Well-Hydrated

We were all about to watch a taped episode of Mythbusters when Patrick realized that Eric was wet where he wasn't supposed to be wet. He had been drinking lots and lots of milk and, well, he was well hydrated. So, I gave him a bath. He played by himself in the tub and when I got him out, he started singing one of his sister's favorite songs. He sang "Best of Both Worlds" over and over again while I got him out of the tub. When I was getting him dressed he was singing something that sounded like "We are the Champions" although I wasn't really sure.

He then asked if he "watch TV with Mama". He didn't actually watch TV. He was playing on the big leather chair in my room. He would lay on his belly on the seat and slide down to the floor. He also got on my bed and rolled over and purposely fell the 2 1/2 feet or so to the floor. He was SO juiced!

Patrick came in and started watching TV also (I was watching "Chuck") and Eric started jumping on top of him. He was so active and in perpetual motion that I was glad to get these three photos. The rest of the photos showed Eric as a blurry spot. I told Patrick that if I hadn't known better, I would have thought that he had some big sugary snack, which he didn't have.

I enjoy just watching Eric sometimes. This is such a fun age. :)

Sunday Recap

I took Alex to his home game this afternoon while Patrick took Anthony to his away game in Austin. Alex wanted to get there early, which was fine with me since I seem to always run a little late. He was the first one there, so he practiced shooting goals by himself. He really puts his whole body into the kick when he wants to kick hard and I was glad I was able to capture this shot.

I was talking to Alex's coach before the game as we were watching his team scrimmage against each other to warm up. I noticed that Alex was much more aggressive with his own teammates than against other teams. His coach agreed and said that he was trying to work on that. Alex has the potential to be a really good player if he would just be more aggressive. Anthony used to be the same way, and he is only now playing more aggressively, so we're wondering how to get Alex to make that switch. Too bad just telling them to be more aggressive doesn't work. They don't listen anyway. By the way, Alex's team lost today 3-0 and Anthony's team lost 1-0. Bummer!

After I took this picture, I told Natalie that this was my "picture of the day". I had told her specifically to wear sneakers because I knew the fields would be wet (it had been drizzling off and on all day). She doesn't like to wear dresses so much anymore, but she's still all about the "bling". She wanted to wear this sparkly pair of flip-flops. So, of course when she went out to an adjacent field to play with her soccer ball, she got wet grass all over her feet and shoes. She is cleaning off her feet here. She also kicked her shiny pink ball into a puddle and then wanted to put it in my trunk. I was not happy about that either. If only she would listen to me...

Getting Along

Anthony had two high school soccer games this morning, and as usual he got to watch the first game and play in the second game. He has started to play in the midfield position along with his usual defender position. He's not used to the midfield position, so we can tell that he gets a little disoriented, but he's been playing well all around. Just like last week we rushed home after getting takeout (from Sonic, this time) so we could go to his 2:30PM club soccer game. Patrick only watched the first couple of minutes of Anthony's game because he had to drive Alex to his away game across town.

With all of these soccer games, Natalie and Eric are often left to play on their own, because their negligent parents are trying to watch the game. They get along so well sometimes, but other times, not so well. This is a picture of them holding hands while running after the soccer ball. Unfortunately, Natalie runs a little faster than Eric, and soon after this picture was taken, Eric lost his footing and fell. By the way, this was taken with my big zoom lens, so I was too far away to rush to Eric's aid. Luckily he wasn't really hurt.

The reason why they were probably running together is that the two of them have a hard time sharing the ball, and by running together, they probably both felt like they were both playing with the ball. This was the interaction between the two of them a little while later. Eric is holding on to the ball so his sister can't get it. Natalie is sitting on Eric and tapping his back. She wasn't tapping hard, but she was a little annoyed that he wasn't playing with the ball, but he wasn't going to let her have it either.

For most of Anthony's afternoon game, they were digging in the dirt with small fallen branches. I'm not sure if they had a purpose to their digging besides just digging for the fun of it, but I left them alone because they were getting along.

Getting Along

Anthony had two games in New Braunfels yesterday, which is around 45 minutes from our house. I was off from work yesterday, so Patrick was able to go to the games while I stayed to cart the kids around. First we went to Natalie's piano lesson. Then we went to a neighbor's house to pick up Alex. He had Media Club after school and got picked up by his friend's parents. We didn't get home until after 5PM so he insisted that it was too late to eat before soccer practice. He was actually rather grouchy, but that's a subject for another time.

After a hurried dinner where I ate standing up at the counter, we left the house again by 5:30PM to take Alex to soccer practice. We dropped him off and went directly to Target where we always hit the Dollar Spot first. First, Eric wanted to wear the pink bunny ears headband--not the white or the purple but the PINK one. Then he saw the yellow flower headband and he wanted that instead. Natalie found some car stickers and of course he wanted that instead. Finally, he found this car. He agreed to put the car stickers back in favor of this car. I decided that I needed to document this with a picture so I told him to put the car near his face so I could get a picture. The next thing I knew, he had jammed the car box up right onto his face gave me his cheesy smile. I laughed out loud because he was SO cute. :)

During most of the rest of the shopping trip, he didn't want to sit IN the cart, he wanted to sit UNDER the cart. I gave him a lollipop and he was happily sucking away while I filled my cart with far more stuff than was on my original shopping list. Natalie in the meantime helped me find the essential items on my list, as well as a swimsuit for herself. She also made a side trip through the shoes, just in case there were any shoes she might like. When we were done, we had bought over $100 worth of stuff! Target is a very dangerous store. *WINK*

When we got back to the soccer fields, the two of them still had lots of energy. They had this routine where Natalie would bump her tummy against Eric's side. He would fall down with his arms and legs spread out on the grass and she would step over him and pretend to fall on top of him. They were both laughing and giggling like they were having the most wonderful time ever. These two get along so well and they seem so close (most of the time) that it makes Patrick and I very happy. :)

$1 Scoop Tuesday

I know I don't need an excuse to get ice cream, but I love that kids' scoops are only $1 at Baskin-Robbins on Tuesdays. The kids remember and they ask for it too. I have tons of photos of Eric and Natalie eating ice cream, but Eric was particularly messy with pink all over his mouth, so I couldn't resist.

I meant to post this page yesterday since yesterday was my first day in my new "office" aka cubby. I moved most of my stuff out last Friday, and my old officemate moved my computer after I left that day. We were both a little sad but excited to be with our friends in the other area. We both had to purge quite a bit of stuff, including old, outdated textbooks, which was a good thing. In any case, I didn't have room for all of this "art" by Anthony and Alex, circa 2002-2004, so I took pictures and scrapped them instead. Looking at those pictures makes me think of those adorable little boys that made them for me. Luckily I still have the adorable little boy above to hug and hold. :)

Sea World Opening Weekend

Patrick had to drive Anthony to Corpus Christi for a club soccer game today. That's five hours total round trip! We decided that dragging the other kids along would make a long trip even longer, so I stayed home with them. It was such a beautiful day again that I decided to take them to Sea World for their opening weekend. This sign was located near the front entrance that people can measure themselves on to see if they're tall enough for certain rides. This will be a great way to track their yearly growth. I'll have to compare it to last year's picture.

Don't look, Papa! Patrick really hates cotton candy and doesn't ever want the kids to have any. It was only $3 and Natalie really wanted some, so I indulged her. Surprisingly, Alex and Eric didn't want any, in fact, Eric made a little face when his sister tried to share with him.

While Natalie was busy with her cotton candy, Alex helped his baby brother do some climbing. After the first time or so, Eric did very well climbing on his own. There were lots of tubes and stairs to climb as well as a few slides to ride. I was hoping to tire Eric out so he would get a good nap and he did!

We didn't see any shows, just mainly walked around. We stopped at this one kiosk that was selling hats. Eric saw this Nemo hat that I thought was a regular stuffed toy at first, until Natalie pointed out the elastic portion. I was even more surprised that Eric wanted to put it on. I almost bought it just because it was such a funny hat that he looked adorable in, but in the end I decided that this picture would suffice.

Patrick and Anthony were gone from about 9:30AM to 5PM. Anthony's team won 2-1 but his coach seems to either hold him to a higher standard or not like him because he was pulled out of the game abruptly in the second half. It wasn't even time to substitute so his team played short for a few minutes. Patrick will hopefully tell the rest of the story on his blog. At least the drive back and forth was uneventful and they won the game, so despite this one thing, we all had a pretty decent day.

Let The Games Begin

We had our first club soccer games of the Spring season today. Anthony still has a couple more weeks left of high school soccer also. Because he skipped a grade, his club soccer team is made up of eighth graders so the schedules overlap. Next year his high school soccer games and club soccer games won't have this overlap as they try to take that into account when they schedule games, or so I'm told.

In any case, it was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the mid to upper 60s. Alex stayed at home again, but the rest of us went to IHOP and then to Anthony's game. Then we picked up food at Chipotle and brought it home. We had about an hour before we had to go to warmups for Anthony's and Alex's 2:30PM club soccer games. After that we rushed home so we could bathe and get dressed for church, then we went out for dinner. I felt like I barely spent any time at all, but then that's pretty typical for a Saturday during soccer season.

This is one of a few peaceful moments between Natalie and Eric today. They were pretty good for the most part. Natalie brought some markers and coloring books that she shared with Eric. During the afternoon, they were both digging in and playing with dirt and rocks and were oblivious to the games going on. Unfortunately, they did fight over the one soccer ball that we brought, because they both had a hard time sharing, but in between the fighting, they took a little breather and that's when I snapped this picture.

Anthony's Junior Varsity B team lost 4-0 and his club soccer team lost 4-1. Alex's team tied their game 3-3. Since this was the first time I have seen a club soccer game since Anthony started also playing for his high school team, I noticed that there was a big difference in the way the teams played. Although his club soccer team has younger players, they played much better than the JVB team players. They were aggressive. They ran to the ball instead of waiting for it to come to them. They passed the ball to their teammates instead of just kicking it down the field just to get it down the field. Both teams have trouble scoring, though, which is frustrating.

Anthony has three or four high school soccer games left and then we have a vacation planned for Spring Break. I'm ready for high school soccer to be over because then I might actually get home on most days before 5PM.

Tomorrow, Patrick is driving Anthony to his club soccer game near Corpus Christi, TX, which is about 2 1/2 hours away (one way). I'm staying here with the other kids because the thought of trapping all of us in the car for five hours total is just not appealing!

Bonding Time

I love my daughter, but sometimes she can be very challenging. I left work early today so I could go exercise, so I was home when she and Alex got home. As per her usual routine, she smiled and waved when she first saw me, and then she excitedly rushed up to me to give me a hug. Just a short half hour later, she was pouting and whining. What happened in that time? I asked her to practice piano before she played with her friends.

She was downright ugly. It took her several minutes to finally sit down at the piano, and then for ten minutes she played piano while constantly pouting and saying that she didn't want to practice. Finally, when she was starting to stomp on the piano pedals, I sent her to stand against the corner. When she continued to whine and complain, I sent her to her room and told her that I wasn't going to take her to her friend's birthday party this evening.

All the stomping, banging, and doorbell ringing (from friends at the front door) by this time led to Eric awakening from his nap. After a few minutes, while I was busy with a clingy post-nap Eric, Natalie came out of her room sobbing and telling me that she was sorry. I gave her some hugs and we had a little talk about how she could have been finished practicing her piano and playing with her friends already. Basically we came to an understanding and she didn't whine or pout when she sat down to practice piano again.

So, because she apologized all on her own, I did end up taking her to her friend's birthday party. Natalie was fine doing her own thing instead of playing with her friends, so instead of sitting in the party room chatting with some of the adults, I followed her around as she played various games. Her favorite was Skee Ball, which was my favorite too. We even played one game together. She got so demonstrative, throwing her hands up in disgust when she didn't get a high score. It was all in fun, though, and it felt like good bonding time.

Yes, I love my daughter, but I worry about when she reaches puberty. Dealing with her moods is not going to get any easier.

Watching the Olympics

My family enjoys watching the Olympics. Patrick bought our big screen TV because he wanted to watch the 2008 Summer Olympics in high-definition. With our upcoming trip to Colorado for Spring Break, Natalie and Alex especially are the most excited about watching the Olympics, especially the skiing events. Anthony is the only one that hasn't seemed interested in watching at all, but that may be because his "at home" time is so limited and he spends that time doing homework or playing on the computer.

Natalie hasn't had time to watch much of the Olympics for the last couple of days because of various activities. Tonight she watched our tape from Tuesday night. She wasn't going to have time to watch all 4 hours, and I had to erase it to make room for tonight's taping. She chose to watch just the Women's Figure Skating Short Program competition.

I quickly fast-forwarded through all of the performances and we were actually able to finish watching in less than 45 minutes. I was sad that I didn't have time to watch the skiing but I didn't have time to watch it either. Natalie was singing and dancing and suddenly I realized that Eric was doing the same thing. I took a video, but I had to take a photo too. These two play so well together. :)

As much as I've enjoyed watching the Olympics, I'll be glad to get my life back once they are over. Eleven o'clock is way too late to be going to bed for me, especially when it's almost every night!

I Don't Always Take Pictures

As much as I love to record everything with pictures, I don't. Sometimes it just isn't appropriate. For example, I was taking a nap this afternoon (since I worked last night). Patrick had gone to pick up Anthony from school. Natalie woke me up by opening my bedroom door and telling me that she was getting a diaper for Eric--something about his going "potty". I was a little disoriented and I asked her where her father was. She said he was gone. As I woke up a little more, I wondered why she would need to get Eric a diaper, so I got up to check.

When I got downstairs, she and her friend M (who was playing at our house) were huddled over Eric in the downstairs bathroom. He was lying down on the floor and it looked like they were trying to put a diaper on him. Big bells were ringing in my head. I did actually think about getting a camera, but then I realized my priority was to get into the bathroom and figure things out. I'm still not sure what happened exactly but it did involve him trying to go "potty" and being unsuccessful but still needing another diaper. When I got there I took over. I told Natalie that the diaper was on backwards and that the tape needed to be in the back. Her friend M turned to her and said, "Oh! That's why you couldn't get the diaper on him." Great! Two 7-year-olds trying to change Eric's diaper. I still wish I had pictures. *WINK*

Speaking of taking pictures, Patrick and I saw sleet and a tiny bit of snow flurries falling this morning coming back from the gym. I got out of the car to take pictures and decided I couldn't get very good pictures there at the Costco gas station, so I took a picture of Patrick getting gas instead. He joked about how I needed a picture of him getting gas because he "never" gets gas. He was a good sport about it, though. :)

I did take these pictures when we got home. This is as close to "snow" that we get here. As you can see, it basically just looks like melting ice. I put the picture of the sprinkler head for size comparison. Unfortunately you can also see the dead grass. This was pretty much the only patch covered with snow/ice. At least the precipitation meant that it was a much easier evening because Alex didn't have soccer practice and Anthony's games were cancelled. Alex and I watched American Idol and Patrick and Natalie watched the Olympics. That's too boring to take pictures of, so I didn't, but I usually take pictures of "almost" everything. :)

Mama's Little Shoppers

I thought it was time for a new header since the 2009 Holiday season is long gone. I took this photo of Eric today while watching Anthony's Junior Varsity B Team get crushed by their opponents 4-0. Eric was climbing around the bleachers and getting filthy--basically being a typical boy. His sister didn't even come outside. She stayed in the car. Notice the chapped area around his lips that almost gives him a second "smile". He does like to curl his lips in.

This was an "away" game located near one of the big shopping areas in town called the Quarry Market. After the game, Patrick dropped us off at the Gap store so he didn't have to go all the way home before picking up Anthony at school. He was worried that we wouldn't have enough to do. He should know what a little "shopper" Natalie is, and Eric seems to enjoy shopping also. Natalie picked out three shirts and a sweater. Eric picked out a "boo" (blue) shirt. When asked what his favorite color is, now he says, it's "boo." I got a shirt, two tanks, and a hoodie. Everything was 25% off, so we saved money. *WINK* After $112 in damages, we left to go to the next store, but Patrick arrived before we could go into the next store. To think that he was worried... :)

I'm Not Spoiling Them

This is a video of Eric singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" this morning. I love how he mispronounces the words. :) I tried to get a video of him dancing too, but he decided to sit and just move his feet instead.

I was off today because I worked last Saturday. Patrick brought Eric to bed with us this morning around 6:15ish when he got up to get the kids up. Eric immediately crawled over to my side so close to me that I couldn't roll over. I wanted to sleep a bit longer, but I couldn't help but give him hugs and kisses. He was all curled up for a while too until suddenly, he raised his head up, pointed to my clock and said, "Six and Six, and Three!" (It was 6:36AM.) Then he proceeded to tell me what the new number was whenever the clock changed for the next few minutes. He also kept pointing to Patrick's clock and then my clock, saying, "Papa....Mama...." Finally, I decided that neither of us were going to sleep any more, so we got up and went downstairs.

We both ate one hard-boiled egg each. We read a couple of books. He sang for me. We watched a little TV. It was nice spending some time with my youngest child. This is how I usually spend my days off. :)

When Natalie heard earlier in the week that I would be off today, she begged me to bring her lunch, McDonald's of course. She was in "Kid's Cafe" today, where they get to eat up on stage with either a friend or a parent, instead of with the rest of their class. You supposedly get picked every so often when you're well-behaved during lunchtime. Eric loves McDonald's too.

Natalie ate her lunch in about 10 minutes. I've never seen her eat that quickly unless she's really hungry or she's at school. Either she's really hungry at school or she knows she's got a hard and fast time limit so she has to finish in time. Eric ate all of his meat and left the bread like he usually does, and both of them finished their apple slices.

Alex's lunch overlaps Natalie's by a few minutes. He was supposed to have "Kid's Cafe" too, but he decided to eat with his group of friends instead. He usually asks a friend to eat with him instead of his parents. I tried to stay away from him so I wouldn't embarrass him. Eric and I only approached so Eric could say "Hi" and "Bye" and give him hugs. On a side note I noticed that his friends all seemed to have similar hairstyles and hoodies.

Eric had a meltdown as we were leaving the school. He was so upset that he wouldn't talk. Finally, Patrick and I figured out that maybe he got upset because he wanted to play in the playground at the school. I made it worse by leaving the school because I thought he was upset because he wanted to go home.

The weather was "misty" and cloudy and I really didn't want to be out in it, but he really wanted to go play outside. Patrick told me that I didn't have to go out just because he wanted me to. That would be spoiling him. He wanted to be outside and I didn't want to deny him that. I didn't want him to be a homebody like his Mama. I needed to eat lunch anyway and so I used this as an excuse to go get some food from P.F. Chang's to eat while he played at the playground at the La Cantera Mall.

So, that's what I did. I knew as soon as we got out of the car in the parking lot that I made the right decision. He was smiling, laughing, and skipping. Actually, he was galloping, but that's what he does when he tries to skip. He looks adorable when he "skips". He had a smile on his face pretty much the whole time he was playing. The little stinker was going down the slide head first at times. Surprisingly, we were able to leave without too much fuss when I told him that we could go home and have a snack.

No, I didn't spoil Eric or any of my kids. I was just spending my day off the way I usually spend my days off. :)

Looking for the Right School

For a while, Alex has said that he wants to go to the middle school that our area feeds into, because all of his friends are going there. Recently, he found out that a certain magnet middle school was offering classes on computers and graphics similar to what his big brother takes in high school. He's been interested ever since. Tonight they held an open house for students and families to find out more about their programs and Alex turned in an application. There are actually two magnet "schools" in the regular middle school building that Alex is interested in. One is filled by lottery, and the other is based on grades/merit. We hope things turn out for the best. It's nice to see him so excited about a school that he doesn't go to yet.

8 Rooms

I'm going to apologize ahead of time. The following might seem very confusing, but I want to record it for the future so I can remember some of our busy times and some of the pluses (time spent with the kids) and minuses (being so darned busy).

There has been a lot of recent construction at the hospital where I work. This month, they began work to renovate four out of the usual twelve operating rooms. The phrase "OR of the Future" pops up occasionally. Apparently some equipment will be installed on the ceilings and walls so that they can be pulled out and down when needed. Usually we run the 12 rooms until 3PM when we go down to no more than 6 rooms because of staffing. Because we start with only 8 rooms, they have extended the hours until 7PM when we go down to 4 rooms, again because of staffing. This is supposedly going to continue through the summer.

As a result of these changes, our work hours also changed. Before, I could expect to be able to leave by 3PM on most days. Now there are days when I can't expect to leave until 7PM. Luckily, there are lots of "regular" days also when I can leave by 3PM (although I don't leave yet because Anthony has soccer practice until 5:30PM). Luckily also, I haven't yet had to stay past 5-6PM. We get extra days off to balance out our work hours, and I'm looking forward to a few of those.

Wednesdays can be tricky because Patrick is busy taking Alex to guitar at 3:30PM then Faith Formation with Natalie at 4:30-5:30PM then Natalie's soccer practice moved to Mondays and Wednesdays at 6PM. Today is Ash Wednesday, so they didn't have Faith Formation class. Instead they went to mass at 5PM then straight to Natalie's soccer practice.

Tonight Anthony also had a home game, so he didn't get out until after 6PM. He didn't have to wait too long for me since I was able to leave by around 6PM. In short, the timing worked out for the best tonight. I know it won't always work out this way.

Fat Tuesday

Since Lent begins tomorrow, I splurged a little today by taking Natalie and Eric to Baskin-Robbins after dinner. Alex would have gone with us, but he had soccer practice. Anthony had soccer practice later so he wisely decided that a heavy dessert would not be a good idea.

Eric wanted the ice cream that was "oh-wange and pink and white" aka Rainbow Sherbet, his favorite Baskin-Robbins flavor of the moment. It's suppposedly the "Flavor of the Month" despite having been there for at least a couple of months, it seems, so I hate to think of what will happen when they no longer offer that flavor. I took this picture because he had pink coloring all over his mouth area. This is also one of his typical expressions with his bottom lip folded over his teeth. Unfortunately, in the winter, that constant wetness leads to chapped skin under his mouth. He's still a little cutie, though. :)

Doesn't this picture just typify the whole meaning of "Fat Tuesday"? That is, we overindulge a little just before we have to give it all up? That Rainbow Sherbet must have been good to the last drop!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've been sentimental lately, so I'm glad I was able to get this picture of my parents today as they were headed out the door and home. It's tough when you start facing your parents' mortality and I cherish every moment that we can spend with them. The kids especially get so excited when they see their grandparents, either set. Thanks for your help this week, Mom and Dad! :)

We don't usually make a big deal out of Valentine's Day. The kids get so many treats from school already. Of course, they weren't allowed to have treats this year for some reason that Patrick and I still don't understand. Anyway, I bought some strawberries and some chocolate dip and we ate that tonight for dessert. This isn't the best picture, especially close up because all of the chocolate on Natalie's mouth and teeth which is a little gross, but she certainly looks like she's enjoying it. :)

I had to laugh at this picture because Alex has the biggest mouth ever! :) The youngest three are my big fruit lovers, especially this one. He was so excited about this treat!

I was very surprised that Eric didn't want any chocolate. He had strawberries only. He did hand me a couple of strawberry pieces to dip in the chocolate but when I did, he didn't want them back. He did, however, happily eat an orange chocolate Milano cookie (Pepperidge Farm) after he finished the strawberries. Go figure!

Anthony would normally have participated in this, but he is spending the night at a friend's house. He doesn't make too much noise (except the clicking of the PS3 remote control or the computer keys) and he barely talks but Patrick and I were just talking about how we really miss him when he's gone. Patrick is going to pick him up by 10-10:30PM, which he wasn't that pleased about, but he needs to babysit his siblings so Patrick can go out for lunch together. :)

Spoiled

I had the day off today--yay! Unfortunately, I'm on call tomorrow for 24 hours, so I tried to enjoy the day as best as I could. First I have to backtrack to last night. I do this every year. I wait until the night before the kids exchange valentines at school to make their valentines and I stay up too late as a result. It's a good thing I was off today!

This is a picture of the bookmarks I cut from my Cricut electronic die-cutter for Alex's class. He was not "into" valentines this year. He didn't even want me to buy candy for him to give out. Last year he wanted a non-descript bag of candy. He "allowed me" to at least put stamped personalized labels on the bags. This year a note went out just this week specifically stating NOT to include any treats with the valentines that the kids give out. I guess I wasn't feeling that creative anyway, but he would not have allowed any extra items to make the bookmarks look "cute". Alex doesn't like "cute". If I had been more prepared, I would have at least gotten pencils or something to send with the bookmarks. Still, Patrick thought I was spoiling Alex for spending a lot of time making these. Patrick even helped by laminating them for me.

Natalie had the boxed type of valentines I bought at Target. They were "3D valentines" that had pictures of butterflies and flowers and such and they had that special film that makes the pictures change depending on the angle you hold them. It's hard to describe and even harder to take a picture of. She wrote the names on the cards all by herself so I didn't notice until she had put them away to take to school that she folded them the wrong way. The design was on the outside but the names of the recipients were on the inside. Other than that she did a great job by herself. Fortunately, we had already bought pencils to give out with the valentines for her class, along with some candy that we didn't get to use, so at least she had something else to give.

Interestingly, other kids brought treats with their valentines, which Patrick and I knew would happen, but he told me last night that he didn't want to be "one of those parents" that deliberately disobey a specific directive from the school like that.

Speaking of spoiled, this little man is sucking on a lollipop that he got from the haircut place today. He was SO good for his haircut. I've never been present when he was this good. When we got there, he saw that one of kids getting his hair cut was watching Dora, so he started watching too. Then when it was his turn, the hairdresser put Dora on for him too. He sat in the Lightning McQueen car/chair and watched TV the whole time. She was fast so he didn't have to sit for long, but he didn't cry or even make any noise this time. I was very happy about that so I let them give him this lollipop and a balloon.

I also bought him this cool toy. There are two blocks and a base to put them on. If you match the two sides correctly, the toy will make the sound of the vehicle (ambulance, motorcycle, train, fire engine, airplane, and tugboat) depicted on the matched blocks. Often, I will think a toy is cool but my child will not and won't play with it. Thankfully, this was not the case with this toy. There was another set with pictures of animals on it. I might have to get that for a future present.

My children aren't the only ones that are spoiled. I am too. :) My laptop's battery won't hold a charge anymore. It was going to cost over $100 to buy a new battery (because it's so old). Also, the only place Patrick could find that sells that battery is a seller on Ebay, so he was hesitant to buy it. While Eric and I were at the haircut place, he saw a laptop at Best Buy for $329 plus tax. After lunch, we went to Best Buy and bought it for me. When we were walking out with it, I told him that was way too easy--too easy to just go to a store and spend lots of money. I felt so spoiled and excited about my new toy. Of course, he took the opportunity to tell me, "Happy Valentine's Day, Hon!" :) Alex is getting my hand-me-down laptop. He doesn't care that it has to stay plugged in to work. Lots of spoiling going all around in this family. :)

Here is one more piece of evidence of the spoiling in this family. When we got home, Dad was bent over on the floor putting this toy together for Eric. Even when Eric had gone on to play with something else, Dad was still there putting the roads together. I love that he can still play with Eric. Love you, Dad!

Missing Those Monthly Visits

I wasn't going to post this picture, but after seeing it bigger, I have to. My parents were watching American Idol tonight and I thought this would be a great time to take a picture of them sitting on the sofa together. I took this one on the regular automatic setting on my camera. Mom looks like she's surprised and saying, "Lanie, what are you doing?"

In this picture, which I took in the aperture priority setting on my camera, has much better lighting even with retouching. Here both of them just look like they're trying to ignore me, but they can't. I don't think Dad is actually smiling, he's actually ignoring me. With the Parkinson's, his facial expressions aren't as animated as they used to be. I prefer this picture because of the better lighting and the fact that Mom is smiling, but the first photo along with this one tells a better story. :)

Mom and Dad arrived yesterday for a visit. My Mom has been trying to convince my Dad to drive here because she hasn't seen the kids since New Year's Day. He prefers the familiarity and comfort of his own house. She just wants to see the kids. They were a huge help tonight. I'm going to detail it in the next paragraph to record it for my own information.

Eric was napping and apparently napped from around 2PM until about 5PM. I was able to leave work earlier than expected, so I met Patrick at the kids' Faith Formation class where he was originally going to attend a meeting for parents of children who are about to receive their First Communion (at 4:30PM--I was about 10 minutes late). Patrick left when I got there so he could drive to the stadium where Anthony's soccer team was playing a game (which started at 5PM). After their classes, I got the kids home by about 5:45PM. We ate dinner and Alex insisted on watching last night's episode of American Idol (which Mom and Dad watched "live" yesterday). We started watching around 6:45PM while Mom gave the youngest two a bath. We finished watching by 7:30PM when I put the younger kids to bed and told Alex to take his shower and get ready for bed. Then I took my own shower and by the time I was done, Patrick was home with Anthony (around 8PM). After I blow-dried my hair, I sang to Alex and put him to bed.

If they hadn't been here, Eric would not have taken such a long nap. I would have had to watch him during that hour-long meeting. Patrick or I would have had to make dinner or buy it. Alex and I would not have been able to watch American Idol because I would have been giving the younger kids their baths. It would have been a much harder night for me. Of course, Patrick wasn't having an easy time because he was outside in the cold, drizzly weather watching a soccer game. I haven't even detailed how Mom did at least 5 loads of laundry today, and either Mom or Dad washed all the dishes. I miss their monthly visits just as much as they do!

By the way, Natalie doesn't get to watch American Idol this week because she had to "move her clip to yellow" at school AGAIN for talking in class. Mind you, the teacher gives them a lot of warnings before they have to "move their clips" and she still had to "move her clip"! That child has to learn to listen!

Bubble Bath

A couple of weeks ago, I finally opened one of the gifts Eric got for his birthday last year, a school bus bath set. We already took the school bus squeeze toy out but we never used the "crayons" filled with colored bath gel and the bubble bath. The crayons got all used up after two baths because Eric basically poured everything out of the crayons as soon as he got hold of them. I wasn't worried--I just wanted them to have fun. Natalie was the one who kept telling Eric to stop using so much. I think she wanted to make it last so she would have a chance to use it herself.

Last week I opened up the bubble bath. It was stored in a small apple-shaped pouch and I ended up pouring all of it into one bath. The kids had so much fun with the bubbles. Today, Natalie found some old bubble bath that we have had forever and we used the last bit of it. I took some pictures, but Patrick said that I shouldn't be posting pictures of our unclothed children on the internet. I think that's sad! I'll have to remember to put that picture in here when I make my 2010 blog book. In any case, I need to get more bubble bath. I remember enjoying those as a kid and I love watching these two enjoying their baths together.

Rockin' Time

I guess I forgot some details from Anthony's semi-formal. Patrick saw that two of the guys that picked him up from our house were wearing coat and ties too. So, Anthony saw that his parents were right after all. ;) He said he danced a little (with his usual group of friends) but mostly "hung out". He said he had fun but getting details out of that boy is like pulling teeth--oh wait, pulling his teeth has always been easy. Okay, so maybe getting details is like pulling Natalie's teeth. :)

This morning when I first went downstairs, I heard music coming from the breakfast table. Eric was rocking to his musical guitar while sitting at the table. I took a video but basically he was wiggling his rear while seated. I convinced him to get up and dance and Natalie had already come downstairs with her own guitar. They were having a little jamming session until I broke up the party so I could change his clothes for church.

After church, Patrick went straight to work making his typical chili for Super Bowl Sunday. His best friend G texted him this afternoon, "Where's the chili?" Patrick replied that the chili was in the crock pot and that it was waiting for him. G texted back to "Keep it warm. I'm on my way." Of course, G lives in Illinois, so this was just a fun interchange. Later, G texted Patrick again, asking him if there was any chili left because he was in Austin (a little over an hour away). Gotta love G!

The Super Bowl at least was a contest instead of a blowout, but Patrick's favorite part had to be watching The Who perform at halftime. Their one of his favorite bands. It was interesting to hear Alex and Natalie ask who they were and Patrick answering, "Exactly!" He's quite the punster, that one. :)

That Meant That...

Anthony had two high school soccer games today. That meant that he got to start in the second game and he played the whole game. Unfortunately, they lost the game because one of their teammates inadvertently scored a goal for the other team. Still, Anthony played well and it looked like the team played well overall.

Patrick and I both went to the games. That meant that the little ones went too (despite Natalie's protests that she didn't want to). Alex usually doesn't like to go to his siblings' soccer games so that meant that he spent the entire morning at home by himself. We even had lunch after the games at Chipotle Mexican Grill without him.

We're still not used to going to games where we don't have to cart around our own chairs--they had bleachers. That meant that Natalie and Eric were playing on the railing. It kept them busy and it was cute that Eric kept following whatever Natalie was doing. When she moved away from him on the bleachers (when she was actually sitting) he moved towards her and got mad when she kept moving away.

Patrick wore his floppy hat. That meant that Eric at one point wanted to play with the hat and put it on. That also meant that I had to take a picture. After a few shots, I finally caught him with the hat on because he would take the hat off just as quickly as he put it on. Of course, this meant that Natalie also put the hat on because she didn't want to be left out of the fun plus she always wants her picture taken. I don't have that photo here, but trust me, she looks cute and I'm trying to enjoy this phase before she hits the phase where she doesn't want her photo taken.

Most of the bleachers were metal, but they were still wet from the rain we had earlier in the week. That meant that we sat on the one set of wooden bleachers that didn't appear wet, but unfortunately, wooden bleachers meant splinters--three of them in Eric's right hand. He complained that his hand hurt and he complained when I didn't kiss the exact spot where it hurt. I saw the splinters then but I couldn't do anything about it until we got home. Later, around 3PM, Eric started crying just because Natalie and her friend M were playing and I was trying to change his diaper so he couldn't join them. I knew that meant that he needed a nap. Patrick and I decided at that point to go ahead and take the splinters out. Luckily, that meant that he stopped crying because he was curious about what we were trying to do. We were successful for the most part (tiny bits were still there). Eric wanted to lay on my chest when we took a nap together, but that meant that I got hot and itchy with his warmth so close. He fell asleep within 10 minutes.

While we were napping, Anthony got dressed up to go to his first semi-formal dance. That meant that Patrick had to take pictures for me. He did a decent job but I could tell by the pictures that Anthony got a little tired of smiling for the camera after about nine pictures. His friend's big brother (a high school senior) was picking him up along with a few friends so they could go out to eat at Olive Garden before going to the dance. That meant that Patrick and I didn't have to bring him there, but Patrick did have to pick him up. That meant that we both stayed up since the dance ended at 11PM.

He seemed in good spirits when he got home. He did a little happy dance when he talked about his Fettucini Alfredo meal. That boy's main focus is always food. His friends even know that he is always hungry. In any case, he had fun, so this probably means that he'll be going to dances again in the future. *SIGH* I'm starting to feel sentimental again about my little boy growing up.

First Reconciliation

Natalie had her First Reconciliation tonight. I missed it. :( I was scheduled to work late tonight and although I actually got out early, the horrible traffic on the way home prevented me from being on time. On the long drive home, I had resigned myself to not making it in time, so I went ahead and stopped at home to see the boys (who Patrick had left at home) and to grab a bite to eat.

I missed Natalie doing her first confession because she apparently got in line first. Patrick said she was so bouncy and no one else seemed to want to go first so he told her to go ahead. She was still pretty excited when I got there and she was still a little bouncy when we left after about an hour and a half. Patrick told her he would get her ice cream after the ceremony, so we stopped at Baskin Robbins on the way home. She's going to be all atwitter with excitement for her first communion too, I'm sure. :)

Brownies

I'm continuing in my sentimental ways. Today on the way home from school, Anthony asked me if I would make him brownies, so I did. He asked so sweetly and I love how I can see my little boy a little more clearly when I see this big kid eating brownies. I used a sketch from my Design Your Life class by Cathy Zielske and scrapped this pictures right away. Actually, I took these photos with this page specifically in mind. Anthony could hardly eat the brownies because he was laughing at his Mama taking pictures of him eating brownies. :)

I haven't taken any pictures since Sunday when I took these. Alex had stuffed himself in the cubby hole under the oven and then had his big brother put the baskets that hold Eric's toys in there in front of him. He really can be quite silly sometimes. On another note, he took a tour of one of the magnet middle schools this week with Patrick. I think he's leaning towards the "regular" middle school, and Patrick thought he might get an equivalent education there if he's in the "GT" or "Gifted and Talented" program like Anthony was, but we'll see what he decides.

Of course, the younger siblings had to join in the fun. I'll have to dig out the old photos of Natalie climbing in there when she was around Eric's age. She did it on her own, though, and not because her older brother showed her how to do it.

My Little Mouse

Anthony showed me this Zits comic strip from this past Sunday's Comics. You can click on the picture to make it big enough to read. I told him that I feel the same way as the mom in the comic strip except I have his baby brother to play with to keep me from feeling that way all the time.

I finished this page just now. The journaling talks about how I'm trying to savor every moment of this little man growing up because he's my youngest child. Soon he'll grow up and all I'll have left will be these pictures and my memories. Then I'll be just like that mom in the comic strip seeing the little boy in the big boy and missing him terribly.

Shy Guy

Eric was invited to his first non-family birthday party yesterday at the gym that we belong to. He's used to going to the gym with Patrick, but when we went into the party room and he didn't see anyone he knew, he immediately asked to be picked up and he refused to play with the other kids. This just made my heart ache! There was a ride-on toy that went down a small track like a small toddler roller coaster and he looked interested, but he refused to ride it. Finally, when the birthday girl's father invited him personally, he responded and let L pick him up and put him on the ride-on toy. This is how he looked at first, but a smile did creep onto his face by the time he got to the bottom. Thanks to L for doing that! Eric definitely responds to men much easier than women. He wouldn't even look at the birthday girl's mother!

The rest of the time Eric and I played by ourselves. I have to admit that I enjoyed the one-on-one time with him, but I still wished that he would be more comfortable among others. They had these little balls that looked spiky but were actually soft. We would roll them back and forth to each other. Sometimes the balls would "escape" and Eric would run after them. He looks so adorable when he runs that I enjoyed just watching him do that. He would smile and laugh and he seemed like he was having a good time despite the shyness.

With all of that playing he must have gotten hungry. When it was time to have pizza, they had thin slices where three amounted to one regular slice. He ate three of those slices very quickly and drank all of his apple juice. He asked for a chocolate cupcake but barely ate two bites of it and he said he was done. He wouldn't even eat the icing. As we were going home, Anthony texted that he and Alex were going to walk to the Baskin-Robbins near our house (with Patrick's approval) and Eric and I met them there. Eric was happy to eat the Rainbow Sherbet ice cream for his dessert. Patrick met us there too after dropping Natalie off at another birthday party. Natalie doesn't have any problems socializing at birthday parties. I hope Eric will be able to do the same in the future.