seemed as if the entire nursing staff entered my room. We heard them say he was "singing". We didn't know this was bad. I put my hands on him for about two seconds and then he was whisked away to the NICU. I did not get to hold my sweet baby until he was seven days old. He was diagnosed with hyaline membrane disease. He was hooked up to every imaginable contraption. Between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning he crashed. He was jaundiced, he needed a blood transfusion, he needed more help breathing requiring a endotracheal tube, he needed a line that went into his stomach to feed him and they also discovered that he had contracted Group B strep from me. This can cause pneumonia or meningitis. They were treating him and hoping for the best(pneumonia).
My son was such a little fighter. At six pounds six ounces, he was the second biggest baby in the NICU, but he was in the worst shape (we did not realize how truly sick he was and how much he had to fight to live until days later - in our case I believe ignorance was bliss).
Needless to say this was not the spring break I had imagined. Nor the birth.
Every year his birthday coincides with spring break. We usually schedule his party a week or two later. A minor (yet annoying to Arby) detail in the whole scheme of things. To me his spring break birthday is now a reminder of that which is really important. Not all the stuff we buy and plans we make(like all that I had not done that I would have been so concerned about had Arby been born healthy) but the life itself - his life - and how very fortunate we are that he eventually left that hospital a healthy little boy.

It is amazing how much technology has changed since Arby was born!!! I do not know how to scan pictures and in the days before digital the first pictures I ever saved to a disk did not happen until Arby was almost one so I am unable to post any hospital pics of Arby, however I thought it would be fun to post a few pictures of my very obviously healthy Arby at age ONE.

Finally... A Snow Day

2008-03-07T23:56:00.016-06:00

I took Arby home after snack and picked Kenz up as well since the snow was heading our way and they were closing schools early. We then headed to Target to pick out some essential winter wear. Not much of that to be found in March. But CiCi got some new little boots and the boys got some long underwear and we deemed ourselves ready for the snow!!! WooHoo!!! Our one day of snow a year is quite an exciting event.
The boys had a ball in the snow!!!!

They most enjoyed pounding each other with snowballs, which I really don't get.

They also had fun making snow angels.

CiCi wasn't so sure about it all. She definitely did not like all the layers of clothes I put on her. She was quite ticked before I ever even got her outside. And I forgot to buy her gloves so I put socks on her hands and she really did not appreciate that!!!

Once outside she was entertained by the snow for a little while.

It took me some time to convince CiCi to walk off of the driveway and on to the grass and she had trouble walking on the snow in her big boots.

Daddy got home in time to see her all bundled up.

And then, in no uncertain terms, she let us know she was done. DONE!!! I wish I would have taken a picture of her DONE tantrum, but I just scooped her up and took
her to the bathtub to get warm.
Once the boys finished playing they put on some PJ's to get warm. Kenz looked so sweet in his PJ's I just had to take a pic.

Arby's Birthday Snack

2008-03-07T14:02:00.002-06:00

Arby turns nine tomorrow and wanted me to bring a big cookie to his class today to celebrate. I planned to stop by the mall to pick up this Big Cookie on the way to his school. I had to be at his school by 9:30 for snack. I arrived at the Cookie store and they were closed. Apparently they do not open until 10:00.
My next thought was to stop by this place that sells the best beignets. Arby loves beignets and hasn't had any in a long time so I thought they would make a fun surprise. So I order the beignets and CiCi is entertaining the restaurant dancing to the jazz music when all of the sudden she stops and stands very still. I immediately recognize she is doing her business - so off we go to change her diaper. There is no changing table, but there was a nice little cushioned seat that I am quite certain was not designed to change diapers upon but....
Anyway diaper of Little Miss Wiggly was changed and food is ready.
I arrive at Arby's school right on time and I ask the receptionist to have him come down so that he can help me carry in the snack (since I forgot the stroller and really couldn't carry it all). She calls his room and they are not there so she tells me to go on and get the snack and I can wait up in his room (don't think she quite got that I had a baby and couldn't carry it all). So I start walking out to my car to get the snack when all of the sudden I feel very warm and wet on my side above my hip. Yep, I was Peed upon. So into the car we go to change another diaper (obviously I did not do such a good job with the last one) Wiggle Worm is all over the place again and what do you know - I break the velcro tab off the diaper and now I am all out of diapers. So I decide to put the wet one back on her and then I somehow balance CiCi and the beignets and the plates and everything else and head up to Arby's room. By this time they are back in the room already eating snack and thinking that I had forgotten. I felt so bad......
And like my morning the other day this was all before 10:00 a.m.
I am so not a morning person!!!!!!!

Coffee

2008-03-05T14:12:00.003-06:00

Am I the only adult in the US that does not like coffee?
If I am at a mall and I smell the coffee from a place like Starbucks it really does smell good. And it usually makes me hungry. For chocolate. I thought the smell that accompanied the Starbucks type coffees would improve the taste. It did not. It truly tastes like dirt to me. I really see no difference in a cup of coffee and a cup of water mixed with dirt. Both are gritty and nasty. My opinion, of course. And if you make Folgers type coffee at home - I don't even think it smells good. It smells a lot like a dirty diaper. Again, this is obviously only the opinion of one being that the rest of the world seems to love the stuff. A few weeks ago when I went to Tulsa to scrapbook with my best friend we went out to eat. Afterwards we went to a nice smelling coffee shop called KoKoa's. I got a great tasting dessert and water (they were out of hot chocolate - which I love) and my friend and her friend got coffee. Of course her friend wondered why I didn't order coffee and I had to explain that I don't like it. My best friend is amused by my pickyness with foods but was determined to change my mind about coffee. Hers was lighter in color so I guess that was supposed to mean it had been mixed with stuff that would cover the dirt like quality I seem to equate with coffee. She very convincingly got me to taste it. I swear if I were under the ago of 30 I would have spit it out right there at the table, but being that we were in a somewhat sophisticated very packed coffee house I made my self swallow the dirt. Never again!! This is definitely something I will not outgrow - and I really have outgrown many of my childhood food aversions. I'll save those for another post.
So now you all know a weird fact about me....

Weird

2008-02-29T23:13:00.002-06:00

My new addiction is Tropical Smoothie Cafe. They know me and CiCi very well there. So well that a few weeks ago they were having credit card machine issues and ended up running two weeks worth of transactions on the same day. I just so happened to check my statement online and noticed about 8 or so transactions all for different prices, but all run on the same day. I immediately suspected that an employee was using my info and running the card so I called and canceled my check card. (Later that day I went to write a check and discovered I was completely out of checks - no bank card, no check book, yep I've had lots of fun paying bills with cash for the past two weeks) Sadly, after confronting the manager, I realized that I had actually been to TSC more than 8 times in a two week period.

Anyway.... today I went to my favorite place to get my favorite smoothie (yes, I know I should not have eaten another self-indulgent treat after my splurge this morning) and all the employees were playing with CiCi like they always do and she is making friends with everyone playing peek-a-boo and "hiding". She then wanted to grab things from my wallet and give to people (she loves paying with the credit card) so I gave her this buy one get one free pass to a local bowling alley and she hands it to this (at least sixteen year old because she is driving) girl. The girl reads the thing as if CiCi had truly given it to her and then continues to hold on to it never giving it back. CiCi loses interest and starts playing peek-a-boo with someone else and the girl just sticks the card in her pocket. I gave it to CiCi because it was better than giving her my credit card, but c'mon... my six year old would have known that she was just playing and not actually giving her the card. Just thought it was weird and had to share. I actually get a kick out of observing the strange behavior of other people and instead of asking for something like that back (which I really didn't care about) I was really interested to see what the girl was going to do once I realized that she did not "get" CiCi's game. People fascinate me.

So far this morning...

2008-02-29T09:11:00.004-06:00

My son who wears a uniform to school didn't have a clean one to wear today. They were all dripping wet and in the washing machine. Of course I found the clothes in the washing machine only after searching hopefully in the dryer for his shirt and then accidentally closing the dryer door on CiCi's finger!!!
Same son has outgrown his uniform pants (just turned 6 years old and has outgrown a size 10, sheesh) so we bought him one new pair of size 12 last night. This morning he puts them on and I go to zip them up for him and I break the zipper. I made him wear them to school anyway. We didn't have time for him to change.
Same son happens to be Student of the Week this week and today I had to bring a snack that begins with the letter D - this is the letter being reinforced this week. So I dropped him off and headed to our favorite doughnut shop where my already-addicted-to-doughnut-holes daughter started squealing for her doughnut hole as soon as I approached the counter - the store owners started this by giving a free one to her free every time we come in so I blame them for her addiction and her behavior :)

then my DH calls to tell me that he got Arby halfway to school when Arby realized he didn't have any shoes. Please tell me how you leave the house at 8 years old, with a responsible adult and you don't realize that there are no shoes on your feet!!!!

then I am happily reading my blogs, drinking my diet coke, and eating my entire caloric intake for the day (a chocolate cake thing with cream cheese and chocolate chips on top that I get from the doughnut shop because I don't like doughnuts) when I see CiCi carrying a bag of popcorn that Kenz popped for himself for breakfast before I woke up this morning (got to love an independent 6 year old). I took the bag from her and she absolutely threw her first FIT ever. When are they old enough to eat popcorn without choking??? Cuz I have to admit I just closely monitored her eating popcorn in order to stop the pathetic fit she just threw.

So tell me how many worst-things-a-mommy-can-do rules have I broken today???

Choking Issues - pretty disgusting

2008-02-25T23:41:00.004-06:00

Arby, who is about to be nine, choked on food today. He has done this several times. The last bad time was two years ago. On a meatball. Out of town. At a restaurant. I spent 45 minutes in the bathroom while he coughed it up a little at a time. But it hurt and he was crying and the restaurant ended up calling an ambulance, but before the ambulance arrived a waitress (sorta) did the Heimlich maneuver on him which helped him get up a little and then we had him stick his finger down his throat and gag some more up.
So today he did it again. On a turkey and cheese wrap of all things. It took about 15 minutes for him to cough it up. He finally was able to gag himself and get it all. He was scared and he had tears in his eyes and he said it hurt. He obviously took too big of a bite and did not chew, but I wonder if he could have a small esophagus or something that would be causing him to do this so often. The first time he was about three and it was on Thanksgiving. That one was pretty scary. This has probably happened 8-10 times. Today's was pretty bad, but knowing that he is OK I am just annoyed by it. Either he has some medical issue or he seriously needs to learn how to chew his food. If it is the latter then for goodness sakes he is nine years old - definitely old enough to understand and remember the last time this happened. UGH!!!
Any ideas blogland???

What Kenz gave up for Lent

2008-02-24T00:04:00.003-06:00

Water Parks

He came up with this on his own. He has never been to a waterpark. I find this hilarious.

Soccer

2008-02-22T00:09:00.004-06:00

I am too old to play this, yet I just need it. It makes me happy. I have played soccer since I was four. It IS my form of exercise. If I don't play, I don't exercise. Last April I hurt my knee playing indoor coed soccer. When we picked up CiCi in July, it was still bothering me a bit. When it comes to going to the doctor, I am a wimp - so I never did get it checked out. By August my knee felt better, but I was busy running three kids all over town. Remember if I don't play soccer, I don't exercise (other than running three kids around) Finally last month I decided I was ready to play again. I needed to play again. I sucked. I couldn't run. I couldn't breathe. I was playing indoor soccer for a new team. They didn't know that I used to be able to play. All they knew is what they saw and I was pathetic. I think the only thing that made me show up the next week is my ingrained desire to prove myself. But the next game I still sucked. Same with the next. I truly couldn't last. I thought my lungs might explode. On my way to my game last week I told my best friend that I would finish out the season, but that I thought my soccer days were over. I meant it and I was sad. That night I got an assist and actually felt like a player again. My new team asked me to play outdoor soccer with them. I told them I would think about it. A little confidence came back to me, but I still couldn't breathe. So tonight I actually played great - in very short bursts. After last week I think my team gained enough trust in me to sub me in and out more knowing that I was completely out of shape, but a better player than they had realized. So tonight I assisted one goal and scored two and they told me that I would be playing outdoor with them. I feel loved. Of course I still can't breathe for long and since I know me I know I won't be doing any thing else to get in shape, but the outdoor field is a mile from my house. What do I have to lose? I constantly wish that I had learned to play a sport that you can continue to play throughout adulthood - like tennis or maybe even volleyball (I HATE golf), but maybe I will be able to ride this soccer train a little longer. I play with 16 year olds and 45 year olds, I feel young and old all at the same time when I am out there playing. But I enjoy it and I really need to get back in shape and I really need to lose weight so this 34 year old is gonna keep on kickin'....
My kids were so proud when I told them about my goals - you would have thought I'd run a marathon. I love the adoration of my children!!!!!

Arby Won State

2008-02-18T23:32:00.006-06:00

I am so proud of my Arby. I posted a few weeks ago that he qualified for State. Well, the state championship was this weekend. Over 200 K-3rd graders participated in the regional tournaments. Only 32 made it to state (8 from each region). Only one person wins. And this year my Arby won it!!!!! Chess is an amazing game. It is so simple to learn yet so completely complicated to master. It is also so individual. If you win, YOU WIN. If you lose, YOU LOSE. The pressure is intense. Every time you play in a rated tournament a number gets attached to you. As you win against higher rated players your rating goes up. When you lose (especially to lower rated players), your rating goes down. Going into a tournament you know where you stand based on your rating, but the mental challenge that goes along with that knowledge can be unbearable. Leading up to State Arby played in numerous tournaments. He played in a city championship and he was the top rated player. He won his first 4 games then lost to a player that he would normally not lose to in the last round. This caused him to have to play in a runoff. By that time he was so mentally beaten by the fact that he stupidly lost his last game by underestimating his opponent that he lost the runoff game as well and did not win the city championship. The next day he played in a local Catholic schools tournament and did the exact same thing - winning 4 games and then losing his last. In the regionals which qualified him for state, he actually came in second. Once at state he was the second top rated player and the boy that came in first in regionals was the top rated player and the previous year's State champion. I really believe his previous losses got him mentally prepared for State. He was not going to let that happen again. He was confident and ready to play. He brought his best game face to the tournament and he won it. We are so incredibly proud of him, but even more importantly he is proud of himself. It is amazing what this weekend has done for his confidence in chess!!

The trophy presentation:

As much as I like the fact that my boys play chess and as much as I used to enjoy the tournaments (I'd spend all day either talking to other moms or reading a book or just sitting around doing nothing - something I NEVER do), attending chess tournaments with CiCi is not so fun. In fact most of the day I spent declaring how I would never do this again (meaning DH wuld be bringing the boys solo from now on). I was exhausted chasing CiCi around and trying to keep her from chewing on everyone's chess pieces while also trying to occupy Kenz. Halfway through the tournament I found a relatively open and safe place outside. I threw the football with Kenz and let CiCi run around.

We had planned to go from Cookeville to Huntsville (to the space center) to enjoy the rest of the three day weekend, but Kenz got sick. After the tournament we went to eat and then returned to our hotel. We were going to get a good night's sleep and then take off Sunday morning. Instead I woke up to the sound of Kenz puking in the hotel bathroom. Yes this was only a few hours after the above picture. We had no warning of this sickness. I can tell you it is not fun to take care of puke in a hotel room. Limited towels, no washing machine, a contained smell. We ended up trashing his clothes and leaving for home the next morning. He slept alot, felt cold, never had fever and is now fine. At first I thought it was the flu (which is why we decided to go straight home), but now I wonder if it was food poisoning or just a 24 hour virus. I am praying none of the rest of us get it!!

What a weekend!!!

Last Weekend

2008-02-18T12:30:00.001-06:00

Last weekend I went to Tulsa. I met my best friend there and we attended a Creative Memories convention.
I was so nervous about leaving CiCi, but it worked out fine!!!
The convention coincided with Grandparents Day at Kenz' school, so my in-laws were coming to town. I found a plane ticket to Tulsa that left at 2:30 on Friday and cost the same amount it would have cost me to drive there. This meant that I would only have to leave CiCi in the care of someone other than my DH for a few hours and that someone would be his mom - so I felt good about it all.
And I had such a good time!!! I spoke in full sentences. I completed a thought and then another one and then another one. I slept on the plane on the way to Tulsa and I read part of a book on the way back - rather than reading the same 4 paged book over and over :)
I laughed. A lot.
We went to a nice restaurant and stayed for more than 20 minutes. I did not shove the food down my throat and ask for the check as they served me my entree.
Then we went to a second restaurant for dessert and we stayed until we noticed we were getting dirty looks from people waiting for a table and seeing that ours had been cleared for a long time, yet we were still there.
And I even learned a thing or two at the CM convention.
I was home by 6:00 Sunday evening. Gone long enough to rejuvenate, but not too long. DH handled it all just fine - all except for changing her diaper in a timely manner (know this because when I picked her up - she was wet through her clothes AND she had (and still has) a diaper rash as a result of last weekend.
And to top it off - I got the best hugs ever from my babes when I got home.

Valentine's Day

2008-02-17T23:54:00.004-06:00

I bought this outfit for CiCi this fall. It was not the smartest purchase. Notice the short sleeves. For February. What??? and then I accidentally bought 6-12 month leggings. They are way too small. I felt the need to atleast dress her up since I took off the tags on the leggings before realizing my mistake. She looks precious and is none the wiser to the stupidity of her mother.
I pieced together her second Valentine's day outfit. Apparently I did not take a picture of it. Oh well.
What did I get for Valentine's Day this year? Heated...with a new furnace (and a bit more debt...fun stuff)
We knew when we bought our house that we we would need a new furnace and a new roof. We hoped that we could buy 3-4 years. We took out a loan on Valentine's day to pay for them both. As luck would have it, we made it two years and they both hit the point of no return at the same time - a 25 year old house living on 20 year old time.

Daddy and the Tea Set

2008-02-07T12:51:00.003-06:00

I just got this as an e-mail and had to share...

One day my mother was out and my dad was in charge of me and my brother
who is four years older than I am. I was maybe one and a half years old
and had
just recovered from an accident in which my arm had been broken among other
injuries. Someone had given me a little 'tea set' as a get-well gift and it
was
one of my favorite toys. Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the
evening
news and my brother was playing nearby in the living room when I brought
Daddy a little cup of 'tea,' which was just water. After several cups of
tea and
lots of praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home. My Dad made her wait
in
the living room to watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was 'just
the
cutest thing!'

My Mom waited, and sure enough, here I come down the hall with a cup of
tea for Daddy and she watches him drink it up, then says, 'Did it ever
occur
to you that the only place that baby can reach to get water is the
toilet?'

After my last post, I found a ton of humor in this one!!!!

Not the toilet water, honey!!!!!!!!!

2008-02-03T14:01:00.000-06:00

Yep, she drank it. I put her down in the dining room (where I keep her clothes in an armoire instead of having to walk upstairs to her bedroom to get them) to get her a new outfit, 10 seconds later I find her in the bathroom with one wet hand in her mouth and the other on the toilet seat. EEEWWWWWWWWWWWW!!! For this one I did not go grab my camera in order to proudly display what my daughter is into these days!!! I have always found it disgusting to see dogs lick from a toilet bowl, you can only imagine how I feel to see my daughter do so.
My son had just used this restroom and who knows if he had flushed, but it didn't look too yellow so I will pretend that he did.
I am somewhat relieved to know that drinking pee can't hurt you. How do I know this you may ask? Well, in college one of the professors (that I did not have) would drink a cup of pee each year in front of the class in order to prove/show (that he was crazy) that it could not hurt you - something to do with the small amount of bacteria yada, yada, yada. Like I said, I never took his class, but I definitely heard about it.

A Birthday, Cupcakes and My Little Tornado

2008-01-31T23:13:00.001-06:00

My little man, Kenz, turned 6. I can't believe it!!!! He is growing up and it is killing me. Thank goodness he is still my snuggle bug. There is not much he likes more (atleast near bedtime) than to snuggle next to me while drinking his milk and clicking my fingernails (a whole 'nother post)
This year he decided to have a bowling birthday party. Everything I do lately is last minute and his party planning was no different. I waited so long to get it together that I never even sent out invitations - usually I get real cute printed ones. This year I decided I would just use the ones that the bowling alley gives as part of your birthday package. I drove all the way out to the bowling alley on the Tuesday before his Sunday birthday party (which was a week after his actual birtday, by the way) to pay the deposit and to get the invitations that needed to be addressed and mailed that night. I paid the deposit and they got out the invitations for me. I watched them count them out and place them on the counter. I left. I got home. I realized that the invitations were left on that counter. DANG!!! So I called all the parents. Luckily the party was great. Kenz had a fantabulos time and so did all the other boys. The party was not too short, not too long. Active, but not crazy. A perfect boy party. Whew!!!

Kenz had a few extra cupcakes from his party. We shared them equally and Kenz got the extra one. So the next day he got that extra cupcake out and put it on the kitchen table. He left the room for a few minutes and came back to find his sister enjoying his cupcake - ALOT. Kenz was very good-natured about it all and let her eat (destroy) it. My blog buddy Tricia would be so proud!!!

CiCi's new favorite place to go while I'm working/blogging/on the computer is under this little built in desk in our kitchen. The bottom drawer contains all the boys art supplies (crayons, glue, stickers) for homework and other projects. Well it used to contain these things until I found CiCi coughing with a crayon in her mouth that she had obviously taken a bite of and most likely swallowed a small portion. They are non-toxic, right?

CiCi also likes making a mess. It is truly her favorite past time :)
It is amazing how quickly she can destroy our kitchen.

My little men competed in a regional chess tournament this past weekend. The top 8 chess players in grades K-3 in our region get to compete at state. Arby came in second and Kenz got so close. If he had won his last game he would have made it, but he ended up in 11th place (out of 24 kids in grades K-3 and he is a kindergartener so that is pretty awesome). We are so proud of Arby and I can't wait to go to one of my favorite places (Cookeville, TN) next month to watch him compete for the State title.

Three Cups of Tea

2008-01-27T09:44:00.002-06:00

Read this book!!!!!! The dedication of one man to the plight of children, especially girls, is truly amazing. The work he has done building schools in the most rural areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan is both fascinating and inspiring. Greg Mortenson is truly a hero and he absolutely encompasses the best of America. As I read his book I was blown away again and again by his dedication and perseverance. I also couldn't help but think of all the other places around the globe that need a Greg Mortenson to speak for them and care for them and provide them with the one thing that has the ability to change lives, status, poverty and terrorist/gang/thug behavior.
I also kept thinking how much I would love to give back to CiCi's birth country. There are many people already working to provide the means necessary to attend school. One of these groups is Mayan families (listed on the left side of my blog). By donating $120 you can send one child to school for one year. It is an amazing program, but I also want to do more in the future. I want to be physically involved and I want my children to be physically involved. I am not sure what we will do, but I know we will do something. I am inspired!!!!

Miserable and The Happy Drunk

2008-01-23T23:38:00.001-06:00

I am miserable. Today I had to have two cavities filled. I do not like the dentist. I do not like the noise of the drill. I don't even like to hear a fork scrape against a knife, so you can only imagine what the sound of that drill does to me. One of the cavities was a bad one - the whole time the possibility of a root canal kept me near tears. So I guess the good news is that I don't need a root canal. I did however have to hold my mouth open for two hours. Now it hurts!!! And for a long time I couldn't feel my tongue and I kept biting it. I have bite marks all over my tongue and it hurts.

At almost 15 months CiCi is finally really trying to walk. She is hilarious. She walks with the biggest proudest smile on her face. Her excitement usually causes her to wobble and she inevitably ends up falling over or reaching/falling towards me way before she has actually made it to me. Thus my present (unspoken) nickname for her. It is so stinkin' cute!!!

Arby has really enjoyed helping CiCi learn to walk.

CiCi loves walking back and forth between us

It is so much easier for her to crawl that whenever she really wants something, she will still crawl to it.

And some sibling love

More pics from the Christmas Party - and do you like my new look???

2008-01-22T00:16:00.002-06:00

I've got an extremely cute new look!!!!!!!!! My blog was looking pretty lame compared to all of you who kept spicing yours up, so I had to get mine jazzed up a bit, too. Very excited about showing off my new look, so PLEASE let me know you like it by delurking and commenting on my blog. I am feeling so UNLOVED!!!!

I still haven't figured out how to post more than five pics at a time and how to post a pic then write something, then post another pic and then write something else. Having to create a double post just to post my pictures is driving me crazy, so if ANYONE can help me out!!! PLEASE???
I promise to get out of December soon, but I still have Christmas with the family pics so bear with me a few more days and then I promise to join 2008.
If you think I am bad with this, you should see my scrapbooks.
I am years behind.

Christmas Party - a great Tradition

2008-01-21T23:37:00.000-06:00

Each year my parents' best friends have a Christmas Party. They invite family and friends - old and new. I have been to this party many many times since I was about 7 years old. It is laid back, relaxed and fun. Every one mingles and eats finger foods and appetizers. Nothing is extravagant, nothing is lacking.
Then this musically-inclined family leads us all in Christmas carols. We sing all the favorites sometimes with a piano, or a guitar, or a violin. We are singing, of course, for Santa Claus. and Santa always arrives with a thud that we actually hear on the roof and then a knock at the door - which has always cracked me up. All the kids eyes light up and then they all get to tell their Christmas wish to Santa. My boys never know what to say - which I love. I have never encouraged them to ask for anything. Kenz asked for two special things which he whispered so quietly Santa had to ask him to repeat himself twice. Arby just said to surprise him. It was very sweet. CiCi wasn't much into Santa this year. She liked the singing though and as soon as Santa left we sang some more. The finale song each year is "The Twelve Days of Christmas". We break into groups and are each assigned a day. It is the highlight!!!!!!!!!
This year Christmas carolers just happened to be roaming their way through the neighborhood and knocked on the door. I think they were quite shocked to see all of us right there already singing when they walked inside - they joined in for a song and sang one on their own. I thought it was pretty cool - I've never actually had a caroler show up at my door.
Oh and CiCi found a little chair. She claimed it as hers and crawled between the chair and me all night. Basically she would want to sit with me, but if any other child went anywhere near her chair she would crawl to it and sit in it so that they would not. It was soooo funny watching her be so possessive.

Putting up the Christmas Tree

2008-01-21T17:36:00.000-06:00

Yes it is now late December on my blog and we are putting up our Christmas tree. CiCi had a ball. I normally pass out the ornaments to the boys and then they put them up. CiCi decided that my job looked like a good one so I passed her the ornament and told her who to give it to and she gave it to one of her brothers or her daddy. Not until after Christmas did she ever touch a single ornament on the tree, but lately (since our tree is still up) she has been playing with ornaments and hiding them in her favorite hiding places. Too cute.
Normally we take down the tree right after Little Christmas. Tradition or Procrastination? I am not sure, but this year Little Christmas is long gone and our tree is still standing... so Procrastination it is!!!!!!!!
Supposedly, we will take down the tree tonight. We'll see!!!

Because I am now pretending it is mid-December

2008-01-17T23:04:00.000-06:00

the pictures above are from the Christmas program at Kenz' school. I wish I could show you the pics of his class so that you could get the full effect, but for the fun part of the program they performed "Rocking around the Christmas Tree" while decked out in red poodle skirts for the girls and the greased back look for the boys. I thought Kenz looked adorable!!!!!!! He also was the innkeeper in the manger scene, but I don't have any pics of just him so I can't really share them here.

Kenz goes to a Catholic school with a dress code. He has always worn his hair a little long. This year they have chosen to make an issue out of it. Soooo every 5 weeks or so he is told he has to get his haircut. My funny boy realized that with his hair all slicked back he was within the dress code rules and asked me if he could wear his hair slicked back until Christmas break so that he could keep his hair longer during the break and wait to cut it until January. I let him finish out the week with the slicked back look and then nothing was said to him the last week of school. We both felt like we got away with something. Too fun!!!!!

The One That Made It

2008-01-13T10:15:00.000-06:00

Christmas Card Takes

2008-01-11T23:55:00.001-06:00

Pretend it is Late November.
Then notice the date I actually took this picture.
Then understand why I am just now getting around to post about it.
Sums up my Christmas Shopping experience this year.

Notice... the pigtails

2008-01-09T23:34:00.000-06:00

They are kind of hard to see. But you must look. This was the only day I have ever been able to get CiCi to sit still long enough to attempt pigtails. And they really looked cute. And they were gone within 15 minutes. Oh well!!!
8 years of raising only boys and whenever I had a difficult day and all my other friends (all moms of girls) seemed to be breezing through mommyhood I found comfort knowing that while my time was now their, time would come.
And then CiCi decided to shatter my boy vs. girl beliefs.
She is a mess!!!!! She gets into everything!!! She opens every drawer and counter she can reach and she proceeds to empty the contents. She shoves things in random places - between cushions, under couches, in toilets, in air conditioning vents. Never did I buy safety latches and other seemingly important items for my boys. They were not necessary. Once I placed those little outlet covers in the outlets in our den. Before that day my oldest son had never even noticed the outlets. Once he saw those things he found a new game. Picking the plugs out of the outlets. From that point on I decided there was no need for all those safety things. Neither Arby nor Kenz ever gave me a reason to doubt that theory. I never even put gates up. With Kenz we lived in a house with stairs. He was walking at nine months and his room was upstairs. I had Arby teach him how to crawl down the stairs on his tummy. I was not about to put a gate up at the top of the stairs. All I could envision with a gate was Kenz climbing over it and flying down the stairs. Or me forgetting it was there in the middle of the night and flipping over the darned thing. Thankfully this worked with CiCi as well. She has been climbing up and down the stairs for months now...yet the little stinker won't walk (she is getting close now..finally)
A while back I created a post about CiCi signing. I mentioned that she, deliberately and for a reason only known to her, sticks her finger in her nose and that I knew it meant something. Well we have noticed a pattern. Whenever my DH or Arby (and sometimes me)say something to her that she doesn't like she sticks her finger in her nose. Talk about thumbing your nose at someone. It takes a lot of will power not to burst out laughing whenever she does it. My DH gets such a kick out of it, he now says things just to see how she will respond.
She is also very good at letting us know what she wants. When she eats she grunts for stuff. We take our best guess at what it is. If we are right, we are rewarded by her eating it. If we are wrong she pushes our hand away - with force. She might want that next, but right now she wants that.
She is also very quick. A while back my DH took her out to eat and a waitress stopped by their table to give them a drink. She was on her way to another table with an appetizer for that table. Apparently CiCi thought it looked tasty. In the two seconds that the waitress stooped to handout drinks to my DH, CiCi swiped a handful of food.
Speaking of food..is it at all normal for her to really enjoy butter? Not butter that is cooked in with food. But butter - in packets. Because she really does. And she can be very persistent in the way that she tells you how much she wants that butter. So we let her have it. And she eats it. And it is so gross. So I taught her to dip her food into the butter. Tonight she ate carrots dipped in butter. It is the first time we have ever been able to get her to eat carrots. That's a good thing, right???
I could go on and on, so I'll save it for another post. Enjoy the pics. Christmas ones are coming...next???

More Pics from "Home-6-Months-Anniversary-Day"

2008-01-05T01:31:00.000-06:00

My little ham!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry about the previous posts' pictures all being sideways.

What a yesterday and HOME 6 months

2008-01-04T23:48:00.000-06:00

First of all, sweet CiCi has been home 6 months today. She is absolutely the apple of our eye. She is loving and clingy, happy and serious. She has the funniest sense of humor and she is a total mess. She gets into everything!!!!!!!! She is stubborn and smart. She crawls up and down stairs like a champ, but at 14 months still refuses to walk. She loves her brothers and she is jealous of my attention to them. Her personality cracks us up. It is so not what I expected out of a little girl and at the same time it fits our family perfectly and I can't imagine her any other way. She has truly and completely stolen our hearts and I am forever grateful to all the wonderful, selfless people that took part to make her part of our family.

Yesterday...

Glad it is over. Started the morning early with a moving company that came to our house to completely rearrange it for me. Our house has a strange layout and I have tossed and turned over where the kids rooms should be so that they are close to me, but also so that they are all near each other. My boys have shared a room for the past 2 1/2 years. Arby (at almost 9) really wanted his own room. To do this he has taken a small room that is really probably an office and Kenz got the playroom. Kenz is very excited that he gets the big room with all the stuff, but is not at all excited to have his own room. He is honestly scared to death and I feel so sorry for him. DH is sleeping in his room for a few days to help him adjust. Anyway I worked all morning yesterday moving stuff and setting everything back up with CiCi attached to my hip. I knew yesterday by the way she was acting that she was not feeling well and today she and Arby woke up with a stomach bug. Lots of fun.

Arby started back to school yesterday (but stayed home sick today). I picked him up , stopped by TCBY for an afternoon treat and headed home. I was on the main very busy street in our city and it was close to rush hour. All the sudden the car in front of me was at a dead stop (in a moving lane) with his left blinker on trying to get into the turn lane. I hit my brakes hard and the anti lock kicked in and I could feel my car stopping in the strange way that it does when those anti lock brakes kick in (definitely not on a dime). I don't know if I would have or did stop in time when all of the sudden I was slammed in the back - at which point I did hit the car in front of me (if I had not already hit him which I am not sure) Thankfully all of us were OK. The kids were freaked out but no one was hurt. We all moved over to a parking lot and called the police. Had it just been me and the car in front of me, I think we would have just said "No harm done" and walked away. I expected the back of my car to be all messed up and unbelievably it was not. I had a few scratches and a small dent, but that was it. Unfortunately the Toyota Tundra (big truck) behind me was pretty smushed in the front. The police officer talked to each of us separately and talked to the other two drivers first. They both said that the last car hit me into the first car. I told the officer I wasn't sure, but he went with their stories which gave a ticket only to the guy behind me. I really feel it was the first guys fault, but it seems they never ticket the cars in front - always the ones that actually do the hitting. I left feeling very sorry for the guy that hit me from behind. His first reaction after the wreck was to ask me if my kids were OK - the other guy never even acknowledged that I had kids nor that he caused the wreck and could have prevented it by moving forward (since there was absolutely no one in front of him) once he (should have) heard brakes screeching behind him. The guy behind me had a damaged truck and he got the ticket while the front guy got completely off the hook (He wanted to just leave from the beginning and not even call the police). I have been bothered by this wreck all day today. I am a nervous wreck driving now and I just can't say enough how thankful I am no one was hurt. I am also very much appreciating the toughness of my SUV and lost a little guilt for driving such a gas guzzling, air polluting vehicle knowing that if I had been in a smaller car or wagon (like I had considered driving) Kenz, who was sitting in the back seat, would probably have been hurt.

The weird thing - the last time I had a wreck was on this same very busy street when I was 16 years old. I was going in the opposite direction and in the left hand lane. Someone a few cars up from me was making a left hand turn. At some point everyone in front of my car started slamming their brakes and I started slamming mine while staring straight at two little boys. They were in the car in front of me, not in their seatbelts, but on their knees facing backwards (looking at me). All I kept thinking was please don't let me hit that car and I held my brake as tight as I could knowing that I was about to be hit from behind. The guy behind me never noticed the brake lights ahead and never made any effort to stop which I could see looking in my rear view mirror. He was very nice and apologetic and completely admitted this to the police. His car was damaged as well, but he knew, as all of us did , that we were all very lucky because that wreck could have been so much worse. It is amazing how vividly I remember that wreck and how often I have told my boys about it so that they know not ever to take off their seatbelts. It is so strange the similarities between my only two (real - I have definitely bumped into a few things - like a mailbox and a basketball goal...) wrecks - 18 years apart. I hope never to be involved in another one!!!!!!!!!

9 Words

2008-01-04T01:15:00.000-06:00

Christmas pics (I promise Michelle :) ), update on us, and a recap of my crazy day coming soon (tomorrowish), but I had to share this:

I got this in an e-mail today and thought it was one of the funniest things I have ever read - so very true....

9 WORDS WOMEN USE

1. Fine : This is the word women use to end an argument when they are rightand you need to shut up.

2. Five Minutes : If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour.Fiveminutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutesto watch the game before helping around the house.

3. Nothing : This is the calm before the storm. This means something, andyou should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually endinfine.

4. Go Ahead : This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

5. Loud Sigh : This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement oftenmisunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot andwonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with youaboutnothing. (Refer back to #3 for the meaning of nothing.)

6. That's Okay : This is one of the most dangerous statements a woman canmake to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard beforedeciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

7. Thanks : A woman is thanking you, do not question, or Faint. Just sayyou're welcome.

8 . Whatever : Is a woman's way of saying F@!K YOU!

9. Don't worry about it, I got it : Another dangerous statement, meaningthis is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but isnow doing it herself.. This will later result in a man asking "What'swrong?" For the woman's response refer to #3.

*Send this to the men you know, to warn them about arguments they can avoidif they remember the terminology.*Send this to all the women you know to give them a good laugh, cause theyknow it's true.

Cool Concept

2007-12-18T00:17:00.000-06:00

Check this out!!!

http://www.myspace.com/ohhushmusic

I've added the link to Oh, Hush! on the right of my blog. It will be easier to click on it that way.

I'd love to make "Sleigh Ride" my background music, but I haven't figured out how to add music to my blog yet. If anyone can give me some pointers, I'd be very appreciative :)

What Kind of Pie Are You?

2007-12-13T23:09:00.000-06:00

I saw this on another blog and thought it was fun. Took the test myself - results below. Have fun!!!

You Are Pumpkin Pie

You're the perfect combo of uniqueness and quality.
You're able to relate to many types of people with many different tastes.
But you're by no means generic or ordinary.
In fact, you're one of the most original people around.

Those who like you are looking for something (someone!) special.
You tend confuse people when they first meet you. You're not as complicated as you seem.
Even though you have a lot of spice and flavor to you, you're never overpowering.
You are a calm and comforting force in people's lives.

What Kind of Pie Are You?

My Chess Stars

2007-12-10T23:55:00.000-06:00

I need to brag today. My boys play chess. They both learned at the age of four. They compete in tournaments locally and we drive to big tournaments that happen to be within driving distance. We had all planned to go to Houston this past weekend for the National Grade Championship, but after attempting such a tournament with CiCi in St. Louis recently I told my DH to take the boys and I would stay home with her. At this point he decided to fly. :)
Anyway, this tournament is designed so that the best kids from all over the country come together and duke it out on the chess board. 1st graders play only 1st graders, 2nd graders play only 2nd graders and so on. My sons are in Kindergarten and 3rd grade. This tournament is hard. These are the best of the best kids competing and it can become pretty intense.
My third grader, Arby, did exactly as he should have done. He won all of the games he should have won and he lost the ones he was most likely to lose. This is huge. Often you can be intimidated and lose games you shouldn't. He never did. He ended up in 56th place (out of over 160 kids competing in Houston in his grade). Very impressive!!
Kenz blew us away. He played seven games. He won the first and then the second. At this point they paired him with the second top rated child in his grade and he beat him!!!! We couldn't believe it. He then got paired against the top guy and lost. Next game he was paired against the guy that ended up winning the tournament and he lost that one, too. He won his next game. With one game left, we knew(he did not)that if he won he would have been in the top 5 - for the entire country!!! Unfortunately he lost (he would have been in 4th place), however he ended up in 11th place!!! 11th place...in the whole country!!! We are so proud of him. He really has no idea what he has accomplished. He loves to play and it truly is a game for him. We want to keep it that way for both of our boys while gently encouraging them to continue playing (forever) because it is such an amazing game and one that can be played well past any physical sport they want to play. My boys are very athletic, so balancing the time commitment of chess with the time commitment of sports will forever be a challenge for our family.
Thanks for letting me brag!!! :)

Who knew???... and random CiCi cuteness

2007-12-08T21:15:00.000-06:00

OK so probably everyone but me. The problem with my washer. A clogged drain. What clogged it? Change. From pockets!! Yes, I know I am supposed to empty pockets before placing them in the washing machine and generally I do. If I hear it or feel it. I don't make a point of checking all pockets, though. I've always assumed that you clean out the pockets so you don't wash something valuable or so that the change doesn't clink around in the dryer and drive you crazy. I am always careful to pick up all spare change that has fallen out of the pockets during the wash cycle so that they don't clink around in the dryer. Never did I expect that little pieces of change could cause so much damage.
Here is the damage:
1. I believe all the clothes that were in the washing machine were ruined. THEY STINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. When the repairman got the door unlocked for me, I had to take all those stinky clothes out of the washer. They were dripping with dirty, smelly, mildewy water. It was horribly disgustingly gross. and smelly!!!! I put the clothes in a garbage bag then drug the bag outside and dumped the clothes in a pile. I am going to let them try to dry out and then see what I can salvage. I had to wash my hands 5 times to get rid of the smell!!!
3. The repairman pulled out 3 quarters, a nickel, a dime or two and a penny. You would have thought I had clogged the sucker up with live rats by the way the repairman showed me the offending particles.
4. Today's repair cost $154.00.
5. Today's repair may or may not last. He said there was still a few pieces stuck that he could not get to. If those pieces fall back into the washer then I will be OK. If they fall out into the outer parts of the washer then it would take hours for a repairman to fix it and they would charge me close to 500.00. Like I'm going to pay that!!!!

So I am crossing my fingers that the change falls in. If not, you can bet I won't be buying another Maytag.

and, as you have probably guessed, I will now be checking all pockets.

oh, by the way, he said this is a much greater problem with front-loading washers.

And, which I have not yet mentioned, before all this happened I have never been satisfied with my washer. It has always had a somewhat mildewy smell to it. I asked the repairman about this and he said he hears that all the time with the front-loaders, but that the newer models are getting better. If I do have to get a new washer, I will probably go back to the top loading washers. They seem to have less problems.

Better not pout, I'm telling you why

2007-12-08T00:14:00.001-06:00

Because the poor boy can't. Recently Kenz asked me - how do you do that thing with your lip. I had no idea what he was talking about and he tried to show me, but couldn't do it. I soon realized he meant - pout. How do you pout? Never really thought about that and never really realized that he has never pouted. He really is The Happiest Kid, but seriously everyone can pout, right??? He can't figure it out, so now when he wants something and I say no, he pulls down his lip into a pout and holds it there. It is the cutest thing ever!!!!

I, on the otherhand, can pout. Today I did just that. I promise I will make this my last whiney post (as long as my washing machine gets fixed tomorrow), but for today - I have to share. Today a good friend of mine came over. She lives close by, but we never seem to see each other. We e-mail each other and always say "we need to get together" and then it just doesn't happen. But today it did. And it was a really nice visit. Near the end CiCi needed to be changed. Her changing table is in my bathroom. While changing her I notice that I need to flush the toilet. So I did. Then I turn and continue changing CiCi. Then I start to hear water and realize that the toilet is overflowing. SO now I have CiCi on a changing table which I must get her down from and moved far away. Then I turn off the water. Then I get towels to clean up the water from the floor. Many towels are needed. And then it occurs to me that once more this nastiness (only P, but still...) will have to just sit (rinsed out, of course) until my washing machine is fixed. Of all the times!!!!! My friend was completely amused by my form of entertainment.

After my friend left CiCi and I went to Target to buy diapers. While there I decided to brave the toy aisle. Row upon row of plastic. I can't stand it. I know I sound like I am not in the Christmas spirit, but I seriously do not think that purchasing oodles of plastic toys has anything to do with the true meaning of Christmas. My boys have never really asked for anything. Maybe one thing each, each year. I have never encouraged then to do otherwise, but ineviatably by December 26 our home is filled. School, relatives, friends. It never seems to end. For years I have been begging my mom not to get plastic toys and she has never understood. Ths year with all the recalls from China, she has finally called it quits. I am so glad. I never even thought about the plastic toys as a safety issue. I just don't like them (except Little People ) , but if that can make other people think twice about our over-consumption of toys at Christmastime, then I am not gonna complain about that one bit. Now if we can quit commercializing Holidays (holy days) then I will be even more happy.

I'm Not There Yet

2007-12-06T23:53:00.000-06:00

Yes we are well into December and I have not done a Christmasy thing yet. No cards have been bought. The picture has yet to be taken. The Christmas tree is not up and I have bought only a very few presents.
I just can't seem to find the energy for it all. Some part of me thinks it is because we never really had fall this year. I love fall. It is my favorite season. But this year we went from summer to one week of fall to rain to cold. I have not been properly prepared for the season that is now upon me. You think I am kidding???

Another reason - I don't like shopping. Never have. And the thought of it with little CiCi is overwhelming. I plan to online shop, but time is running out...
And CiCi is attached to my hip. Seriously. I can't put her down to go the bathroom. And she really makes you feel bad. Her tears are huge and the look on her face is heartbreaking.

and another thing... I HATE MAYTAG!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Two years ago I bought the top of the line Maytag Neptune washer and dryer. About nine months ago, you could smell burning from my dryer. I had someone come out to look at it and he said I needed new rollers. The rollers cost about half of what a new reliable dryer would cost. After much deliberation I decided to buy a new dryer. Wanna know what the guy at Sears told me? There is absolutely no reason to pay for an expensive dryer. A dryer is a dryer is a dryer. Why do they have the expensive ones I asked? To match the looks of the expensive washers. Apparently it is appopriate to spend more on a washer. And idiots like me buy expensive dryers thinking they must perform so much better than their less expensive counterparts. OK so lesson learned.
Another lesson... appliances aren't what they used to be. They may have all these fancy bells and whistles, but they don't last like they used to. Can you imagine only getting 18 months out of a brand new dryer?
So why am I complaining about this today. Because my laundry room STINKS. Wanna know why? Because my fancy schmancy washing machine locked up on me. Yep. The darn door locked and I can't get it open. I have turned off, unplugged, replugged, shook, hit, pulled, etc. and the door isn't budging. It locked. You know that wonderful safety benefit of making sure the front loading washing machine stays locked. Well it stays locked I can tell you that. With my wet clothes in it. And the washer is not working at all. It is just humming. 2 years old!!!!! I am not happy. And did I mention that my laundry room stinks. This took place last Saturday. I called to have someone come fix it on Monday. First available appointment. THIS Saturday. Those clothes will sit in my washing machine for an entire week. Wet. Mildewing and smelly.
Bah Humbug!!!
I'll be better tomorrow.........

H@nn@h Mont@n@ Crisis - Part One

2007-11-30T00:40:00.001-06:00

Nope- not a getting tickets crisis. We had those. Logistics, a baby, and stupidity did me in though.
Had 5 tickets. Our two boys invited brother/sister friends of ours that we knew really wanted to go and had tried desperately to get tickets.
With 5 tickets only one adult could go - how could I not let each son invite a friend?
Fine - DH will go.
Nope, DH is out of town.
But.. his plane lands at 7:15 and the concert starts at 7:00, so I'll go and I'll just have the mom of the brother/sister we invited watch CiCi until DH gets home. CiCi will not stay with anyone but my mom and my mom could not watch her, but a short amount of time I thought we could handle.
Then my DH calls and says he has to meet with a client as soon as he gets in town. OK, so I'll just call my dad. Maybe that will work. No, dad is meeting with this client (family business). So now there is no way I could leave CiCi for 4 hours knowing she will cry the whole time. I have no one to watch her and I have 4 very- excited-to-go-to-the-concert kids.
So I do what any sane mother would do. I bring CiCi to the concert.
At this point I must admit that we have a box. Which is why we had tickets. This is of course due to my family's addiction to sports. The box is for sports. Concerts just happen to come with the box. Believe me anyone that knew this called me to see if we had any extra tickets.
We've taken CiCi to the suite a few times for basketball games and she has done great and she loves music so I feel we will be OK as long as we get there early and can get all HM goodies before the crowd arrives.
All is in place. I have packed anything that CiCi could possibly need. I have a a camera with film and an extra set of batteries. We are good to go and should easily make it to the arena 45 mins before the concert starts. I am more than halfway into our 40 minute drive when I realize that my stupid self left the coveted, golden tickets AT HOME!!!!!!!!!!
Turn around and of course there is a wreck and now I can see the panic on all the kids faces..........
I do my best to race home, my own panic starting to set in. Finally I get the tickets, race back 40/30 minutes and arrive at exactly 7:00. Whew. Just in time to see the ever-so-Disney-popular Jon@s Brothers. If you have never seen them check out the pictures above taken by my "I want to be a photographer" son.

H@nn@h Mont@n@ - Part 2

2007-11-30T00:33:00.001-06:00

Kenz had a ball!!!! He and his friend danced the entire time. Sweat poured down his face. What was his favorite song? GNO. Girls night out. Too funny. I wish I could share more of the pics I took, but since other children are in them, I won't. However I am sharing the back of Kenz in a pic and if you look closely you can see his hair flying up in the air. It bounced all night until it got too sweaty and then it just stuck to his head.

Arby had a great time. He took all the pics that I am sharing. He was, however, much more subdued. Until we got in the car. Once in the car we played his new CD that we got while braving the crowd at the END of the concert. Once he had the words to the song in front of him and he was within the security of our car - he sang quite loudly!!!!!

And CiCi - she was a trooper. And she also had a ball. She danced. She clapped. She jumped up and down all night in my lap. And during intermission she took her first two real steps. Of all places!!! She was smiling so big and she was very proud. Of course, I have no pictures of that!!!

H@nn@h Mont@n@ - Part 3

2007-11-30T00:16:00.001-06:00

The concert was really good. The kids behaved. The kids had fun. The music is really pretty good. H@nnah was great.
But, if you have ever watched HM on TV, H@nnah is the rock star and Miley is your run of the mill average kid. A bit dorky. Down to earth. etc....
Miley at the concert was not that girl.
She was a bit too risque - for the average age of the crowd that is.
Just like every Disney movie. Why did they have to do that. The Miley character is supposed to be sweet and innocent. Check out the chains in the pic.
It really only lasted two songs. Then it got better. But I must admit I was disappointed. Just in that aspect. The rest of the concert was really fun, decent, geared towards the age of the crowd. Again just like every Disney movie. They have to add the cuss word or have an adult undertone when it really is just not necessary. Just my opinion.

Last Thanksgiving

2007-11-28T01:04:00.000-06:00

I am a bit behind on my blogging, but I can not pass up this time to say how thankful I am to have CiCi home. Thankful to have spent Thanksgiving this year with my entire family. Thankful to know my children are home with me and safe.
What a difference one year makes.
To demonstrate the difference I posted pictures of my sweet CiCi last year on Thanksgiving the day after I first met her. Then I posted pictures of her wearing the same dress, but this time as a shirt with jeans. Wow!!!! It is amazing how time can fly, especially when so much of the adoption process makes you feel as if time stands still.

Smiling

2007-11-28T00:21:00.000-06:00

Again with the "Did she really just do that???"

2007-11-21T09:07:00.000-06:00

Yes, I know it is not necessary to post every little thing my sweet girl does, but I couldn't pass on this one.
Tonight we went to Outback Steakhouse. As I have already pointed out, we are a sports family. So we are sitting there and my DH decides it is time to teach CiCi to put her arms up in the air whenever he says "Touchdown". What does CiCi do the first time he says this to her? She points at the TV screen over at the bar that is showing the football game. She and DH watched it before we were led to our seats, but surely she doesn't really understand the connection between a football game and the word Touchdown, does she?? So we waited a few minutes and said it again... and again she pointed. I was stunned. Granted, my DH's idea of spending quality time with CiCi is to take her downstairs to our playroom and watch football games with her, but I really find this to be ridiculous.

What's That???

2007-11-17T00:00:00.000-06:00

said like the Whazzup? of my generation.
This is my CiCi's favorite phrase. Yes, she can say "What's that???" and not Mommy. Go figure. But it is way too cute (and can border on annoying depending on the when and where). She says this while pointing. And she says it often...to everything...over and over. She says it so often that she actually will say it and then search for something to point at/to.
This phrase really does make me wonder what all she understands. If she's asking this question is she at all understanding our answer? And if she is saying something like What's That, how much more is she saying that our stupid selves haven't yet realized?

Remember that time when you went to jail mommy?

2007-11-14T22:43:00.000-06:00

So last week we had our post placement visit with our social worker. She wanted to talk to atleast one of the boys, so we chose a day that Kenz was out of school. Before the social worker arrived I reminded Kenz that he needed to be very polite and to stay calm (he has a lot of energy)and I asked him not to pick up CiCi. I really thought I had covered the main areas of concern.
Of course I also made sure my house was clean and I wanted to keep it that way so I decided to take Kenz and CiCi to Atlanta Bread Company for breakfast.
We get home with 10 minutes to spare, but our social worker is already at the door knocking. Great start, huh?
So my DH gets the door and leads our social worker to the kitchen table. I had planned on talking in the den near the toys so that CiCi would be comfortable and occupied, but since I was in the garage getting CiCi out of her car seat, what could I do?

Next the barrage of questions followed by Kenz' endless supply of answers. Nice.

And then a question is asked, I can't for the life of me tell you what it was, and Kenz says oh and then tell her about when you had to go to jail.
OK no reason to panic, because as my DH quickly points out he must be talking about when we had to get fingerprinted while paperchasing and Kenz was with us and we had to go one at a time into the jail because we couldn't bring a minor into the jail and...
No, that's not what I am talking about.

At which point I am trying to decide how much time to spend on this. Of course you don't want to look like you are trying to hide something, but now you are no longer sure where he is going with this story.
DH to the rescue again. Oh he must be talking about when we had to go Downtown to get those other fingerprints, remember?
No, that's not what I am talking about. You know mom, this was after you brought CiCi home.

At which point we had nothing.

Honey, why don't you let mommy and daddy answer the rest of the questions.
And we proceed.

The rest of our "interview" seemed to go well. Who knows what our social worker thought about the whole jail comment. She never asked us for further explanation and she wasn't around when we finally figured out what Kenz meant.

You know mommy, when you got off the plane and you had to go to that room with those police officers for Ciara.

Immigration.
which was really cool because CiCi became a citizen on the 4th of July, and although it did involve officers it did not involve handcuffs or jail.
Thanks Kenz.
So should we call our social worker???

Nerts...proof that everything can be found on the computer

2007-11-13T23:17:00.000-06:00

What do we do at our house for fun. A game called NERTS.
Recently I decided my boys were old enough to play this family game that I grew up playing. Growing up we would play this card game for hours. It is similar to solitaire, but you are competing against other people. You can play against as many people as you want. The more that compete the more challenging and fast paced it becomes. Playing with an 8 and a 5 year old, we play as teams. Mommy and one son, Daddy and the other. When I decided to teach the boys, there were a few rules I couldn't remember. So my DH suggests that we look it up online. I, indignantly, inform him that this was a family game and that there is no way we would find this game on the computer. Apparently you can find anything on the computer. Of course as I started to play by these computer rules, the rules that I used during childhood began to spring forth to my mind and these computer rules started to irritate me. It took a little convincing to force my lawyer/rule-abiding husband to switch over to the family way.
Now that I know you can, I highly suggest you google the game nerts and play it at home. Everyone loves solitaire and this game is a way to play solitaire fast and with others. It really forces the kids to think quickly and react. It is lots of fun for families, but also as a couple, with couples, or just with a group of people. The rules I tweaked all had to do with the scoring of the game, not the actual game itself.
Happy Playing!!!

One Year Ago Today

2007-11-12T11:43:00.000-06:00

I received the best call ever. C. from FTC called me to tell me that I had a daughter. He told me a few facts about my little girl, asked if I had any questions (at which point my mind was too numb to formulate any), and said he would send an e-mail containing information about her and her birthmom and pictures of my precious little girl. One of the first things I remember noticing about CiCi in those pictures were her fingers. To this day I still believe she will do something special with her hands - play piano, be an artist, a surgeon, something - she is so precise when she picks up food or a toy and she is always playing with her hands.

I also felt the need to look for signs that this was all meant to be and it was amazing that I found them everywhere - CiCi's birthname is the same as my first ever friend from Guatemala - this one made the hairs on my arm stick up as C. first said my little girls name, CiCi's birthmom is wearing a purple shirt and my favorite color is purple, CiCi is lying on a Strawberry Shortcake blanket and I loved SS as a little girl. As silly as all that sounds it was the reassurance I needed at that time to know that everything was going to work out and that she would end up exactly where she is right now.

Take a look back at her referral pictures and compare them to my little princess now. It amazes me how much she has grown and how much she has become attached to my heart (and hip)forever.

Another picture from the day of CiCi's Christening

2007-11-10T10:42:00.000-06:00

Ciara's Christening

2007-11-08T22:38:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday we were finally able to have Ciara christened. The ceremony was very nice and the christening was even more special because we shared it with my brother and sister-in-law. We chose them to be Ciara's godparents and I am their little girl's godmother. I did not get many good pictures from the day, especially ones of just Ciara. I don't feel comfortable posting pictures of anyone other than my family so that limits the pics I can share. Therefore, I am breaking my no pics of myself rule so that I can share the family pic we took. Hopefully one day I will be able to share a pic of less of me.
The girls were great - especially for being one+ years old and both having a cold, but halfway through the ceremony Ciara became very interested in my hair and started pulling one side and then the other and laughing like it was the funniest thing she has ever before witnessed. I was trying to release her hold of my hair so that I could turn her around to face out, but just as I would get one side released she would grab the other side and start tugging. Our priest even got tickled by it and commented on the challenges of parenting. It was pretty funny.

The Pumpkin Patch

2007-11-02T23:43:00.001-05:00

It has been such a busy week (CiCi's party, CiCi's Birthday, Halloween Party at school, Halloween, parent conferences and CiCi's christening is tomorrow) that I never posted pumpkin patch pictures. And I always love pumpkin patch pictures. So post I must.

Blues Brothers in Action

2007-11-02T23:36:00.001-05:00

Blues Brothers and the Bee

2007-11-02T23:12:00.001-05:00

We had a ball this Halloween. CiCi looked precious in her little outfit and enjoyed the short block of homes that we took her to. She would just kick her legs in excitement every time her brothers performed.

Yep, on Halloween my two Blues Brothers performed. They were all excited beforehand rehearsing what they would do each time a door opened. One would sing "I'm a Soul Man" while the other would play the harmonica. Plus they had this silly little dance to go along with it. I really thought they would be too embarrased to actually perform. They were not. Then I thought they would get bored of it after a few houses. They did not. They got more animated each time. Husbands would be called to the door to come see. Sometimes whole families. And what did this produce?? More candy for performing. Just what they needed!!!! They were covered in sweat from head to toe by the time they made it home.

They are already planning a performance for the whole family for Christmas.....

Signing

2007-10-31T10:53:00.001-05:00

CiCi loves to sign. In August we started attended a sing and sign class through Kindermusik. She loved the class, but never really signed. As part of the class we got a music CD and a DVD. She loved listening to the CD in the car, so I tried out the DVD. The DVD had many of the same songs, but with kids signing. She was fascinated. She would sit in my lap and watch it very closely... and then it started. Her first sign was FRIEND. Then MOMMY (she won't say Mommy, but she signs it - so cute) Then she learned WORK from the song I've Been Working on the Railroad - CiCi thinks that song is the greatest song ever written. I don't know what good learning work is for her right now, but whenever she does it I say, "Yes, Daddy's at work". Next she learned MILK - this one has been very useful. Then she learned EAT and this week she learned MORE and NIGHT-NIGHT. She also claps whenever she hears Good Job, she waves whenever she hears Bye, she puts her head on my shoulder whenever someone says Hello to her. She will put her finger up to her mouth for Shhh.
She has a few others we don't understand, but they clearly mean something to her. The funniest one is she puts her finger in her nose. She means something by this - seriously. And she is so frustrated we can't figure it out. She often does it when we are about to take her out of her carseat. Any ideas as to the meaning of this randomly hilarious sign???

Side note - I actually took ASL in college and worked at the Mississippi School for the Deaf as an intern and a student teacher. I was so gungho to teach this to Arby when he was a baby, but he started talking so early (3 word sentences by the time he turned one) that he really wasn't interested. With Kenz I don't know what happenned, but he never signed anything except I Love You -which he signs to me all the time (awwwwww)
I have to say I am thrilled that CiCi is so interested. I truly feel every person should learn it. We all have the potential to become deaf (or hard of hearing) one day and if it happens to you it sure would help your quality of life to be able to communicate with others. My Grandma can't hear and I sure wish she (and all of us around her) knew some sign language so that she wouldn't have to miss out on so much. Just one of my many soapboxes...

I'm still not finished posting precious pics...

2007-10-29T00:08:00.001-05:00

Chickenbus

2007-10-28T23:41:00.001-05:00

OK - so I am not computer savvy. The other thing I can not figure out how to do - post more than five pics at a time. So I will add a few more birthday pics here while also giving you a brief explanation of Chickenbus.

I am not one to pick up and start using random words, but this one I just love and it fits perfectly for so many occasions and I can say it around the kids and not worry if they mimic me.

What does this word mean?

Well I am sure you have figured that out...

but from where did I find it??

I don't fully remember the story (so C. or anyone else who remembers you can chime in on the comments portion of this post), but it started with a fellow adoptive mom who chose to foster her baby in Antigua. While there her case hit a few snags and she stayed longer than anticipated. Chickenbus!

Why chickenbus?

It is the name of certain buses driven around Guatemala. They are packed with people, inside and out, and I guess they may also carry a few chickens. And they are often driven by madmen (or men that drive like my DH).

So start using Chickenbus. It sure beats having your kids repeat other colorful language we moms may find ourselves using.. um...occasionally.

My Birthday Girl

2007-10-28T23:29:00.001-05:00

CiCi had so much fun. I was a bit worried she would be overwhelmed by all the people at our house, but it did not bother her one bit. She played and smiled and went to other adults (shocking achievement). She loved all the attention, which was clearly given to her by all.

AND she loved her cake.

I wish I could figure out how to post a pic then write about it, then post another pic and write about it, but I am baffled. This story would be so much more interesting if I could tell it alongside pictures (any help from blogland would be appreciated).

But I will try to give you the details here.

In one pic you will see CiCi's cake - the good side. In another you will see - the bad side. I had a friend make the cake for me. She is talented. I am not. Her cakes both look and taste good. A winning combination.

As we were pressed for time between soccer games, end of the season soccer party, and cleaning house and preparing food for guests, I had the grand idea of sending my DH with the kids to pick up the cake. More time for me to get ready without interruption. I didn't consider the fact that my DH is not a great driver, IMHO, and that the cake was stacked presents. So he arrives home with the top cake (CiCi's cake) flipped on to the bottom cake. Chickenbus!!!!

And the 3 kids had nothing to do with this. Kenz even let me know that dad drove normally. Exactly - suspicion confirmed.

That was really our only disaster (except for the way my house looked after the 15 kids that we invited left) so I guess I can't complain. And CiCi loved the cake as evidenced (word???) by the above (chickenbus that I can't figure this out) pictures.

The 15 kids mentioned above enjoyed opening CiCi's presents and she finally got the idea on the last one.

We ended our party with a follow up semi-party/get-together with our normal UT game-watching-friends.

So convenient to my DH that the time of our party worked out perfectly so as

a.) not to disturb his watching of the game and

b.) to be able to watch said game with his best buds.

c.) have a perfect reason not to help clean up.

Not a finger did he lift.

His friends left at halftime.

The game dragged on into overtime.

After that exhausting game it was,of course, time for him to go straight to bed.

This really should be a separate topic. :)

CiCi's Birthday Party

2007-10-27T23:22:00.001-05:00

Today we celebrated CiCi's birthday, but I will tell all about it and post pics tomorrow because tonight I am exhausted and tomorrow is her actual birthday!!!!
I will say we had a blast
and she very much enjoyed her first cake.
Not shy about it .... AT ALL!!!!!!!

Note to Self

2007-10-23T15:12:00.000-05:00

Never buy Halloween candy 3 weeks in advance!!!

My afternoon with Kenz that wasn't

2007-10-22T00:24:00.001-05:00

Friday Kenz had a field trip. To see the community at work his Kindergarten class went to our local police and fire stations, the post office, and the library. After seeing these things they then ate at the park while listening to music, which is part of our local Pops at the Park on Fridays. All of these places are located in a central area in our town known as the Municipal Center. Unfortunately I could not attend this field trip because siblings are not allowed. I could, however, meet the class at the park and eat lunch. Kenz was happy that I could meet for lunch, but he let me know that this was the first time I had not gone on one of his field trips. Such guilt. Anyway I worked very hard to get CiCi down for an early nap. Mission accomplished and very proud was I. Of all days CiCi decides to sleep...forever. I am so not the rigid type when it comes to naps or schedules or anything really, but I do believe if a child is sleeping they need that sleep and I hate to wake a sleeping child. So I waited and I waited and then I knew that I must wake her. We were already five minutes late and if I waited any longer...
So I wake her up. I arrive at the park. I spot Kenz' class. I get out of the car with CiCi. I walk up to Kenz. He gives me a quick hug and runs off to play with friends. I say hello to two parents and then the teacher calls all the kids to get in line. To Leave. Two minutes. I was there for less than two minutes. I woke CiCi up from a perfectly nice nap for two minutes, and a quick hug. I watched my sweet boy walk away with his class. He was happy I came. That was really all he needed. To know that I showed up. But man did it hurt to watch him walk away. I have been through this before after having Kenz. I had to miss things with Arby because of the no sibling policy, but this really was a first with Kenz and I wasn't used to it.
Anyway... CiCi and I did enjoy our picnic lunch. We set out our blanket and set out our lunch. We listened to the somewhat relaxing-extremely-interesting-yet-not-so-good-but sorda-tolerable music.
I was amazed by how long CiCi stayed on that blanket. My boys would have lasted 3 minutes. Tops. Unless they really liked the food and then maybe an extra 2 minutes. CiCi sat and ate and played on that blanket for almost 45 minutes before she decided to venture off of it. I could not believe it. The difference between boys and girls???? Maybe so.

We've been busy

2007-10-21T23:41:00.001-05:00

Always. And I really have tried to cut down on the after school activities, but I tell you what... we are always on the go I don't see this slowing down for about 15 more years, so I need to find a way to do it all and still find some quiet peaceful time - not just for me, but for the kids. Not that they think they want it, but I'm convinced that if they knew what it felt like they would at least want it every once in a while. :)

Right now our biggest after school activity is soccer. We love soccer. And it is so good for the boys. However, here was our Saturday morning schedule:

9:00 - Arby game

10:30 - Arby, CiCi and I watched my niece's game (different location)

The picture above is of Arby on the way back from my niece's game.

It is so rare for him to fall asleep in the middle of the day that I had to take a picture of it when we stopped at a red light.

11:00 - 12:00 - DH worked the concessions stand for soccer

11:30 - Kenz game

CiCi is such a good sport - she usually sits in her stroller cheering for her brothers and clapping every time she hears someone else clap. So cute!!!

then we went straight home to watch UT lose to 'Bama - this is not good for the family

then DH and Arby left for Houston - to watch (on Sunday) another football game (Titans..they won)

Sports are a part of our family. Always. Which is why we will forever be on the go. Kenz woke up this morning and placed his Titans jersey in my car. Why? Because he can't wear it to church, so he must leave it in the car in order to put it on as soon as church is over. We always go to lunch after church with my parents - knowing this Kenz suggested/decided that we must go to a restaurant with a TV so that he could, of course, watch the Titans play. All of this would be normal to me if my DH was here feeding this to him like he usually does - but today this was all Kenz' doing.

The picture of Kenz in the Titans jersey was from a different fan-crazed day, but I am adding it here since I didn't take a picture of it again today.

OK - well the picture of Kenz posted up at the top. I have finally figured out how to make all my pictures upright, but I still can't figure out how to place them where I want them to go. UGH!!!!