Thanks for the birthday wishes! I had such a great day today. First off, I replied to every single person on Facebook so I am sure that my news feed caused more than a few people to click "LESS ABOUT PEZ" today.

We had planned a hike but we had torrential rains this morning (and hail!) so we had to cancel. Around lunchtime it had cleared up a bit so I took the kids to the mall and got some free Lego (a small box that came with the Advent calendar that we could fill with loose Lego between Jan 1 and Mar 31), a free Godiva chocolate bar and a free pair of underwear and $10 any purchase at Victoria Secret (I bought two more pairs of undies that were on sale).

Afterwards, while the sun shone, we went for a walk along the river. We then had dinner and cake and played Rummoli. I had such a great day!

Saturday night we went to Ash's to celebrate her dh's 40th birthday. It was fun!

Sunday, Spy and Ash took me to dinner and a movie to celebrate my birthday. We saw "Sunshine Cleaning". I really enjoyed it and had a great time.

Today, Stephen took the day off work and we went to GameWorks in Seattle. That place is soooo icky but the kids love playing all of the video games and the "ticket" games.

My birthday is tomorrow and I believe I am getting "Twilight" on dvd. I say this because Cars keeps asking me if "Twilight" is one of my favourite movies or if I like "Twilight" more than "Monsters vs Aliens" (which I have not seen but Stephen took the kids to see it yesterday).

Cars has had his "croup-like" cough for a couple of days and he had fever yesterday. The cough got really bad this afternoon so I took him to the doctor who of course said "yes, he has a croup-like cough". No stidor or wheezing though so we just have to wait it out. Dex has started coughing again too so I made him use his inhaler tonight. I just hope that Jax does not start coughing too!

I made my birthday cake tonight and the icing did not turn out! I followed the Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" frosting recipe on the tin of cocoa but it ended up with little lumps of cocoa. Oh well, it still tasted good enough and if no one else likes it, more for me!

Last night was Art Gallery night at the school. Since I am the art docent for Dex's class, I had to come up with an art project to display. I decided on Cave drawings based on the cave drawings of Lascaux. I had the kids draw on sandpaper with oil pastels. I thought they really looked great! The kids did a fabulous job.


While I ran the "friendship bracelet" activity (I just had to get pony beads and pipe cleaners), Stephen took the kids around. He took photos of them next to their works of art. Jax's class made and glazed some clay pots and Cars' class painted some terra cotta pots.

Here are some photos:


Oh, and notice the white eye in Jax's left eye again? Weird, eh?

The Fifth Graders also put on a drum concert which I missed because of the friendship bracelet thing. I also forgot to look at the Reflections contest entries (Dex submitted his blue ice photo). Hmmm...next year I think I will volunteer to be a "floater" so I can wander around and not miss anything.

Ha, the blogger dashboard says "Scheduled outage at 4:00PM PDT on Thursday (3/25). Learn more". Too bad 3/25 is WEDNESDAY, not Thursday.

Anyway...

I worked out today for the first time in a week and I feel so much better mentally. Of course now that my mom has left, that might have helped too. I feel like a big baby for complaining about her visit but yesterday was so emotionally draining. I wonder if we fight towards the end of her visits because it will make it easier to say good-bye? Maybe I need to go back to my Crazy Doctor to figure it out? Hmmm...

Stephen asked me to make a list of things that I wanted for my birthday so I went to amazon.com to get the link for a book that I wanted only to see it was no longer listed when I knew for sure there was an April 2009 release date listed last year. The book is the second in the series after The Name of the Wind: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One by Patrick Rothfuss. What happened to the second book and the April release date? I had to go to Patrick's blog to find out. Oh, I can call him Patrick because he friended me on Facebook last year after I wrote a review of his book on Facebook's Visual Bookshelf. Anyway, Patrick explains what happened to the release date for the next book in this blog post. Aargh! It isn't even finished yet. I was sure that I read last year that it was already written. Anyway, I guess I will just have to be patient. Maybe (hopefully) it will be out soon.

So, I was debating whether or not to add Twilight to my list. I enjoyed the books, liked the movie but is it something that I need to own. Will I watch it over and over again? Probably not. I would like to see it again but I guess I can just rent it through NetFlix.

I think I would like a pair of silver hoop earrings. And some new sports socks. And that is about all I can think of offhand. Well, I would like some work-out clothes but I cannot find any that make me look fit. ;)

My mom is leaving early in the morning for Vancouver. We had a huge fight today. I am a little embarrassed about it because it stems from her always treating me like a child and when I try to take control and call her on her comments or actions, she tells me I am just "too sensitive". When she acts ridiculous and I tell her so, she tells me I am being a bully.

Anyway, we've made up. Next time she comes I am going to make sure I have projects for her to do so she won't have time to focus on what I am not doing (imagine me not wanting to start dinner at 2:30 in the afternoon!). And I am going to insist she comes when the weather is nicer so she can go out for walks.

I do love her and I even like her a lot. But I love her best 4000km away.

And please no comments about how I will miss her when she is gone. You haven't been with her constantly for the past several days.

My mom brought the boys Leafs' sweaters:

Today was Little League opening day. Dex had a game at 1pm so we first went to his game but then my mom, Cars and I had to leave at the bottom of the first inning to get to Cars' t-ball game. OMG, I forgot just how d*mn cute t-ball kids are when they are playing! They hit the ball then off to 1st base or right field or wherever! So cute!

Jax finished up his "Colonial" project today. His topic was "Toys and Games in Colonial Times" and he made some clay marbles (out of polymer clay that we then baked in the oven to harden). He also attached a toy knife and a block of wood to his board. He made sure he had permission from his teacher to bring the knife to school. He was very concerned that he would get in trouble for bringing in a "weapon". I am smirking a little about it because there is no way that anyone might mistake this plastic knife for the real thing but I am glad he checked anyway.

My mom is here for a visit. The kids are very excited that she is here. Tomorrow she gets to watch Cars play t-ball and Dex play baseball (opening day!).

Stephen booked a trip for us to go to Hawaii! I am so excited! Warmth! Sun! Sand! Can't wait! I was joking with the kids, telling them that I needed to lose some weight to fit into a bikini and Dex said "I don't want to see YOU in a bikini!". Gee, thanks.

Jax has an assignment due tomorrow that needs to be written in CURSIVE! It is a story that they have been working on for a couple of weeks and now the final draft is due tomorrow. The teacher said the kids would have one hour tomorrow to complete it if they did not get it done tonight. Jax spent almost 2.5 hours re-writing his story and it still is not done! Arrgh! One thing is that his story is very long (10 pages double-spaced) but he writes cursive painfully slow.

Anyway, he still has a couple of pages to write but he thinks he can get it done in the hour tomorrow. Poor boy. :(

And I cannot remember if I have mentioned but Dex's tics are back. They started just over a week ago. It is the head-shaking tic again but very violent. I know the neurologist said he wanted to see Dex again but I cannot remember if he said in 6 or 12 months. Either way, the tics will be gone before we get back in to see him. *sigh*

Spring break is coming up in less than two weeks. I really want to plan some fun outings for the kids. I had originally hoped that we would be sitting on a beach in Hawaii that week but no such luck.

My mom will be in Vancouver that week so perhaps we'll drive up to see her (and Lola and Jean-Paul - Marilyn will be France). Stephen has been talking about Great Wolf Lodge but I can imagine it will be just packed that week so I am not that interested in going. Maybe we'll just a few touristy things around here and I hope Stephen takes a day or two off. He has four weeks of UNUSED vacation to take on top of the four weeks he will earn this year (June will mark his 10th year at Big Software Company). I am more than a little irritated that he barely takes time off.

Jax started making a birthday list (his b-day is in 4 weeks). Cars, not to be out done, insisted on making one too (his b-day is 4.5 MONTHS away). Anyway, Jax wants Lego (what else is knew?!) and a digital camera to make Lego movies. He and Dex made a great little movie a couple of weeks ago. I will try to upload it to youtube and link it here.

I heard on the "Good Morning, America" today that Seattle has had more snow this year than Denver!! I believe it!

I was watching GMA to catch the segment they did called Possible Therapy Takes Bite out of Peanut Allergy. It reported on the study by Duke University (and others) where peanut-allergic children are fed peanut flour (under a doctor's care) to build up a tolerance to peanuts. I recorded it to show Jax. He told me that if they expanded the program, he would be interested in doing it. Wow! I am going to mention it to his allergist when at his annual appointment next month.

We had a St. Patrick's Day party last night with Spy's family and Ash's family over for dinner. Stephen made corned beef (~gag~) and I made a lamb stew (yum!) we also had a fancy cabbage slaw, barley risotto and boiled red potatoes. Oh, and green Cosmos. I went super easy with dessert and made white cake cupcakes with green butter cream frosting, topped with a green Peep. And a pan of wheat-free brownies with fudge icing for Spy. I had a blast! I love my family and friends!

My mom is coming for a visit on Thursday. My SIL is not coming after all (her youngest dd will be returning on Saturday evening from a trip to Florida so SIL thought she should be home to see her before she heads back to university on Sunday. Too bad but hopefully SIL will come sometime soon.

The kids got their report cards on Friday and I was pleased with everything...except for a couple of Cars' "Life Skills" and the comment that he needs to learn to keep his hands to himself when standing in line. Oops! He always claims that it is not him. ~eye roll~ Riiight.

Jax's teacher mentioned that he needed to write in cursive more but he just does not like to do it. He will only do it when she specifically tells him he *must* (like on final drafts of assignments, etc). It has become a running joke between him and his teacher...only I don't think he is joking. He claims he can print faster than he can write in cursive but I think it is just his own little way of rebelling. I am happy that the rebel seems to be limited to printing and loving that crazy, bush hair of his. At least for now.

Don't you just love when people say things like if you have a positive attitude you won't die of cancer? Then a minute later - "hey, didn't your dad die of cancer?"

Um, do you understand what you just did and said?

I told her I was offended by her words. I am sure that I raised my voice a little bit. I am sure that moment was very uncomfortable and awkward for everyone else at book club and I do not really even care.

I went to Target tonight and it was a ghost town! Where are all the shoppers?! I had to buy a birthday present for my niece and to buy a Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Cleaner (thanks for the coupon, Stacy!). It seemed like I had the run of the store to myself.

Before I went, Stephen and I took the kids to dinner at the same place that Stephen and I went on Friday night (we needed to use the other gift certificate that we had). Jax and Dex had the kids' steak dinner but Cars insisted on "Oodles of Noodles". I resented paying that much money for like 25 cents worth of buttered noodles. Aargh!

I spent much of this afternoon making Origami Jumping Frogs for Dex's Funny Money Bazaar at school. The kids make something (or bring in things) to sell. Normally, we make Nanaimo bars but he wanted to do something different this time so the frogs and he is also making paper bag puppets. The problem with both of these projects is that there was too much parental involvement needed! He was not as precise as he needed to be when folding the paper for the frog so I ended up taking over (control freak much?). Then Dex needed help here and there with the stupid, I mean, silly puppets. Hours and hours worth of work and he still does not have enough for the class yet. Next time he's making Nanaimo bars!!

I stopped by the local jewellry shop today to buy some silver cleaner. I found my stash of 1990's-era silver earrings and bracelets that are all tarnished so I thought I might clean them up and maybe start wearing them. Anyway, while I was in the store I asked to have my rings cleaned. Stephen bought my 10th anniversary band there. Well, actually, I picked it out, ordered it but made him hand over the credit card when it came in. He (really him this time) bought me a set of pearls, amethyst earrings/necklace and I bought his 40th birthday present - a watch - from this place over the years so I figure they owe me a free ring cleaning once a year. :) Oh, the store owner even offered to clean my diamondoid earrings which I was terribly embarrassed about but they do look much nicer now. I bought them for $50 many years ago at Mervyn's.

Anyway, I was told that the prongs on my engagement ring were worn down and I need to have them replaced soon or I might lose the diamond. He told me the price, which I thought was reasonable (way less than the deductible should I lose the diamond!), so I will take it back there in the coming weeks to have it done.

The place was suprisingly busy for two in the afternoon. One lady was buying a ring, another was picking up something that she had repaired. A third bought a gold chain. And one woman brought her husband to pick up the bracelet that she had designed. It was a huge diamond bracelet (think tennis bracelet with BIG diamonds) between two thin, wavy gold bracelets. I guess she had it designed that she could take the gold bracelets off and just wear the diamonds alone. It was gorgeou$! And she was buying it "just because".

Me? I walked out of there with my $5 silver cleaner and some pretty shiny rings. Oh yeah, and clean diamondoid earrings too. :)

It snowed today (this is getting to be a regular thing rather than a rare event). Jax and Cars wanted to play in the snow when they got home from school so they headed out after their homework was done and they played outside until nearly dinner time. I went into the laundry room after they went to bed and I found their coats covered in MUD and SOAKED (and lying on the floor -grrrrrr!). It was 9:30 at this point so I put them in the washing machine but Jax's coat takes two and half cycles in the dryer to dry so I'll be up until 11:45 or so to ensure that it dries. I am sooo frustrated!

Stephen is taking a day off tomorrow because he worked crazy hours last week and he really needs to catch up on sleep. He picked a good day because the temperatures have dropped and the roads will be icy tomorrow. I am wondering if we might have a delayed start for school tomorrow too.

Dex was invited to a birthday party so on Friday we went to Target to look for a gift. He looked in the action figure aisle, the Lego aisle and the video game aisle but there was nothing that interested him that was within our budget. Then, he found the Outdoor Summer Toy aisle and he insisted that we buy this kid, who has an early March birthday, a Slip'n'Slide! And of course it snowed on and off all weekend!

I hope it does not snow overnight because I have an appointment at the ProClub at 9 and my circuit training class is at 10. A delayed start (or snow day!) would mean I would miss both!

Stephen and I had a date tonight. It was good to sit and talk because he has been so busy lately that we haven't seen each other. We talked about vacation (most likely NOT happening during Spring Break), going to Toronto for a visit and buying a new vehicle. And we talked about the kids of course.

We went to a local restaurant where we had a gift certificate. I had joked that we had better go and use the gift certificate before the place closes. But maybe it was not such a joke after all! I ordered a Cosmo (it is Cosmo Friday after all!) and they brought it in a low ball glass instead of a martini glass. The waitress gave some dumb excuse that they had recently broken all of their martini glasses but had some more on order. Hmmm... Then, after we had paid but were finishing up our drinks, she asked for the check billfold because "we only have a few and I need it for another check". Hmmm... Then, I went to the bathroom and it was a mess! Trash all over the floor and the soap dispenser was empty. I could not believe it! We have to go back and use the second gift certificate very soon!

The boys were excited that Nanny came to babysit. I think it has been about three months since they had seen her. She has a very nice job these days. The family she is a nanny for recently took a vacation to Hawaii and took her along to watch their child! She saw Bill Gates twice in the restaurant at the resort so imagine the nice place they stayed. Maybe I need to become a nanny to get my trip to Hawaii!

With all the snow we've had again this winter, I have been obsessed with getting a new vehicle - one that has 4WD or AWD so I don't get stuck in it. Even with my new tires, I could not drive my van up our driveway in the snow so I keep imagining getting stuck in the snow with the kids anywhere here on the plateau with all of these hills. It snowed again today (but no accumulation except on my car in the church parking lot while I was at MOPS, thankfully) but I kept thinking "How will I get to guitar lessons in the snow?!" I have things to do, places to go, people to see and the snow cannot stand in my way!

I've looking at SUV's because minivans do not have 4WD/AWD options. Now, with hauling all of the baseball and hockey equipment around a sedan will not work. I want something that has three rows of seats but where the boys could still comfortably sit in the middle row for long distances (thinking about camping now). And, it has to have a hitch that is HIGH off the ground so the bike rack won't scrape going up and down driveways. (I cannot take another Stephen hissy fit over that - yes I called him "crabby" in that blahg entry but it was a full-blown hissy fit that lasted the whole drive from here to Lake Wenatchee State Park!).

Just this week the Consumers Report Car edition came out so I have been poring through it, dreaming of a new vehicle. There are a lot of SUV's that I like that are recommended by CR (and some that are not). I already envision myself driving around in a cool, new vehicle with vanity plates that say something like PEZ ME or IFRGNROCK (666-PEZ is already taken). The car will be blue with black interior, a great sound system so I can blast Green Day and P!NK and my bike rack sitting high off the ground. Oh, and of course it will have a GPS in it so that I will never get lost.

So that's my dream car (which is really not at all a "car"). I guess I'll just keep fantasizing about it for now because at this point, I really do not want to $pend money on one (never mind thinking about the $$ we've lost due to the stock market cra$h). It will stay a dream...along with my Hawaiian vacation.

I am trying to convince my SIL, who lives in Minne-snow-ta, to come visit in two weeks. My brother will be away in Toronto and my mom will be here so I thought it would be nice if my SIL came for a visit. I am trying to remember if she has even met Cars but I don't think so. I think the last time I saw her, she and my brother and my nieces were here for a visit in 2002. Oh wait, I did see her at my middle brother's wedding in May 2003 when I was pregnant with Cars. Anyway, it would be fun if she came too plus my mom would be on her best behaviour during her visit. ;)

The kids do not have school on Friday and I am trying to decide what we will do. Cars does have a b-day party to go to from 2-4 but the rest of our day is free. The weather forecast is for sunshine (with cold temperatures and maybe snow on Sunday!) so we should take advantage of the nice weather while it lasts. Jeff Renner, the weather guy on KING5, reminded us tonight that we had measurable snowfall on April 18th of last year. I will cry if our spring is as cold as it was last year.

And I will continue to dream of a beach vacation in Hawaii...

Stephen has been working crazy hours lately so I have been single parenting it for a few days. He promised the boys that next week he'd take them somewhere special to make up for all the time he's been away from home. Um...hello? What about me?

Actually, we have a date on Friday night. Nanny is coming to babysit for us and we are going to the local steakhouse to use up the two gift certificates that our realtor gave to us (one last month and one in January ;08! Nice to see how often we go out as a couple). I am already thinking about what I am going to eat. And they have really yummy Cosmos there.

No Cosmo Friday this week for a whole host of reasons such as no school, a b-day party in the afternoon for Cars to go to, Spy and her family are going out-of-town, etc. So, I will enjoy my Cosmo elsewhere.

Homework

Scene opens with Jax at the computer desk doing homework.

Jax: grumble grumble school district grumble
Me: Pardon me?
Jax: Nothing!
Me: Please tell me what you said.
Jax: No! Because if I do you will just get mad at me and tell me I am lucky that I am not living in Thailand making shoes!
Me: (fighting to keep a straight face) Please tell me what you said.
Jax: I want to write to the school district to tell them that homework is a waste of time AND no wonder kids are fat! They have to sit around for hours after school doing homework and when they are done, it is too dark to go outside to play!
Me: You get to go outside in two minutes because we have to go to Cars' t-ball practice
Jax: No! I want to finish my homework!!

Stephen is super busy at work so he had to go in today which totally sucked because my house did not get cleaned today! ;) He normally cleans while I am at church with the kids (love that ex-Catholic guilt!). Guess I am going to have to do it tomorrow while the kids are at school.

And tomorrow I am going to go to the gym for the first time in two weeks! OMG I miss it! I have been doing the exercisetv.tv on demand stuff but it is not quite the same (I chose not to do cardio at home).

So, I did give up chocolate for Lent along with bacon and I am not doing too well. I mean, I haven't had any but I think about it all.the.time. Especially since the Girl Scout cookies came out this week and I had ordered three boxes of Samoa's! OMG - they are my favourite and I love to eat them frozen. So I have two boxes hidden away (I let the kids eat the other box plus the Thin Mints) and I think they are actually calling my name.

How many more days until Easter? Oh, that reminds me of Cadbury's Easter Creme Eggs. Yum!