Attempt #2

Okay so I tried typing a post earlier and my fabu mac froze up and of course I hadn’t saved anything yet so POOF! Gone.

And it’s not like I’ve posted recently, either. For that, I apologize to my… what? 5 readers? So sorry! But seriously, I have been SO BUSY lately it’s not even funny. It’s program time at work and trust me, that takes a lot of work, and then of course I don’t want to get online when I get home so no posty from me!

Anyway, the kids are doing really well. Kyan is doing GREAT at his new babysitter. I swear the woman is amazing! He eats, he naps, he plays! And he’s been talking more and more every day! Her little boy, I think, is kind of advanced (potty trained at 21 mos and he talks like you would not believe!) so Kyan is picking up a lot of great things from him. Of course this also means I have to be * very very * careful about what I say! I’ve been made very aware of which swears are most commonly said in my household and I need to make a very concentrated effort * not * to say them! But otherwise it’s a good thing… he really is blossoming right now being with them. I’m so glad and so lucky we found them!! This really is working out to be a beautiful situation for Kyan. And I’ve got to say, I really just like L. She’s so very very nice (especially to me, flake that I am) and her oldest son plays on Jaben’s football team, which is way cool.

Oooh! I just heard from Jaben! Well okay, I called him. I wanted to know how his first day of 5th grade went. See, where we live schools are set up a bit differently from what I imagine most other places are. We have elementary (K-4), intermediate (5-6), middle (7-8), and then high school (9-12), and this year of course he started (TODAY!) at the intermediate school. They’ve got lockers and different periods for classes – so they switch some. He said most of his classes are held in his homeroom, but they do switch for a few – and he thought that was confusing! LOL… he’ll get used to it. When I was in school, we started middle school in 6th grade and switched for every class. It’s weird at first, but he’ll like it. It’s more freedom… and more responsibility.

His first football game was on Sunday too! And they WON!! I KNOW! I couldn’t believe it either, but it was a blowout!! 25-0! I’ll be the first to admit I know jack about football so I spent most of the game watching Jaben on the sidelines (he played 5-10 mins total) wishing for him to get on the field. And then when he was on the field I kept praying for him not to get smeared. Hehehe…. He was fine tho. His next game is an away game, so we’re going to have to find directions to the school it’s being held at and hope we don’t get lost. That’s one thing about a travel team at this age….. I’m very directionally challenged so it’s going to be an adventure for us! We’ll get to see * all kinds * of new places – and not necessarily on purpose! Wheeeeee!!!!

So that’s my update for now. Not overly exciting, not terribly amusing. Maybe next time I’ll get into Kyan’s new Spongebob fixation and my psycho next door neighbors. Yeah, that one is * definitely * a post for another day!

*sigh* Word verification enabled

Well, thanx to the spam-bots, I have now turned on word verification for comments. I didn't want to do that, but I really don't like the spam, so there ya go.

Beyond that, Kyan is doing AMAZING at the new babysitters! He's napping early in the afternoon so he's not wanting to nap (most days) at 4:30 pm so he's going to bed at around 8:30pm!! YAY!!! He's a MUCH happier baby. He's still crying when I leave in the morning, but according to L, he stops as soon as I leave, so it's not too bad. He's had a pretty good week so far - hopefully today will go well too. She's amazing tho, and he's really pretty happy there and that makes ME very happy!

In other news, Jaben is kickin' ass and takin' names in football! He's losing some weight and getting in shape and he's really starting to enjoy it! I think he likes seeing and feeling his body respond favorably to that type of exercise and that's wonderful!!! It's really so very good for him. His first game is on Sunday so we'll see then how it goes.

Long wait for a short entry, I know. But I've been SO busy lately it's unreal!! I'm trying to get caught up on things, but it's not easy right now. I'll write a longer entry hopefully in the next day or two... in case anyone is interested. ;-)

Spam-bots -- BEGONE!!

So

We survived the first week at the new babysitter.

Monday went well. Tuesday went well. Wednesday? Not so much.

First he screamed when I left. Do you know how hard it is to leave a baby who is holding his arms out to you and screaming "Mommy!! Mommy!!" It's awful. He was a total cling-on for L all day long but did, eventually, take a nap. That's a biggie for Ky... he's not much of a napper. So yay for L!

Thursday he screamed when I left but apparently just long enough for me to get out the door. Then he stopped and had a wonderful day, complete with another nap! He eats for her, he naps for her - he's doing great! So yay for Ky!

Today I took the boys to the fair. It was hot - no, strike that - it was hellishly hot. But we still had fun. Jaben rode a few rides, we looked at all the displays, strolled thru the animal barns and told Ky what all the animals were. I tried to take Kyan on the pony ride, but while he thought the horses were really cool from the safety of his stroller, actually sitting on top of one was just not acceptable and he let the entire world know it. Loudly.

Um, yeah, I got my money back.

Kyan fell asleep in his stroller and I bought him a hat the says, "I'm in charge" and it looks SO cute on him! I have to get a picture! The guy at the arcade games followed me around and talked to me the entire time I was in there. Creepy much? We ended up bringing home 4 helium balloons (BOON!!) for Kyan and I've so far had to untangle them about 8,000 times and replace the strings once due to an unworkable knot. So... I'm broke (nothing unusual there) but the boys had a blast and so did I. I'm calling that as worth it. Totally.

I'm not sure what's going on for the rest of the weekend, but I'm thinking it's not much. Gotta get Kyan's crib taken down (I SO need to post a picture of him sleeping in his big boy bed!)(Okay so he hasn't made an entire night yet, but baby steps, right?) and more work done in my room, Jaben's room needs done BADLY, and I really should work on the front and back hallways. Heh... so much for not much.

School starts soon and then things will really go crazy!

And did I mention... I get to be in A Christmas Carol with Jaben?!? I'm so excited!!!

Yes, I'm still blogging...

Not that I got any emails or anything asking me that. I just got busy.

Jaben has football every minute it seems like from now until the end of Oct. Add school and play practice (which I get to be in, yay!) and he's way busy. And I haven't even figured out yet how we're going to manage Cub Scouts. Think maybe he does too much???

Ky started at the new babysitter this week. Up until today he's been great. However (better than a but right?) this morning he cried and screamed and reached for me when I went to leave. That sucked so bad I can't even say. I have never had to leave a baby screaming for me like that before -- that is so rough. I hate it and I hope he gets used to it REALLY soon and gets over that because I have no options. He's got to be in daycare, he's got to learn to be with other people, he's got to learn to deal and that's all there is to it. And I don't think there's a whole lot I can do to help him with that. I just don't want to leave him screaming and crying every morning. And when I called (of course I called!) she said he's been a cling-on all day, which doesn't help matters.

So maybe next time around I'll write an amusing, fun post. For now, stressed out, worried about both kids (one having a rough transition, the other far too busy) and we haven't even bought school clothes for Jaben yet! Thank God we got the supplies already - and OMG were THOSE expensive!!

The last day…

Today is officially Kyan’s last day at the only babysitter he’s ever been to.

He’s been staying with my cousin since he was 4 weeks old. Yes, 4 weeks – it was all the time I could take off work. Over there, he’s got his slightly older second cousin to play with and he’s been pretty much as happy as Kyan ever gets.

Ooh, that sounds bad. Don’t get me wrong, I love the kid to bits, but ohmylord he is not the happiest baby in the world. There are more difficult kids than Ky, for sure, but there are a lot more ‘easy’ kids. Just trust me on this one.

But, starting Monday, he goes to a new babysitter. She’s a nice lady, very-very friendly, obviously a good mom and seems to like Kyan quite a bit. He actually seemed to like her too… the last time he was there he gave her a kiss before we left and that’s pretty unusual for him. So I think it’ll be fine. I just don’t know it’ll be fine. And not because of L, the sitter, but because of Kyan. She’s got a boy who’s 2 mos older than he is for him to play with, so that will help a lot. But he doesn’t nap. Or eat. And he um…. screams. A lot, sometimes. Especially now that he’s trying to get his incisors to break thru. The kid hates teething, but I can’t say that I blame him.

He is going to spend 2 hrs there tomorrow (I have the day off) and again 2 hrs on Saturday. Then come Monday, it’s full-time all the way, baby!

Please-God-let-him-do-well-and-not-be-too-difficult.

Kyan is the reason they will tell you not to expect your second child to be like your first.

Not that Jaben was always easy, but he slept. He ate. He screamed, sure, but not incessantly.

Like last night. When I pulled in the driveway from work I knew something was wrong. I could hear him hitch-crying in the drive. When I got into the house he was sitting in his booster at the table, dinner untouched, weeping like the world had moved on and left him behind all alone. But there sat my mom, poor, exasperated grandma, with no idea why beautiful-yet-difficult baby was crying. Again.

And no, my arrival didn’t help matters any.

He just started screaming and crying uncontrollably again. There wasn’t anything wrong, he just wasn’t happy with life, for whatever reason, and was not going to be comforted no matter what. So after assessing the situation and talking to him for a few minutes, I unhooked him from the booster, carried him into my room (where he sleeps too) and plopped him on the bed with the instruction that he could come out when he calmed down. Yes he’s only 18 mos old, but what choice did I have?

A couple of minutes later I heard him come sniffling into the living room, and then closer, into the kitchen where I was sitting trying to eat my dinner. Once he got there, the sniffling turned back into the full-blown screaming cry, so once again I carried him into my room and plopped him on the bed with the instruction that he could come out when he calmed down.

But this time, it worked. Yeah I know, I was shocked too!

When he came out, he was still hitching but no longer crying. He was relatively calm. So, I picked him up and put him on my lap. He even ate the piece of meat I offered him off my plate. After that, he was content to sit on my lap and eat the asparagus he refused just 10 minutes ago off his own plate.

Yes, he was still on my lap, but progress is progress. And hey – he ate.

This, and other similar stories are why I worry about Kyan at a new babysitter.

Strong but dumb

My son, my amazing sweet wonderful rotten son, is now a football player. He's going to be a lineman, who the coach said need to be strong but dumb...... I'm pretty sure Jaben got the joke.

I think.

I'm excited for him because I think it'll be good for him and I hope he enjoys it. Conditioning isn't so great, but he'll survive. I just think playing will be a good thing for him, he'll get in better shape, make friends and learn something.

I'm not going to think about him getting hurt.

I'm just not.

If he can play soccer for years without getting hurt, he can play football - they wear more pads!

I'm not even going to think about the mom who told me her son knocked another kid OUT his first game and put him in the hospital.

Nope, not gonna think about it.

Right outta my head.

Yep.

*ahem*

Actually, the boys have all been very tough, showing up for conditioning and working their little hineys off during the over-100-degree-heat-index days. I think, even tho the coaches will be working them harder now that it's cooler, it'll be easier all around because of the lower temperatures.

But, um... I said that last night and Jabe looked at me like I grew another head.

So maybe not.

He sure does look cute tho…

Because I said so.

I wouldn’t have thought an 18-mo old would be in the “why” stage yet, but somehow Kyan has caught on that he can keep Mommy’s attention and keep Mommy talking by saying “why?” after everything I say. I can’t imagine he can understand every answer I give to his whys, but I answer him anyway. To a point. Then it becomes, “Because I said so.” Sometimes that satisfies him, sometimes it doesn’t.

So the other night I tried to turn the tables. He said why, I explained. He said why again, I expounded on my explanation. We continued this way until I finally said, “Because I said so.” And again he said, “why?”

Being the smart (stop laughing) Mommy I am, I said “why?” back…. And this incredibly smart 18-month old child of mine said, clear as day… “Said so.”

Blogging without a purpose

I have no idea what’s going to come out here, so bear with me. Kay? Thanx.

Jaben is now in possession of his first… um… athletic supporter. Yay to M for taking him!! I know it was more comfortable for him this way… and it was more comfortable for me, too.

Kyan has begun calling my mom by her first name. Hehehehe!! I know he gets it from hanging around all day with my cousin’s little boy, but that doesn’t make it any less amusing. It does kind of bother her, but I think even she thinks it’s kinda funny… until he came into the kitchen with his cup and said, “D – MILK!” HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

My car still isn’t finished. They thought they had it yesterday and I would’ve had it back last night, but then they discovered something wrong with the compressor (don’t ask me, I still don’t know), which requires another part, more money, and more time. This. Really. Sucks. sIt’s going to take me forever to pay back the money I have to borrow to have this done, I have to use my mom’s car and I know this is a real pain in the ass for her, and I really just want my car back. I know why it’s taking time, I understand, and it still stinks. I wish they’d make a car that wouldn’t break. Disposable vehicle, anyone??

Oh and … Who watches Big Brother All-Stars? Did anyone else want to hand Jase a binky last night? Or was that just me?? YES, James was a dillhole for the way he did things, but SO WHAT? It was KAYSER who just haaaad to tell Jase he was going up and why. And then to attack Marcellus for it? Um…. Marci had NOTHING to do with it! Get over yourself, Jase. You’d have done the same thing. Also, you’re not being backdoored! No wonder you can’t win this game! You don’t even understand the terminology! Backdooring is when you’re the target, but are not put up so you can’t win the veto and remove yourself. The group who is targeting you wins the veto themselves and removes one of the people on the block so YOU’RE put up and cannot save yourself. You are NOT being backdoored – you’re a replacement nominee because YOU HAD A CHANCE TO WIN VETO YOURSELF but instead of sucking it up you all – except Kayser – basically handed it to Chicken George. None of you who were in that comp have any right to bitch. Except Kayser. And interestingly enough – he’s not complaining… he’s just trying to work with what’s left. Dr. Will might not be even remotely as amusing as he was on season 2, but he’s a HELL of a lot better than Jase… if I want to watch temper tantrums, I can take candy away from my 18 mo old.

Hm… that was an interesting rant. I don’t think I normally get so worked up about reality tv. Maybe… but I don’t think so.

I think I’m going to try and update my blogroll again. If you want added, let me know. And if you’re reading this and have a blog, or request a link, please add me to your blogroll too. Thanx, everso!

Some things require a male touch…

Jaben begins football on August 1st, so we went the other night to have him fitted for his uniform. Size medium helmet, size medium pants, size LARGE shoulder pads (he takes after his mother on this one). Being a non-football kind of girl, I asked a lot of questions, mostly regarding the likelihood of my little guy getting hurt. I’m trusting the coach on this one and expect my little gridiron star returned no worse than bruised and banged. I was told to buy several mouth guards… preferably the kind that attach to the face guard because kids this age tend to lose them. They can be bought at Wal-Mart and apparently are surprisingly cheap. Cleats are not required, but c’mon… the kid’s gotta have some cleats.

And then he said it.

“You also might want to buy him a jock strap. You know, for protection.”

Me: “Uh yeah… that’s a good idea. Um, yeah we’ll do that…”

Coach: “I don’t require it, but if he doesn’t have one he could get hurt so he’s gonna want one.”

*gulp *

I don’t remember much of the conversation after that.

You know, you think you’ve got it down… I’m the mom of a little boy. We’ve survived circumcision, knocks to the privates, toy trucks, dirt, guns, and other things he’d probably kill me for mentioning here. But now… only now do I truly understand greatest hurdle to the single mom of a boy. The first jockstrap. I wouldn’t know where to buy one, how it would fit…..

Okay, this requires a male. So on the way home, we “chatted.”

“So Jabe… you want me to take you to buy a jock strap?”

Him: “I don’t know, what’s it for?”

Me: “It protects your privates, in case you get hit there.”

Him: “Wouldn’t a cup do that?”

Me: “Um… the cup fits into the jock strap and holds it in place…” (I think?!?)

Him: “Um…. Okay…. Do you have to do it?”

Me: “No, we can find somebody else. Would you rather have a guy take you?”

Him: “YES.”

Me: Oh thank God.

Wait, I didn’t say that part out loud.

So, after some discussion, it was decided I would call my cousin and see if her new husband would be willing to take Jaben on that all important shopping trip for his first jock strap. I wonder if it’s anything like a girl’s first bra-shopping trip?

“Hello?”

“Hey, how’s it going?”

Her: “Good. What’s up?”

Me: “Well… I wondered if your new husband, of less than a month, would be willing to take my son shopping for his very first jock strap?” Welcome to the family…

Her: * laughs * “Well… I could ask him….”

Best. Conversation. Ever.

So it was decided. My cousin’s brand new husband, the only adult male in the family who lives close enough to do this kind of thing, will be welcomed into the family by taking his brand-new 10 yr old second-cousin-by-marriage to buy his first jock strap.

But like I said… some things require a male touch. I think he married in just in time.

Explanation of 12 of 12 n stuff

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!

[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...

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!!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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

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!!!!!

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!