I promised to explain what 12 of 12 was and didn’t do it, so now I am. I read about 12 of 12 at Erik’s blog, My Year of New Things in this post. I love Erik’s blog because the well… I just do. Go check him out and you’ll see what I mean. Basically, a 12 of 12 is where you take 12 pictures during the course of your day on the 12th of the month, and post them with short captions of what each picture represents. It’s pretty interesting, really!
So anyway, I thought I’d do a 12 of 12 myself and let everyone in on the mind-numbing routine that is often my life – during the week. Unfortunately, I thought I’d use the camera (digital) I got at Wal-Mart for $20 instead of the nice, expensive one my mommy bought me for Christmas a couple of years ago. The cheapy camera looks just like a small film camera… in other words, it doesn’t have the handy screen on the back to you can see your picture immediately. Which is why most of my pictures that day didn’t come out. If they had, I was going to be all creative and do a 12 of 12 of my life this month, then maybe next month have Jaben do 12, then the next month have someone else do it, and eventually have a 12 of 12 each month by a different poster. It’d be cool, I think.
I’m probably going to still try that… IF I can get my stupid pictures to come out! So don’t steal my idea, okay? ;-) It’s probably not an original idea as it is, but guest 12’s would still be cool. So maybe down the line I’ll still have a bunch of guest 12’s. So if anyone who knows me (does anyone read this??) wants to volunteer to do 12, let me know and we’ll hook you up! Pics and descriptions can be emailed – for anyone out of town.
In other news, I cut my hair off. It was bugging me, it was too long, it was out of control, and in short – it looked bad. It’s about shoulder length now, many layers on the ends, and the pain in the ass bangs are blended so they can now grow out – out of my way!! Who knew that with a toddler I’d be too time-crunched in the morning to mess with them?
And, Cub Scout day camp is Thurs and Fri for Jaben, then we have the overnight on Saturday (I think!!) so busy week. Tonight we go to have him fitted for his FOOTBALL uniform – I can’t believe he’s going to be playing tackle football. I’m very conflicted about this in so many ways, so let’s not talk about it anymore. Also on Thurs we’re going to meet with a potential new daycare provider for Kyan… fingers crossed. He’s a fussy-boy, so whoever takes him has to be special. 2 phone calls and I like this woman already… I hope we click and we like her and she likes us and can/is willing to handle a fussy-boy.
And my car is sick. My friend’s husband thinks he can fix it… I hope he can. I hope it doesn’t break down on me before it gets fixed… I don’t want to get stranded on the side of the road!! I hope it doesn’t cost as much as I’m afraid it’s going to cost. I’d be willing to take donations! (just kidding)(sorta)
And that about does it for today’s update. I managed to only start 3 paragraphs with and…. Not to bad. Ha!
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Thursday, July 13, 2006
[insert foul word of your choice here]
Okay, so most of my pictures didn't come out. So much for 12. But, I'll post the ONE picture of Kyan eating that came out. Except he's not eating, he's posing. But he's still cute as hell.
Oh, and while I'm at it, how cute is this...
AND... so nobody thinks the 10-yr old isn't JUST as cute (in a different way), take a look at this cool kid...
Oh, and while I'm at it, how cute is this...
AND... so nobody thinks the 10-yr old isn't JUST as cute (in a different way), take a look at this cool kid...
I'm so hungry right now!
Tonight I’m planning to post a 12 of 12, which I will explain later and should’ve probably been posted yesterday, but I didn’t get around to it. I’m actually just amusing myself while I wait for it to be lunchtime. Not that I have a designated lunch time or anything, but it seems weird to eat lunch before noon since that’s when everyone else eats. But I’ve been hungry since like 10!! I know, I know, I could’ve eaten something, but since I’m trying to eat less and get used to feeling a bit hungry sometimes I’d really rather not do that. And please don’t anyone tell me how you should eat when you’re hungry… that’s not really the best thing for me, personally. It’s a process and this is how I reduce how much I eat.
Anyway, so I’m starving and I have a lovely chicken sandwich sitting in the fridge waiting for me to come eat it. Or dreading for me to come eat it. Except I’m sure chicken sandwiches don’t have thoughts… or feelings. Well, maybe they once did, but…
Okay, now I’m just going to gross myself out, thinking about food-chicken vs. animal-chicken and I really, really don’t want to go there 5 mins before I plan to eat. Ew, ew, ew, ew!!
Oh – you know who’s really cute when he eats? KYAN. It is absolutely adorable to watch him eat – seriously. He’s at the table now, in a booster seat and he just sits there with his little (strong) paper plates with little designs on them, fork in one hand, fistful of food in the other and just…. eats. I know, I know, only his mom could think watching him eat his dinner is * that * cute – or even cute at all probably, but it IS! I took a picture of him last night for 12 of 12 and if it came out I plan to post it later and everyone can see how cute Ky is when he eats. It’s just plain adorable… I promise!!
Ooh! I can eat now. Time to post and have my lunch!!
Anyway, so I’m starving and I have a lovely chicken sandwich sitting in the fridge waiting for me to come eat it. Or dreading for me to come eat it. Except I’m sure chicken sandwiches don’t have thoughts… or feelings. Well, maybe they once did, but…
Okay, now I’m just going to gross myself out, thinking about food-chicken vs. animal-chicken and I really, really don’t want to go there 5 mins before I plan to eat. Ew, ew, ew, ew!!
Oh – you know who’s really cute when he eats? KYAN. It is absolutely adorable to watch him eat – seriously. He’s at the table now, in a booster seat and he just sits there with his little (strong) paper plates with little designs on them, fork in one hand, fistful of food in the other and just…. eats. I know, I know, only his mom could think watching him eat his dinner is * that * cute – or even cute at all probably, but it IS! I took a picture of him last night for 12 of 12 and if it came out I plan to post it later and everyone can see how cute Ky is when he eats. It’s just plain adorable… I promise!!
Ooh! I can eat now. Time to post and have my lunch!!
Monday, July 10, 2006
The one where I talk about Jaben
I love my son.
No, amend that – I love my sons. Both of ‘em. And I’m sure I’ll have something about Ky when it gets closer to the time his daycare is switched, but right now I’ve got Jaben on my mind.
I’m happy he’s got friends and is, for the most part, doing well. This weekend he had 2 buddies sleep over and I know that at one point he felt left out. They were playing with the Playstation2 the one boy brought with him and they never gave Jabe a turn. I’m not sure why or what they were thinking, but they wouldn’t let him play. Now I know they’re 10-11 yr old boys and fair doesn’t really factor… but it was our home, our tv and even if it wasn’t his Playstation2 – I still feel like it was crap that he didn’t get a turn. I know it bothered him because he mentioned it to me. He also said he was just trying to get me to buy him a Playstation2 (not happening). So I’m not sure how he was feeling about it.
But I’m also very sensitive about this kid. I do NOT want him to go thru what he did in the third grade. I can’t let him have to live thru that again, and next year he’ll be at school with some of the kids who tormented him that year. I’d like to think that better teachers and a better principal will make sure that doesn’t happen. But what if it does? I’m sure all of that stuff that went on is what makes me worry so much about how he’s doing, socially, and probably why I say yes to practically every sleepover… but it’s not unfounded and I don’t want to see his self-esteem plummet again, I can’t hear him begged to be homeschooled every day, I don’t want him to think or feel that he’s not as good as the other kids or to think less of himself.
So how do you help that not to happen? I have absolutely no idea. It’s not as if it’s not hard enough to be 10 yrs old as it is, but to have all that in your past, and to worry about going to another new school where kids from the school you left to stop being bullied will be going… it’s a lot to deal with. I don’t think he’s really thinking about that now, but I am. I just want him to be happy and have 3-4 good friends he can rely on. I’d like to think that’s what he’s got now, but I honestly don’t know for sure. There’s no way to be sure about anything. I guess all I can do for now is hope, and make sure he continues to have a great summer.
But if anyone has any suggestions, I’m listening.
No, amend that – I love my sons. Both of ‘em. And I’m sure I’ll have something about Ky when it gets closer to the time his daycare is switched, but right now I’ve got Jaben on my mind.
I’m happy he’s got friends and is, for the most part, doing well. This weekend he had 2 buddies sleep over and I know that at one point he felt left out. They were playing with the Playstation2 the one boy brought with him and they never gave Jabe a turn. I’m not sure why or what they were thinking, but they wouldn’t let him play. Now I know they’re 10-11 yr old boys and fair doesn’t really factor… but it was our home, our tv and even if it wasn’t his Playstation2 – I still feel like it was crap that he didn’t get a turn. I know it bothered him because he mentioned it to me. He also said he was just trying to get me to buy him a Playstation2 (not happening). So I’m not sure how he was feeling about it.
But I’m also very sensitive about this kid. I do NOT want him to go thru what he did in the third grade. I can’t let him have to live thru that again, and next year he’ll be at school with some of the kids who tormented him that year. I’d like to think that better teachers and a better principal will make sure that doesn’t happen. But what if it does? I’m sure all of that stuff that went on is what makes me worry so much about how he’s doing, socially, and probably why I say yes to practically every sleepover… but it’s not unfounded and I don’t want to see his self-esteem plummet again, I can’t hear him begged to be homeschooled every day, I don’t want him to think or feel that he’s not as good as the other kids or to think less of himself.
So how do you help that not to happen? I have absolutely no idea. It’s not as if it’s not hard enough to be 10 yrs old as it is, but to have all that in your past, and to worry about going to another new school where kids from the school you left to stop being bullied will be going… it’s a lot to deal with. I don’t think he’s really thinking about that now, but I am. I just want him to be happy and have 3-4 good friends he can rely on. I’d like to think that’s what he’s got now, but I honestly don’t know for sure. There’s no way to be sure about anything. I guess all I can do for now is hope, and make sure he continues to have a great summer.
But if anyone has any suggestions, I’m listening.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Happy 5th of July!
Since I missed the US Independence day and Canada Day… happy 5th of July to everyone!
We had a great day yesterday! Got up and got ready for the parade, where we sat and had breakfast. McDonalds, you know – nothing but the best for me and mine! Kyan totally didn’t understand why we were sitting on blankets (laid over a tarp, darn wet ground!) on the side of the road, but he certainly thought it’d be fun to run into traffic! Luckily, he has a cute little monkey backpack with a long tail that doubles as a safety harness, so I put that on him and Turkey Face was as safe as can be! He would get a little mad when he’d reach the end of the line, but since we were passing the tail to whoever was closest to where he wanted to go, he had a pretty large area to travel in. And he couldn’t get in the road!
Anyway, the parade was so much fun! We yelled for candy for the kids, got all kinds of useless business cards and pamphlets, and only got sprinkled on a little bit. Not too bad – plus the rain kept it fairly cool. Much better than the sweltering heat I usually associate with the parade.
After the parade, we ran home to change and clean up – Jaben was covered in mud - to go to my cousin’s house for a cookout. I hadn’t been there before so I was excited to see her new house! And oh is it a cute house! They’ve got tons of land – I had visions of wooden play areas with vast sandboxes….. * sigh * I think they’re going to have a garden or something? I think I heard her husband say something about sweet corn. The weather actually held out pretty well for most of the time. We were able to eat outside at their pretty, new picnic table and everything. It was really nice.
Of course it * did * eventually start raining, and so most of the adults went in the house while some of us hid in the garage. With the kids. My boys and my (other) cousin’s son. Well actually the kids weren’t in the garage long – they went to play in the rain. The 3 of them had a blast!! They got soaked, Xavier got covered in mud – but they absolutely, completely enjoyed themselves! I will admit, I wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of them playing in the rain at first, but I got over it when I looked at their little faces. Jaben was actually enjoying himself for once (anyone want a moody 10 yr old??), and the little guys seemed to think they were getting a special treat – which they were. So it was fine.
It wasn’t long after that tho, that I had to change Kyan into his dry clothes and we headed out. Jaben only had a dry swimsuit with him (in case we decided to let them run thru sprinklers – not to be confused with sprinkles), so he went shirtless, but it was plenty warm enough for that.
When we got home, we turned on the AC and had some much needed downtime before heading off to the fireworks! We weren’t totally sure they’d still have them, given all the rain, but since it was clearing up and we were used to being rained on by that point, we went ahead out.
And I’m so glad we did! Not only did they still hold the fireworks, they were wonderful!! They had lots of little ones close to the ground – which were awesome from our place down front. And no worries about Kyan being afraid – he slept thru the whole thing! Of course he woke back up the second I put him in his stroller to go home (little booger!) but I was able to enjoy the fireworks without worrying about him being frightened. And I was able to watch Jaben’s face and enjoy his reaction – which was just an added bonus.
All in all, it was a very nice 4th of July. I would prefer to have a sunny day, but the rain was nice enough to pace itself and only fall when it was convenient for us, so I can’t complain. Hope you all had a happy, fun, and safe 4th!
We had a great day yesterday! Got up and got ready for the parade, where we sat and had breakfast. McDonalds, you know – nothing but the best for me and mine! Kyan totally didn’t understand why we were sitting on blankets (laid over a tarp, darn wet ground!) on the side of the road, but he certainly thought it’d be fun to run into traffic! Luckily, he has a cute little monkey backpack with a long tail that doubles as a safety harness, so I put that on him and Turkey Face was as safe as can be! He would get a little mad when he’d reach the end of the line, but since we were passing the tail to whoever was closest to where he wanted to go, he had a pretty large area to travel in. And he couldn’t get in the road!
Anyway, the parade was so much fun! We yelled for candy for the kids, got all kinds of useless business cards and pamphlets, and only got sprinkled on a little bit. Not too bad – plus the rain kept it fairly cool. Much better than the sweltering heat I usually associate with the parade.
After the parade, we ran home to change and clean up – Jaben was covered in mud - to go to my cousin’s house for a cookout. I hadn’t been there before so I was excited to see her new house! And oh is it a cute house! They’ve got tons of land – I had visions of wooden play areas with vast sandboxes….. * sigh * I think they’re going to have a garden or something? I think I heard her husband say something about sweet corn. The weather actually held out pretty well for most of the time. We were able to eat outside at their pretty, new picnic table and everything. It was really nice.
Of course it * did * eventually start raining, and so most of the adults went in the house while some of us hid in the garage. With the kids. My boys and my (other) cousin’s son. Well actually the kids weren’t in the garage long – they went to play in the rain. The 3 of them had a blast!! They got soaked, Xavier got covered in mud – but they absolutely, completely enjoyed themselves! I will admit, I wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of them playing in the rain at first, but I got over it when I looked at their little faces. Jaben was actually enjoying himself for once (anyone want a moody 10 yr old??), and the little guys seemed to think they were getting a special treat – which they were. So it was fine.
It wasn’t long after that tho, that I had to change Kyan into his dry clothes and we headed out. Jaben only had a dry swimsuit with him (in case we decided to let them run thru sprinklers – not to be confused with sprinkles), so he went shirtless, but it was plenty warm enough for that.
When we got home, we turned on the AC and had some much needed downtime before heading off to the fireworks! We weren’t totally sure they’d still have them, given all the rain, but since it was clearing up and we were used to being rained on by that point, we went ahead out.
And I’m so glad we did! Not only did they still hold the fireworks, they were wonderful!! They had lots of little ones close to the ground – which were awesome from our place down front. And no worries about Kyan being afraid – he slept thru the whole thing! Of course he woke back up the second I put him in his stroller to go home (little booger!) but I was able to enjoy the fireworks without worrying about him being frightened. And I was able to watch Jaben’s face and enjoy his reaction – which was just an added bonus.
All in all, it was a very nice 4th of July. I would prefer to have a sunny day, but the rain was nice enough to pace itself and only fall when it was convenient for us, so I can’t complain. Hope you all had a happy, fun, and safe 4th!
Monday, July 03, 2006
Meme(ic) Monday
It’s been a while and since I’m feeling a bit PMS-y (can also be read as pissy) I’m going for the cop out…. Welcome to Meme(ic) Monday!
Yeah, I usually skip these things too……. * sigh *
1. Have you ever been searched by the cops?
Nah
2. Do you close your eyes on roller coasters?
Not roller coasters. Other way-too-high rides, yes. But roller coasters? No.
3. When’s the last time you’ve been sledding?
At least 2 winters ago. Didn’t get a chance this past winter and the one before that, I was pregnant.
4. Would you rather sleep with someone else, or alone?
Considering I’ve been co-sleeping since… forever, I think, I’d love a night alone in my bed!!!
5. Do you believe in ghosts?
Yep, absolutely.
6. Do you consider yourself creative?
I’m a graphic designer… I’d better be at least a little creative!
7. Do you think O.J. killed his wife?
Yep.
8. Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie?
Jennifer Aniston! Who can stand a woman who does what Angelina Jolie did? She’s incredibly repulsive!!
9. Do you stay friends with your ex’s?
Not usually. An ex is an ex for a reason
10. Do you know how to play poker?
No, never really cared for any kind of games.
11. Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight?
Close, but not quite 48 hrs. I think my best (worst?) is somewhere around 35?
12. What’s your favorite commercial?
I can’t think of any good ones offhand
13. What are you allergic to?
Cats and excessive pollen.
14. If you’re driving in the middle of the night, and no one is around do you run red lights?
I have, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you live in the middle of nowhere, like I do.
15. Do you have a secret that no one knows but you?
I don’t think so.
16. Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees?
The who or what now?
17. Have you ever been Ice Skating?
Yes! Used to do it all the time as a kid and loved it!!
18. How often do you remember your dreams?
Very, very rarely.
19. When was the last time you laughed so hard you cried?
Yesterday, when thinking about that time I thought about the time that was really funny.
20. Can you name 5 songs by The Beatles?
Of course!! Hey Jude, Yellow Submarine, Day Tripper, Hello Goodbye, The Long and winding road
21. What’s the one thing on your mind now?
ONE thing?? You’re joking, right? Kyan’s daycare situation, Jaben’s attitude situation, and how damn long it’s going to take Tracfone to port my phone number when Boost did it with NO WAIT!!
22. Do you know who Ghetto-ass barbie is?
Um… no, can’t say that I do. The things I miss, having boys! haha (?)
23. Do you always wear your seat belt?
Yes, always.
24. What cell service do you use?
I’m switching from Verizon to Tracfone as we speak. If they move it and get my damn number ported, that is!
25. Do you like Sushi?
I don’t even like cooked fish.
26. Have you ever narrowly avoided a fatal accident?
Just the other day I think I actually did.
27. What do you wear to bed?
Isn’t that kinda personal? Heh… yeah right, I sleep with my kids. I wear a t-shirt and sometimes sweats or shorts too.
28. Been caught stealing?
when I was five…… tell me you know that song!
29. What shoe size do you have?
I gots big feets for a girl…. Size 10 thank you very much!
30. Do you truly hate anyone?
Yes, I do hate 3 people. But they are people who have earned it… hate is an extremely strong emotion/word.
31. Classic Rock or Rap?
Classic rock! Never ( c)rap!
32. If you could sleep with one famous person, who would it be?
Keanu Reeves, if what I’ve heard about how he smells isn’t true!!
33. Favorite Song?
That honestly depends on the day and the mood.
34. Have you ever sang in front of the mirror?
Sure!! That can be a lot of fun, especially when the baby is boppin with me!
35. What food do you find disgusting?
fish, brussels sprouts, the texture of an orange… I could go on and on!
36. Do you sing in the shower?
Noooooooooo!!! Nobody wants to hear that – especially me – especially in those kinds of acoustics!!!!
37. Did you ever play, “I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours”?
At what age? * wink *
38. Have you ever made fun of your friends behind their back?
I find that it’s better to crack jokes about friends when standing behind them, rather in front of them…
39. Have you ever stood up for someone you hardly knew?
Yes… sometimes you just have to.
40. Have you ever been punched in the face?
My first instinct was to say no, but then I remembered being punched on the playground when I was a child… so yes, I have.
Yeah, I usually skip these things too……. * sigh *
1. Have you ever been searched by the cops?
Nah
2. Do you close your eyes on roller coasters?
Not roller coasters. Other way-too-high rides, yes. But roller coasters? No.
3. When’s the last time you’ve been sledding?
At least 2 winters ago. Didn’t get a chance this past winter and the one before that, I was pregnant.
4. Would you rather sleep with someone else, or alone?
Considering I’ve been co-sleeping since… forever, I think, I’d love a night alone in my bed!!!
5. Do you believe in ghosts?
Yep, absolutely.
6. Do you consider yourself creative?
I’m a graphic designer… I’d better be at least a little creative!
7. Do you think O.J. killed his wife?
Yep.
8. Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie?
Jennifer Aniston! Who can stand a woman who does what Angelina Jolie did? She’s incredibly repulsive!!
9. Do you stay friends with your ex’s?
Not usually. An ex is an ex for a reason
10. Do you know how to play poker?
No, never really cared for any kind of games.
11. Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight?
Close, but not quite 48 hrs. I think my best (worst?) is somewhere around 35?
12. What’s your favorite commercial?
I can’t think of any good ones offhand
13. What are you allergic to?
Cats and excessive pollen.
14. If you’re driving in the middle of the night, and no one is around do you run red lights?
I have, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you live in the middle of nowhere, like I do.
15. Do you have a secret that no one knows but you?
I don’t think so.
16. Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees?
The who or what now?
17. Have you ever been Ice Skating?
Yes! Used to do it all the time as a kid and loved it!!
18. How often do you remember your dreams?
Very, very rarely.
19. When was the last time you laughed so hard you cried?
Yesterday, when thinking about that time I thought about the time that was really funny.
20. Can you name 5 songs by The Beatles?
Of course!! Hey Jude, Yellow Submarine, Day Tripper, Hello Goodbye, The Long and winding road
21. What’s the one thing on your mind now?
ONE thing?? You’re joking, right? Kyan’s daycare situation, Jaben’s attitude situation, and how damn long it’s going to take Tracfone to port my phone number when Boost did it with NO WAIT!!
22. Do you know who Ghetto-ass barbie is?
Um… no, can’t say that I do. The things I miss, having boys! haha (?)
23. Do you always wear your seat belt?
Yes, always.
24. What cell service do you use?
I’m switching from Verizon to Tracfone as we speak. If they move it and get my damn number ported, that is!
25. Do you like Sushi?
I don’t even like cooked fish.
26. Have you ever narrowly avoided a fatal accident?
Just the other day I think I actually did.
27. What do you wear to bed?
Isn’t that kinda personal? Heh… yeah right, I sleep with my kids. I wear a t-shirt and sometimes sweats or shorts too.
28. Been caught stealing?
when I was five…… tell me you know that song!
29. What shoe size do you have?
I gots big feets for a girl…. Size 10 thank you very much!
30. Do you truly hate anyone?
Yes, I do hate 3 people. But they are people who have earned it… hate is an extremely strong emotion/word.
31. Classic Rock or Rap?
Classic rock! Never ( c)rap!
32. If you could sleep with one famous person, who would it be?
Keanu Reeves, if what I’ve heard about how he smells isn’t true!!
33. Favorite Song?
That honestly depends on the day and the mood.
34. Have you ever sang in front of the mirror?
Sure!! That can be a lot of fun, especially when the baby is boppin with me!
35. What food do you find disgusting?
fish, brussels sprouts, the texture of an orange… I could go on and on!
36. Do you sing in the shower?
Noooooooooo!!! Nobody wants to hear that – especially me – especially in those kinds of acoustics!!!!
37. Did you ever play, “I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours”?
At what age? * wink *
38. Have you ever made fun of your friends behind their back?
I find that it’s better to crack jokes about friends when standing behind them, rather in front of them…
39. Have you ever stood up for someone you hardly knew?
Yes… sometimes you just have to.
40. Have you ever been punched in the face?
My first instinct was to say no, but then I remembered being punched on the playground when I was a child… so yes, I have.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Mom jeans and other random thoughts
Mom jeans. We’ve all heard of them. But what exactly are “mom jeans?” I asked this same question on my message board today and am waiting (sort of) patiently to see what kind of responses I get. So…. What do you consider to be “mom jeans” and if you’re a mom, do you own any?
On another random note (a random gross note), I posted a few weeks ago about having a molar pulled. It was healing fine, and then I noticed a sharp thing sticking out. Apparently a small piece of tooth was left and had worked it’s way to the surface. fuuuuuuuuuun! With everything that’s been going on, I just didn’t have time to go back to the dentist to have something done about it, so I decided I’d just hope it’d work itself the rest of the way out. First I noticed it wasn’t sore anymore, then I noticed it’d gotten rather loose. And then this morning when I was brushing my teeth I felt something small and hard in my mouth… and there it was! The nasty, offending, left-over tooth chunk! (I did mention this was gross!) And so now I officially consider my mouth to be healed!! Yay!
Aren’t you glad I shared that??? Muahahahahaha!!!
This morning, I shared a tasty double espresso with my 17 month old. So no mother of the year awards will be forthcoming any time soon. Hey – he liked it, it was cute watching him drink it, and um… he cried when I took it away. And in all honesty, I really don’t think a few sips of an espresso is going to do any real damage.
On another random note (a random gross note), I posted a few weeks ago about having a molar pulled. It was healing fine, and then I noticed a sharp thing sticking out. Apparently a small piece of tooth was left and had worked it’s way to the surface. fuuuuuuuuuun! With everything that’s been going on, I just didn’t have time to go back to the dentist to have something done about it, so I decided I’d just hope it’d work itself the rest of the way out. First I noticed it wasn’t sore anymore, then I noticed it’d gotten rather loose. And then this morning when I was brushing my teeth I felt something small and hard in my mouth… and there it was! The nasty, offending, left-over tooth chunk! (I did mention this was gross!) And so now I officially consider my mouth to be healed!! Yay!
Aren’t you glad I shared that??? Muahahahahaha!!!
This morning, I shared a tasty double espresso with my 17 month old. So no mother of the year awards will be forthcoming any time soon. Hey – he liked it, it was cute watching him drink it, and um… he cried when I took it away. And in all honesty, I really don’t think a few sips of an espresso is going to do any real damage.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Long, busy weekend
You'll be happy to hear we're not under 10 ft of water. Actually by the time I got home that night it had receeded in most places. There are still many, many homes damaged, and the place we swim really got damaged, a friend of mine just emailed to tell me her basement is totaled and since her son's bedroom is down there all of his stuff is trashed too. She said her neighborhood flooded badly. More rain coming this week... I really would like some summer sun now, please and thank you!
Except for the time being, we have no place to swim.
But -- we had a nice time this weekend with my out-of-town relatives in for my little cousin's wedding. Still can't quite believe she's married! Wasn't she 12 just a minute ago?? I'm not a wedding crier, but this one got me. The minute my little cousin - the bride's 14 yr old sister - started up the aisle (and was she gorgeous!!) (all of my cousins were beautiful that day, as always) the tears started. And kept coming. I looked up and saw little Laura in her wedding dress looking just stunning, next to this handsome man (and I won't even mention the facial hair - haha) who she's marrying! Beside the glowing bride is her older sister, the lovely maid of honor who is on her own and all grown up, living in Alaska. When did she get to be such an independent grown up?? And Stephanie - is a MOMMY!! Wait - they're all too young for this! I'M too young for this! And then there's Charlie, looking for all the world like a beautiful young woman when I could swear she's my tiny tomboy cousin! Or she was just the other day. Look to my left and Megan is holding her daughter... and there's Shawn and his girlfriend who are all just way too grown up now... and next to me is my own handsome son. Who's becoming more of a young man every day (even with the rotten attitude). Eesh... who wouldn't shed a few tears? What a good looking, smart, fun, amazing group of "kids" they all are. And where on earth are all those little kids we used to chase around??
*Sigh* Anyway, the reception was fun, but about an hour into it my babysitter called and said Kyan was having teething pain and wouldn’t stop crying and where’s the Tylenol? Well, Kyan’s not teething right now, so that wasn’t it. Thing was, when I hired her, I told her he doesn’t like other people and he’s a crier and if she can’t handle that she shouldn’t take the job. So this phone call was not what I wanted to hear. I asked her if she wanted me to come get him and she said if I want. Well after that, of course I want! Good Lord!!! So I drive 20 mins to get home (missing the bride & groom’s first dance in the process) and find she’s walking him outside in the stroller, he’s not crying – he’s eating a cookie – and she’s on her cell phone!! All I could think was that she got a better offer. I don’t particularly care if she did or not, that looked bad and that’s that. I wasn’t planning on using her after Saturday for other reasons anyway, but this sealed it.
So I took Ky back to the reception with me and he had a ball dancing with all the pretty girls. The photographer even took a picture of him dancing with the beautiful bride. So in the end it worked out okay.
I brought the boys home early because they were tired and enough is enough. Besides, we had the breakfast to attend on Sunday, Jaben had his Cub Scout carwash/bake sale to go to, I had work, and we were all going to Cedar Point later with the extended family. The CP thing wasn’t the plan until Sunday morning when we realized everyone was going and we were the only ones who hadn’t planned to… so we manipulated some things and thought we’d give it a try.
I’m so glad we did! I’m not going to go into details because it’s more fun to live than to read about, but bottom line is we had such a great time we didn’t get home until midnight and were all dead tired the next day. Actually I’m still dragging a bit (it’s Tuesday now) but sometimes you’ve just got to go for the fun and deal with the consequences later.
It’s a pretty day today and I can’t wait to get done with work. I’m going to have to figure out when I can take a few days at a time off and have a bit of a break. I think we’re all about due for a rest.
PS I learned this morning that Kyan can now say puppy VERY clearly – and he can blow a kazoo like a champ! That was a fun discovery, let me tell ya!
Except for the time being, we have no place to swim.
But -- we had a nice time this weekend with my out-of-town relatives in for my little cousin's wedding. Still can't quite believe she's married! Wasn't she 12 just a minute ago?? I'm not a wedding crier, but this one got me. The minute my little cousin - the bride's 14 yr old sister - started up the aisle (and was she gorgeous!!) (all of my cousins were beautiful that day, as always) the tears started. And kept coming. I looked up and saw little Laura in her wedding dress looking just stunning, next to this handsome man (and I won't even mention the facial hair - haha) who she's marrying! Beside the glowing bride is her older sister, the lovely maid of honor who is on her own and all grown up, living in Alaska. When did she get to be such an independent grown up?? And Stephanie - is a MOMMY!! Wait - they're all too young for this! I'M too young for this! And then there's Charlie, looking for all the world like a beautiful young woman when I could swear she's my tiny tomboy cousin! Or she was just the other day. Look to my left and Megan is holding her daughter... and there's Shawn and his girlfriend who are all just way too grown up now... and next to me is my own handsome son. Who's becoming more of a young man every day (even with the rotten attitude). Eesh... who wouldn't shed a few tears? What a good looking, smart, fun, amazing group of "kids" they all are. And where on earth are all those little kids we used to chase around??
*Sigh* Anyway, the reception was fun, but about an hour into it my babysitter called and said Kyan was having teething pain and wouldn’t stop crying and where’s the Tylenol? Well, Kyan’s not teething right now, so that wasn’t it. Thing was, when I hired her, I told her he doesn’t like other people and he’s a crier and if she can’t handle that she shouldn’t take the job. So this phone call was not what I wanted to hear. I asked her if she wanted me to come get him and she said if I want. Well after that, of course I want! Good Lord!!! So I drive 20 mins to get home (missing the bride & groom’s first dance in the process) and find she’s walking him outside in the stroller, he’s not crying – he’s eating a cookie – and she’s on her cell phone!! All I could think was that she got a better offer. I don’t particularly care if she did or not, that looked bad and that’s that. I wasn’t planning on using her after Saturday for other reasons anyway, but this sealed it.
So I took Ky back to the reception with me and he had a ball dancing with all the pretty girls. The photographer even took a picture of him dancing with the beautiful bride. So in the end it worked out okay.
I brought the boys home early because they were tired and enough is enough. Besides, we had the breakfast to attend on Sunday, Jaben had his Cub Scout carwash/bake sale to go to, I had work, and we were all going to Cedar Point later with the extended family. The CP thing wasn’t the plan until Sunday morning when we realized everyone was going and we were the only ones who hadn’t planned to… so we manipulated some things and thought we’d give it a try.
I’m so glad we did! I’m not going to go into details because it’s more fun to live than to read about, but bottom line is we had such a great time we didn’t get home until midnight and were all dead tired the next day. Actually I’m still dragging a bit (it’s Tuesday now) but sometimes you’ve just got to go for the fun and deal with the consequences later.
It’s a pretty day today and I can’t wait to get done with work. I’m going to have to figure out when I can take a few days at a time off and have a bit of a break. I think we’re all about due for a rest.
PS I learned this morning that Kyan can now say puppy VERY clearly – and he can blow a kazoo like a champ! That was a fun discovery, let me tell ya!
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Flood!
This is what's going on in my town right now. I don't know what's going to happen if we really do get storms for 2 more days. My sister just told me over the phone (I'm at work) that there are news crews and helicopters everywhere and it's all over the news.
PS Please forgive the use of URLs rather than links... it's a non-linking kinda day.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/wews/20060622/lo_wews/9409828
http://www.wkyc.com/news/rss_article.aspx?ref=RSS&storyid=53830
http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=53826&provider=top
PS Please forgive the use of URLs rather than links... it's a non-linking kinda day.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/wews/20060622/lo_wews/9409828
http://www.wkyc.com/news/rss_article.aspx?ref=RSS&storyid=53830
http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=53826&provider=top
Monday, June 19, 2006
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JABEN!!!
Okay everyone, post birthday wishes to Jaben! C'mon... I know you can do it! A boy only turns TEN once!
Happy Birthday, Jaben!!!!!
Happy Birthday, Jaben!!!!!
Friday, June 16, 2006
Random Friday junk
So it's Friday morning and I'm sitting here putting off trying to figure out what to have for breakfast. I have fed the kids healthy peanut butter sandwiches (healthy? convenient? same thing) and I'm pretty sure Kyan is pooping right now. He's squatting on the floor next to me and making pushing noises. Goes nicely with the snot running down his face. Jaben is getting ready to shower and I think I need to decide what we're going to do today. I need to clean, I want to go to the library and swimming, we're planning to finally do our tie-dying today (we've had the kit for weeks but no time to actually tie and dye) and I need to get Kyan a white shirt to do one for him. But what am I doing? Surfing and blogging. Yup... I'm hella ambitious today.
Did I just say hella? Geez... goes to show ya what kind of mood I'm in today.
** I've been meaning to mention the comments. The few I've gotten lately. *sigh* I started out trying to respond to all of them but it just isn't happening. So if you've made a comment and didn't receive a reply, I apologize. It's not that I don't read them or don't appreciate them - I do, I *love* comments... it's just that I don't always have something to add, or I'm short on time and it's all I can do to read thru what's going on that day. So please, keep commenting! I really do love getting them and I do read them, even if I don't get a chance to respond!!
** Jaben is going to be 10 on Monday. TEN. TEN. He's going to be TEN. Yes I know that to those of us over 21, ten is not a big deal. But it is to the boy who is turning 10 (thus the birthday camping trip, and yes it was early and yes it was necessary to have it that early) it is huge. Double digits, doncha know. What I want to know is, when did I get old enough to be the mother of a ten year old boy?? I know I'm chronilogically old enough (I know I just butchered that word, spell check be damned!) but mentally I'm stil 19. So how did that happen?? I pulled out baby books and photo albums the other day and can't believe how long ago all that was. And then I look at baby Kyan, and think about the temper tantrums and fits lately (teething, I think) and how hard it's been, and I realize this is such a short time in his little life and before I know it he'll be sleeping at friend's houses and going to school and rolling his little eyes at me and.... wow... In the blink of an eye, my baby is ten years old, on the brink of puberty and manhood and driving and girls and oh wow the next thing I know he'll be graduating college, getting married, having babies of his own... Everyone tells you it goes by so fast, but you don't really know what it means until you see it in your own children. Well...
Happy Birthday Jaben! I'm very proud of who you're becoming and you've got a good heart and strong self that will take you far... stay true to yourself and you'll never go wrong.
** Okay, enough of this sappy shit. I've got a poopy diaper to change and a pretty gross house to clean. Happy Friday, everyone!
Did I just say hella? Geez... goes to show ya what kind of mood I'm in today.
** I've been meaning to mention the comments. The few I've gotten lately. *sigh* I started out trying to respond to all of them but it just isn't happening. So if you've made a comment and didn't receive a reply, I apologize. It's not that I don't read them or don't appreciate them - I do, I *love* comments... it's just that I don't always have something to add, or I'm short on time and it's all I can do to read thru what's going on that day. So please, keep commenting! I really do love getting them and I do read them, even if I don't get a chance to respond!!
** Jaben is going to be 10 on Monday. TEN. TEN. He's going to be TEN. Yes I know that to those of us over 21, ten is not a big deal. But it is to the boy who is turning 10 (thus the birthday camping trip, and yes it was early and yes it was necessary to have it that early) it is huge. Double digits, doncha know. What I want to know is, when did I get old enough to be the mother of a ten year old boy?? I know I'm chronilogically old enough (I know I just butchered that word, spell check be damned!) but mentally I'm stil 19. So how did that happen?? I pulled out baby books and photo albums the other day and can't believe how long ago all that was. And then I look at baby Kyan, and think about the temper tantrums and fits lately (teething, I think) and how hard it's been, and I realize this is such a short time in his little life and before I know it he'll be sleeping at friend's houses and going to school and rolling his little eyes at me and.... wow... In the blink of an eye, my baby is ten years old, on the brink of puberty and manhood and driving and girls and oh wow the next thing I know he'll be graduating college, getting married, having babies of his own... Everyone tells you it goes by so fast, but you don't really know what it means until you see it in your own children. Well...
Happy Birthday Jaben! I'm very proud of who you're becoming and you've got a good heart and strong self that will take you far... stay true to yourself and you'll never go wrong.
** Okay, enough of this sappy shit. I've got a poopy diaper to change and a pretty gross house to clean. Happy Friday, everyone!
Monday, June 12, 2006
*growl* I AM IRON-MOM!!!!
Heh.
Anyway, we had a blast camping! Have you ever taken 4-10 yr old boys on a 2.5 day outdoor adventure? If not, I definitely recommend it! I know, I know, surprising, isn't it? But I swear, the greatest joy in my life these days is watching my son with his friends, hearing their laughter and watching their minds at work. I had no idea 10 yr old boys were such clever, fascinating people.
When we first arrived at the campground, my sister had already set up all the tents (yay!) and was getting ready to construct the canopy I'd bought just for the occasion. I sent the boys to set up sleeping bags, etc in their tent and ran up to the camp office to check in. I ended up getting the boys tent for FREE! because they base their prices on 2 adults/children per tent, and since theirs was a kid's tent, they threw it in for free! SWEET! I love unexpected savings! By the time I got back, the boys were down at the river behind our campsite, fishing. But oh how they wanted to go to the pond up the hill to fish and swim! So once I was sure things were pretty well set up, I changed Ky into his trunks (he gets to swim too, y'know!) and off we went!
The pond wasn't nearly as nasty as I thought it'd be, so it was cool for them to swim. Not that they'd have cared if it was gross! They all ran out to the end of the cement dock and fished a bit, then took turns swimming. We only had 2 fishing poles for 4 boys, but they shared surprisingly well. There was only 1 who was a bit of a fishing-hog, but he's a nice kid and only needed to be reminded to take turns and would hand it over. So that was cool.
Soon enough the boys started getting hungry, so we headed back to camp. We were waiting for one more grown up, so we broke out the hot dogs and they made their own hot dogs, on real sticks, over the fire. Awesome - especially when 3 of the boys had never been camping before. That night we ended up having hot dogs, hamburgers, s'mores, chips... probably more but that's all I can remember. They turned the back of my Jeep into a store where things were free and kept trying to "sell" us stuff. Too funny! Except the back of my car got all wet and muddy. I need to find/make the time to clean it out. Seriously.
When we finally went to bed Friday night it was really cold. Not just cold - I mean cold. I shivered more than I slept that night. And we were visited by an animal in the middle of the night who not only got into our trash - responsibly hung on a tree - he also got into one of the coolers and got out the ketchup! Not a sophisticated raccoon, but an industrious one. Kyan's sippy cup also went missing and we never did find it. I figure the raccoon is using it to show off to his friends how cool he is.
Saturday is just a blur in my mind. Swimming, fishing, sunning, eating, playing.... my cousins came and brought Jaben a great birthday present. It's a badminton/volleyball set with the net and all! So that was set up and the kids all played with that too. They played in the river and found what, I swear, looked like an oyster! They wanted to open it and get out the pearl! They thought it'd make us all RICH!! I just had to laugh - they're just so darn cute! They also found natural clay and did some "sculpting" with it. They had a blast and we had a blast watching them. I absolutely love watching these boys run and play and be so imaginataive and creative in that muddy, natural environment. Video games begone! For today - we fish!
Saturday night the boys got glow sticks and these light necklace things that were pretty fun to play with. We tried to make Jiffy Pop, but it just burned, so that kind of sucked. But my cousin made these banana split thingys on the fire that were just wonderful! I remember them from girl scouts... You take a banana and split it, length wise. Then in the middle you put marshmallows and chocolate pieces, wrap the whole thing in foil and put it in the fire to bake. Oh is it GOOOOOOD!!! I was thinking, that'd be good at home too, in the oven, then put a scoop of vanilla ice cream right in the middle, while it's all still hot. Yummmmmm!!!
I ended up sleeping in the boys' tent Saturday night. They were a little freaked by the noises in the woods (twigs snapping, etc) and knowing there'd been an animal in our camp the night before. I didn't mind, except it meant going without my air mattress! Yikes! So that part kind of sucked. It was cold again so I gave one of the boys my spare blanket because his had somehow gotten wet. I would rather be cold myself than know one of those kids wasn't warm enough. So, I didn't sleep well either night, but I guess camping isn't really about sleeping, is it?
Sunday, we pretty much just got up, had a quick breakfast of donuts, bananas, hot chocolate, then packed up and went home. Everyone was tired, filthy and content. It was WARM in the car!
I got a bit of a nap in the afternoon yesterday, in between laundry and Kyan's fits. He's coming down with a cold now (and he didn't even stay at camp at night!) and so is Jaben. I feel like I might be getting it too, but it was worth it. Jaben said it was the best birthday party he'd ever had - even tho it was just over a week early. We'll still have cake on his birthday, but that's going to have to be the only gift he gets from me. I think it'll be enough. It was weird tho, hearing him call me "Mom" all weekend. I'm still Mommy, except in front of his friends, and sometimes I'd forget to answer him because I'm not used to hearing "Mom" directed at ME. He's just growing up and there's no way to stop it.
My car is a mess yet, too. Mud, mud, mud! And I found little marshmallow fingerprints on the back window a little while ago. That was kind of cute. I was not nearly as amused by the daddy long legs I found climbing up my arm as I drove to work this morning. I don't mind bringing the mud home, but the wildlife needs to stay where it belongs.
Hm... so much for Iron-Mom, huh?
Anyway, we had a blast camping! Have you ever taken 4-10 yr old boys on a 2.5 day outdoor adventure? If not, I definitely recommend it! I know, I know, surprising, isn't it? But I swear, the greatest joy in my life these days is watching my son with his friends, hearing their laughter and watching their minds at work. I had no idea 10 yr old boys were such clever, fascinating people.
When we first arrived at the campground, my sister had already set up all the tents (yay!) and was getting ready to construct the canopy I'd bought just for the occasion. I sent the boys to set up sleeping bags, etc in their tent and ran up to the camp office to check in. I ended up getting the boys tent for FREE! because they base their prices on 2 adults/children per tent, and since theirs was a kid's tent, they threw it in for free! SWEET! I love unexpected savings! By the time I got back, the boys were down at the river behind our campsite, fishing. But oh how they wanted to go to the pond up the hill to fish and swim! So once I was sure things were pretty well set up, I changed Ky into his trunks (he gets to swim too, y'know!) and off we went!
The pond wasn't nearly as nasty as I thought it'd be, so it was cool for them to swim. Not that they'd have cared if it was gross! They all ran out to the end of the cement dock and fished a bit, then took turns swimming. We only had 2 fishing poles for 4 boys, but they shared surprisingly well. There was only 1 who was a bit of a fishing-hog, but he's a nice kid and only needed to be reminded to take turns and would hand it over. So that was cool.
Soon enough the boys started getting hungry, so we headed back to camp. We were waiting for one more grown up, so we broke out the hot dogs and they made their own hot dogs, on real sticks, over the fire. Awesome - especially when 3 of the boys had never been camping before. That night we ended up having hot dogs, hamburgers, s'mores, chips... probably more but that's all I can remember. They turned the back of my Jeep into a store where things were free and kept trying to "sell" us stuff. Too funny! Except the back of my car got all wet and muddy. I need to find/make the time to clean it out. Seriously.
When we finally went to bed Friday night it was really cold. Not just cold - I mean cold. I shivered more than I slept that night. And we were visited by an animal in the middle of the night who not only got into our trash - responsibly hung on a tree - he also got into one of the coolers and got out the ketchup! Not a sophisticated raccoon, but an industrious one. Kyan's sippy cup also went missing and we never did find it. I figure the raccoon is using it to show off to his friends how cool he is.
Saturday is just a blur in my mind. Swimming, fishing, sunning, eating, playing.... my cousins came and brought Jaben a great birthday present. It's a badminton/volleyball set with the net and all! So that was set up and the kids all played with that too. They played in the river and found what, I swear, looked like an oyster! They wanted to open it and get out the pearl! They thought it'd make us all RICH!! I just had to laugh - they're just so darn cute! They also found natural clay and did some "sculpting" with it. They had a blast and we had a blast watching them. I absolutely love watching these boys run and play and be so imaginataive and creative in that muddy, natural environment. Video games begone! For today - we fish!
Saturday night the boys got glow sticks and these light necklace things that were pretty fun to play with. We tried to make Jiffy Pop, but it just burned, so that kind of sucked. But my cousin made these banana split thingys on the fire that were just wonderful! I remember them from girl scouts... You take a banana and split it, length wise. Then in the middle you put marshmallows and chocolate pieces, wrap the whole thing in foil and put it in the fire to bake. Oh is it GOOOOOOD!!! I was thinking, that'd be good at home too, in the oven, then put a scoop of vanilla ice cream right in the middle, while it's all still hot. Yummmmmm!!!
I ended up sleeping in the boys' tent Saturday night. They were a little freaked by the noises in the woods (twigs snapping, etc) and knowing there'd been an animal in our camp the night before. I didn't mind, except it meant going without my air mattress! Yikes! So that part kind of sucked. It was cold again so I gave one of the boys my spare blanket because his had somehow gotten wet. I would rather be cold myself than know one of those kids wasn't warm enough. So, I didn't sleep well either night, but I guess camping isn't really about sleeping, is it?
Sunday, we pretty much just got up, had a quick breakfast of donuts, bananas, hot chocolate, then packed up and went home. Everyone was tired, filthy and content. It was WARM in the car!
I got a bit of a nap in the afternoon yesterday, in between laundry and Kyan's fits. He's coming down with a cold now (and he didn't even stay at camp at night!) and so is Jaben. I feel like I might be getting it too, but it was worth it. Jaben said it was the best birthday party he'd ever had - even tho it was just over a week early. We'll still have cake on his birthday, but that's going to have to be the only gift he gets from me. I think it'll be enough. It was weird tho, hearing him call me "Mom" all weekend. I'm still Mommy, except in front of his friends, and sometimes I'd forget to answer him because I'm not used to hearing "Mom" directed at ME. He's just growing up and there's no way to stop it.
My car is a mess yet, too. Mud, mud, mud! And I found little marshmallow fingerprints on the back window a little while ago. That was kind of cute. I was not nearly as amused by the daddy long legs I found climbing up my arm as I drove to work this morning. I don't mind bringing the mud home, but the wildlife needs to stay where it belongs.
Hm... so much for Iron-Mom, huh?
Friday, June 09, 2006
Going camping!
We're leaving at about 4 this afternoon to go camping for the weekend, so try really hard not to miss me!! It's going to be me, Jaben, 3 of his friends, my sister and her gf, possibly my cousin (she's been grounded so we're not sure), and my mom and Kyan during the day. Like I said before, mom rocks, and she's bringing Ky home nights - she says she doesn't think sleeping on the ground would be fun for her and well, it'll be nice for me to not have to worry about Kyan all night. This is going to be a great time!!
And hey - how come nobody commented on Jaben's play pics?? Don't make me cry - COMMENT, PEOPLE, COMMENT!!!
Have a great weekend!
And hey - how come nobody commented on Jaben's play pics?? Don't make me cry - COMMENT, PEOPLE, COMMENT!!!
Have a great weekend!
Monday, June 05, 2006
My son the Supa-starrrrr
This post was started on Monday, June 5. Sorry it took me so long to finish and post!
****************************************
OMG Jaben ROCKS!!
Oh and sorry it took me so long to get to this. I was so tired Sunday for some reason I barely managed to get our laundry done, so posting was definitely out.
Anyway... he was SO cute!! All the kids were and the play was so funny! They had added in a bunch of lines and a few asides to the audience that were genuinely funny - no fake polite laughs required!
And oh - he was so sweet in his King Zozar costume! I don't think I'll be getting pics on here right now (I might surprise myself, I dunno, not a great day here at work and I'm here late as it is because technical difficulties suck) but I will, I will, I will! I promise!! Hopefully.
There was only ooonnneeee little glitch... When they got to his BIG scene... well really his big song, it started out fine, then about 5 lines or so in... he froze. He simply forgot the words to the song!! I was freaking. Freaking. But, Jill, being quick and rather experienced in doing plays with children, restarted the song - as I said it wasn't that far into it - and gave him another chance. It wasn't that noticeable, actually. So, he started over and... forgot the words again! This time, rather than starting the song over, Jill began singing along - loudly enough for him to hear - and he was able to catch on and catch up. After that - he was fine. No more forgotten lyrics, no missed lines - he made me (all of us, actually) very, very proud.
At the end of the play, Jill announced each child and what part they played and they each got to take their own individual bow and get their own cheers. Jaben cheers were so loud it was awesome and you could see in his face how very happy he was. Then of course they took a group bow and posed for group pictures. We were lucky enough to get a halfway decent picture of the group.
And now it’s over.
I can’t believe it. It seems like we’ve been doing this for so long and so much work has gone into it that it’s hard to believe that’s it. At least until September (I think) when they begin working on A Christmas Carol. I’m a little bummed I won’t be able to do it with him (they need 2 parents from each class to be in the play) because of my work schedule, but I can’t wait to get him started again! He’s good. Maybe I’m all mommy-biased, but I think Jaben is good at this. Especially the funny parts. The comical asides, facial expressions, quips that sound spontaneous…. He’s dead on every time.
I have to say – this kid could not make me more proud. And I really, really hope he knows it.
Okay, now let’s see if blogger will let me post some pictures…
****************************************
First scene… Jaben as Montu… second child from the left…
Second Scene… Greece…
Third scene… Egypt… meet the great King Zozar!
Fourth scene… Rome… sing, Jaben, sing!
And finally, the cast picture…
This isn’t even remotely all of the pictures I took, but it’s a pretty good sampling of Jaben on stage.
And so… onward!! Next to A Christmas Carol!!
But first… a weekend of camping with 10 yr old boys. Good Lord what was I thinking???
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OMG Jaben ROCKS!!
Oh and sorry it took me so long to get to this. I was so tired Sunday for some reason I barely managed to get our laundry done, so posting was definitely out.
Anyway... he was SO cute!! All the kids were and the play was so funny! They had added in a bunch of lines and a few asides to the audience that were genuinely funny - no fake polite laughs required!
And oh - he was so sweet in his King Zozar costume! I don't think I'll be getting pics on here right now (I might surprise myself, I dunno, not a great day here at work and I'm here late as it is because technical difficulties suck) but I will, I will, I will! I promise!! Hopefully.
There was only ooonnneeee little glitch... When they got to his BIG scene... well really his big song, it started out fine, then about 5 lines or so in... he froze. He simply forgot the words to the song!! I was freaking. Freaking. But, Jill, being quick and rather experienced in doing plays with children, restarted the song - as I said it wasn't that far into it - and gave him another chance. It wasn't that noticeable, actually. So, he started over and... forgot the words again! This time, rather than starting the song over, Jill began singing along - loudly enough for him to hear - and he was able to catch on and catch up. After that - he was fine. No more forgotten lyrics, no missed lines - he made me (all of us, actually) very, very proud.
At the end of the play, Jill announced each child and what part they played and they each got to take their own individual bow and get their own cheers. Jaben cheers were so loud it was awesome and you could see in his face how very happy he was. Then of course they took a group bow and posed for group pictures. We were lucky enough to get a halfway decent picture of the group.
And now it’s over.
I can’t believe it. It seems like we’ve been doing this for so long and so much work has gone into it that it’s hard to believe that’s it. At least until September (I think) when they begin working on A Christmas Carol. I’m a little bummed I won’t be able to do it with him (they need 2 parents from each class to be in the play) because of my work schedule, but I can’t wait to get him started again! He’s good. Maybe I’m all mommy-biased, but I think Jaben is good at this. Especially the funny parts. The comical asides, facial expressions, quips that sound spontaneous…. He’s dead on every time.
I have to say – this kid could not make me more proud. And I really, really hope he knows it.
Okay, now let’s see if blogger will let me post some pictures…
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First scene… Jaben as Montu… second child from the left…
Second Scene… Greece…
Third scene… Egypt… meet the great King Zozar!
Fourth scene… Rome… sing, Jaben, sing!
And finally, the cast picture…
This isn’t even remotely all of the pictures I took, but it’s a pretty good sampling of Jaben on stage.
And so… onward!! Next to A Christmas Carol!!
But first… a weekend of camping with 10 yr old boys. Good Lord what was I thinking???
Saturday, June 03, 2006
The play is TONIGHT!!
It's tonight at 6pm! We're excited, all the kids are excited and amazingly enough, they're SO ready! I can't wait to see my baby up on that stage... and I'm going to cry thru the whole thing, probably.
I got him a gift for after the show. Didn't know what to get a boy - I know he wouldn't want flowers, so I asked the moms of the other 2 boys and one said she was thinking of a CD, so I got him a Greenday CD yesterday. It's one he doesn't already have, plus, it's got a lot of songs on it that I like - so, bonus!! I also got a card I need to write a note in - without sobbing - that says 'Superstar' on the front. I couldn't resist!
Send good thoughts to the boy today that things go well! I think I'm going to try to switch the class he's in for the next play so he can be with the majority of the same kids again... that's what he wants and if the teacher will allow us to switch him my mom said she'd take him. So -- we'll see!
I got him a gift for after the show. Didn't know what to get a boy - I know he wouldn't want flowers, so I asked the moms of the other 2 boys and one said she was thinking of a CD, so I got him a Greenday CD yesterday. It's one he doesn't already have, plus, it's got a lot of songs on it that I like - so, bonus!! I also got a card I need to write a note in - without sobbing - that says 'Superstar' on the front. I couldn't resist!
Send good thoughts to the boy today that things go well! I think I'm going to try to switch the class he's in for the next play so he can be with the majority of the same kids again... that's what he wants and if the teacher will allow us to switch him my mom said she'd take him. So -- we'll see!
Friday, June 02, 2006
After midnight...
It's after midnight and I can't sleep. I'm not sure of the exact cause but there are a few possibilities. Jaben had his first dress rehearsal tonight and it went wonderfully! All the kids knew their lines and it looked like things were great. I didn't sit thru most of it - it was a 4-hr rehearsal after all, but what I did see was excellent! They're going to do a fantastic job on Saturday.
However (there's always something) when I got there another child's mother told me Jaben had a nose bleed in the middle of the practice. He hasn't had one in a while so I hadn't even thought of it as a possibility. I'm not sure what brings them on, possibly the heat on the stage? I've no idea. My best bet is spring allergies. All I can think of to do is call the Dr tomorrow and see what we can do to prevent him having a nose bleed in the middle of the performance. I know the nose bleeds aren't dangerous, just inconvenient, especially in these circumstances. So we'll see what, if anything, Dr Chris can recommend. Without seeing him! We just don't have time for that!! Over-the-counter, please and thank you!
My house smells. We've been swimming a lot this week and there have been wet towels and bathing suits hanging in the bathroom for days. In this kind of heat and humidity, they don't dry well. Especially when you have to keep the bathroom door closed to keep curious little boys out of the toilet. So I'm going to have to do a ton of laundry tomorrow to avoid more than just a stink... mildew, anyone? I probably will need to hang a clothes line between the trees in the backyard to keep this from happening again. You would not believe how much a mildew smell can spread to the entire house and stink it up! Add on the faint stench of spoiled milk from a curious little boy who has decided it's fun to dump sippy cups and you've got one stinky abode. Ick... and I hate cleaning.
Ooh! Good news... I had a disappointing experience at Starbucks the other day (hard to believe, but true) so I went to their website and emailed them about it. I heard back today and they're sending me coupons to make it up to me! Yay for Starbucks!! It's not like a bad experience is going to keep me from going - far from it - but coupons is coupons and Starbucks is yummy! I think I have a frapuccino addiction.
Next weekend is the big camping trip. Jaben's 10th birthday is coming up (when did I get old enough to be the mother of a TEN YEAR OLD??) so I wanted to do something different. SO... we invited 3 of his friends to go camping next weekend. It's the week before his actual birthday because his best friend wouldn't have been able to go that weekend and Jaben really wanted him there. It's going to be me, 4-10 yr old boys, my mom (bless her), Kyan (yes, Kyan), my 14 yr old cousin who knows TONS about camping, and if we're lucky, my sister and her girlfriend. That will depend on work schedules, but I'm hopeful they can come. Two nights camping with all those kids is going to require some more grown ups. That's for sure!! Oh please let them be able to come!! I realize I'm insane for trying to do this, but the kids will have fun and I'll have the following week at work to recover. Ha. Ha. Ha.
I think I've rambled quite enough for one night. Plus, I've got a ton of stuff to do tomorrow and I'm going to be tired! 'Night!!
However (there's always something) when I got there another child's mother told me Jaben had a nose bleed in the middle of the practice. He hasn't had one in a while so I hadn't even thought of it as a possibility. I'm not sure what brings them on, possibly the heat on the stage? I've no idea. My best bet is spring allergies. All I can think of to do is call the Dr tomorrow and see what we can do to prevent him having a nose bleed in the middle of the performance. I know the nose bleeds aren't dangerous, just inconvenient, especially in these circumstances. So we'll see what, if anything, Dr Chris can recommend. Without seeing him! We just don't have time for that!! Over-the-counter, please and thank you!
My house smells. We've been swimming a lot this week and there have been wet towels and bathing suits hanging in the bathroom for days. In this kind of heat and humidity, they don't dry well. Especially when you have to keep the bathroom door closed to keep curious little boys out of the toilet. So I'm going to have to do a ton of laundry tomorrow to avoid more than just a stink... mildew, anyone? I probably will need to hang a clothes line between the trees in the backyard to keep this from happening again. You would not believe how much a mildew smell can spread to the entire house and stink it up! Add on the faint stench of spoiled milk from a curious little boy who has decided it's fun to dump sippy cups and you've got one stinky abode. Ick... and I hate cleaning.
Ooh! Good news... I had a disappointing experience at Starbucks the other day (hard to believe, but true) so I went to their website and emailed them about it. I heard back today and they're sending me coupons to make it up to me! Yay for Starbucks!! It's not like a bad experience is going to keep me from going - far from it - but coupons is coupons and Starbucks is yummy! I think I have a frapuccino addiction.
Next weekend is the big camping trip. Jaben's 10th birthday is coming up (when did I get old enough to be the mother of a TEN YEAR OLD??) so I wanted to do something different. SO... we invited 3 of his friends to go camping next weekend. It's the week before his actual birthday because his best friend wouldn't have been able to go that weekend and Jaben really wanted him there. It's going to be me, 4-10 yr old boys, my mom (bless her), Kyan (yes, Kyan), my 14 yr old cousin who knows TONS about camping, and if we're lucky, my sister and her girlfriend. That will depend on work schedules, but I'm hopeful they can come. Two nights camping with all those kids is going to require some more grown ups. That's for sure!! Oh please let them be able to come!! I realize I'm insane for trying to do this, but the kids will have fun and I'll have the following week at work to recover. Ha. Ha. Ha.
I think I've rambled quite enough for one night. Plus, I've got a ton of stuff to do tomorrow and I'm going to be tired! 'Night!!
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Big Bird and the Adventures of Fearless Boy
| You Are Big Bird |
 Talented, smart, and friendly... you're also one of the sanest people around. You are usually feeling: Happy. From riding a unicycle to writing poetry, you have plenty of hobbies to keep you busy. You are famous for: Being a friend to everyone. Even the grumpiest person gets along with you. How you life your life: Joyfully. "Super. Duper. Flooper." |
Just wanted to post that because it soooo does not seem like me. Hehe!
Took the boys swimming for the first time this season, yesterday. Kyan is fearless. FEARLESS!! Like, he walks down into the water and just keeps going until he's in over his head - then when you rescue him and pull him out, once he stops coughing - he laughs! If he sees a ball he wants, he goes after it! Doesn't matter how deep the water is, he goes for it. The kid thinks he can swim!!!
I'm getting him some kind of floaty.
I never needed a floaty with Jaben. He liked the water, and is a little fish now, but when he was Kyan's age he would play in the shallows, go down the baby slide, and occasionally like to be carried into the deeper water.
Not Kyan!! He likes to kick his feet, he likes to walk, waist deep, in the water and go where he wants. He thinks it's funny to be splashed by his big brother and he splashes right back! This skinny, tiny kid thinks he's just as big as his (almost) 10 yr old brother and tries like hell to hold his own. It is a sight to see, trust me. I've got to bring a camera and get some shots of Fearless Boy in action.
Swim, baby, swim!
Sunday, May 28, 2006
8:30 Saturday morning
Jaben and our cousin are in the living room singing karaoke on the tv. Yes, the tv. It's in our On Demand and it's actually kind of fun. And since neither of them can carry a tune, it's funny from where I'm sitting. It's mostly older songs - late 80's-early 90's is as current as it seems to get. As long as they're enjoying themselves. (Pat Benetar's Hit Me With Your Best Shot... not as good as the Devil Went Down to Georgia, but funny!)
Updated the blogroll this morning (after I figured out the stupid mistake I'd made the first time!), hopefully you can see the new blogs added on the right. I've still got more, bookmarked on another computer and will add them as I get time. For now, enjoy the new ones!
Updated the blogroll this morning (after I figured out the stupid mistake I'd made the first time!), hopefully you can see the new blogs added on the right. I've still got more, bookmarked on another computer and will add them as I get time. For now, enjoy the new ones!
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Crazy few days!
I survived having my molar pulled... barely.
Then of course Monday was Kyan's appt with the orthopedist. We drove about 5 hrs total for about 20 minutes with the ortho. Seriously. Basically, he's got what Forrest Gump had. Um.. except for the low IQ part. See, years ago they'd put braces on a child with legs like Kyan, but have since learned it doesn't help. Actually nothing does. It'll either go away or it won't. If it doesn't go away tho, he's going to be FAST!!
*bad Southern accent* Ruuuuun Kyyyyaaannnn.... rruuuuuunnnnn...
Um, yeah. According to the Dr, a lot of Olympic runners and faster athletes have this condition with their legs - for some reason it makes you faster than average. So okay... if he doesn't outgrow it he's going to walk funny, but he won't get beat up because he'll be able to outrun the bullies!! Yay Kyan!!
So we got that taken care of.
Tuesday morning Jaben comes downstairs and tells me he needs to see Dr Chris (our family Dr). I asked him what was wrong and he showed me his foot. Can I just say EW?? About a month or so ago, Jaben got a BIG splinter in his foot. Despite his fits (he can't stand having splinters pulled at ALL) I pulled it out. We cleaned it up, put a bandaid on it and I forgot all about it. Until Tuesday morning.
For a month, this kid has been walking around with leftover splinter in his foot. And he didn't tell anybody. Because he thought it was normal.
That's right - he thought it was normal. It hurt, it was red, it was getting puffy - but he thought it was normal. Grandma had managed to convince him it was not normal, but he wouldn't let her touch it - only Dr Chris could do it. So, when I got to work on Tuesday I called and got Jaben a 3:00 appt. At an office I'm not overly familiar with. But it was fine - I'd rather drive there and head off further infection than wait.
I took Jaben out of school around 2:15 and off we went. We found the office okay and were right on time for his appointment. Dr. Chris took a look at the foot in question, and decided that yes, it was a splinter stuck in there and that the skin had grown around it like scar tissue, so it was going to have to be cut out. He said he'd give Jaben a shot to numb it up, and then he'd feel nothing. It'd be easy.
Except that I forgot to mention that Jaben is afraid of needles.
We all got into position: me, sitting behind him on the table holding his upper body, the nurse holding his legs down, and Dr Chris all ready with the needle. Jaben took one look at the needle and freaked out. Big, fat tears, not breathing, all tight... not pretty. Kind of amusing if you're familiar with his tough-guy act, but not pleasant for the Dr. In spite of the fits, we continued on anyway. I put my hand over Jaben's eyes and told him deeeep slow breaths, baby, just think about breathing... while Dr. Chris put the needle in and... the splinter popped out.
The pressure of the needle under it must have been just what was needed to push the splinter up and out so no cutting was required, thank God! It was the biggest thing I've ever seen, about 1/4" (check a ruler, that's big for a splinter), especially considering it'd been living in his foot for a month!! So all he needed to have done at that point was the infection squeezed out and the nasty skin scraped off. EW.
But no stitches, thankfully. Imagine how stitches would've been, after how awful just the shot was going!! He's got to take antibiotics for the next 10 days, but he's fine.
My children have been informed that nobody is allowed to get sick, have big boo-boos, or emergencies until at least October. I figure I'll have recovered from this week by then. I mean, October is 5 months away. Even my kids can go 5 months without emergencies... right??
Then of course Monday was Kyan's appt with the orthopedist. We drove about 5 hrs total for about 20 minutes with the ortho. Seriously. Basically, he's got what Forrest Gump had. Um.. except for the low IQ part. See, years ago they'd put braces on a child with legs like Kyan, but have since learned it doesn't help. Actually nothing does. It'll either go away or it won't. If it doesn't go away tho, he's going to be FAST!!
*bad Southern accent* Ruuuuun Kyyyyaaannnn.... rruuuuuunnnnn...
Um, yeah. According to the Dr, a lot of Olympic runners and faster athletes have this condition with their legs - for some reason it makes you faster than average. So okay... if he doesn't outgrow it he's going to walk funny, but he won't get beat up because he'll be able to outrun the bullies!! Yay Kyan!!
So we got that taken care of.
Tuesday morning Jaben comes downstairs and tells me he needs to see Dr Chris (our family Dr). I asked him what was wrong and he showed me his foot. Can I just say EW?? About a month or so ago, Jaben got a BIG splinter in his foot. Despite his fits (he can't stand having splinters pulled at ALL) I pulled it out. We cleaned it up, put a bandaid on it and I forgot all about it. Until Tuesday morning.
For a month, this kid has been walking around with leftover splinter in his foot. And he didn't tell anybody. Because he thought it was normal.
That's right - he thought it was normal. It hurt, it was red, it was getting puffy - but he thought it was normal. Grandma had managed to convince him it was not normal, but he wouldn't let her touch it - only Dr Chris could do it. So, when I got to work on Tuesday I called and got Jaben a 3:00 appt. At an office I'm not overly familiar with. But it was fine - I'd rather drive there and head off further infection than wait.
I took Jaben out of school around 2:15 and off we went. We found the office okay and were right on time for his appointment. Dr. Chris took a look at the foot in question, and decided that yes, it was a splinter stuck in there and that the skin had grown around it like scar tissue, so it was going to have to be cut out. He said he'd give Jaben a shot to numb it up, and then he'd feel nothing. It'd be easy.
Except that I forgot to mention that Jaben is afraid of needles.
We all got into position: me, sitting behind him on the table holding his upper body, the nurse holding his legs down, and Dr Chris all ready with the needle. Jaben took one look at the needle and freaked out. Big, fat tears, not breathing, all tight... not pretty. Kind of amusing if you're familiar with his tough-guy act, but not pleasant for the Dr. In spite of the fits, we continued on anyway. I put my hand over Jaben's eyes and told him deeeep slow breaths, baby, just think about breathing... while Dr. Chris put the needle in and... the splinter popped out.
The pressure of the needle under it must have been just what was needed to push the splinter up and out so no cutting was required, thank God! It was the biggest thing I've ever seen, about 1/4" (check a ruler, that's big for a splinter), especially considering it'd been living in his foot for a month!! So all he needed to have done at that point was the infection squeezed out and the nasty skin scraped off. EW.
But no stitches, thankfully. Imagine how stitches would've been, after how awful just the shot was going!! He's got to take antibiotics for the next 10 days, but he's fine.
My children have been informed that nobody is allowed to get sick, have big boo-boos, or emergencies until at least October. I figure I'll have recovered from this week by then. I mean, October is 5 months away. Even my kids can go 5 months without emergencies... right??
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Teen crushes n stuff
First off, my mouth hurts much less today than it did yesterday, and tons less than the day before. It still sux, but I'm beginning to think I'll live.
I just watched Child Stars Confidential on E! and Wil Wheaton was on it. See right to read his blog. I had SUCH the crush on him when I was a teenager. God. He's married now and very much in love with his wife (who he writes about so sweetly in his blog) with 2 stepsons. Sounds like a great guy. Seriously... always go for the geek.
Jaben's got some friends in the neighborhood now! I know, not a huge announcement, but if you knew the kids in our neighborhood (notably the kid next door - rotten little bugger) you'd know what a good thing that is. This boy he's become friends with seems really nice. I hope so - it's so great for him to have someone he can hang out with, who's house he can go to, and a reason to actually have to have a curfew on a school night. Might have happened sooner if he'd always gone to school in this neighborhood, but that doesn't matter at this point. Right now, I'm just glad he has a little buddy to hang out with. And, um... that the one he's closest with is NOT my ex-boyfriend's son - which is what I was afraid of! Eek!
And tomorrow, Kyan sees the pediatric orthopedist. Hopefully it'll be easy and no big deal, but also hopefully, they will give us something to make it better. It's getting worse instead of better, so he does need something. Even just exercises each evening would make me happy. Anything, to make it easier for him to walk, and certainly look less awkward. Will update when I know more. Just think good thoughts for tomorrow.
I just watched Child Stars Confidential on E! and Wil Wheaton was on it. See right to read his blog. I had SUCH the crush on him when I was a teenager. God. He's married now and very much in love with his wife (who he writes about so sweetly in his blog) with 2 stepsons. Sounds like a great guy. Seriously... always go for the geek.
Jaben's got some friends in the neighborhood now! I know, not a huge announcement, but if you knew the kids in our neighborhood (notably the kid next door - rotten little bugger) you'd know what a good thing that is. This boy he's become friends with seems really nice. I hope so - it's so great for him to have someone he can hang out with, who's house he can go to, and a reason to actually have to have a curfew on a school night. Might have happened sooner if he'd always gone to school in this neighborhood, but that doesn't matter at this point. Right now, I'm just glad he has a little buddy to hang out with. And, um... that the one he's closest with is NOT my ex-boyfriend's son - which is what I was afraid of! Eek!
And tomorrow, Kyan sees the pediatric orthopedist. Hopefully it'll be easy and no big deal, but also hopefully, they will give us something to make it better. It's getting worse instead of better, so he does need something. Even just exercises each evening would make me happy. Anything, to make it easier for him to walk, and certainly look less awkward. Will update when I know more. Just think good thoughts for tomorrow.
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