Hi!

Kids are out of school today but I am at work! Um... posting to my blog.

So yeah.

I had Kyan at the ER last Sat night with a scary-high temperature. After 14 yrs I'm not a panicky mom, so trust me when I say this fever was BAD. They gave him a rapid strep test, which came back negative, and sent us home. He seemed fine Sunday so I thought nothing of it and sent him to school Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday evening, around 9:30pm the hospital called to tell me his "real" strep test was back from the lab and it was positive.

Oh. Oh no. I sent a kindergartner to school with strep for TWO DAYS! Oops. With an older kid I might not have stressed too much, but 5 yr olds are gross. They spit, snot, and drool all over the place and each other. So we probably just gave his entire kindergarten class strep. Yay.

He's on antibiotics now and is no longer contagious. He better not be - he's at a classmate's house for a play date today while school is out. Of course that boy has already been exposed, so it's too late anyway.

We're going to have a fun weekend anyway. Kyan's last soccer game is tomorrow morning, then we have a birthday party in the afternoon. Tomorrow evening, I'm going out with some girls for some much-needed fun. Haunted house, followed by some drinks - should be a LOT of fun! Sunday we're going to visit my best friend from when I was a kid, and her family. I haven't seen her in just over 15 yrs (can't believe it's been that long!) so it's going to be a really neat afternoon.

Little over 2.5 hrs left to go until the start of my crazy-busy-fun weekend!

Not enough sleep = too much food

Is it just me or does everyone eat more when they're overtired? Saturday night Kyan had an extremely high fever and had to go to the ER in the middle of the night. We were there for hours and subsequently didn't get much sleep. He's fine, btw.

But Sunday, we slept until 10:30, obviously didn't go to church (couldn't take a sick kid anyway) and spent the (warm, beautiful) day in the house. He was supposed to be resting, but since the Motrin finally brought his temp down and he was feeling better, he wanted to play. He was very, very sad he couldn't go outside, and I was tired, crabby, and overfed. It was not a pleasant way to spend the day. It ended well, with all 3 of us sprawled out on my bed watching the Simpsons, so it could've been worse, but it also could've been tons better.

One day of being derailed isn't anything to get too upset about. It's going to happen and I need to get my mind set that even when it does happen I'm not going to let it completely derail me. One bad day I can live with, a lifetime of bad days will kill me. So I guess I keep plugging along.

Tonight is Kyan's drama class at 4, then we're having veggie lasagna for dinner. It's a new recipe and I can't wait to try it! I'm pretty psyched! I love this whole foods/veggie rich way of eating! I'm hoping to go on a bike ride since this isn't church cleaning night, but if not I'll do some sort of workout -- Zumba, tai chi, or find another good aerobic work out. I need to check my OnDemand channels and see what I can do for free! IF the dog will let me. :-S

So, it's Monday, and while the weekend didn't go quite how I hoped, today is a new day starting a new week. Begin again!

Eatin' plants gives ya energy

Whoda thunk it? Eatin' plants gives ya energy! And boy is that important to me these days! I'm in terrible shape -- horrible. Well, unless you consider round. But that's "a" shape, not "in" shape. Which is what I want to be.

So I eat plants. And have started trying Zumba, and tai chi. I just grabbed some youtube videos and use those, but it still counts in that whole "eat less - move more" thing. So it's good. Plus, I can feel that my muscles have worked! Not sore, not pain, but worked. This is very, very good.

See, the past 2 years have been very rough and I've allowed myself to sort of give up on taking care of me. Eating too much crap, not exercising enough, letting how stressed I feel decide what I eat and how I behave rather than kicking stress in the teeth and fighting back. The time has come to FIGHT BACK! Because seriously, when your 5-yr old pats your belly and says, "Mommy, we have to get some weight off you," you have a problem.

But not for long! I'm reclaiming my former healthy, exercising, not-eating-everything-in-sight ways and will get back to myself sooner, rather than later. W00T!

And since it's been a while, gonna post pics of my boys. I can't believe how big Kyan is:




and how GROWN UP Jaben is. How did he get to be a high school freshman??



Those? Are 2 very good reasons to take better care of myself. I want to be around to drive them crazy for a very, very long time!

Maybe not

So much for taking advantage of that child vacation. I worked, got some stuff accomplished around the house, and missed my boys. That's it. No big epiphanies, no soul searching, just.... hanging out, missing my kids.

At some point I know I'm going to have to figure out life without them, but Kyan is only 5 so I don't feel any real pressing need. Right now, this is my life. I work, sure, I do a few things "on the side" to keep my hand in with creative graphics (job does NOT require creativity!), but first and foremost I'm the mom.

And you know what? That's okay. It's my choice. I could do other things, I'm sure. People tell me I need to do some things for myself and I'm sure I do sometimes. But it's not priority for me. My priorities lie with my boys, and because that's what I choose - they're what I choose - it's all good.

I do reserve the right to change my thoughts on this at any time, but right at this moment, I'm cool with where things are. For now, let's just go with that.

Some birthday pics

Gotta show off the birthday boy and post pics of the Thomas cake I made. Now, you CAN look at the Thomas cake, just don't look at the face.

Enjoy!

Kyan on his real birthday with the "throw together" cake.

The Thomas cake.

Kyan and the Thomas cake. Love the facial expression!

Thomas cake from another angle.

Thomas cake and the "extra" cake. I had too much sheet cake and tons of leftover colored frosting, so I used it up by making the second cake! Yeah, too much cake in my house now...

Boys playing at Kyan's party!

Kyan blowin out the candle on Thomas.

Kids all playing in the playroom during the party.

Kyan and Xavier.

Kyan and Alli.

This is all I'm going to post. There's more, but seriously, you can only look at so many of someone else's kid's birthday pictures. Kyan had a GREAT birthday - on the real day and on party day. An d that's all that matters.

Well, that and not having to do this for him again for another YEAR!!

Happy Birthday Kyan!!

So Kyan is 4 today. Doesn't seem possible. I could swear I just had him, but here we are, 4 yrs down the road and he's an awesome kid. He chose dinner tonight and we're having hot dogs, mac n cheese, and happy face french fries. Oh, and cake. Color chip cake with color chip frosting and Lightning McQueens and Maters on one side. Cuz he decorated it. I need to take a picture, it's THAT cute!

Ugh, I'm tired so this isn't shaping into much of a sappy Birthday post. Sorry bud... I'll make it up to you, I promise.

Some Photos or Catching Up

I never managed to post pictures of Kyan on his first day of preschool, so here they are!

Getting ready to leave home...

Just in the door, ready for Mommy to leave already!

Sitting down at the table, starting to work his puzzle. This is what they do when they first arrive.

Cute kid, huh? He did really great the first 2 days, but since then he's been crying when I leave. I'm not quite sure what happened, but am hopeful he'll get better as the year goes on. It really sucks that he gets so upset, but fortunately his teachers are awesome about it, and he's really fine about 2 mins after I'm gone. Still... I wish the crying would stop!!

These next 2 pics are of a birthday cake - or cakes rather - I made for my cousin's little girl's birthday party yesterday. I think they came out beautifully! Course now everyone wants me to make their birthday cakes.... which is fine by me! It's actually a lot of fun!

Chocolate cake with white icing...

White cake with chocolate icing...

Must run in the family...

It's that time again... DRAMA CLASS!

We're doing A Christmas Carol again, and again, Jaben will be playing Bob Marley. Now, he's not overly happy about that... he wanted a different part this time and expected a different part this time. But, it is what it is and he'll do his best. Plus, the next play is Pinocchio and I think Jaben would be an adorable Pinocchio! The best way to get that particular part is to do his best and rock out a part he's not entirely happy with. Now, Bob Marley is a really good part, don't get me wrong. It's a show stopper - roll on the floor laughing if it's done right. And he CAN do it right. So, he will.

The one big change we have this time around is Kyan. He is participating in the rehearsals! He did the singing audition (OH SO CUTE!!) and began learning the dances with the other kids. Jill told him his part is Child 1 (which she made up to make him happy) and he's trying really hard. I don't know if he'll actually make it on stage when the time comes - that's up to him and how he does - but he's going to work along side the other kids as long as he wants. And he's so CUTE doing it!

I forgot my camera last night but believe me I will have it next week! You gotta see it to believe it! GO Kyan!!

Awesome hand me down from big brother!

We've had this Power Wheels Harley since Jaben was little, but couldn't find the charger for the longest time. Well, my mom's been using her time off to clean out and organize and found it! Check out little Kyan on his big bad Harley - I swear I've had to pry the kid off for meals all day! It's all he wants to do and he's having the best time! Yay for big brother's old toys! 

And a short video as well...

Really cool

Check these out! I made these from Jaben & Kyan's birthday posts. You should be able to click on them to make your own. Very fun, very fast and I think they look really neat! Sorry they're so small... if you click you can get to the page and see them larger.

Jaben's



Kyan's

Dumbo

I've been trying to keep Kyan occupied and let him have a little fun while we're home together. It's mostly just me and him since Jaben is so busy - he has a life outside of this house! (yay Jabe!) So yesterday we went to the library to get some books for both of us and a free DVD for Kyan. I can't tell you how excited I was to find Dumbo!

I haven't seen Dumbo since I was a little kid (Jaben says he's never seen it and I believe him - I don't remember ever watching it with him), so I didn't remember much about it, except that Dumbo is a flying elephant. The things I had forgotten! I loved the movie and so did Kyan, but I kept thinking that there is no way Disney would get away with this movie today. I'm pretty open minded, but even I was a little uncomfortable with the "grown up" elephants making fun of, and excluding Dumbo - who was just a baby, and the frequent use of the word "freak" to describe Dumbo... simply because he had big ears. So if that bothered me, I just can't see how it would get by today. Imagine the "Dumbo protests" there would be!

I had also completely forgotten about the scene in which Dumbo and the mouse get drunk (!) and see the pink elephants. Seriously... a baby elephant in a Disney movie getting drunk! It was funny. Probably somewhat inappropriate (especially since I had to find a way to explain to Kyan what was going on - the water made them silly), but funny nonetheless. And the elephants on parade sequence? So very, very cool. It's got some great classic Disney animation and is a bit psychadelic, which, I think, makes it unique. Check it out for yourself:

It's quiet

It's after 9am on a Tuesday and both boys are still sleeping. I don't think Kyan's ever slept this late in his life and I even went in to check and make sure he was still breathing! I think the heat of the past few days got to him and he's just worn out. He was running around in the hot playroom last night and threw up. The heat is not his friend - he has such a delicate system to begin with that he just can't handle it. He and I went yesterday to buy an air conditioner for the living room window. It's not fabulous, but it makes the house livable. We're going today to buy one for my bedroom. Even tho the temp has dropped today, we're still going to need it.

I have been working on a few things. I've gotten my resume put up on Monster. I'm working on a second blog to showcase some of my portfolio, as well as my resume. That's going to have to be without the contact info - other than the email address. The site doesn't look too good yet - I had a block or something when I finally sat down to do it, but it will get better and I will link to it when I'm ready.

I also have an order form to redo for my aunt and uncle's business. I am hoping to get to that later today, so that I can get it to them for proofing and revisions.

I need to clean my house, go thru things on the back porch and in the garage for the sale in a couple of weeks. I need to organize my bedroom, Kyan's room, paperwork I haven't filed or even really touched in too long. I need to have breakfast.

Things are moving along, albeit slowly. It'll get there, and it's easier to be motivated today than it was yesterday. It's cooler today, the heat makes me drowsy. At least now tho, when it gets too hot again, Jaben's and my sunburns are healed enough that we'll be able to go swimming again.

Also, Jaben's play(s) was this weekend. My sister took pictures for me since my camera died. As soon as she gets them to me I will post some. He was amazing! It always blows me away to see him on stage -- he's gotten so comfortable and seems so natural you'd never know the amount of work that goes into each show. Wait until I post the pictures - he was a simply awesome Artful Dodger! 5 shows under his belt and he's signed up for #6 in December. WTG Jaben!

Eczema

Kyan has eczema. He's always had eczema. He was born with eczema. He never, ever had that beautiful, soft, can't-stop-touching-it baby skin. He's always, always, always had eczema. And so I've learned how to care for it and make it better. Not cured, but better.

I highly recommend Huggies shea butter baby wash, coupled with Huggies shea butter lotion. Sensitive skin, fragrance free type, of course. Works wonders.

Except lately. For the past 2 weeks he's had a nasty outbreak on his bottom. I've tried everything - and I mean everything (mom told me to try Crisco on it and I DID!) and nothing works. It's gotten better... he can sit on it now. But it's not clearing up.

So, off to the doctor we went. We couldn't see our regular doctor, but got in quite easily with his wife (who is a total sweetheart! and you've got to love a practice that is truly a "family" practice!) who was so, so helpful. Kyan was more than happy to show off his hiney (what 3-yr old boy isn't?) and even shook it around for her. And now? Prescription cream (I believe she said steroid??) at bedtime every night, Benedryl at bedtime every night (wait, permission to drug my child to sleep??), and a special kind of soap.

Oh, and my favorite. No baths.

Gulp.

No baths for a 3-yr old in the spring.

Okay okay, not really "no" baths, but much fewer. Which does not bode well with a kid who only gets one every second or third night as it is. But, water is a no-no for a kid with eczema (especially as bad as his bottom is at the moment) so we shall forgo (most) baths for the time being.

I must resort to wash cloth sponge baths for now. Fun. If you have a little boy, I'm sure you're familiar with that lucious little boy smell of dirt and sweat. It's lovely, one of my favorite smells, actually. But imagine that smell on limited baths.

For possibly weeks.

In the spring.

Yeah.

I wonder if it'd be bad to Febreeze my 3-yr old?

My son… the exhibitionist

So Kyan’s new thing is peeing outside. I know that’s normal for little boys (and some little girls too) but yesterday he took it to new heights . Or lows, depending on your viewpoint.

We were on the big back porch getting ready to go into the house when Ky said he had to pee. So of course I told him to go in and use the potty. But oh no, not my boy! He gave me his sweet little devil smile and said, “No mommy, I pee here.”

Here, being outside.

Since I’m not one to argue with a newly potty-trained 3 yr old, I said fine, just don’t do it on the porch.

So he didn’t. We haven’t been able to fix up the porch yet, so he went over to a broken-out window, and proceeded to whip it out and pee on the driveway thru the open window!

Which would’ve been fine (I know, a little too mellow, perhaps?), except mid-stream two little girls rode by on their scooters, and Kyan waved at them and said brightly, “Hi!”

Um, yeah. No more peeing outside.

*yawn*

Dayam I'm tired.

I think I stayed up too late Sunday night watching Return of the King. But can you blame me? Orlando Bloom. 'Nuff said.

Then yesterday Kyan's daycare provider needed the day off, so I hung with him all day. We came to work for 2 hrs (trust me, that was long enough), and spent some time outside. Then we took Jaben to guitar lessons, then spent MORE time outside.

He ended the day filthy and I ended it exhausted.

I'm glad we had so much time outside tho. It's already cooler today and is supposed to start raining tonight and not end until... Well, they haven't actually SAID when.

This is Ohio... the snow melts and the rains come. We give raincoats for Easter. April showers doesn't begin to describe the torrential downpours that are sure to come.

But I'm okay with that. As long as we're done with the snow? I can deal with the rain.

Today, it's chilly but pretty... I think I'll take Ky to the park while Jabe is at scouts. We'll be chilled, but he'll be happy. Might as well get out there while we can!

Gotta love that Fit!

I am LOVING my new little car!! Nothing to report yet on the promised amazing gas mileage, but the car itself rocks! The color is more copper than orange, but I’m calling it orange. We LOVE it! Jabe and I had a ball driving it home last night.

Kyan… well, not so much. I asked him on the way home what he thought of Mommy’s new car…

“I don’t like it.”

Me: Why don’t you like it?? I LOVE it.

Ky: It’s different.

Apparently Kyan’s not a big fan of different. Still this morning, putting him in the wonderfully new-smelling car to head out for the day he wanted to know why we were driving **this** car. He said we needed Mommy’s big white car. Well, it was silver, but whatever. I guess we’ve found out Kyan doesn’t like change.

He’d better get used to the Fit tho. He’s going to be learning to drive in this car!!

Hopefully will be able to post pics soon.

What do you do….

When one child has lost his PSP by taking it outside, putting it down, and FORGETTING ABOUT IT, then neglects to mention this little detail for…oh, THREE DAYS?

And the other, who seems to have forgotten he is potty trained for an entire day - when told, “I do not want to hear another word out of either of you,” responds with...

“Word.”

eBay, anyone?

Easter 08; in pictures

First, you must color the eggs...










All the little egg dyers, lined up in a row... looks like not everybody wanted their picture taken...




Next, the Easter Bunny comes and leaves goodies for all the spoiled little boys...




and hides the eggs in really obvious places....




Then, you must find the eggs (it's good to have a big brother to help!)...






Hmm... there must be more eggs here somewhere...




Ah-ha! Success!




What spoiled boys we are!




And at the end of a long, busy Easter, there's nothing like a good nap!



Hope your Easter was as eggs-ellent as ours!!

200 POSTS!!

I can’t believe this is my 200th post! Yay for me. Actually I just realized that as I opened blogger, so I don’t have any super-cool 200th post thing planned. If you’re reading, feel free to post a “you rock” comment. You know you want to.

So how am I going to use my epic 200th post, you ask? Why, to talk about what a lousy mom I’ve been lately, that’s how!

Ever have days/weeks/months when you feel like all you ever do is yell at your kids? Yeah, that’s how I feel lately. None of us seems to be able to do anything right. They don’t do what they’re told and I don’t handle it well and yell at them about it. I made a first step at making things better with Jaben by posting a chore chart for him. One of the reasons we’ve been having problems lately is because I feel like I don’t get enough help around the house. Seriously, how hard is it to put clothes in a drawer or laundry basket?

So every night when he gets home from school, he needs to check the chore chart and do what’s listed. And then do his homework. Very simple. He was told on the first day as well that the consequence for not doing it was to miss the Haven. Since this is the first week, I gave him 2 nights of skipping (after warning him that it’d better be done on night 2) and then told him no Haven tonight. Nobody is happy with me today, but I didn’t have a choice. I’m sure Jaben thought I’d give in and let him go, and I so wanted to let him go. But I couldn’t. If I give in already, the whole thing is wasted effort and he’ll see that I have no follow through on anything and he can do whatever he wants. That’s not the message I want to send to him. I want him to learn that there are consequences when he doesn’t do what he’s supposed to, and that there are rewards when he does. He hasn’t been the easiest, most well behaved child lately (where did the LYING come from, anyway?? Is this normal for this age or is it just my kid??) so we’ve got to start somewhere. And this is that start. I don’t like it, but it’s my job.

Now Kyan is a little trickier. With him it’s not leaving his things lying around. He is at the age where he likes to help me and wipe up his own messes, so that’s not the issue. With him it’s crying, hanging on me all the time, and being so clingy. I know that’s a good thing because it means he loves me, and I realize how lucky I am to have a happy, healthy little boy who is here and can hang on me and love me to distraction. But he needs to become more independent. He needs it and I need it. He will be starting preschool in September (please God let the ride work out!!) – did I mention we got the card in the mail saying he got in, and will be in the class I wanted him in?? So yes, that will help. For the time being tho, I am at a loss. I am hopeful that more one-on-one time will help, so I’m taking him to the mall on Sat for the “Easter treasure hunt welcome the bunny” thing they’ve got going on. Just US. He needs that and so do I. Kyan and mommy and it should be fun. Maybe he’ll even get some time in their play area. I think he’d like that.

And just so you don’t think I’m neglecting Jaben, he is getting some one-on-one time Saturday too. The Jamestown concert is that night and of course we have tickets!! But I’m thinking about taking him out to dinner, again, just us, so that we can talk and bond a little bit, and maybe find a way to see eye to eye on the things we’re having the most conflict over.

You know, most of the time this mom thing isn’t too rough of a road. There are hugs, kisses and giggles along the way, and I know how lucky and blessed I am. They’re healthy, mostly happy, and they’re here. But some weeks… it’s hard to not post them on eBay.

I voted - did you?

Whether your primary is today (ours is!), or has already happened, I hope you voted! I would love it if you voted for the same candidate as me, but it's not a requirement. Just VOTE for someone!!

coughObamain08cough

*********

Tonight is the Boy Scout red and green banquet. We made cookies and actually didn't burn most of them! Major improvement over last week, let me assure you.

Kyan doesn’t want to go tho. I mean, I’m sure he will. His not going would mean me leaving the house without him – and we know that’s not going to happen. I can’t imagine he would want to go… it’s not about him, he has to eat food he’s not familiar with, made by people he doesn’t know, sit still and not play…. Just not the place an active 3 yr old wants to be. But I’m betting he won’t stick to his idea of “stay home with bama (grandma).”

Speaking of Kyan, cute little story I posted on my message board I thought I’d share here.

Yesterday morning Kyan had on these drawstring sweats that had pockets. He put his hands into the pockets and was walking around that way (loves his pockets, that one) and I commented that he looked like a little old man when he did that. Ky gives me that cute little mischievous grin, hunches his shoulders, shoves his hands further into his pockets and uses them to hike his pants up as high as they'd go, bent his knees and waddled in an "old guy" walk across the living room. Cracked. Me. Up!