Random Photos

Some random photos...


When did this chocolate bar become an "Energy Bar"?


11 year old boy making a wish


One reason why the kids did not sleep at the sleepover


Deer in my yard


Tomatoes are in


My first income check in 10 years. Please feel free to click on my sidebar ad to help me earn more money. It only took me 8 months to earn this much! ;)

Tonight is Jax's birthday party (a sleepover). The kids are watching "Spiderman 2". I think this will be the last party that is so big (well, 8 kids including my 3). We have a personality conflict with a couple of the kids, I think so while they all get along great with Jax on a one-on-one basis, as a group it just isn't working out. The group basically divided in two and they've been apart most of the evening. Jax doesn't seem to notice (or mind) so I guess that's ok.

Dex is conflicted still about whether to have a sleepover party or an ice skating party. I am leaning towards the skating party then he can invite his friend, C, for a sleepover that night. Dex has been distraught trying to figure out what is best for him and he was even in tears about it last week. Oh geez...

I am testing mobile blogging using my iPhone. Stephen said I was no allowed to take my laptop on vacation with me. I hope this works.

Oh, nuts!

When I went to the school to pick up Dex and Cars for their allergist appointment, imagine my surprise to find them both already in the office. Turns out that Cars was hit in the mouth with a frisbee at recess and Dex had taken him to the office to be checked out. What a great big brother he is!

Anyway, I signed them out of school and off we headed to the allergist. I asked when I arrived how long the "two kid max" limit on appointments had been in place and the receptionist said always but that I could discuss it with the allergist. So, I did.

I asked her about it at the end of the appointment and she said was wondering why I did not have all three with me this time. She said that some children were just so out of control that she cannot (and will not) deal with more than two at a time. Then she told me that I was welcome to bring all three of mine in anytime and just to tell them when I made the appointment that she has ok'd it. Ah, my kids are well-behaved! (I rock as a mom! ;)

So, the appointment was interesting. Because Dex had been diagnosed with reactive airway by the pediatrician, the allergist now treats him as though he has asthma and he had to do some puffer test. And she prescribed Flovent to him to take everyday for the next two weeks. Also, I need to start him back on Flonase as well.

Then onto Cars. We discussed different nuts that he can eat (pistachios which he loves and almonds which he doesn't) then I asked her about macadamia nuts and she suggested that we test him for those and for cashews. She said she was certain he would be fine with cashews since he can eat pistachios (they are "related"). Two minutes into the test he had a small but very distinct wheal under the macadamia nut! Noooo!

That was disappointing but we can deal with it. It is not as though we ate macadamia nuts regularly (or at all!). Just no macadamia nuts in Hawaii for him.

Just re-read my post from yesterday and when I wrote "I hope the kids in his class appreciate it.", I meant appreciate the sense of humour, not in the "they are ingrates" way.

Anyway, Jax took in the cheese sticks and he said everyone thought it was funny. When they sang Happy Birthday to him he conducted them with one of the cheese sticks. He thinks he is such a card.

Jax enjoyed his very yummy dinner and cake. He got some nice loot too and is so happy. It was a successful birthday for him!

My mood is better now. Well, it was HORRIBLE this morning but 80 minutes of OnDemand exercise helped. My mood was so bad that I did not want to go to the gym and expose anyone else to it! But, as I said, exercise helped a lot. And I really limited my carbs and sugar (good-bye chocolate) which helped, I think.

I made a Co$tco run today. One of the things I wanted to get were cheese sticks for Jax to take to school tomorrow for his birthday treat. Most kids bring in cupcakes or cookies or donuts. He wants to bring in cheese. I hope the kids in his class appreciate it. He talks all.the.time about cheese (because he thinks it is funny) which is why he wanted to bring it in.

Yeah, so Jax will be 11 tomorrow. I thought that 10 was big (and I guess it is!) but 11 seems soooo much older. I let him stay home by himself from time-to-time (like if I have to run to the store or drop Dex off at baseball practice). He walks to the library himself and he wants to go to Safeway by himself but I am not ready for that yet. He read his first "Adult Fiction" book last week (Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton).

He has even chosen a "grown up" meal for his birthday. No Red Robin for him. He wants steak, roasted potatoes and mushrooms for dinner! Geez, even my birthday dinner was not that nice.

So, tomorrow Jax will be 11. Wow!

The last few days I feel as though there is a big black cloud hanging over my head. Well, figuratively as there has quite literally been one - all this stupid rain! I have been self-medicating with chocolate.

It might just be PMS but I am feeling very down. I am not evening feeling the slightest bit up when I think about our trip to Hawaii. I must snap out of it. And I also must get rid of all of the chocolate in our house. It seems to be the answer to the doom and gloom that I am feeling but my jeans are complaining as they are stretched to their very limits now.

My face is totally broken out too (hello again, chocolate?) so that is not helping my mood at all.

Woe is me!

Seriously, I think I probably just need more exercise. I think I'll skip that dance class tomorrow and stick to the regular circuit training. I don't want to spend money to feel like a clod with my two left feet trying to Zumba.

I am also feeling a little stressed because Jax has an allergist appointment (along with Dex) later in the week BUT it is also WASL (Standardized testing) time and don't ya know that the appointment interferes with the testing. After a flurry of emails to the teachers (Dex is ok because they just test in the morning) we've now received special permission from the principal for Jax to start the WASL testing at 8:30AM in the library rather than 10:40AM in his classroom so he can make that appointment. Oh, and here is the thing...the test is scheduled from 10:40 to 12:15 BUT if kids are not done, they are welcome to keep writing it for the rest of the day! Also, the principal is concerned that Jax would feel rushed and not complete it in order to be done by 2pm when I would need to take him out for the appointment and being rushed might negatively affect his score (and her job rating no doubt).

Then, I found out there is no testing the following week on the date of Cars' allergist appointment (remember how mad I was three months ago when I made the appointments and they would not allow me to bring all three kids in on the same day?) so I will call the allergist's office to see if I can switch Jax and Cars' appointments.

Just one more thing bringing me down. Quick, where's the chocolate?

Dex and Cars had baseball/t-ball games today. I am chilled to the bone and I cannot get warmed! Brrr!

My brother, sister-in-law and one of my nieces from Minnesota are coming to visit us next month. I am very excited! This is to make up for the weekend that my SIL could not come back in March when my mom was here. My other niece has a job interview coming up and if she gets the job she will have to work that weekend but if not, perhaps she will come too.

Now, I need to convince Jean-Paul, Marilyn and Lola to come down that weekend too so we can all hang out together on Saturday night. It would be great fun!

Book Club

I am off to book club shortly with a plate of chalk cookies (chocolate chip meringues - Stephen says they taste like chalk but everyone seems to like them). I think I read up to page 30 of the book. It was just so difficult to read. Book club will just be 6 members tonight (or maybe just 5).

Let's see, one cannot come because she is in Utah picking out dresses with her sister who is getting married (these two are Spy's SIL's), another is on spring break and going away, I think. A third is not coming because her dh had surgery. A fourth is not coming because she is coming down with a cold and Ash is not coming because her dh has to work late BUT really she does not want to go.

So, that leaves 6 of 11. And, one of those 6 might not be there because I know she is on spring break for work but her kids had spring break last week (she works for a different school district than the one her kids go to). And another of the 6 always shows up about 9 or so and rarely finishes (or reads!) the book. I guess I am one to talk since I barely started this one.

And I wonder if I did this because it was the woman who made the comment about cancer, attitude and my dad last month. She has been a thorn in the side for a few members and I had started to write about it quite a few times here but then thought better of it (who knows who reads here, right Spy? ;) Spy knows what she is like but she is much more tolerant of her than some of the rest of us.

Oh and there goes the timer so time to get my chalk cookies out of the oven.

Dex has an ear infection in both ears. OMG! I am so sick of this poor child being sick. The doctor gave him a strong antibiotic to hopefully kill off every bit of infection in his body and start to get him well again. Oh, he also got a huge scrape on his arm at the park before we went to the doctor so she said that the antibiotic will keep that from getting infected too!

Stephen went back to work today but he still is not 100%.

Tomorrow night is book club and I am on page 23 of a 400-page book. I hate it and just cannot get into it. I will go for the food though. :)

I haven't much to say these days. We've had beautiful weather these past couple of days. Stephen has been home sick for two days now and I hope he is feeling better tomorrow. I tried a new class on Monday and I realize that I am really, really uncoordinated and cannot dance.

My neighbour gave me some plant (I forget the name) that deer HATE so I planted it right next to the hostas and I hope it works! They've eaten the crocus, the tulips and the hyacinth so far. And I have deer prints through the garden where they trample it to get to what they want! It is so frustrating.

Jax has made his list for his birthday. The item he wants most - a computer for his room. Um, no. Next...item is a digital camera to make "Legomation" movies. He uses my old camera so I really do not think we need to spend the money on another one.

His next item is a flat screen tv. ~eye roll~

What is on his list that we might do is money to join the "builder's club" at an online site he likes to visit. It is called Roblox - a virtual world where you build Lego-like worlds. We might get him a six-month subscription.

He also wants the Jurassic Park movies on DVD. I just ordered them from Amazon.com.

Jax also wants Lego too but I am wondering if he is getting too old for that. Or, since that is what he wants and not what I want to buy him, am I trying to force him to "grow up"? Hmmm...

I went for a pedicure today with some women from my MOPS group. Afterwards, we went to Starbucks for tea/coffee. It was a lot of fun! We called it "Flip-Flop into Spring". Stephen took the boys to the first session of summer hockey. Later, we went through our taxes and filed them. I get so stressed out about doing taxes in case we do it wrong.

It was a lovely day weather-wise and the boys played outside a lot of the afternoon. It was not until later that I thought I probably should have put some sunscreen on them. I don't think they got burned and they all wore baseball caps to shade their eyes from the strange-looking yellow ball in the sky.

Tomorrow is Passion Sunday but Stephen thinks the boys need to go to hockey again rather than church and religion class. He just told me he is going to ask them what they want to do in the morning. Of course they are going to pick hockey! Aaargh! This is really not fair. I can only hope that he was joking.

Blah Blah Blah

I took my engagement ring to the jewelers to be repaired. The prongs are worn down and are in danger of breaking off and I don't want to lose my diamond. I always wear my rings (wedding band, anniversary band and engagement ring) so my finger feels weird without the engagement ring. I have a huge callus built up on the underside of my finger from where the skin rubs against the rings and a permanent indentation in my fingers from the rings. I think if I ever stopped wearing these rings it would take ages for my finger to go back to "normal".

Stephen took the day off and went out to breakfast with the boys while I slept it. I am going to have a difficult time getting up next week when we return to our normal schedule because I have slept in nearly every day. I haven't slept in too late but at least an hour or more than usual.

After they came home from breakfast, Stephen went out again on an insane quest for a Lego that Jax wanted for his birthday. Fred Meyer has the Star Wars and Indiana Jones Lego on sale (must be clearing it out) so Stephen went to three FM's to find the one that Jax wanted. I really don't think we need more Lego in the house and have been trying to steer the kids towards other birthday ideas but with no luck.

I received two birthday presents in the mail today so I was happy to extend my birthday "season". :) Ramona sent me a box of goodies which included 4 full-sized Mars bars (yum!), some Swiss Chalet dipping sauce packets and some other fun things. My friend, DeniSe, sent me some cool books, including Book Lust which is a book I have looked at many times but have not purchased. The author, Nancy Pearl, is a librarian at Seattle Public Library and a regular guest on a local NPR radio program. I am excited to go through it!

And now I am off to eat a Mars bar and watch the kids play video games while Stephen frets over our taxes.

Well, Cars' cough is getting better but Dex's is worse. So bad that I felt that I had to take Dex to the doctor today (last night he also had a fever and was very lethargic). I was worried that he had pneumonia again. But, it is just a virus. His fever is now gone but the cough remains.

He was well enough for me to take the kids swimming today so at least this school break has not been all spent hanging around the house. I also took the kids for haircuts. Cars' is really short because he wanted it spiky. Jax's is thinned out a lot and looks much better (still crazy though). Dex wants to grow his so he just got a trim to neaten it up.

Tomorrow if everyone is healthy enough they will go to an ice skating b-day party. Oh, please let them all be healthy!

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!

Cars was sitting with me on the couch and he put his head in my lap. Suddenly, he turned his head and then reached over and patted my belly. "Looks like you have inflatable pants, Mom!".

You have to love a child's honesty.

And (another) diet starts tomorrow.

I am building up some nice calluses on my fingers as I continue to learn to play the guitar. I am struggling a bit with chords (well, transitioning from one chord to another) but I think I am doing well plucking away at song like "Waltzing Matilda" and "Jamaican Farewell". I am so happy that I decided to give this gift to myself this year.

I wish that my kids were interested in learning to play the guitar right now. They only want to play drums and there is no way I am buying a drum kit.

One last update (hopefully last) on Dex. He has Reactive Airway Disease so he is now on albuterol. We went to the doctor just to follow-up on the pneumonia and the doctor says he has something going on with his lungs so they gave him one treatment with albuterol then sent us to get a prescription filled. I hope he gets better soon. Poor boy.

It is snowing outside right now. Ugh. I hate snow. Actually, that is not true. I hate snow where it does not belong...and that would be in Seattle.

Now we play the wait'n'see game about school tomorrow...delayed, canceled or on time.

Dex made it to school today! Hurray! I spent two hours photocopying for Jax's teacher, an hour in Cars' class supervising kids on the computer then I finally made it to the grocery store for the first time in ages.

Dinner tonight was french toast. I was going to make pancakes since it was Pancake Tuesday but I really don't cook them very well. French toast is virtually idiot-proof...well, unless you soak the bread too long (btdt). I also cooked some bacon with brown sugar and cayenne pepper - yum!

I decided to give bacon up for Lent. I eat it every weekend so it is something that I will definitely miss. Still thinking about giving up chocolate too.

Dex stayed home today because his cough was bothering him. He had a TON of homework (Jax brought it home) but I only made him do 1.5 hours of it. Ugh!

I spent the day trying to find a great deal on a vacation. No luck yet!

Dex is feeling better but I am not sure if he will be up for school tomorrow or not. We'll see in the morning.

I am still feeling crappy. My voice comes and goes. Stephen is not feeling great either. We are a mess here! At least Jax and Cars are healthy right now.

Today was day 6 of fever for Dex. Stephen and I kept thinking he has *got* to get better but in fact, he slowly got worse as the day progressed. He also started having this dry cough last night. Tonight, his fever was up to 104.2F (40.1C) so I called the nurse line who asked me a bunch of questions then told me since he had had a fever for 6 days and it was so high, that he should be seen *immediately* and I was to take him to the ER. She mentioned meningitis which of course flipped me out. This was at 8:55pm. So I got him out of bed and he cried that he was so tired and he just wanted to sleep. Even trying to entice him with his Nintendo DS did not lift his spirits.

I went to the nearest ER which is actually a very small satellite of one of the downtown Seattle hospitals because I did not relish driving all the way into Seattle tonight to go to Children's Hospital. We arrived by 9:20 and by 9:25 we were in a room and they were handing him a little cup of liquid Tylenol because the Motrin I had given him at 8:30 had not yet bought down his fever. The doctor came in and examined him and a short while later we were on our way to X-Ray.

Dex has pneumonia!

OMG! I feel like such a horrible mom for keep telling him he is going to get better and for not taking him to the doctor sooner. To be honest though, there have been plenty of times I have taken him in for a fever only to be told "it's just a virus" and we go home empty-handed to await the end of the fever. I just thought this was the same. Geez, Stephen even had him at hockey today and Dex did not complain except to say he was tired so he did not skate the last 15 minutes.

We left the ER shortly after 10pm. I am sure we would have been out a little sooner but Dex could not decide on which Beanie Baby he wanted (he chose the rat). We went to Walgreens to get his prescription, more Motrin, some Tylenol (ok, Walgreen's brand of those drugs) and some kids' Robitussin DM. I also bought him some Mike'n'Ike's because he said, in the most pathetic and sweetest voice, that since he was sick he should get a treat. I let him eat 4 of them after we got home and he took his medicine.

Now he is lying in bed, coughing away. It is really funny because his cough seemed barely noticeable even just a few hours ago. Stephen and I agreed that his cough seemed like nothing before he went to the hospital but maybe that is just because we were just so concerned about his fever.

Dex is also very concerned that he might not be able to go to school on Monday. He cried in the ER "Great! Now I will miss *more* school". The doctor said he could go as long as his fever was gone by Monday. Jax would feel the same way but only because he'd be worried about how much school work he'd have to catch up on. Dex is missing his friends and teacher.

I am feeling like a failure of a parent. I had two sick kids this week and I decided that I was not going to drag them to the doctor to be told there was nothing to be done by wait it out. I did call the nurse line the other day about Cars' croup (was advised to give him warm liquids, honey and steam if he has trouble breathing). I really did not think there was anything more seriously wrong with Dex other than just a virus. Looking back, even though he did not have a cough, he complained bitterly about the couple blocks we walked in Seattle on Wednesday and he was sitting down to pee because it took too much effort to stand. I made sure he was drinking plenty of water all week but he really did not eat much because he had no appetite. Ugh, I suck.

Dex was still sick today and now I am too. Boo! I spent the day in bed except for walking Jax and Cars to/from the bus. Dex has had his fever for over 4 days so I wonder when it will finally break. Hopefully it will be gone in the morning.

I hope I am feeling better tomorrow too because our neighbourhood is having a meeting to a "Map Your Neighborhood" meeting where our neighbourhood (street) will gather everyone else's contact info, learn how to turn off water/gas in an emergency and learn which neighbours might have special concerns (disabilities or young children, etc). Should be interesting. And hopefully we'll never need it. Though I guess during the windstorm in Dec'06 a lot of trees fell on the homes on this street and across the road so there was a lot of clean up to be done.

Ok, off to lie down again. I am feeling woosy.

Dex was still sick today so no school for him and no MOPS or guitar lessons for me. Unfortunately my guitar instructor did not have times available to reschedule so looks like I paid for no lesson this week. Bummer.

I thought that Dex was feeling better during the day but by dinner time his fever was back (it was under 100 most of the day then back up over 100) so I am unsure if he will be able to go to school tomorrow or not. We'll see how he is in the morning.

I really hope he goes because we are desperate for groceries and I have some other errands to run. Plus it is Cosmo Friday so if he is sick, we cannot go. :(

Dex was still sick today but we had an appointment downtown so we packed into the car and drove downtown Seattle. We arrived a bit early so we walked a couple of blocks to the Pike Place Market sign (not even into the market, just to the sign where I took a photo of them). Then we walked back to the Canadian Consulate where I had to sit in front of bullet-proof glass while the woman reviewed the forms and identification for the kids' Canadian Citizenship applications (yes, the ones that I meant to send in last summer!). At least the woman behind the glass was friendly and funny unlike the very serious USCIS (formerly INS) workers who just glare and never crack a smile.

And even though the trip downtown was very quick, it was not without interest. First, there was the guy walking in front of us who seemed to know everyone walking down the street and who greeted one guy with “Hey! Remember me? We met a couple of years ago in County! Yeah, we were locked up together”. Next, there was Leroy's Mens Wear. Here are some photos of the clothes on display in the window:


Yes, that is a lavender plaid suit.

And here are the kids in front of the Pike Place Market sign:


After our appointment, we had originally planned to go to lunch then hang out at Gameworks for the afternoon but since Dex was burning up with fever and complained about walking three blocks, I decided to forgo Gameworks. Instead, after we arrived home, I gave the kids Mario Cart for Wii (we had purchased in December but had held it since they didn't really need more games). I let them play video games ALL afternoon. Like from 1pm until 6pm. I was feeling a bit guilty that we did not get to do anything really adventurous and fun these past couple of days. Though really, I think the kids playing video games all afternoon was very fun for them.

And I am glad that I got the Canadian Citizenship card applications out of the way. Now I just have to wait 12+ months for them. Good thing we are not in a hurry.

Today is day two of mid-winter break and both Dex and Cars are sick. Well, Dex has a fever and is lethargic (until the Advil kicks in and then he is fine for the next four hours and then miserable for two until it is time for another dose). Cars has croup. He gets it surprisingly often (his fingers are always in and around his mouth - ew germs!) but today it was different because he did not just have the cough during the night and in the morning but throughout the day. Anyway, we just hung out around the house today then and did not go to the movies with Spy and her kids as planned.

So, we decided to make stuffed pigs. If anyone is familiar with the story "The Wonderful Pigs of Jillian Jiggs" by Phoebe Gilman, those are the pigs we attempted. In the story, Jillian makes tons of pigs out of old stockings and extra buttons, yarn, fabric scraps, etc. For years we've been saying that we'll make them but since we had nothing else on the go, today seemed like a good day.

I pulled out some stocking and cut them up (instructions are in the back of the book) and sewed up one end then the boys started stuffing. It was slow going because I was the only one sewing and so there was a lot of waiting around for them. Waiting around = boredom so Jax had a great idea about what to do with some of the extra stuffing and Dex just had to capture it (Sir Mix-A-Lot Anyone?):


So, after watching me sew up the ends, sew on the noses, glue on eyes, and sew a little mouth, the kids all announced that they were bored so we decided to put away the pigs for now.


Don't look too closely at my very uneven stitches


Sad unfinished pigs looking a lot like sausages. Dex wants to make his pig a Pirate Pig. I think even just getting it to look like a regular pig is ambitious enough!

Spoiler alert: Spy - stop reading here because I am going to talk about "The Middle Place"

I just finished reading The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan. I originally heard of her book after seeing her "Transcending" video that was making the email rounds (you can see it by clicking on "The Middle Place" link). Anyway, the Transcending essay was wonderful and so I too had to pass it along. One of our book club members then decided to chose this book for our March meeting.

I loved this book! I felt as though she were sometimes writing about bits of my life because she captured a lot of the feelings I had so exactly. Like when I was called back for a second mammogram and then having to have a biopsy. Unlike Kelly, mine came back clear. But that short time, for those long excrutiating days waiting for the call, I felt that way too. And how she felt about her dad getting cancer and what needed to be done to treat him and trying to be so involved when you are a million miles away.

And finally, feeling as though she were not quite a grown up, even though she had a husband, a house and children. That is me! I think I liked that my parents still treated me like their daughter who needed them because it made me feel safe and secure and like nothing bad would happen or go wrong.

I cried and laughed my way through this book. I worry a bit about discussing it at book club because I feel that somehow I will not be able to precisely express my feelings about the book. I feel a little selfish about it right now. Like I want to guard the feelings and thoughts I have about the book but at the same time I want everyone I know to read it! I am sure that every woman, because she is a daughter, mother or wife, will somehow relate to parts of this book.

Ok, I fell off the roof and my dreary mood has improved (thanks in part to Hershey Kisses - I have given up Kissables). Now I just have to wait for my face to clear up.

We took the kids skating today (no hockey this weekend) and then to the sporting goods store to buy new sleds. Not that we have any snow but just in case...plus the sleds were on clearance.

The kids have the next three days off school. No real plans yet and the weather will not be great so whatever we do will probably be indoors. Maybe we can get out to throw the baseball around a bit though because baseball season starts soon. I hope hockey and baseball do not conflict!

Two school Valentine's Day parties + Cosmo Friday = One tired Pez

Oh and book club last night. And for the record, children born in the USA to non-American parents can indeed be President of the United States, thank you very much. I perhaps made my point a little louder than need be but ignorance completely pisses me off.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_born_citizen_of_the_United_States

Ok, since I obviously cannot buy clothes (see yesterday's post), I had to resort to buying make-up. Well, I bought skin care products, actually. Some nice eye cream to help get rid of the dark circles under my eyes. I did however, receive some make-up as a "gift with purchase". However, I failed to get any concealer to hide the huge zit on the bridge of my nose, right between my eyes. Aargh!

I am also hating my haircut. She really texturized it a lot at the back with the razor and the length is just not right so my hair is not doing what I want it to do. Good thing my hair grows quickly.

I am having an "ugly" week. I just need the weekend to come so I can prepare to start fresh next Monday.

I had a wardrobe crisis today. Nothing fit right or looked good. I am in between sizes and I hate how I look in all but one pair of my pants. Also, my thighs are getting bigger. I am not sure if it is from the all the squats and lunges or the Hershey Kissables! Hmmm...

I have now sworn off the Kissables and I'll be back to the gym tomorrow (if there is not another snow delay/day tomorrow). I have been doing the exercises ON Demand but I definitely need some fat-burning exercise to go along with it.

I need to go back to WW. Or invest in some full-body Spanx.

We awoke this morning to SNOW! Fortunately, school was only delayed two hours rather than being canceled. I missed my circuit training class as a result though. So, I did some exercise ON Demand to make up for it.

I also spent another hour looking for those damn Valentine's Day decorations. No luck! I will have to go buy another tablecloth tomorrow.

I also received a not from Cars' teacher today because:
1) I forgot to send in 100 gummi bears for 100 days of school which is coming up
2) I forgot to send in Valentine's Day cards for the Valentine's day party on Friday (!) and
3) I forgot to send in 100 things to count for 100 days of school (separate from the 100 gummi bears).

Oh, and the gummi bears and the 100 things (Cars and I ended up counting out 100 PEZ candies) in zippered sandwich bags which of course I do not have. I have gallon-sized, quart-sized and snack-sized bags but no sandwich-sized so I had to go to Safeway.

Aren't Mondays grand?

I spent two hours today looking for my Valentine's Day decorations. I do not have a lot (a tablecloth, some heart garland, a string of foam conversation hearts and gel window clings). I cannot believe I cannot find them anywhere!

In the process, though, I managed to clear off some of the junk on my "craft table" in the laundry room, organize my Christmas cards for next year (maybe I will even finish them next year!), find some bead-making/jewelry bits and pieces and the Art Start packet for 3rd grade.

If I cannot find it by end-of-day tomorrow, I am going to have to go to Fred Meyer of Joann's to buy a new tablecloth because I said I would bring one in for Dex's party on Friday.

Argh! This is so frustrating that I had to open a bag to Hershey Kissables to console myself.

For the past three days I have been doing some mini-workouts using Exercise ON Demand from Comcast. You can see and buy the workouts at exercisetv.tv as well. I really like it because I haven't had time to go to the gym and normally I am not motivated enough to exercise on my own. Now, I can just start one of the 10 minute workouts and get it over with! Today I did two mini workouts - one for abs and another for legs. It was great! If you have Comcast ON Demand, check it out.

I went to a Cookie Lee jewelry party tonight. I had a $25 credit because the hostess had booked from my party back in November. Before I went I decided I would buy one thing that was about $25 (free) and one more item that was no more than $30. Sure...

The first thing I fell in love with was a bracelet that was $29. Hmmm, ok, just $4 more than the credit I had. No problem. Then I just had to have the necklace that was featured with it (you can see the necklace and bracelet if you click on that link - it is the bracelet on her left wrist - of course I imagine that I look just like her when I wear them, nevermind that my skin is pasty white and I have at least 40 pounds on her). Of course the necklace was over $30.

Then there was this set of 7 skinny little bracelets that would look great with a few other bracelets that I have. One would never know that there was a recession going on the way I $pent money tonight.

Somebody take away my chequebook!

I am back. It wasn't that I was too sick to post. I just really had nothing to say. Well, I have a lot to say but nothing that I thought would be of interest.

What has been on my mind for the past few days is that kids are growing up too fast. I watched the movie "Thirteen" on Saturday night and I cannot stop thinking about it. Top that off with a girl in Jax's grade who is a self-described bisexual, having a relationship with a 7th grader girl (and boy? Spy, is the boy in 7th grade too?). She also apparently is also a cutter, has tried to commit suicide and there was a rumour going around this week that she is pregnant. THIS GIRL IS IN FIFTH GRADE!!

I feel sick about it all. I feel very badly for this girl but also for all of the other kids who are less mature (physically and emotionally) who are hearing all this! The pregnancy rumour is not true as she told Spy's dd (who is also in 5th grade) that. FIFTH GRADE!

These are not the kind of things that I would imagine my kids would need to start dealing with until they were in 7th or 8th grade. I guess I am living in some fantasy world.

Spy and I were talking the other day and discussing whether the counselor at the school should be notified about all of the rumours about this girl. I was wondering if the school might be aware of it all already and are dealing with it. However, today I was speaking to one of the "Mentor Moms" at my mom's club who used to be a school librarian. She said they had a 6th grader at her school become pregnant and apparently the "fun" thing to do at the school was for all of the kids to get together to have sex. The administration and teachers had no idea until there was an article printed about it in the local paper about the goings on at their school. These are just young kids!

So, I don't know what to do at the moment. I had decided that when my kids start asking the right questions, I would fill them in on what they need to know that is age appropriate. Jax knows how babies are made. What we really haven't discussed is having sex for pleasure rather than just for function. And when is the appropriate time (NOT 5th Grade!) and then about why people would want to try to kill themselves. Why people might try to harm themselves. All these things that, I think, a 10 year old should not have to worry about. I guess I am thinking back to me in grade 5 and what was going on then. The biggest worry was the Chris K might misbehave during the week so Mr. L would not play his guitar on Friday.

Anyway, I think I am having a paradigm shift about Fifth Graders and it has really blown me away.

I did not do much today because I wasn't feeling well. My stomach is so upset. Stephen's is too but he had to go to work. I even went back to bed for a while (from 9:30-11:00 - ok, a long while). Ugh. I did get out for an hour though to get my niece a b-day present (I am a week late - I suck!) and then I decided to invest in a good pair of athletic shoes because my feet have been hurting a lot lately.

I went to a store that specializes in running shoes and the guy analyzed my walk and the wear of my current runners and recommended three pair. Of course none of them were cheap. I think picked a pair that has great arch support (which should help since my arches are falling and I am too vain to get orthotics - they are for old people!). ;)

Anyway, I hope these shoes help my aching feet. Of course losing some weight would probably help too.

Go Steelers!

We went to a Superbowl Party at Spy's house today. I was the only one rooting for the Steelers so I was the only one who was delighted with the outcome. What an exciting game though, eh?!

And I am still stuffed from all of the food (loved the Corn chowder - yum!).

Wrestlemania

My boys have been wrestling each other a lot lately and it is driving me crazy. I don't mind if they want to wrestle each other but someone is always getting hurt and crying or whining and I just cannot stand it! I keep telling them they are welcome to wrestle downstairs with the door shut or out in the garage but no one is allowed to complain about getting hurt. Of course they all agree until ... someone gets hurt. So tonight I said NO MORE WRESTLING and they stopped wrestling. Until bedtime.

Every Friday and Saturday night we let them have "Crazy Sleep Night" (CSN) which means they can sleep in any bed (except mine) or any of their bedrooms or on the floor in those bedrooms. When they were all smaller, the three of them could fit easily into a full sized bed and even into a twin bed and it was cute and cozy. Now that they are bigger, only two can fit in the full bed and just one to a twin bed so mostly they sleep on the floor in sleeping bags on CSN.

So, at bedtime tonight, they chose to sleep in Jax's bedroom on the floor for CSN. It was quiet for a few minutes then I heard Jax yell and Dex whine so I snuck upstairs and found them all wrestling on the floor. I put an end to CSN for tonight and maybe forever! I am just so sick of it! Stephen says I am a hard ass but really he is not home for a lot of the wrestling and whining (usually happens after school before dinner) and the thing is, Jax weighs almost twice what Cars weighs so while Cars can be the aggressor, one big push from Jax is enough to make Cars fly (and yes, usually he is the one who gets hurt the most while Jax is the whiniest about it).

I also hate it because the whining and crying when someone gets hurt brings me back to my childhood. My siblings and I used to fight. A lot. We'd punch and scratch and throw things at each other. More than one door in our house was broken when someone was being chased and tried to slam a door behind them while the chaser would shove a broom handle in the gap to stop the door from closing. We'd fight and bully and scream (while my mom and dad were at work mostly). It never stopped until we were all adults!

Getting back to my kids, for the most part they do not physically fight. I will not tolerate it. Cars is one who will hit when frustrated but Jax and Dex do not (so Cars is the one who spends the most time in his room). This wrestling is not fighting but just play and I know that but the outcome (whining and someone being hurt) totally brings back those feelings of being teased, bullied and hit in my home when I was a child and I do not want to feel that way. Ever.

Now, I must say that I have a great family and I love my brothers and sister. I do not love parts of my childhood and really, the fighting was not constant (I have some friends whose homes were battlegrounds!) and when we did have fights they would be over pretty quickly with no lasting hard feelings (mostly). I just do not want that for my children.

I hope that by taking away CSN tonight and maybe turning it into something they have to earn rather than something they expect, I can get them to curb the wrestling. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Every Friday we have pizza for dinner and usually from Papa John's. I usually order it before we head out to Cosmo Fridays or just before our guests arrive here. They have a "plan ahead" feature which is great so I can order the pizza online and request a certain delivery time. It has worked out really great for us (now that I know they might be a few minutes early so I order it to be delivered at 6:30 and it arrives usually at 6:15, right when we arrive home from CF and as Stephen gets home from work).

Anyway, today the I had to drive the kids to/from school because there was a substitute bus driver (no guarantees that they have been trained to use an Epi Pen). I had a couple of minutes before I had to run out so I quickly ordered the pizza (pizza and wings special combo!) then rushed out to get the boys. I arrived home about 25 minutes later to a Papa John's delivery car (truck actually) in my driveway and the pizza guy looking irritated on my front step while he is talking on the phone. Oh shit! I completely forgot to chose PLAN AHEAD order so my dinner was here three hours early!

I apologized profusely to the guy and told him what had happened, hoping that he'd then say "OK, we'll bring you back a fresh order at 6:30!" when of course he grumbled "There are re-heating instructions on the box" as he shoved the boxes at me and walked away.

Fortunately, I had room in my fridge for the boxes. And the pizza and wings did reheat nicely when following the directions on the box but I'll be sure to click on PLAN AHEAD next time.

We received notices in the mail this week that all three boys are due for re-check appointments with their allergist in April. You have to book way in advance so I called on Monday and left a message. No one called me back that day or the next so I called again on Wednesday and actually spoke to someone LIVE the first time I called (a rare event at this very busy office).

Anyway, I said I needed to set up appointments for all three kids and guess what? I cannot make their appointments all on the same day due to "new office policies". How stupid is that?! So, Jax and Dex have appointments one day (and I will either have to take Cars out of school early to go with them OR find someone to pick him up from school for me) and Cars has another appointment the next week. The day Cars has the appointment, they had openings at 10:00, 10:30 or 11:00 but I was not allowed to book Jax, Dex and Cars in those three slots! It makes no sense whatsoever!

I will be sure to tell the allergist about this (often the doctors do not even know what is going on in the clinics). I am also so irritated about this that I am considering taking the kids to another practice. Although this one is so convenient because they have quite a few offices around and the kids can see the doctor at either the Seattle or Redmond offices, depending on which day of the week works best for us so in reality I will have to think long and hard about doing it. But I'll think about it! You mark my words!

Stephen's new passport arrived today. The turn around was pretty quick - about 10 days. We had to FedEx it to Canada and it was sent back via courier.

We've been looking into vacation ideas for spring break. We'd like to go somewhere warm but we are limited because at this time, we do not want to go outside of the USA due to food allergy issues. You may have read about a family whose son died of an allergic reaction to peanuts on the first day of their vacation to Mexico (you can read the dad's story here). So, at this point we'd like to avoid any language barrier issues.

We'd love to go to Hawaii. My dream vacation. We'll see...

I went to bed early last night with a migraine. I have had so many lately. I am not sure why. Sometimes in the summer I can pinpoint the weather as the trigger. Or if I am traveling then stress does it. But I really don't know why I've had them lately. It is so frustrating.

So, I made the drive to Vancouver and back and I survived! :) Now I know I can do it again if I ever need to. The scariest part of the drive was taking that big bridge over to New Westminster.

I spent the afternoon with L'R and her kids at the mall. We had a very nice visit. It was so nice to see her again. I hadn't seen her in about a year and a half - not too long after D was born. We walked around a bit, bought a couple of things then sat on a bench and had a nice chat. The mall was very crowded. Apparently Canada is not having a recession judging by the number of people in the mall. Also, this particular mall was MASSIVE and the people who worked for the mall (not the stores but the mall) wander around on roller blades! Funny!

I spend the night at my brother's house. OMG Lola is too freaking cute! I love, love, love that age (she is almost 21 months). She is a very happy little girl! I usually buy her little girlie outfits when I go visit but after she tossed the clothes when she opened the bag, I think it is time to switch to toys! LOL

Stephen survived a very busy weekend without me. All three boys started "Beginner Hockey" yesterday then they had swimming lessons in the afternoon (well, the older two while Stephen took Cars swimming in another pool). Today, they had to go to religion class (I figured it was too much to ask to have Stephen actually take them to Mass) then a birthday party.

When I left BC today it was cold but the sun was shining brightly and the skies were blue. Shortly after crossing back into the States, the skies turned grey and there was SNOW!! Yikes! There are still a few flakes coming down now. There is snow on the grass and trees but not on the roads. I hope we don't wake up to even more snow in the morning.

I'm going on an adventure tomorrow. I am excited and nervous. I am driving to Canada by myself. I am going to meet at friend for some shopping in the afternoon then heading to my brother's house for the evening and I'll drive home on Sunday.

I have mentioned before that I have a phobia of driving over bridges but my counselor said she thought I actually had a driving phobia. It is really a phobia of being stranded by a broken down car. Fortunately, I will be taking the new car with the GPS so 1) no getting lost and 2) hopefully no mechanical problems (not that mine has any but newer=more reliable, right?).

Ok, off to pack. I am excited about seeing everyone, especially Lola!

This and That

1. I called the police on some guys who were smoking pot at the park yesterday. They later walked down to the school yard so I reported it to the school today. However, they left before the cops arrived (as did I). Pot smokers on the school grounds are not a priority on our city.


2. Big Software Company layoffs did not affect us at this point. Whew!


3. My boys are starting a beginning hockey class this Saturday. I had to take them for equipment rental today (what an ordeal!). Stephen bought the things that cannot be rented (jerseys, jocks, socks and sticks). They are all set to go!


4. I took Jax to the eye doctor today. He does not have retinoblastoma (ok, long story that did not post about but basically in a photo that I took, Jax's eye reflected back with white pupil). Another Worst Case Scenario dispelled. Whew!


5. Our replacement bed came last night and it is much firmer than the other. I am sure this is how the other should have been. The delivery guys even noted that the other bed was collapsed on one side. Stephen did sleep better but said he is still going to withhold judgement for a week. Hopefully his back pain will go and he will stop being so grumpy.


6. I finally found a Tinkerbell PEZ dispenser to complete the Disney Fairies PEZ set for my collection.


7. My guitar instructor lent me some Beatles DVDs today and taught me the chords to "Hey Jude". Chords! Squee!! :) He is very happy that I am a Beatles' fan.

Ugh, I haven't worked out since last week and I feel like a slug! Monday was MLK day so no school so no working out. Today, they delivered our replacement bed during my circuit training class time. Then the kids got out early today so there was no time to go afterwards. Tomorrow I have MOPS, then guitar lessons then Jax has an eye appointment. Friday morning I am teaching art in Dex's class. I wonder if I can squeeze a workout in the afternoon?!

Tomorrow for MOPS, it is my table's turn to bring in items for a local shelter. I totally forgot until this afternoon that I needed a laundry basket and a set of spatulas so after the kids' playdates today, we headed to Target then to Fred Meyer for dinner (the kids love the mac'n'cheese from the deli). I was SHOCKED at how dead both Target and FM were. We were at the stores between 5:30 and 6:15 - normally very busy times as people stop there on their way home from work. I was most shocked at FM's. Was it the day or are people really not shopping?! It felt surreal.

Not sure if it were the excitement from today (Hello, President Obama!) or from inhaling the fumes while photocopying for one and a half hours for Jax's teacher (I am sure I went through 4 reams of paper!) but I have a wicked migraine. I am "resting" and Stephen has taken the kids out to dinner. Usually if I have a migraine I can nap or sleep but not this time. I ran out of my prescription stuff and when I was at the doctor a couple of months ago I forgot to get a renewed prescription (I asked about it at the beginning of the appointment but we got sidetracked on my bursitis or heel spur).

As I said, I am too wound up to sleep. The sound from the tv hurts my head. Reading takes too much concentration. I can do ok lying here in the dark with my monitor turned down low but I cannot do much more than read the forums (and post to my blahg) because I cannot concentrate with this pain. Woe is me.

Ok, off to read about some more crazies who think that Obama is the Anti-Christ. Yes, I did swear off that forum but lack of entertainment drew me back in.

Today it was warm again (not AS warm) but it did get to the mid-50's. In the morning we went to the skatepark and met some friends there. Afterwards, the one of the kids came back to our house for a playdate.

My boys also worked on creating their own superhero costumes using a cardboard box, duct tape and elastic bands. Jax created a superhero named "The Vulture" back when he was taking the cartooning class and so today he made The Vulture's costume. I am not sure why he thought Vulture was a good name for a superhero... Anyway, it is amazing how long a cardboard box can keep kids occupied.

I am going to watch some of the inaugruation tomorrow morning. I've arranged with Jax's teacher to move my volunteering to later in the day. I am excited for a new administration. Yes we can!

On Saturday night, we went to E & T's house to watch some University of Minnesota Hockey. They have DirectTV and are able to watch Minnesota hockey every week. We are a little jealous. Way back when E and Stephen were both still PhD students at the UofM, each year we'd get season tickets for the games (actually, I think we split season tickets the first year with E & T because we could not afford them on our own). Anyway, it was always great fun going to Mariucci Arena to watch the Gophers play and watching them last night in E&T's family room, 1600 miles away, was still a lot of fun! BTW, the Gophers beat the St. Cloud State Huskies 8-6. We definitely were not ripped off any goals that game.

Today we had a super sunny and WARM day! It got up to 65 degrees at my house. I loved it! I turned off the heat and opened the front and back doors and let the fresh air in. It was nice.

The kids have tomorrow off school for MLK day. We haven't any plans though I understand there is more sunshine in the forecast so maybe we can do something outside! Hurray!

Rumours abound that Big Software Company is going to announce layoffs next week when they release their earnings. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we are good here.

Our electric/gas bill came today and OMG. It is $100 than last January's bill AND we used less gas. I think I need to get a job!

Well, I managed to yet again mangle another dinner. Here it is, 6:30 and dinner is still cooking (we normally eat at 6pm). Let's see...the London Broil is what is holding us up. The recipe I followed said 10 mins per side on the grill. Did that and the internal temperature was only 113F (Mooo!). The roasted carrots are now cold and the peas are mushy. The Lazy Daisy cake I made is lopsided (guess I did not mix the ingredients enough?).

So, I am having a glass of wine on a Thursday night while I wait for the meat to cook. Of course the rest of the family is taking advantage of this time by playing xBox and no doubt there will be tears when bath and bedtime come immediately after dinner.

I should have let my vacation day extend beyond 3pm.

Tomorrow I have NOTHING on my schedule. No Mom's club, no guitar lesson (it was moved to Tuesday of this week). No volunteering at the school. Nothing!

I think I will take a vacation day and catch up on a couple of TV shows (Weeds Season 1 and Intervention, start reading my next book club book (it finally arrived today - Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama) and maybe take a trip over to Starbucks and treat myself to a cranberry-orange scone and a grande Earl Grey tea with 1 tea bag.

Of course what I should be doing is planning meals for the next few days and getting some groceries, cleaning the house, changing sheets, vacuuming, tidying up the laundry/mud/junk room and of course there is the ever present laundry to tackle.

But no, I am taking a vacation day. At least between the hours of 8am and 3pm. If only it were paid vacation time then I would go shopping for new shoes.

I ordered some things from Crate & Barrel and for some reason they were shipped separately via UPS (well, it looks like one of the items is even on back order). Anyway, two items were shipped the same day. One arrived yesterday and it looks the the other will arrive today. However, if you look at the UPS tracking, it seems they may have both been on the same truck that arrived at the UPS sorting center in Redmond yet one was delayed a day due to "Adverse Weather Conditions". Huh?! It was barely raining yesterday. The roads from here to UPS are clear. The centre is about 6 miles from my house. No flooding on the roads between here and there. I find it so bizarre especially since both packages arrived at UPS (one minute apart) on January 11th.

My $21 hamburger

I went to Fatburger last month and had one of their Fatburger (on Tuesday evenings, their Fatburger are only $2.49 (a $1.20 savings!) and a big blob of grease and ketchup dripped off the bun and onto the front of my relatively new top. Of course, this was just before Jax's appointment and I did not notice that it happened until after we met with Jax's counselor and it was right in the middle of my shirt. Doh!

When I got home, the shirt went right into the wash after I sprayed it with Zout. But the grease stain was still there! I washed it again after scrubbing it with a Tide To Go pen but it did not wash out. Then I tried Spray'n'Wash and the stain STILL did not come out. Then for good measure I washed it again with no stain remover but of course the stain is still there.

I am so upset! It is (was) a great top from Lands' End (mine was green though). I loved it because the sleeves were long. And I don't just mean long-sleeved but they were LONG and fell about 1.5" below my wrist bone (I have long arms so sleeves are always too short). I loved that top! Especially since Lands' End sizes are slightly larger than other manufacturers so I fit nicely into a "M".

So that really juicy and tasty $2.49 burger ruined my $18.50 top. Next time, I'll wear a not-so-new shirt. Or a bib.

We went skating again today but this time we rented hockey skates for Jax and Dex (they normally give out skates that have a TOE PICK!). Jax did well with the change but Dex had to re-learn to skate and he was frustrated.

We left the arena just before 4pm and I have been chilled to the bone since! I hope I am not coming down with anything.

The kids' swimming lessons moved to Saturday so Stephen took them to the pool while I worked out in the fitness centre. I really did not have time for a full workout but I did get some cardio and ab work in which is better than nothing.

We then went to Old Navy because all of the boys were in need of some jeans. Cars busted out the knees on two pairs over the past couple of weeks. Then we went to Sports Authority and Stephen just *had to buy street hockey sticks for the boys. We took his car today so the boys had to carry the sticks across their laps on the way home because they would not fit in the (tiny) trunk.

I have a renewed my pledge to practice the guitar everyday. I let it slide during the last few weeks before Christmas and I was kicking myself because I would go to my lesson and basically I was paying them to practice. I am also determined to start learning chords soon too so I want to zip through "Guitar Method Book 1.

Ok, off to practice.

It seems I made a subconscious New Year's resolution to eat as much food as humanly possible. I cannot stop eating! But I keep telling myself I am just eating vegetables but then I dip them in some very fattening french onion dip. OMG, it is soooo good.

Anyway, time to get back to eating more healthy fair and stop buying Hershey's Kisses that are on sale half-price because they are wrapped in Christmas foil.

I took Jax, Dex and Cars to the Lego Store so they could spend some of their Christmas money. Now that the new shelves are up downstairs, we need to fill them up, right? Anyway, Jax and Dex both bought the same one. Dex wanted a new pirate Lego which they did not have in stock. What is nice about the Lego store is if they do not have it in stock, you can order it and they will ship it to you for free. So Dex has to wait about a week for his.

My kids love Lego so much and while I do bitch and moan about all of the Lego in the house, I am happy that they are so happy playing with and collecting it.

Do my glasses hide my crow's feet?

I volunteered in Cars' classroom today. I arrived as the kids were coming in from morning recess. One very observant boy said "Hi Cars' Mom! Where are your glasses?" I said "I am wearing my contact lenses today". "Oh", he replied and looked at me thoughtfully. Then he added "You look almost OLD!".

Gotta love 5 year old honesty, right?

Whew! The kids went back to school today! It poured rain through the night so most of the snow was gone by morning. Regardless of what Jax says, I think all three of them were happy to go back too.

I was very happy to be able to go to the club to work out. It was hard and I am going to be sore tomorrow but I loved it. I think I love the really long, hot showers afterwards as much as the work out. No way I'd ever have such long showers at home. :)

Book Club is at my house later this week so I have quite a job of getting the Christmas stuff put away. The tree has been stripped (Stephen had chopped it up and put in the yard waste bin) but now I need to get all of the ornaments wrapped and back into boxes. The decorations and ornaments always seem so tired and sad after Christmas.

OMG, it is snowing again! I tried to get my car out of the garage but it got stuck on the driveway then slid and I almost hit Stephen's car! I was able to manoeuvre the car back down the driveway and into the garage. Unless it starts raining tonight, I am not going anywhere tomorrow (I so totally need to work out, not just for my physical well-being but for my mental health!).

And if tomorrow is another snow day my kids will be going to school into July!

So we never did buy a new bed back in November when we went looking at Co$tco Home because they ALL had pillow tops and Stephen says never again! I had completely tuned out his complaints about how uncomfortable our bed is for quite a few weeks now but yesterday I lay on his side of the bed and the friggin bed is broken! Seriously, there is no support near the edge about in the middle of of the bed on his side. No wonder he hates the so-called "Heavenly" bed.

I called today and they will ship us a new mattress as soon as I mail the "DO NOT REMOVE BY PENALTY OF LAW" tag to them.

Welcome 2009!

Happy New Year!

We welcomed the new year in with too much fun at Ash's house. The highlight (?) of the party may have been the towel that caught fire in the bathroom from a candle. Cars walked up to Ash and very calmly said "Excuse me, Ash. There is kind of like a fire in the bathroom". Wow! Lucky that he happened by at that moment because it could have been so much worse! The only casualty was the towel.

My cold is worse so we did not do much today. The boys did not mind because we are letting them play a lot of video games. They really do not get a chance to play often during the week (maybe 3 hours per week) so they are totally eating this up. Stephen was not feeling well today but his was from a little bit too much celebrating the New Year but nothing that some ibuprofen did not help.

We were going to take the kids tubing at Snoqualmie Pass tomorrow but the pass is closed due to avalanche maintenance and tons more snow falling so it looks like we'll have to try another day. More snow is expected to fall here too but I hope it is just rain. We'll have to find something else to do - perhaps a movie? Dex wants to see Tale of Despereaux".

What I am most excited about for tomorrow is garbage pickup! How pathetic is that, eh? But we have not had our garbage picked up since December 11th! Both the garbage bin and the recycle bin are completely jammed-packed (96 gallon bins that have been sitting at the end of the driveway for three weeks!). Plus we also have all of this to go out too:


The recycling of course is the worst with Christmas presents arriving in boxes, being packaged in boxes and all of the Christmas wrapping! I am worried that they won't take it all and we'll be left to deal with a wet soggy mess of cardboard boxes at the side of the road. And, with snow in the forecast for overnight, I will be so disappointed if the trucks do not come tomorrow. How sad is it that I am looking forward to Garbage Day?!

Update Friday morning: It did snow overnight but the garbage truck still came by (I heard it at 6:30am!). Hurray! Let's hope the recycling truck comes too.