Oh No!! Where Does the Time Go?

Oh no! It's been since March of 2010 since I posted anything? Really? Well now that's a shame. My kids are still cute and funny and now I feel terrible that all the cute and funny things have gone undocumented. I did just figure out that I can post things now but backdate them to the time at which they actually happened which is good. Wouldn't want tobe inaccurate or anything.

Quick summary...

Sam turns 4 in 2 days. He starts preschool on Tuesday and soccer for the first time some time next week. He is a bundle of energy and keeps us laughing all the time.

Nathan is in the 3rd grade. I feel like he's growing up WAY too fast. He wants to play basketball this fall. We are strongly encouraging (making) him take piano lessons and he is involved in scouts at church. He has a wicked sense of humor and still loves to cuddle.

We got another baby. Oh, I mean we got a dog. Sometimes it has felt like as much work as a baby. His name is Cosmo. He's a golden retriever. He loves us (some of us more than others) and we love him. He's handsome too, so I'm even going to put a picture.

That's all for now. I can go to bed tonight with just a little less mommy guilt.

Seat Belt Police

The boys and I were on our way home today from the park. We stopped at a convenience store that is within a mile or so of our home. I am somewhat ashamed to say that I made a decision NOT to put my seat belt on because we were so close to home. Wouldn't want to waste any energy on something so temporary. The seat belt alarm thingie only goes off a few times between this gas station and our house. (not that I've done it before) As we're rounding the last curve before entering our subdivision, I hear from the back seat "seat belt pwease mom". I didn't say a word. Caught by a two year old. I quickly put my seat belt on and snuck a look at him in the rear view mirror at which time he said "thanks".

What would I do without my Sam? Be very reckless for one thing...

Empathy...not quite

Recently Nathan and I were alone in the car on a regular errand to buy crickets for our ugliest family member, Jack. I turned off the radio and tried to take advantage of our time together. I asked him about school and how the first grade has compared with kindergarten. He said that kindergarten was a lot more fun for obvious reasons. I took this opportunity to tell a story about when I was in the first grade. I too was pining for the happier days of kindergarten. I had two of the absolute best kindergarten teachers and I was unwilling to give my new teacher a chance. Well, on one quite terrible day of first grade our teacher had to leave the room and told us that we had better be quiet and under no circumstances should we leave our seats. If we did, we would be in BIG trouble. Seeing that I had decided this teacher was the biggest meanie ever I didn't dare leave my seat even though I REALLY needed to go the little girls room. As I remember I waited as long as I possibly could. I even considered disobeying my teacher and going to the bathroom without permission. In the end I did the only reasonable thing I could think of...I sat in my seat and peed my pants. It ran down the desk and I just sat there pretending nothing had happened. The teacher came back and of course asked me why I hadn't just gone to the restroom. Obviously she did not understand the power of her words over a little girl who was terribly frightened of her. So instead of going outside for recess I got to sit in the classroom, wrapped in my teachers coat while she hung my wet clothes on the heater to dry. (yuck) As a side note, my "boyfriend" Todd kindly stayed inside with me and held my hand. When I was done relating what I considered to be a terribly sad story to Nathan about myself as a little girl in the first grade, I asked him what he thought. He said "I have two interesting things to tell you. Number one...I just saw a lady walking a dog and the dog had on a sweater. Number two...I just saw a sign laying on the ground." I hesitated for a moment hoping he had more to say that might have something to do with my story. When he didn't I said "no Nathan, what did you think about my story?" He says "oh that, peeing in your desk is gross mom." Hmmm...all my sensitivity training doesn't seem to be sinking in. I will say that later as he related the story to his dad he said "isn't that sad?"

what's that you say?

I just ran across this and had to post it even though it is a few months old. The video speaks for itself, but just a little setup. At the time Sam was insisting on being potty trained. (we have since given up on this little endeavor for a while) In this video I am interrogating him as he sits on the throne about how a big mess of popcorn got all over the living room floor. This is what I got. I'm not exactly sure what he's saying but I would say based on my best interpretation, he's definitely a suspect in the crime.

"hubs"

Sam and I took a trip to the grocery store yesterday. Our first stop, of course, was to the bakery for his complimentary chocolate chip cookie. He was a pretty content shopping partner until the cookie ran out on aisle two. At that point he started begging for everything we passed. This is how the conversation went.

Sam: "mama, what is that?"

Me: "those are noodles, Sam."

Sam: "i want doodles mom."

And so it went. I identified an item for him and he told me he wanted said item. About half way through the store I was getting frazzled and forgetting what I was doing, going back to aisles where I had forgotten the main things I had come to the store for. My patience may or may not have been running a little thin and if you had been there you may or may not have been able to detect that in my voice when answering Sam's continued questions. At some point he started saying "i want hub mamma." He had to say it a few times. I was trying to piece together what a "hub" might be by thinking about what items I had identified for him in the past 30 seconds. And then I stopped, looked at him and he held his arms out "i want a hub mamma". Oh, a hug. Sweet baby. So we stood in the cereal isle hugging and then he said, no kidding "mmmm...this is nice."

These moments are what makes it possible to withstand the other "terrible two" moments. I love this kid!

So yes, I shamelessly tried to recreate this hug so I could take a picture. I get lots of hugs so it's not a total fake, just staged because a picture of Sam just makes this entry better.

Rocky Balboa

So I just have to post this really quick. Sam has been BEGGING to go to Nana & Papa's house. Every time we get in the car it's "are we going to Nana & Papa's and then a mini tantrum when I tell him no. So yesterday I was just curious why he wanted to go so badly so I asked "Sam, what are you going to do at Nana & Papa's house?" This was followed by a pause, a hmmmm, a pause and then "hit people". Yep that's right, hit people. I asked just be to sure and he confirmed that he indeed was pining for Nana & Papa's house so he could hit people. I hope this is just a sweet little harmless two year old thing to say rather than the other option which is that he remembers that there are always people smaller than him at Nana & Papa's house and therefore he has people he feels safe to hit. So scary. Just look how ferocious he is.

New Addition

We have a new addition to our family. An addition I was very reluctant to make.


Nathan started asking for a lizard a few months ago. I hoped this fascination would pass. We finally told him that if he still wanted one on his birthday then we would get him one. Well, guess what? He still very much wanted one when his birthday rolled around. Dave did a lot of research and determined that a bearded dragon would be our best bet. When the day arrived we all loaded up and headed to the stinkiest yuckiest place in town to purchase this ugly little creature. Nathan was so excited. He took his time picking out just the right one. (they all looked the same to me...ugly and....lizardie) Once he was chosen, they packed him up in a little box, we bought a hundred crickets and took him home.

Naming the little critter....

Nathan had his heart set on naming him "John the Lizard". The whole thing. Not just John. John the Lizard. When I asked him if I could just call him John he explained "no mom, because his name is John the Lizard, like John the Baptist". Oh, well of course we should turn to the scriptures for the naming of our pets. Thankfully after a few days of the confusion and his annoyance at me that I would not call him by his full and proper name, we settled on Jack. I feel this rolls off the tongue much easier, don't you?

Now that the naming was over the little monstrosity took over our lives. I kid you not. Like a little newborn baby. When choosing this thing Dave assured me that he would be very easy to care for. Not so. First of all, he is apparently very sensitive to the temperature in his "habitat". We bought a heat lamp to put over his cage, but this is not enough. He prefers a warm room. The girl at the store where we bought him told us that she keeps her reptile room at 75 degrees. Well of course you do. We, on the other hand, like things a little cooler. The room he resides in happens to be the coldest room in our house. So I found myself worrying about this ugly little creature I didn't want and finally put a space heater in "his room". There's another funny thing. He now has his own room which used to be a guest room slash room to escape to when Dave's snoring is too much for me to take. Now I can't go in there because "Jack" likes his room so stinking hot that I can't stand to sleep in there. The next issue that kept me up at night worrying was his eating. He's supposed to eat anywhere from 5 to 20 crickets a day as a baby and some greens. Well, when we first got him home we could not get him to eat any of the HUNDRED crickets we bought. I was going in there all day offering them to him and in my spare time reading on the Internet about what to do next. Turns out he was just "anxious" about his new environment and after a few days his appetite returned. What a prima donna! Really?? The worst part is I've developed all these nurturing feelings for this thing I never wanted. I wouldn't say that I exactly like him. I still won't touch him. But I do spend a great deal of time fussing over and worrying about him. How did I get tricked into this? Also, I bet you didn't know that the crickets i.e.food have to be cared for as well. They have to be fed their own special food and sprinkled with some magic fairy dust that makes them more nutritious. Seriously, I think a baby elephant would be less trouble!

For now he's here and I see no end in sight. Luckily Nathan has become really good at taking care of him now and really enjoys it. He loves to hold him and is very gentle with him. Sam is mostly stuck watching him from afar as he has not yet learned how to pet "softly".

I think there are levels of care we could provide and I don't know how long we will keep up this whole first class routine. As a friend pointed out to me, his accommodations are equivalent to country club living and he might be just as content living in low income housing. I hope he doesn't get too accustomed to all the pampering.

One last thing...this is what we have to look forward to

(i just threw up in my mouth a little bit. isn't that the uglies thing you've even seen?)

p.s. my sincere apologies to any of you reptile lovers out there. i did not mean to offend.

Hello Seven

Again I am in shock as another year rolls around and I am now the mother of a seven year old! If things had worked out as we hoped in the beginning I would have a 13 or 14 year old by now, but seven seems old enough for me right now.

We celebrated Nathan's birthday several times. On his actual birthday he got his present from us and we let him choose where we would go for dinner. He chose Moe's for the chicken quesadilla and I made a cake for him at home. We celebrated again a few days later with a party at a jump house. He invited some of his friends from school and church and they had a great time.

He's growing up so fast. Only a year from now he'll be eight which is a big milestone. He's starting to spend more and more time by himself. He is most often found in his room creating lego vehicles and guys from his imagination. This time last year it was all about the video games and spongebob.

His is enjoying school but his fascination with the new school year and attractive teacher have worn off and he's decided that first grade is a lot of work. He does well in school when he feels like it, but is guilty of trying to be the first one done and doing a pretty pitiful job sometimes.

He is getting better at church. He's finally learned to sit still and might even be caught enjoying music time. I don't sit and wonder when they are going to come get me to "deal" with Nathan at church anymore.

He's still working on his relationship with his little brother. I'm still hoping it gets better. He picks on him sometimes and like to hear him scream. On the other hand, he really enjoys making something for Sam to play with or loaning him some of his "special" guys. He really hates when Sam does not show adequate appreciation for this gesture. He becomes Sam's biggest supporter when I have to correct him. He often defends Sam and wants to be there to comfort him when the scolding is over.

I still look at him every day and think of how he came to be ours and I am so thankful to have him in my home.

sam the shopper... he is not

As the mom of two boys who will one day marry women who will in no doubt love to shop, I find it my personal duty to teach them the joys of shopping. I think I did a pretty good job with Nathan. At a young age he seemed to enjoy looking at things as I pointed out the fine details and differences in things I was trying to decide about. I would talk to him as an equal, asking his opinion etc. So naturally, being so proud of myself I have continued this goal with Sam. It's true what they say...no two children are alike. Sam HATES shopping. Doesn't like anything about it. I can't find anything interesting enough to capture his interest. He can't be bribed or begged into cooperating with me. He pretty much complains the entire time. But being the ever determined soul that I am, I forge ahead with my goal of making a good shopping companion for his one day bride. It's a tough job, but won't she be so happy?
On one such shopping trip I had been promising that we would look at just "one more thing" for the past five things. He had a toy in his hand that he could not open until we paid for it. This he understands and was very frustrated. He said to everyone we passed "open pwease". He was so put out that no one would help him. When we neared the front of the store he was elated. He was kicking his little feet and smiling that sweet smile from ear to ear. Then, as a test, purely because I feel it is my duty, I stopped to look at "one more thing". He could take it no longer. He balled up his little fists, banged them on the cart and yelled almost at the top of his lungs "OH MY DOSH!" I tried my best not to laugh at him. He was SO over it. I blame the geniuses who put the stuff right up at the front of the store. They know me too well. But alas we did check out. Ironically, after all that shopping all we got was the stupid toy. So I'll say it now...sorry to Sam's future wife. He will most likely not enjoy helping you pick out a lovely outfit or furniture for your first home. I tried.

honesty at a price

We have always been so proud of Nathan for being honest. He has almost always been painfully honest no matter the cost. As he's gotten older I have noticed that there are occasions where this is becoming a little more difficult and I see him struggle a little longer with his decision in whether or not to be truthful. Of course, as his mom I would ONLY ever encourage him to be honest....unless of course it embarrasses me. Case in point...
We have a new primary president. She is a very sweet, young mom with lots of enthusiasm and great ideas. A few Sundays ago she was letting the children know there were going to new rules concerning their reverence. She tried the "reverence means love" tactic. And that to show their love they should want to be reverent. I just happened to walk into the room as she was saying "well, you might not love me, but you do love your Heavenly Father don't you?" For just a tiny second I wondered what child had told this sweet lady that he did NOT love HER. It did not take me long to come to my senses though and realize that of course it had to be Nathan. Who else would do that? In talking to another adult that had been present for the full exchange, she told me that he was very serious and matter of fact in his statement and that he had not meant to be mean or funny. I know this to be true, but still. Does he always have to be honest out loud? He did go on to say that he did love his Heavenly Father very much and for that reason he would try to be more reverent. As we discussed this episode with him he said to me "well sorry mom, but I barely know that lady". True . But necessary to say? I think not.