I received a belated birthday gift in the mail today from my bff, Ramona. It was a pretty heavy package so I had absolutely no clue what it was before I opened it.

It was...

Three years of Pezblahg published in a book format! OMG - what a great present! I had tried to upload my blahg to www.mypublisher.com in the past but I am running an "old" version of blogger so I could not upload unless I upgraded but I was not sure what that would do to my blahg template and links so I have not done it.

In the past, I had also copied/pasted parts of my blahg to MSWord documents but it was a PITA that took forever. But as it turns out, I did not have to do this as my BFF did it for me, had it printed and bound and mailed to me. Ramona, you rock!

Anyway, I spent some time reading through my old posts from 2004 - back when I was still dealing with ppd. Some of it was a little hard to read because those feelings came back so strongly. But I also know that I no longer have those feelings so that is great. Normal Pez rather than Crazy Pez now.

Here is an entry that I had forgotten all about. Click on it for a larger view.

So, remember Stephen's crappy birthday list? Well, I guess I should have realized that the reason he did not want anything is that he had designs on getting himself a Nintendo DS. He picked one up today at Costco. It came with The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. At least he picked out a cobalt blue DS to match my bottle collection. ;)

Jax has a science project due on the 13th of this month. He declined to do the optional science fair project only to find out that a science project is mandatory for 4th graders this year. Anyway, he has done his experiment already but needs to write it all up and work on his display board. He tested to see how many Lego bricks he could stack before they toppled over. He predicted that the 2x4 bricks would stack higher than the 2x2 or the 1x1's. As it turned out, the 2x2's could be stacked the highest before they fell. Stephen thinks it was a good experiment (he is the scientist in the house).

While they were working on that, Dex and I worked on his First Holy Communion banner. I bought some dark blue felt for the background and cut out our last name in orange letters (his favourite colour). He cut out a host and chalice and made little light rays coming out of it. He chose bright green for a cross but at least he made the candle out of a normal colour (white with an yellow flame - I cut out a tiny cross for the candle). I will hot glue them onto the banner tomorrow or Tuesday as the banner is due on Wednesday, along with a note stating that he is prepared to receive his First Holy Communion. We have not yet done the chapters that he missed when he was sick last week so I'd better hope to it.

My high school had a reunion last week and I have been enjoying looking at the photos from high school friends and teacher on Facebook. In Canada, they don't usually have the traditional 10th, 25th, etc reunions and often it is just a gathering of people who used to go to the school. I would definitely have gone if I were still living in Toronto. I graduated from Grade 12 26 years ago next month. That sounds so long ago but it doesn't at all feel that long ago.

Anyway, I have had several people from high school whom I had really only had acquaintances with contact me on Facebook (I am up to 65! ;) It has been fun finding out what everyone has been up to these past 2+ decades!

Peanut allergy treatment on the horizon?
Expert: Immune therapy for growing condition may be available in 5 years

The teacher finally got back to me after I sent two emails asking for an update. She said she spoke to the kids who said they were sorry and did understand how "important" Jax's allergy is (important? hmmm). She said she reported it to the principal and vice-principal and they will all work together to ensure Jax feels safe at school.

Anyway, I am fine with this for now as long as those kids do not bother him again. I think last year had this happened, Jax could have just shrugged it off (but it is still just as serious). However, with his anxiety this year, he cannot let it go. And these things are not funny and need to be dealt with swiftly.

No Cosmo Friday today as Dex has been sick. He barfed all night long Wednesday. Technically, it was all morning on Thursday as it started at 2am and ended at 8am. He said whining yesterday "I threw up 39 times!". Unfortunately for me, the first three times were on my down duvet. It is now at the dry cleaners and I hope it comes back smelling a little prettier. Anyway, Dex's stomach still hurts but he was able to eat today. Dex will also miss a sleepover b-day party tomorrow night. Poor kid.

Still waiting to hear back from the school. :\

And bro2 sent me this article:
Bullies use peanut butter to threaten kids with allergies from Tuesday's Globe and Mail.

Yesterday, Jax told me that some kids teased him at recess about his allergy:

Kid1: I know you - you are the kid with the peanut allergy!
Kid2: Ooooh, peanut butter finger [pretends he has pb on finger and wipes it on Jax's arm]
Kid3: I had peanut butter and jelly for lunch [leans in close to Jax's face]
Jax: Did you really have peanut butter?
Kid2: Just kidding!
Kid3: Just kidding!
Kid1: [walks away]

Ok, so Kid1 did not actually tease (or bully because that is what I am calling it) but he did not have to point that out to everyone. Kid2 was in Jax's class in Grade 2 and while they were never really close friends, they were friendly back then. Kid3 has never been in his class before but she is in the same grade.

Jax said he was very shocked that anyone would do that to him and he was scared because what if it were true. How incredibly mean of those kids!

I had decided after reading those articles about peanuts and bullying that we were going to take a zero tolerance stance on bullying so I immediately emailed Jax's teacher to report it and to ask her what will be done about it. I won't go to the principal yet. I have also decided that at the 504 Plan review in a couple of weeks we need to address how situations like this will be handled.

I imagine there will be more of this in the coming years, especially in middle school. *sigh*

I met CraftyMama at Starbucks today. I think we've decided to do a Starbucks tour of the area about 1/2 way between our two towns. It was great seeing her again and catching up. The time always seems to fly by. Cars joined us today and for the most part he was perfect but he did get a little antsy after an hour and half so it was time to go. Then I asked him to take a picture of CraftyMama and I but he refused at first. Then he said he would and took the camera and snapped a lovely picture of a truck going through the Starbucks drive-thru and another of my bum. So we made due with this one taken by me. Then a very kind woman offered to take one of us with CraftyMama's camera (see her blog for that one).

I conveniently finished correcting the spelling for Dex's class today during recess so I was able to approach the teacher to ask her to please consider placing Dex in Mrs. P's class for next year. She does not have 100% say in the placement as they do have to balance the class out by boy/girl and strong, medium and weak students, but her input will definitely be considered. She said she would do what she can for me and I do believe she will and is not just saying it. I told her that I was going to request "no job share" for him as well so that will cut out one of the classes. The job share class might be ok for him except that one of the teachers was Jax's teacher in 2nd grade when he had that horrible, horrible year. I have heard nothing but good things about the other teacher (and she is a very close friend of one of my friends) but that won't help the other 1/2 of the week as they alternate 2/3 and 3/2 days.

Now I have to work on the wording for the placements forms for both kids. I know nothing about the 5th grade teachers so I will just have to concentrate more on the social needs Jax has rather than the academic and just hope he gets a teacher who works for him. One concern I have is that at our school, the 5th grade classes are in the portables with no running water. Not ideal for someone who has OCD and a peanut allergy so he cannot wash his hands. We have a 504 Plan review next month to discuss how the school will handle this.

I have been spending more time outside getting to know my new garden and yard. It has been fun to watch the bulbs come up and the buds come out. I have a purple azalea bush flowering right now and it is so pretty! (I had several pink azalea's at the other house). I have just one rhodie bush flowering right now and it is a pale pink colour. A little disappointing as I do prefer the more vibrant colours. I hope the others bloom soon although my nextdoor neighbour says they won't bloom due to years of neglect and over-pruning. We'll see...

Quite a few weeks ago I noticed wrote that deer had eaten my tulips but had ignored the hyacinths. Well, apparently since the tulips are gone, they started in on the grape hyacinth and have virtually eaten them all. Funny, they left the pink ones alone.

Pink hyacinth and chewed tulips

Grape Hyacinth and Deer prints (tracks?)

Sole blooming tulip

And since I am sharing photos, here is one of our birthday present to Jax. It is a life-size wall sticker of Boba Fett. He *loves* it and it goes well in his Lego Green room.

I played chauffeur all day today so I am very happy that the jalopy is fixed and it made it home alive.

Stephen met Jax for lunch today. Jax was pretty subdued - apparently very nervous about the food. It was "Twin Taco" day and lunch came with a churro. Jax threw out both his and Stephen's (without asking Stephen) because "baked goods are not safe". He is right of course but I guess Stephen was stunned at Jax taking control like that. I am very proud of him today. I know it took a lot of courage to do, even with his dad sitting next to him.

From Stephen's b-day list I bought him some herbs and a grill brush. He "purchased" last weekend's ultimate fighting championship or whatever on PPV and he said that is all he wants. Oh geez. I do have one other thing I want to get him so I will have to run out tomorrow while Cars is at school (if Cars goes to school - his tummy is still upset).

I promise to make my blahg more interesting. Thanks for stopping by.

Ok, my mom was well enough to travel to Vancouver. It hasn't snowed since Monday and I fell off the room so my PMS is over. Whew! Of course, the car is not yet repaired because not only was the radiator broken but so was the water pump (I am trying not to regret the decision to fix it).

Cars is still sick (stomach bug) so he hasn't been to preschool all week. Then he developed pinkeye so off we went to the doctor today for eye drops. I hope he is well enough to go on Friday.

Dex has baseball practice today. As every Wednesday, the ball fields are always in use by others when we get there. I am angry at the league (and coach) for not handling this correctly. The fields are "owned" by the city but on are the school property and the little league has a contract with the city but the school is hosting softball games and tournaments on it every Wednesday it seems. Last week we had to drive across the city to a soccer field to practice. Tonight, we moved to a field across from where we were supposed to play but another team was booked on that field. That coach decided perhaps both teams could have a practice game so it worked out in the end. I hope they have it all straightened out next week.

I have noticed since I had been blahging about Dex's experience with Zyrtec and tics, I have had a lot of hits on my blahg from people searching for it. I believe this is an under reported problem with Zyrtec. I checked out the FDA site to report a problem but you can only report "serious adverse events". Then I decided it was a serious adverse event so I filled in a report. I hope others who are experiencing do the same.

Jax is going to buy lunch tomorrow at school for the first time in...ages. I think he bought lunch the second week of school back in September and that was the last time. Stephen is going to meet him (well, he is meeting Dex at 11:30 and Jax at 12:00) so Jax will feel comfortable having a parent with him. I have been having a hard time arranging for a day to meet Jax when there was food that he liked (very limited range here). So, tomorrow is "Twin Taco" day and he likes that.

Of course with the jalopy out of commission, I have to drive to pick Stephen up from work, bring him here for lunch then take him back to work. Fortunately, he figured out the bus schedule and will take the bus to work in the morning(as he did today). The car should be fixed by the afternoon so he can drive home. We'll see...

Stephen's birthday is on Friday. He has asked for herbs for the garden (they will die because it is too cold), a brush to clean the grill and a shoeshine cloth. OMG. Could his list be any lamer? How can I take the kids to buy something from that list? Seriously. I think I will just take them to Target and let them pick ANYTHING they want as anything they pick will be better than those items. ~eyeroll~

Ok, my mom is on the mend. She has had 3 doses of antitbiotics and already her coughing is much better and she doesn't look like she is about to kick the bucket anymore. She is headed to Vancouver in the morning.

Cars was sick today and could not go to preschool but he seemed much better before he went to bed. Hopefully he will be fine in the morning.

Stephen's car needs a new radiator. We debated over spending half of the car's value on a repair but decided to go ahead and he'll get a new car at the end of the summer or when it dies again, whichever comes first.

I won't talk about the snow that fell today since it only snowed for about 15 minutes and it melted because it was not too cold. With all this freaking snow, I did learn how it is possible for snow to fall when temperatures are above freezing. They were explaining it on the news last night but I was too busy sobbing to listen. Today, since I am feeling much better emotionally, I decided to check it out.

So, my mom is still very sick. Urgent Care called to follow-up and when they found out she was still so sick they said she probably DID have pneumonia. (They do not yet have the radiologist report back from the hospital on her x-rays). The doctor called in a prescription for antibiotics for her and she is not to travel until she is better. Also, if she is not feeling better within 24 hours, I am to take her to Emergency Room. And, I was scolded when I said she had plans to take the train to Vancouver on Tuesday (we had already changed her flight home from 4/39 to 4/25 at this point). I was told "your mother needs to rest and she must not travel if she is not better!". So, looks like she may have to wait until Wednesday before she goes to Vancouver then she will fly out on Friday. I feel badly (as does she) because she will not have much time to see Lola.

With her being sick and Cars vomiting all day yesterday and Stephen's shitty lemon car, lack of sleep from J's b-day party and the FRIGGIN SNOW, I am so stressed out. It seems so stupid, but I am. I know a big part of it is that I have PMS (which seems to get worse each month - a sign of perimenopause?!). This has been a shitty visit with us being so busy and with my mom being sick. We haven't been able to do anything fun together. Also, my mom likes to take us out for a nice dinner once each visit but all we've managed is KFC takeout.

And all I want to do is have a big old cry but then I feel foolish for being such a baby. Instead, I will have to settle for spewing this all on my blahg which has turned into nothing more than the Seattle weather report and peanut allergy bitching.

Enough is enough!

This is what I awoke to this morning:
Let me repeat...it is not supposed to snow in Seattle. edited to add that my uploaded video does not seem to be working so you can check it out here.

Random Stuff

Jax's birthday party was fun for him. The kids did not sleep much but they all seemed to have fun. As parents were picking up though, Cars vomitted in the living room. Ugh! He was sick until late in the afternoon. I hope none of the party goers become sick!

My mom was feeling better today and her cough seemed much better by the end of the day. She needs to stay active so it does not settle in her lungs. :(

Dex had a baseball game in the snow today. There was none on the ground really but it was like a blizzard during the game. It kept alternating snow and hail yet they played on. They did call it after all of the kids on his team started crying because they were so cold. Stephen was pissed off that they even played that long (I was at home with Cars and my mom). Hopefully this crazy weather will end soon. Hard to believe it was 81F last Saturday!

A couple of articles about peanut allergies and bullies (courtesy of Peanut Free Mama):

"Peanut butter crackers found in lunchbox; classmate charged"
"Peanut Butter and Deadly Taunts"

It saddens me that kids do these types of things. :(

Yes, this is snow on my front steps. I know I keep harping about this but it is not supposed to snow in Seattle! Especially NOT in April. Aargh!

Jax's birthday party is going on right now. The kids had pizza, played xbox and with Lego. Had cake and are now watching a movie. Lights out will be at 11pm and I hope they sleep this year. :)

My mom is very sick. I had to take her to Urgent Care today. She thought she had pneumonia but they said no. She has a horrible cough and is coughing up junk from her lungs but the xray indicated no pneumonia. They suggested she use Benadryl to help with her cough but she had a horrible reaction to is and has been in bed since 4pm. Not easy to rest when there are 7 loud boys around but they have been banned from upstairs to keep everyone comfortable. I wanted to postpone the party but she (and Stephen) would not hear of it. Hopefully she will feel better in the morning.

Speaking of Stephen, the radiator hose fell off again. I am more than just a little annoyed now. If he insists on keeping the car, he needs to ensure that it does not break down every other day.

Dex has a baseball game in the morning. I hope the snow is gone by then.

Ok, off to check on the boys again. Seems they have paused the movie for a "Lego Break".

Tonight was the first of three classes for Dex's First Communion prep. The priest had some interesting things to say but I must admit that I dozed off during the video (same one I saw two years ago) which talked about covenants (Noah's, Abraham's, Moses' and Jesus'). Good thing the lights were dimmed (or perhaps that is why I dozed off). Anyway, I could still pass the test if there was one. ;)

My kids are so happy that Granny is here visiting. Especially Cars. He hasn't stopped showing off for her. He keeps running over to give her a kiss and he wants to sit beside her all of the time. It is very sweet.

I've decided not to go to MOPS tomorrow but I am a little bummed because we are doing a really cute craft that I had planned before quitting as Creative Activities Coordinator (although the person who took over for me did all of the work for this craft - she is good!). Anyway, it is a Photo centerpiece and I think it will be fun to make and to have. I have asked Spy if should could pick up the supplies for me and I will make it later so I should have my own soon. :)

Ramblings

Stephen drove to Seattle to pick my mom up from the shuttle bus that runs from the Vancouver airport (she flew there this morning from Edmonton where she had been visiting my sister). The radiator hose that he repaired came loose and there was smoke (oh, I guess steam) billowing out from under the hood as he drove across THAT bridge. He got off the highway on the other side and bought a screw driver, water, radiator fluid and made the repair. Apparently when he was replacing it he broke a small piece off the radiator where the hose attaches so he cannot get the clamps to tighten as much as they should. I am so stressed about this. I just know the car will break down on the highway or something when I am driving it. ~stress~ Ok, I have just made up my mind that I am never driving that car again. Ever.

Anyway, so he picked up my mom and she is here for a week. We have a very crazy busy week with Jax's appointment with the psychologist (that was tonight), Dex's baseball practice tomorrow night, First Communion class for Dex on Thursday, Jax's sleepover b-day party Friday. I think we might be able to eat dinner together as a family on Saturday night. And who knows if we'll get any shopping done or not either (other than a Costco run tomorrow morning).

Oh, and I wanted to mention that on Sunday afternoon, when I took Jax shopping for a bathing suit at Old Navy, a woman with grey hair approached me and we started talking grey hair. She asked me if I were 25. I guess the Lancôme High Résolution Eye Collaser-5X™ that I bought with my birthday money is working! ;) Seriously, I think she was just a bit of a nut. In the 90 seconds that we spoke, I found out that one of her sons was gay, the other needs a girlfriend and that her Australian boyfriend, whom she met in Arizona, loves her grey hair and how it looks with her green jacket. LOL

If I colour my hair again, do you think I might get carded?! ;)

Happy Birthday, Jax!

Ten years ago today I became a mom for the first time. Jax's birth story was the most exciting of the three (two scheduled c-sections after an emergency one are not as fun ;)

So, to celebrate Jax's birthday, he got to start writing the WASL which is our state's standardized set of tests. There are signs up all around the school asking people to be quiet. They were trying to recruit extra parent volunteers to ensure that kids walking to/from the lunch line kept quiet. Kids are nervous and scared all over the school (at least the grades 3-6 with most emphasis on 4's and 6's).

Anyway, a more fun way to celebrate his birthday, besides the "WASL Treats" I took in for his class (cheese sticks and strawberries), he wanted to hand out a pair of fake nose and glasses to everyone in his class. I hope the teacher did not mind. He was going to do it this afternoon. We'll see how she handled it after he gets home from school.

I made him a Lazy Daisy Cake and we are having hamburgers for dinner. Love his simple taste.

Happy 10th Birthday, Jax. Thanks for being my son.

Ick

I saw my first big spider in this new house. Ick! Stephen had just upstairs when I spied it across the room. I had to shout for him a few times (bad acoustics in this house) before he came down. Anyway, he got it and flushed it. Take that evil spider!

We also seem to have an over abundance of wasps. I thought they were yellow jackets but it seems they are paper wasps (saw one up close as it crawled around on the outside window). I need to find the nest then either buy a fogger or call an exterminator. Cars was stung by one today (it landed on his finger and stung him when he tried to brush it away). Poor thing!

Two weeks ago tonight I got stuck in the snow. Today it was sunny and hot! What a difference.

The warm weather is not going to stay so I took advantage of it. Dex had a baseball game so Stephen drove him over early for warm-up and Jax, Cars and I walked. It was such a great idea at the time but it was much warmer than expected and I practically had to drag my 41 pound child the whole way (all 1.65 miles UP HILL)! He insisted on holding my hand the whole way which at first I thought was pretty cute but then the warm weather made for sweaty hands. Then I was not holding his hand TIGHT enough and he kept grabbing my fingers with his other hand and wrapping them tightly around his hand. Again, cute except that it was hot. Next, he did not want to wear his hoodie that he insisted on bringing so I had to jam it into the bag I was carrying (along with water bottles for all of us).

Then, when I mumbled something about the water bottles, he was suddenly parched and needed some water. He let go of my hand long enough to take a big chug of water, gave the water back to me and grabbed my hand again. About 100 yards further up the hill, he was thirsty again so we stopped, he chugged, etc.

We finally made it to the ball field just as the game was about to start so we did make good time despite me having to drag the preschooler and all the water breaks. Thankfully we were able to drive home in air conditioned comfort. Aaahhh.

Stephen's car is limping along after a radiator hose replacement. He is excited because apparently the heat is working in his car again so he feels the car is good for another 6 months at least. He calls it his "character car". Dude, you want to be defined by a run-down jalopy? Whatever!

Our internet and cable telephone service was out most of the afternoon and that completely irritated me. I am addicted to the internet and hate it when I cannot access it. Actually, today I was more upset about the phone service because I had some calls to make and did not want to use my cell phone since they were to Canada and I have free long distance to Canada with my cable service. Anyway, I had a hit of chocolate and my blood pressure is back to normal.

The radiator hose to Stephen's jalopy burst as he drove into the driveway today. He is so lucky that it did not happen on the way home or last night as he was driving back from Seattle. Looks like I am playing chauffeur until we can get to the auto supply store to buy the parts he needs (hopefully sometime tomorrow) else it will have to wait until the weekend.

On a happier note, the allergist called this morning and said she found no instances of Claritin or Allegra causing tics so she thought they would be safe options for Dex. Zyrtec crosses the blood/brain barrier which could be why it affected Dex so.

And, at Kimmer's request, here are some closer shots of my pink blossomed trees:


From the driveway


From the road and look! Pink snow!

I forgot to take photos of all of my tulips chewed down to the nubs by deer. Deer do not apparently eat irises, daffodils or hyacinths.

I had a day similar to Katie's. A non-stay-at-home mom kind of day. First, I headed to the eye doctor to return the contact lenses that were ordered for me since they were the wrong prescription. I could not figure out why the right eye was so blurry and it turns out it is because they would work for someone who is nearly legally blind! OMG they were strong. The funny thing is when I took them back the lady at the office said she would "order them myself so I know we will get you the right ones this time!" yet she was the one who ordered them for me in the first place. :D

Next, we went to swimming lessons for Cars. He is doing a great job and is down to two floaties (from 3) on his swim belt. He worked so hard.

After swimming lessons, it was off to the elementary school to pick up Jax and Dex for a trek into Seattle (across THAT bridge - eep!) to the allergist. After weighing and measuring and blowing into tubes for all three boys, the doctor came in. I told her I wanted to talk about Dex and his tics because caused by Zyrtec. She listened to me and I showed her the medical article that I found. She said that she sees a lot of kids with tics and sometimes it is hard to know if they are "just tics" or allergy tics or caused perhaps from the medicine which is not well documented. Anyway, she was interested in the article and said she would do more research tonight and contact me. And she told me to make sure I give the same info to the neurologist when we go in May. In the meantime, I am to put Dex back on Flonase (and Jax and Cars) for his seasonal allergies.

Next was a drive home and a stop at Safeway then to Jack In The Box for dinner (I swore I would never eat there again but the kids begged - I am a sucker so we went and the "fast food" took nearly 20 minutes again).

Tomorrow, I don't want to leave the house except of course I need to walk the boys to the bus and take Cars to school then pick Jax up from school for a doctor's appointment (wellness check and to talk about his weight loss) then pick everyone else up from school. Then there's Dex's baseball practice. :\

Tics and Zyrtec Revisited

A-ha! I finally found what I have been looking for. Besides references here and there about Zyrtec and tics, tonight I found an article published by the American Academy of Neurology in January 2006 detailing a case of Cetirizine-induced dystonic movements (Zyrtec causes tics in a 4 yr old girl). I will be taking this to the allergist on Tuesday.

(Amazing what changing Zyrtec to Cetirizine and tic to dystonia in the search engine will get you!).

Now, the problem will be to see what else we can get Dex on for his allergies. Poor thing has watery eyes these days. :(

Wall'o'Lego

We finally added the additional row of shelves on the WALL'O'LEGO in the playroom so here is a photo of the boys posing in front of all of their Lego sets (minus the random pieces that come in the boxes and containers of jumbled up Lego pieces that you can buy at the Lego Store, in Target and the big box of school-supply Lego that Stephen won at the conference he went to back in February).

Here is a photo:

The top row is all Harry Potter Lego (and Hogwarth's Castle is behind Cars).
The rest is mostly Star Wars Lego but you can see some SpongeBob and Aquaraiders Lego too. To Dex's right is the newest addition to our collection - Indiana Jones Lego. Oh, there is more of it behind Jax - you can see the airplane on his left and a piece of Indiana Jones Temple Escape Lego. That's the one that Jax earned by working on his "worry thoughts" and eating food outside of the safety of our home.

And since I am sharing photos, here is one taken from the playroom (Lego Room) window of my blooming trees. They are some sort of plum tree, or so I am told by my neighbour. Whatever they are, they are pretty and pink.

Oh, and see that orange bird house perched in the tree? Stephen stuck it there the day we moved in and we were going to move it to a more permanent spot but a family of chickadees quickly made it their home. It is was great to see them flit in and out during the winter. I should check to see if they have moved on.

We took the kids to an indoor skate park today. Just Jax and Dex skated and scootered and they had such a blast! It was very cool to see some kids the same age as them doing some fantastic skateboarding. One kid, who looked about 12 or 13, could do back flips with his scooter. The park offers summer camps so we are going to think about sending them. The only drawback is that it is so far away (down near IKEA) so it would be tricky getting there in the morning during rush hour traffic.

Afterwards, we went to IKEA. I told Cars that he could go in the ball pit but the lineup to get into it was about 15 kids deep. I promised him I would take him again sometime soon so he can get in. I'll be sure to get there the moment IKEA opens so that we don't have to stand around and wait. One bonus for us is that we had decided to have dinner at the restaurant and when I swiped the kids' IKEA kids card they were all given a free kids meal. So dinner was a bargain - five meals for the price of two.

When ordering dinner, I asked if the meatballs were peanut and nut free. The guy first said no but then looked it up in their big binder and came back and said he had made a mistake and that the meatballs were fine. Jax was very nervous eating his dinner after that. :\ Then he started questioning if the Sprite was peanut-free and did I think table might have peanut butter on it (they serve pb sandwiches). He was inspecting each french fry before he ate it in case he might spy some peanut butter, I think. Anyway, I was sure to compliment him on eating out of the house. Two steps forward, one step back...

My BIL's house burned yesterday. Niece came home from school and there was black smoke billowing out from under the front door. They have not yet established if the house is a total loss or not (the parts spared by the fire were hit hard with smoke and water damage). Also not known is the cause though they know it started in nephew's room as his bedroom was completely destroyed by the fire. The fire department suspects either a power surge or the turtle's heat lamp (or a power surge on the turtle's heat lamp). I feel badly for niece and nephew, especially nephew since he is upset that all of his sports trophies are gone. And his turtle. :(

The other day, I had my kids return a stack of books at the library. I guess the front cover tore off one as it went down the BOOK RETURN shoot. The library wants to charge me $24.99 for a replacement book and until I pay the fine, I cannot check out other books, put holds on books or renew books that I already have. Oh, and I only found out about this fine tonight as I tried to renew a book online.

Now, I can understand that a ripped front cover is not normal wear and tear but the book was not in good shape to begin with so I think charging me full replacement cost (RETAIL!) is exhorbitant. I can buy it brand new from amazon.com for about $15 so there is no way I am going to pay them $25 for the same book. And, when I replace the book, I am going to take the damaged book from them because I had originally borrowed it to see if it were something I wanted to buy for myself (it was but now I get a crappy copy). :\

And, from now on, if I get a book from the library that is not in perfect shape, I will definitely point it out to the librarian before I check it out (Oh, I had ordered this book so I did not know the condition beforehand).

Ok, so spring break is not a total loss for the kids. Today we made Yoda dolls. It was fun but time-consuming and of course Cars lost interest about 10 minutes into the project so basically I made his. It took about 3 hours total to make them (including a lunch break in between and a time out for me for swearing after I burnt my fingers on the hot glue gun while trying to affix the eyes on Cars' Yoda - man that hurt!).

Jax and Dex surprisingly did most of their dolls. I thought I was going to have to sew all of them myself but they were keen to learn how to sew.



If you are interested in the project, the idea came from here. Next up, a Chewie Tissue Box cover.

When I went shopping on my birthday weekend, I saw this great pair of shoes in Macy's. They were sold out of my size in black (although they did have them in blue which were pretty but not practical for me). The salesman tried to convince me to buy the black in another size. Um, no. I will not buy shoes that do not fit me (unless they are under $10). ;) I asked the salesman to check if there were any other Macy's around that had my size. Success! They found two pair at the Macy's in Wenatchee! I can just go there and pick them up.

Ok, so are you thinking what I am thinking? WTH is Wenatchee? Answer: I did not know exactly but I knew it is on the other side of the mountains -and over a 2 hour drive (it is almost 2.5 hours). And remember, it is snowing in the lowlands so imagine what it is doing through Snoqualmie Pass?!

Now, if this had been Nordstrom's, they would have ordered them in for me. And probably had them shipped to me at no cost if I wanted. Argh, I can't stand Macy's shoe department!

Anyway, after my ordeal getting home from shopping, I realized that I really, really, really wanted those shoes (nothing like getting caught in the snow to make one realize that they *need* high heeled clogs) so I looked online and found the shoes at a couple of different shoe sites. I was going to order them from endless.com (gotta love the free overnight shipping!) but then I realized that I would have to pay sales tax (they now use amazon.com as their check-out and since amazon is based in WA, we have to pay sales tax). I ordered them from shoeline.com, got free shipping, no sales tax and I even found a code for 15% off at naughtycodes.com. So take that, Macy's! So, I will have to wait for them but considering we are still having winter weather, I don't mind waiting a week for them.

Oh, and here are the shoes:

So far my kids are having a thrilling spring break. Let's see...yesterday (my birthday to remind you all), I took Cars to preschool (they are not on spring break) then I stopped at Starbucks to treat myself to an Earl Grey tea and a cranberry orange scone. I bought Jax and Dex a hot chocolate and that was the highlight of their day. Later, they had swimming lessons and we drove home in that snow thunderstorm. Oh, and we celebrated my birthday. ;)

Today, I let them play on the computer for a couple of hours and then they played outside before we went to Cars' swimming lesson. Then we went to the skateboard park for an hour. Dex wanted to leave after 10 minutes because one of the teenagers told him to quit standing around on one of the ramps and Dex was embarrassed. I made him stay but he would not go back on the ramps and spent the rest of the time trying to climb the rock wall and playing in the gravel. :\ Later, we drove to meet Stephen and I took Jax to see his psychologist.

How boring!! I feel guilty for not planning a real spring break for them but really, Cars is still in school and Stephen said he would take some time off but then did not mention it again. I decided not to send Cars to school for the rest of the week. Tomorrow afternoon we are going to go swimming at the club so they can practice and we'll stay for dinner. Perhaps on Thursday we can go to a movie (is there anything child-friendly and good playing?) and on Friday we are going to go into Seattle to do something. Anything!

Or maybe we'll just stay home and play Rock Band?

Today is my Birthday!

Happy Birthday to me!

Thanks for all of the birthday wishes! I had a great day and celebrated in style! Stephen made me a steak dinner, Caesar salad (from scratch!), and Mrs. Field's Raspberry Chocolate Cheesecake. Yum!

It was crazy weather-wise though. Sunny but not warm until 4pm then it started to rain, sleet, snow and we had a spectacular thunder and lightning storm! What a day!

After dinner, Stephen re-strung my guitar and played a Beatles song for me. He bought me a Beatles song book for the guitar but it is pretty advanced. I really need "Guitar for Dummies". I must get going on those lessons.

Happy Almost Birthday to Me!

What a birthday weekend this has been and it only gets better because tomorrow is my actual birthday! :)

Friday night was Cosmo Friday with just Spy and me and the kids. She gave me a beautiful ornament of a real maple leaf dipped in copper. It is gorgeous and I need to find the best place to display or hang it.



Then of course yesterday was my shopping day and Ash treated me to dinner for my birthday. The snow kind of put a damper on the day because I was stuck for 30 minutes until Stephen and the boys rescued me.

Today, the kids played in the snow. It warmed up quite a bit so the snow melted fast but it was perfect packing snow. Here are a couple of photos:

You can see the bamboo behind Jax is completely matted down from the snow but it bounced back up as soon as the snow melted off it. Also, on the edge of the deck railing, you can see how deep the snow was. The kids made snow forts and had a wicked snowball fight.

Later, I went to dinner with Terry and she treated! She also bought me a pretty pot of yellow tulips which I will plant in the garden after they finish blooming (and after the snow melts!).


When I came home, I found presents on the fireplace for me to open tomorrow.

(Don't tell anyone but I am certain the bag on the right has a set of guitar strings because I have already broken a string on my guitar because I am a dolt and don't know which way to turn the keys when tuning it.


Guitar with broken E string. :(

Tomorrow, Stephen is making me flank steak with a homemade raspberry chocolate cheesecake. Yum!

Ok, I am home after my me time ordeal. I spent a few hours at the mall but did not get as much as I had intended. Ash met me there and took me to dinner at P.F.Chang's (yum!). By the time we left it was SNOWING! And my car was covered in snow. It was a crazy drive home and I got stuck in the snow at the bottom of the hill so Stephen and the kids had to trek out to rescue me. We got the car onto our street and I parked it on the road so we can hopefully get it out in the morning.

Here is a webcam photo of the snow in our city tonight:


You can see cars pulled off to the side because they either could not make it up or down the hill.

Snow (with accumulation) in Seattle at the end of March. It is crazy! It is still snowing like mad out there. I think there is about 3 inches of heavy packing snow so far.

Oh, I just spoke to Ash and she had to ditch her car and walk part way home too.

It snowed all day yesterday until about 5pm when the sun came out to shine for a few minutes. It is not supposed to snow in Seattle. And especially not at the end of March. And apparently it snowed again overnight as there was slush on the grill and deck this morning.

Today is *my* day. I read in bed for an hour after breakfast. Then I had a nice long shower and gave myself a facial (Almay 15 minute facial). I am just resting with my feet up for a few minutes before I get ready to go out to the mall. I am still looking for some new black shoes. I have a gift certificate for a free chocolate from Godiva as well as a $10 off certificate at Victoria's Secret. I need a new sports bra and I want a pair of casual black pants and a couple of tops. Oh, and Lancome has a gift with purchase deal at Nordstroms so I am going to buy some make-up to get my free gift!

I am excited about going and my ME time.

It was snowing today! That is completely insane. The snow did not stick but c'mon, it is the end of March. It has been about 10F cooler than normal and it is clear at night so there is frost in the mornings. I need warm weather! Need it!

The Celebrity Apprentice

Have you been watching? I have been enjoying this season and especially the acrimony between that witch who was on the first season (I chose not to name her because I think she does not need anymore attention that she gets and I think she is a dangerous person) and Piers Morgan (who is outrageous himself but truly not evil like the other one). Anyway, the evil person was voted off a few episodes ago which one may have thought would take away much of the entertainment value. But it has still been a very good show. Now they are down to two - Piers Morgan and Trace Adkins.

On "The Celebrity Apprentice", the celebrities are playiing for charity and Trace Adkins' charity is The Food Allergy and Anaphylactic Network (aka FAAN - see link in my left side bar). Trace's dd has a severe allergy to peanuts.

The finale to The Celebrity Apprentice will be on Thursday night. During the show, Trace will be performing “You're Gonna Miss This”. Immediately following the show, and for two weeks following, you can download the song from iTunes and all net proceeds will go directly to FAAN. Please consider downloading this song to support this worthy cause.

I believe Stephen will actually allow an Apple Application on his precious Microsoft-only box to download this song. :)

For more info, you can go here. And don't forget to watch The Celebrity Apprentice on Thursday night a cheer for Trace! (and see how ridiculous the Backstreet Boys look with their rider requests.

I bought these shoes for $17 at Fred Meyer today. I had been looking for black mules and while these are dressier (and higher) than what I want, I could not pass up them up for that price. In the meantime, I am still looking for a low black mule like my trusty ol' Clarks but I *must* buy them on sale and I haven't seen ones that I like on sale.

I also had to buy Cars some jeans today. He suddenly outgrew all of his size 4 jeans (and put holes in the right knee of two of the pairs). We went to Fred Meyer to pick some out. He is on the skinny side so the loose fit, which many jeans seem to be, were falling off him, even after I adjusted the waist. Plus he was picky! So we only ended up with one pair. I will check out Sears on the weekend to find some slim-fit jeans.

My brother found out that he does indeed have shingles in his eye (and ear!). Poor guy!

Stephen bought Rock Band for xbox on Friday night so we have been playing. Unfortunately, Cars cannot play that well and he gets frustrated and whiny because he wants to play xbox but just not Rock Band. So today while we were playing, he snuck off and ate almost his whole Easter Bunny. I think it is funny because neither Jax nor Dex would have done such a thing - eaten candy without asking permission. Cars came back downstairs with chocolate smeared acorss his face. I found it quite amusing until he later turned miserable from the sugar crash.

Shortly thereafter, I tried to convince him to lie down with me in his bed for a nap. He got up and I fell asleep and had a 3 1/2 hour nap. Wow. I would still be sleeping but Stephen made a phone call to his family and that woke me up (LOUD TALKING).

I spoke to my mom earlier today and she is very upset about my youngest brother who has shingles. I was thinking "What's the big deal?" (I had them on my torso when I was a teenager). It turns out that my brother has them on his face, one of his eyes was swollen shut and now he has a secondary infection. So I called him and it is quite serious. He has had to go to the hospital everyday since Friday for IV antibiotics to treat the secondary infection he now has. Tomorrow he has to see an opthamologist to ensure it has not gotten in his eye and the doctors at the hospital even spoke to him about a possible brain infection if it is indeed in his eyes. Cripes!

I was able to get Dex on video shaking his head. It lasts about four seconds which is actually a pretty long time. He was even shaking his head while lying down in bed last night just before he fell asleep. :\

I bought myself some flowers today in an attempt to cheer myself up. I still feel like there is a black cloud hanging over me. PMS, I guess. Once I fall off the roof I will be fine. In the meantime, I will stare at my flowers while I eat the kids' easter bunnies (just kidding - I had to order the bunnies from Vermont Nut Free Chocolate so I will raid the Hershey Kisses). :)

Geez, was I ever in a grumpy mood yesterday or what? I must be pms-ing because I have little patience for anyone or anything.

Dex's tics have increased to a level not seen before. His head shaking is so violent that he is giving himself headaches. He has verbal tics now too so I guess I just cannot deny that they are tics. I have made another appointment with the neurologist for him but we cannot get in until mid-May. I am sure by then the tics will be gone (just like last time) so I am trying to capture the tics on video but Dex keeps seeing me trying to sneak around with the camera and he is very self-conscious and that seems to stop the tics.

According to the DSM-IV (thanks for the link, Spy), Dex meets 3 of the 4 diagnostic criteria for Tourette's. The only one that he seems not to have is to having a tic-free period of more than 3 months. I believe he had been tic-free since last Fall. I need to ask Stephen what his opinion is of that. Definitely the head-shaking disappeared last summer before his appointment with the neurologist and only made a comeback less than a week ago.

Ok, off to "spy" on Dex with the camera.

Today I followed a van along a two lane road for about 5 miles (with a double yellow line so no passing allowed!) and the van would "speed up" to 35 (the speed limit 'though many people usually drive 40) then slow back down to 29 or 30 then speed up, then slow down, etc. It was driving me crazy! I was thisclose to calling the police to report a drunk driver but it turned out that it was just an old lady driver. A very old lady. Even when we both turned onto a larger road, where the speed limit was 40, she was still only driving 30! Aargh! Fortunately, it had two lanes in each direction so I was able to pass her (while still driving under the speed limit) and told her to eat my dust! Ok, I am going to admit that I am intolerant of old drivers. Seriously, they scare me and drive me crazy! Old lady drivers usually go about 5 miles under the speed limit and weave all over the road. Old men are aggressive drivers, run through amber lights, never let you in and don't use their signals.

My mother is the worst kind of old driver. (Actually, she was a bad young driver too!) She sits way too close to the steering wheel and she drives under the speed limit. She brakes too soon and ends up stopping for red lights about 5 car lengths from the intersection (too far back to trip any static loop to change the lights). It is maddening!

And when you hear of people accidentally mistaking the gas pedal for the brake and end up ploughing through a plate glass window of the nearby Subway, pharmacy or paint store, you can be sure that they are at least 80 years old. It is tragic and sad. Why are these people still driving?

Someone, please take my license away from me if I become an old lady driver. For safety's sake!

I watched "Across the Universe" on Saturday night and I loved it! It is so beautifully done. One of songs in the movie that was so well done is "Let It Be". You can see the scene here on YouTube.

I was a huge Beatles fan as a teenager. They were long broken up but there was always that hope that they might get back together. I would play my Beatles records over and over on my very "mod" hi-fi (white plastic with a bright pink Plexiglas cover) stereo. I can remember listening to a special on the radio one night explaining how Paul was dead and all of the clues on all of their albums telling us it was so. I played my record backwards to hear "Paul is dead" and saw that indeed, Paul was wearing no shoes on the cover of the "Abbey Road" album or the Beatles standing in front of "Paul's" grave on "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". A grave decorated with flowers in the shape of a bass guitar. Oh, these clues had us almost convinced that the real Paul McCartney was dead and that it was an impostor in jail in Tokyo after being busted for marijuana possession.

Anyway, I bet after the last couple of years, Paul McCartney does indeed wish it were an impostor who was living his life. At least his nightmare appears to be over. :)

I went to the school this afternoon to have a conference with Jax's teacher. His report card was so-so. It ran the gamut between "approaching standard", "at standard" and "exceeds standard". For the most part though, I know that he can do better and he is just not motivated in class. Several other parents have commented to me recently that their children are not either and while I am loathe to blame the teacher, she sure is serious and Jax (and others) find the class boring. One of the comments on his report card was that he needs to find "appropriate time to share his sense of humor with others". I asked her for specifics and she said that really she thinks he is just trying to lighten the mood in the classroom. Well, all work and no play...

So, I asked her to work on motivating him in the classroom and we will do the same at home. And he needs to read more AR books (I swear this is the bane of our existence in this house, especially non-fiction AR books - on the library's website, you cannot get a separate list for fiction and non-fiction).

We also briefly discussed Jax's issues with peanuts (his compulsive thoughts) and I explained how we have him in counseling and to remind her that if he is being inattentive, it is probably him obsessing about peanuts. I am still wary of getting an official OCD diagnosis on his 504 Plan for now.

Anyway, let's hope we see some improvements in the future.

Oh, and Dex asked why I did not have a conference with his teacher. Spring conferences are "optional" and I had to word things just so to not insult Jax nor Dex. Dex is doing well but he needs to "use his time more wisely when he finishes his work". He said he wanders around the classroom looking for stuff to do when he is done and cannot just read a book because it always takes him too long to pick one out. We've decided that he will chose chapter books to keep in his desk to read and to keep him busy.

Dex went to a birthday party today. It was for a kid who was in his class last year and who lives up the street close to our old house. I dropped Dex off at the birthday boy's home and then the parents were going to drive all of the kids to a movie theatre but then we would have to pick our kids up because there would not be enough drivers for the way home.

Well, apparently there were not enough drivers for the way there! Dex told me after I picked him up that one boy was going to have to sit on the floor of the van on the way there but then they found a seat for him. Huh? I asked him to explain how they "found a seat for him".

Dex: "The kids across the back row just scooted over so he could sit there."
Pez: "So there were enough seats for everyone?" (still confused)
Dex: "Not really. He was going to sit on the floor so they made room for him in the back row so there were four kids sitting there."
Jax: "WHAT?! THAT IS ILLEGAL!" (gotta love my rule-follower)
Dex: "Birthday boy's dad said it was ok."
Pez: Silently thankful that Dex is under 8 and is still required by law to be in his booster seat so his seat was "reserved".

Wah! Cars did not win the "Lottery" for the Continuous Learning class or either of the two full-day kindergarten classes! There will be 2 half-day classes and apparently there are another 10 kids that they don't even have room for who will need to be busses to another school (the next closest one has too many kids registered too so this will be interesting).

I am really bummed out! I was counting on him going to school full-time next year. I had tons'o'things planned. Alas...

I guess it could be worse. He may have been one of the 10 who need to be bussed. Also, he is 4th on the waitlist for full-day. So there is still a chance. And if not, I will save myself $260/month (full-day tuition).

Jax's knee was fine today so my mommy guilt is gone - whew!

Book club tonight was a lot of fun. Best moment of the night when one of our former members who came (even though she had not read the book) said to Laurie "Ugh, did you taste these brownies?" and Laurie replied "Yes, I brought them".

I was pleasantly surprised at how many people enjoyed the book. I know that one person did not and Ash did not come since she has the flu and she did not finish the book because she did not enjoy it. Our regular non-reader had not read it but said she was interested in doing so.

I just remembered that Cars needs to take snack to preschool tomorrow morning! Ooops! Looks like I will be stopping at Safeway on the way to school.

This afternoon, while we were at the park for Dex's baseball practice, Jax fell off the playground equipment and hurt his knee. He came hobbling over and told me what happened in a very whiny voice. I made a comment to him that he was whining because he was tired and maybe needed a nap (he has not been sleeping well). He snarked back at me "Maybe *you* need a nap!". I told him to get away from me and sit by himself on the bench. When it was time to go, he limped over to the car and I rolled my eyes at his big over-acting.

At home, I asked to see his knee and it is swollen and red. Oops! I gave him some ice (well, the boo-boo bunny) and some ibuprofen. He was still limping when we went to bed but the swelling was gone down. I feel like a complete heel! To overcompensate for my mean mom-ness, I let the kids have orange pop with their dinner. I suck.

Last month, Book Club was moved to my house from Ash's because her family had the flu. This month, she was to have it for me but now she has the flu so Book Club is here again on Thursday night. The second of our new members quit. I don't think she liked our book picks plus I think she perhaps underestimated the time it took to read a book each month (or at least, to read a book that she did not like each month). So we are back down to 10. I think we will keep it at 10 for now.

Since Book Club is here, I had to make a quick Costco run to buy some things for it (wine, artichoke dip, veggies). And I need to have Stephen remove all of the Lego from the dining room table again. Although, I gather he has completed building all of the Star Wars Lego and most of the Harry Potter Lego. We need more shelves for the wall downstairs.

Bro#1 sent me this photo recently after seeing the picture that I posted two weeks ago of the boys on Rachel. The first one was taken when Bro#1 and family visited us in summer 2001.

Look how teeny tiny Dex and Jax are!

Nothing much going on. I had my eye appointment on Friday and was able to put the contacts in my eyes no problem! Yeah for me! I have my trial lenses for a week and then if I like them I will order contacts (I will do it!). I also ordered a pair of glasses. They were not the inexpen$ive ones. Stephen did not like them so I went with a different pair.

Jax and I walked to the school this afternoon to meet Stephen, Cars and Dex (who were there for Dex's baseball practice). It took us just over 30 minutes and walking along the main street was quite harrowing(we did that to avoid the big hill). Even though there is a big shoulder on the side of the road, it is amazing how many cars drive on the shoulder! It will be good when the city finally builds a sidewalk along that stretch of road.

I had my hair cut yesterday and it feels good to have it in a short bob again. It was getting too long. Since I have stopped colouring it, it gets so dry when I grow it long (well I suppose the flat iron doesn't help either). Cars, Dex and Jax also had their hair cut although you cannot tell with Jax (she just thinned it really). He sure has a mop of hair. Dex decided he wanted short hair again so he could spike it with orange gel on "Crazy Hair Day" which is two weeks.

Stephen's car is on its last leg, I think. The heater is not working, the windshield leaks, the "CHECK ENGINE" light is always on, the radio display does not work (this actually broke years ago), the radio antenna is stuck up (it is supposed to go down when you turn off the car), the doors do not lock automatically (or unlock automatically if you lock them manually), the windshield wipers work most of the time, etc. So, we've been talking a little bit about what kind of car to replace it with. The kids want him to get a "punch buggy". I want something fuel-efficient since he only just uses it to drive to/from work but he wants something "comfortable" which means big. Hopefully the car will last through the summer but if the air conditioning is not working, I imagine we will get one sooner. It has been nice that this lemon has lasted longer than we had imagined it would. BTW, never, ever, ever buy a Saab. They suck!

Milestone

I signed Cars up for kindergarten today. I cannot believe it! I am excited and sad at the same time (more excited though!). Our school has a "continuous learning" class where the kids are the same class from K-2. There are approximately 8 kids in each grade in the classroom. Since Cars will be a "young" kindergartener, I think this class would be a great fit for him. However, a billion people apply to get in the class and it is a "lottery". Hopefully Cars will be chosen. If not, I have asked that he be considered for the lottery for the full-day slots. We should find out on Friday of next week.

Another milestone is that tomorrow I am going to go to the eye doctor to get contact lenses! Longtime readers of this blahg will know that I tried them four years ago to no avail. It was impossible to try to stick a foreign object in my eyes every morning while trying to get a kindergartener, a preschooler and a baby ready for the day (it would take me at least 10 minutes per eye). This time I am determined to "make it work" as Tim Gunn would say (btw, did you watch last night's finale? I fell asleep and while I know that Fierce Christian won, I missed all of the important parts like the judging!).

I also have an astigmatism (sounds icky!) in my right eye (only needs correcting "one way" whatever that means) so the contacts might be tricky and perhaps may not work for me so I am also ordering new glasses. My last ones were from Costco and while they were super cheap, I am not sure they fit me well enough so I am going to order them from the doctor's office. I did manage to find a very inexpen$ive frame that I like but even so, the gla$$e$ are pricy.

One positive thing in all this is that I do not yet need bifocals! In fact, the doctor was amazed at how good my near vision was (and I thanked her like it was something I actually could control or had been working on - doh!). One less aging thing I need to fret about right now.

I stayed up late last night to watch "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" so I could watch Dolly Parton sing "I Will Always Love You". When I was a teenager, I used to have the LP soundtrack for that movie and I would listen to that song over and over again. Then just over a decade later, Whitney Houston released that song and while it was a nice version (albeit so overplayed!), it just did not have the same emotion as Dolly Parton singing it. I believe she wrote it just for the movie. If you haven't hear it before, take the 2:45 and listen. So pretty! (Oh, and I guess I could have just looked up that clip on YouTube rather than stay up late to watch it in the movie. But if I had, I would have missed this gem (the Aggie Song).

I screwed up yet another dinner. I give up. I cannot cook. I can't!

I received my birthday present 4 weeks early!



I am looking forward to learning to play. How long do you think it will be before I can play this?

Grass season started up again so the kids have been back on Zyrtec for about two weeks and Dex has started having "tics" again. Hmmm...I am certain there is a correlation. Stephen has noticed too so we have decided to stop Zyrtec and switch to Clairitin to see if it makes a difference. He has bad seasonal allergies and gets sinus infections so there is no way that he can't be on any allergy medication.

*sigh*

I met the lady who bought my old house today. She invited me over for tea and to chat and discuss art. She wanted to see some of my paintings and she showed me some of her drawings. I loved her work - she is a good artist and likes to use bright colours as I do.

It was a little strange being in my house that was no longer my house. She has been making the house her own and she of course changed some things (painted the fireplace mantel black - it looks great - and the bathroom cabinet black (downstairs bath). She has kept up the valances in that bath and in the living room and she loved the colour scheme so she is keeping it. The house looks really nice with her things. She asked me a lot of questions about the bushes, trees and shrubs and what they will look like in the spring.

She then asked me about a lady who walked into her house one day and used the bathroom. Oh no! It was H. She has really deteriorated from her dementia. Over the past year or so she had gotten into the habit of coming by my house and asking to use the bathroom. Sometimes she would just walk right into the house (usually in the warmer weather when the front door was open and the screen door was not locked). Sometimes there were caretakers with her or her dh or some friends. It was fine with me (sometimes she would come and go without even talking to me). Back in October, I told her dh that we were moving and could he please explain that she would not be able to stop by our house anymore.

On the day she walked in the house on the new owner, H. was with a new caretaker. The new owner heard the door open and then open again and a "Hello?!" She came downstairs and saw H. walk past and into the bathroom. The caretaker said "It is just H. using your bathroom" and the new owner saying "Who is H.?". They stared at each other a moment then the new owner said that the house had been sold and that she was a new owner. The caretaker was very embarrassed and quickly explained that H. had memory problems and she apologized. The new owner said no problem and told H that she could stop by again if she needed to but she has not done so again.

Oops! Before we moved I had asked Stephen if we should tell the new owner about H (her visits were probably every week or so) and I think I asked our realtor about it but everyone said no. Our realtor had been at our house one day when H. stopped by so she knew who she was and knew the story. Good think that the new owner was very understanding. It would be very shocked (and scared) if it happened to me.

And the funny thing is that on the way to see the new owner, I saw H. and her dh walking their dog along the street and I waved to them. I even thought to myself "I wonder if H. knows that we moved".

Cars told me, in a very serious voice, that he had to watch Super Why! today on PBS because he needs to learn to read and this show will teach him how.

He is doing a great job on learning his letters and the sounds. I now have no worries about his academic or social skills for entering kindergarten. I am still a little concerned because he will probably be one of the youngest kids in kindergarten (I know of one girl who is 3 weeks younger) and probably the youngest boy.

Registration is next week. My baby will be in kindergarten in the fall!

More Random Thoughts

1. Jax earned a new Lego set by controlling his worry thoughts and by eating out at our friend's homes, new restaurants and by purchasing milk at school. I am very proud of him. He chose Indiana Jones Temple Escape. Now, do you think it can be found anywhere in the Puget Sound area? Nope! He is devestated and I had to order it from the Lego Store and it will not be shipped until April 2nd (I did not tell him that date or he would have had a heart attack in the store). I will break it to him gently later.
   edited to add that we did find a place online that had it so we ordered and it will arrive mid-March which is much better than early April.


2. I waited too long to book the kids swimming lessons for next month and the 5pm time has been taken. Drats! They will have to swim at 6pm through the end of March. I went ahead and booked them for 5pm in April. Please don't let Dex's baseball practice be on Wednesdays.
   edited to add: I found out that Dex's baseball practice is on Wednesdays! Friggin Riggin Briggin!


3. I have signed Cars up for swimming lessons starting next month. I can guarantee he will not cry once this year. He is really looking forward to it in fact.


4. I took the Circuit Training class at the club for the first time since April or May. My legs were like jello when I was done. They will be plenty sore tomorrow.


5. Today, my kids and I were talking about piercings and I have no idea why I told them that sometimes people pierce their nipples or their penises! OMG - what was I thinking?! I was just listing off all the places where people get piercings ("ears, nose, eyebrow, lip, and some people even pierce their..."). I quickly tried to change the subject and I pray that they do not repeat it to anyone!


6. I learned how to make numbered bullet in html today.


7. KillJoy (yes, she is that again) told me that I *must* send my sister birthday cards. Um, no.


8. Cars is obsessed with pointing out fat people. "So and So's grandma is fat!" and "Mrs. Teacher is fat!" and this lovely one "Mommy, you are kind of fat! Not really fat, just kind of fat!"


9. I have mentioned before that someone from my city is regularly reading my blahg. I finally figured it out today (checked ip address on the visitor's log against the ip address in an email header). Sneaky! She never told me that she reads here. Still watching Cars for me tomorrow?

This made me grin!

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5ixzF1Mgp3CrPFDa4Vw_pa4yobIcA

In experiments using a neural scan, researchers at Oxford University found that a specific region of the brain associated with emotion lights up with activity within milliseconds of subjects seeing pictures of infants' faces.

But images of adult faces didn't elicit the same response, said co-principal investigator Morgen Kringelbach, noting that the reaction was the same for both men and women, and for people with and without children.

:)

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I had the kids make their aluminum metal projects today and they turned out GREAT! They mounted them so they are a little crooked (ok, who is kidding who - I would have probably made them crooked too).


This is Jax's. It is Yoda as a Hippie. :\

This is one of my favourites

And here is another one of my favourites

This was my example that I showed the class


I'll post pictures of the necklaces that Dex's class is making later in the week.

Art

Tomorrow, I will be in Jax's class to help the class make an art project for Art Gallery Night. No other parent volunteered to do it. I was going to have them do scratch art but I decided on Sunday it would be too messy (cheap but messy). Then on Sunday I went to an art supply store to buy some aluminum metal sheets (5"x5") and now will have them do some embossing. I think it will be fun. I actually wanted to do copper but it was $14.99 for 6 sheets vs $4.29 for 6 sheets of aluminum. I will try to remember to take pictures of the art work when it is done.

Later in the week, we will be completing necklaces for Dex's class Art Gallery Night project. I cannot remember if I posted about it already or not. The kids each made 3 polymer clay beads with mica fingerprints. The kids will string other beads to them to make necklaces. We also had them make one extra bead and made a necklace for the teacher. I got the idea from here. I think it is such a cool end-of-year gift for the teacher (and relatively inexpensive). I may do the same for Cars' preschool teachers.

I Did It!

Ok, guess what it was? Here are some clues:



Yes! I took a ferry ride from Seattle to Bainbridge Island with my family. We had a special guestcourtesy of Snapper's dd, Miss Talk. Was there anything better to do on a sunny, warm winter Seattle day?

First things first - where are the life preservers?! No way we were setting sail without me knowing where those were.


Ok, life preservers, check! Now we can get Flat Stanley out to enjoy the ride.
He and Dex as we sail off from the dock.


The ferry went much faster than we were expecting. And it did not sink. Bonus!


We arrived safely at Bainbridge Island (bad focus job).


We tooled around the island for a while and then back. I feel a little foolish that I was so terrified to take the trip before. I think because it was perfect weather plus Stephen was with me (in case it sank, he could help rescue the kids) made for a fabulous trip. We bought lunch from the deli section of the little grocery store on the island and ate it in a park. The we walked along the path back to the ferry terminal before embarking on the ride back to Seattle. It was much windier by then so we mostly stayed inside on the way back.

Then since we were downtown and had paid through the no$e for parking, we were in no rush to leave. We decided to walk to Pike Place Market, however it was packed so all we did was take a photo of the kids on the pig, Rachel.


(Oops, forgot to take Flat Stanley out for the photo). We then walked back to the car and headed home.

Ok, so I cannot believe I had been such a wimp about the ferries. And I did not even flinch when we drove across Lake Washington to get to/from Seattle (although I must admit that I directed Stephen to drive via I-90 rather than 520 because that it is the 520 bridge that really terrifies me). So, I am ready to do it again. Who's in? CraftyMama?