Monthly Archives: August 2008

Visting the Cousins

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Packed up the boys and headed down to Hoquiam last night to see Linda, Scott and the girls. Despite the holiday weekend we made decent time and the kids got to play with their cousins before bedtime. It’s always fun to go see Linda and Scott, plenty of laughs and good conversation and the kids just adore their cousins.
We got up this morning and got ready for a family reunion, Dee’s mom’s side of the family. There were relatives she hadn’t seen in 10+ years! I was nervous, as they didn’t know about our family and Hoquiam is basically full of “McCain for President” billboards and they don’t necessarily embrace our unique situation. It all went well, I’m sure there were many whispering to eachother but nobody seemed to have a problem. Good thing because we would have high tailed it out of Dodge.
We made a stop at the cemetary on the way out of town so Dee could see her mom’s grave site. The coolest thing happened, there was a deer sitting right next to it, probably 10 feet away, just watching. Levi kept asking what all of the gravestones were, they all think that when people die they go live on the moon and watch over us, and I tried to explain that it was where people remember their loved ones. Death is such a tough thing to explain…
The boys were tired after the trip but we had free tickets to the Tacoma Rainiers game tonight (that we won at a foster parent appreciation dinner). We made it through 3 innings before we packed up and called it quits. It was just too much for them, nobody was watching the game and it’s no fun trying to keep 3 tired kids entertained at a ballgame when they aren’t interested. While we were leaving, after many warnings to behave, Carlos was crying and saying he didn’t want to leave and Levi and Trey were following his lead. I was happy to get in the van and have the dvd player to distract them from leaving the stadium.
Great trip, even if it was short but glad to be back home. I hate to admit it but I’m thinking that summer may be gone for good. Since school is just around the corner, we’re going to get out the bin of fall clothes and start trying them on.

Brotherly Love

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The sleep study is over and that’s one more thing we can check off the big ol “To Do” list. I feel like it was last night…I’m wiped out!
It was nice to spend some time with Carlos, he slept better that night than he has in a long time, go figure. I thought I would stay up late and watch a grown-up movie but he was restless so I just rested with him and then watched a little tv before dozing off. The hard part about a sleep study is that they are coming in every so often to do something, reattach wires, add more wires, put him on his back, etc, etc. So just as I would get to sleep the tech guy would come in and I’d be awake again. Let me tell you, after that night the 5:45am wake up call came early. We went out for a nice breakfast and got back home. I really missed Dee, Levi and Trey…even in that short overnight period of time.
We’re trying to get our house in order so it looks like a total bomb went off. The end result should be much more functional so then I’ll be happy but I’m NOT good with the mess that is our house right now. Time to zero in on one project at a time and get things done, otherwise it’s overwhelming.
Carlos got a rude awakening today…he was acting out (you’re shocked, I know!) and I told him that if he didn’t pull it together he would go to Carolyn’s. She’s a no b.s. kind of gal and doesn’t put up with his garbage. Truth is, he really does like her but the bottom line is that he wants to be with mama, no matter what. So he was acting up this morning and I put him in the Naughty Spot and he actually had the nerve to come out of the Naughty Spot and stomp my foot. Bad move, dude. I called Carolyn and he is over there now for some attitude readjustment time. I think it’ll help. I hated to leave him so upset but he did it to himself. I called over there and he’s steaming mad, hasn’t gotten up off the couch the whole time he’s been there.
Parenting advice from a novice parent….ya gotta follow through, it really does pay off!
Found these fun shots of the boys to share….sometimes they really do just love eachother (and then someone goes and pinches or hits and then it’s war).

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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Wish us luck, Children’s Hospital just had a cancellation so Carlos and I are headed over to the sleep clinic tonight for his sleep study.
It’ll be nice to have some one on one time with Carlos and I’m sure he’ll do just fine. I’m bringing the laptop so I can blog (I’m sure I won’t be sleeping well) and maybe watch a movie or something after he’s gone to sleep. Stay tuned!

Planning Ahead

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I always feel better about things when I have a few meals prepared in the freezer for those busy days that dinner seems to sneak up on me. We’ve been on the go all summer and the boys haven’t been eating all the much with the hot weather and all so I haven’t kept up on keeping the freezer stocked. Tonight I made 3 rigatonis (my favorite), BBQ pork chops and Honey Ginger Pork Chops and they are waiting patiently in the freezer to be used up. I feel better about the school year starting already.
We’ve also been working a little on getting the office area cleaned up and useable…and getting some of the clutter out of the house.
Another project no accomplished was the dreaded “try on all the boys shoes” and getting rid of ones they don’t wear and ones that are too small. If you know me, you know I can’t pass up a deal on boy’s shoes. But you all will be impressed…Levi is down to 8 pairs, Carlos is at 12 pairs (hey, hey…he gets all the hand me downs!) and Trey is down to 5 pairs. I’m doing WAY better on not buying them more shoes, they have plenty.
It’s a good feeling to get things done, guess this dreary wet weather makes us slow down and catch up with life.

Boom…that didn't work out so well

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So another of my little saying has come to bite me in the backside. In order to not be catering to our boy’s every whim, when they constantly ask for us to fetch them things we tend to respond with “I’m sorry, I’m not your servant” Well, when I took Carlos to the eye doctor awhile back the somewhat stuffy optometrist asked him to take the clipboard with his info up to the front desk, in which he responded “I’m not your servant” Yes, yes a proud moment as a mama for sure. That was one of the times when I was glad that other people don’t always understand what he says. Whew! We talked about it and how that wasn’t an appropriate thing for him to say to someone, etc, etc, etc.

So now….the phrase moves onto Trey. Trey has been all sorts of feisty and generally horrid to be around these days. It’s pretty typical 3 year old stuff, but man it’s getting old. If he goes into time out he screams at us about how he doesn’t want to and that he won’t go and on and on and on. Then he screams “I am not your servant!” He has no clue what it means, just thinks it gives him some power to say it. It’s tough when your sweet 2 year old comes into his own and finds his voice and has no problem telling you off.

Fun at the Fair

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Who doesn’t love an evening of lemonade, elephant ears, BBQ burgers and corn and a ton of farm animals all topped off with a roller coaster ride? Our kids DUG it. We even ran into a few friends while we were there (Rebecca and Robb, Levi’s G.A.L., two of our softball mom’s and the nicest sales lady from the Gap who recognized us). The kids were all disappointed that they only got to do 2 rides (seriously that was $18 just to do that) but we promised that next year we’d get the all you can ride bracelets and spend more time at the Fair.
And big swimming news for Carlos…he had a private lesson with Marjorie again today and he put his face in the water, more than once! He can’t wait to get us into the pool to show us what he can do, he’s very proud.