December 1st

I realized today that I'm going to have a hard time keeping up with my December Daily album this week. I don't even have the foundation or cover pages done yet. I decided to just take a bunch of pictures and play it by ear. Just like the last time I did this album two years ago (see HERE), it's more of a "month in the life" than strictly about our holiday happenings.

This first photo is of the two trees that I got for Eric and Natalie. The dark triangular thing in the lower left hand corner is the slide on the bunk bed. Natalie has a pink tinsel tree while Eric has a blue one. The blue one is actually more of a turquoise color and might have been Natalie's usual first choice of colors, but she was much more excited at the thought of them both having a tree. Pink for her and blue for him just made sense to her.

I also got both of them slippers to keep their feet warm this winter. I know that it doesn't get that cold here, but it's better than going barefoot anyway. Eric looks so adorable in his Lightning McQueen slippers, doesn't he? Tonight Patrick also put him in these emergency vehicle pajamas that match just perfectly. He even posed for me!

I also took a couple of other photos of the mess around the house. The theme for tonight was cleaning up the clutter. It's a big job and it will be ongoing for the next couple of days at least.

Advent Calendars

I really didn't think I would have a chance to take photos of the Advent calendars I got for Natalie and Eric today, so I took the photos yesterday. The toy store had several of them, and Eric chose this Playmobil Police one.

I reminded the two of them of the Advent calendar "rules" last night. I knew Natalie would already know these, but I was worried about Eric. I told them they could only open one window per day. We've been worried about Eric trying to open presents under the tree lately. As it is, he's been fiddling with one of the musical ornaments that makes funny noises and sings several tunes. It's one that Alex got last year or the year before. He's constantly pressing the button to turn it on and we're afraid he's either going to break it or wear it out.

This is the Lego Advent calendar for this year. Natalie professes to love Lego City toys, which is the theme of this calendar.

I left these in their room last night and apparently they opened their windows as soon as they got out of bed. Eric's was a robber and Natalie's was a snowman. I might try to take a picture of each day's toys for my December Daily album. I didn't think to do that until just now. The big boys don't seem to miss having something to open every day, but I can really feel the excitement building with the little ones. Heck, I wouldn't mind one of these calendars too--they're so fun!

Schedule Changes

Just when we think our schedules are busy, something else happens to make it even busier. Our "normal" weekday routine for November was as follows (not including school pickup times):

Monday--Natalie's piano lessons from 3:45-4:30pm and Anthony's club soccer practice from 6:30-8pm
Tuesday/Thursday--Natalie's swim practice from 5:30-6:30pm and Alex's club soccer practice from 6-7:30pm
Wednesday--Anthony's club soccer practice from 6:30-8pm

Anthony had high school soccer tryouts and then practice on Monday through Wednesday this week until 5:30pm. His regular high school practices will be at 7:30am from now until March. That probably means that Patrick will have to leave Natalie in the care of a neighbor as she waits for the bus that arrives around 7am. We're not sure what will happen with Alex's carpool yet, since they usually leave the house around 7:30am, at least when it's Patrick's turn to drive them to school.

We had some other schedule modifications this week, especially today. Since I was off from work and Patrick had to pick up Anthony later (at 5:30 instead of 4pm), Alex had to be picked up by a neighbor for club soccer practice and I took Eric with me to drop Natalie off at swim practice. I could have exercised this evening as I did earlier in the month before Thanksgiving threw everything off, but Eric hadn't eaten yet and I took a walk this morning with Patrick. We had dinner at Chick-Fil-A instead.

I took this picture to show Eric's "setup". They have plastic place mats there that stick to the table. He has to have his chicken nuggets cut up and spread out on the place mat and he has to have his chocolate milk. He also has to use a fork to eat, not his hands. This time I gave him ketchup which I put in the box. He also has to have fruit instead of fries, but he didn't end up eating it this time since we were planning to go to Dollar Scoop Tuesday after Natalie's swim practice.

Natalie usually takes a shower after practice, but I didn't want to take the extra time because of our aforementioned plans to go get ice cream. As we waited for her to get dressed, Eric started playing in the locker room. By the way, this is a "family" locker room that is shared by males and females, so there are more private stalls to change in and the showers are bigger to accommodate families.

I know Eric is totally posing in this picture, but I didn't have time to take another one. The lighting is just terrible, but you're not really supposed to take any pictures in the locker room for obvious reasons. We were alone at the time I started taking pictures, but then someone came in as part of a tour and I hurriedly finished up and tried to hide that I was taking pictures.

Of course Natalie had to show that she fit in the lockers also. She can get so silly sometimes--she reminds me of myself. *WINK*

One more silly thing that she did--she forgot to take off her underwear before putting on her swimsuit at home. She didn't realize it until she was changing back to her regular clothes in the locker room and she already had her wet underwear on--and no dry underwear to put on with her dry clothes. She totally cracked me up (and Patrick too, when I texted him about it).

So, we're going to be running around a bit more for the next few weeks until we get a break for the Holidays. I know that I'm already exhausted.

Playing In The Dark

I don't like how it gets dark so early now. By the time I realized that I hadn't yet taken any pictures today, it was dark already. Natalie started playing outside when she got home from her piano lessons around 5pm. Lately, she's been playing mostly with three kids that live on our block, two girls and one boy. One of the girls just moved in before the school year started. The boy has been her longtime playmate. The other girl has lived next door all of her life and is only one month older than Natalie, but for some reason, she and Natalie are just now playing together with any frequency.

Eric saw Natalie and her friends in the backyard and he wanted to go out there too. He seems to always be the center of attention even when he's with Natalie and her friends, maybe because her friends often don't have younger siblings. Natalie herself can't seem to keep her hands off of him. In this picture she chased him down and grabbed him to give him a kiss. It was so dark that the picture isn't that great, but it was still a sweet moment.

Eric spent a lot of time running away from me and the camera, yelling "I don't want pictures!" I wanted to at least show the shirt he was wearing that says "Cool like daddy". He really seems to love this shirt and I'm sure Patrick loves that. :)

Patrick didn't come home with Anthony until after 6pm, and they brought dinner from Sonic home with them. Anthony had his first day of high school soccer tryouts today. He's confident that he'll make the Junior Varsity "A" team. He was on the "B" team last year and actually got playing time, which apparently is very good for a freshman. Hopefully either way, he'll get lots more playing time this year.

Errands with Eric

I'm at work today, so I've uploaded this one cell phone photo that I took yesterday. I was getting gas at Costco and as I turned to take this photo of Eric sitting in the car, instead of telling me the usual "No Pictures", he said "I love you, Mama!" What a sweetie!

This was after dragging him to Michael's to get more premade card bases for my Christmas cards, then to Target, then back to Michael's to take advantage of the two Michael's coupons. After that we went to Costco the first time to pick up a couple of photos to make sure they looked okay in print before ordering the 90 photos I needed for the Christmas cards. We picked up a hotdog for Eric at Costco and ate it at home while I ordered the 90 prints online. Somewhere in there I accidentally bonked his head with the car door. This picture was after we picked up the second batch of pictures. He wanted to go "shopping" with me, by the way, so he did all of that running around by choice. The fact that he said "I love you after being dragged around like that really warmed my heart. :)

By the way, he fell asleep on the way home. I tired out my poor baby!

My New Purse

This is my new purse. My sister Melissa had a 20% off coupon for the Coach store (where they usually don't have sales) and she got this for me and presented it to me on Thursday. Isn't it just gorgeous? Red is my favorite color and I just love the shade of this one. She gave me part of the purse for my birthday/Christmas present (meaning that I didn't pay her back the entire purchase price). It's not often that I get this excited about a new purse. I even took a picture of it right after I opened the box. Thanks, sis!

I used the purse for the first time today as I was running errands with Eric, most of which were for the purpose of finishing off my Christmas cards. I'm going to bring the cards to work tomorrow so I can affix the photos on the inside. Patrick even got started on the newsletter. I also got some more wrapping paper for Santa's gifts so I can finally finish wrapping presents. It's all coming together!

Thanksgiving Picture Recap

There were 14 of us present for the Thanksgiving meal, which is a bit more than the dining table would hold, so we served the meal buffet style. Before eating, we gathered around the table to pray, holding hands as we prayed. I couldn't get a picture of that, so I settled for one of everyone serving themselves after praying. My mom and sisters, especially Cynthia, did a great job of cooking everything. Delicious!

For some reason, Natalie felt compelled to shove her napkin into her shirt and then she posed, waiting for me to get a picture of her. I didn't take one at that time, but I took this one later. She looks so proud of herself, doesn't she? As you can see from her plate, she only at turkey. No mashed potatoes, no dressing, no veggies--she only ate turkey. Eric didn't eat much of anything either.

I have to mention here about something that Natalie said last week as I was driving her to and from one of her activities. She was recalling the time this summer when she spent a couple of weeks staying with my sisters in Houston. Ever since she went to Wendy's during that trip to have their Spicy Crispy Chicken Nuggets, she asks to have it every chance she can get. She also tried the chocolate Frosty for the first time. I could have sworn that she had it before, but she insists that this summer was the first time she'd ever tried a Frosty. So, as she was reminiscing about this summer, she said, "That's where I experienced my first Frosty!" I can't believe she said that she "experienced" her first Frosty. She can be so dramatic sometimes!

Because Natalie loves Wendy's Spicy Crispy Chicken Nuggets so much and because Eric loves spicy foods, he also gets excited whenever he just sees a Wendy's while driving about in the car.

Eric really enjoyed interacting with everyone in the extended family. Here he is looking at Thomas videos on Youtube on his Uncle John's iPad. I love how his legs are crossed and he's got Maya the Dog in his lap. I also love how sweet this picture is. John is really great with kids and Eric loved him!

I have to share another story, except this time it's about Eric. A cold front rolled in on Thursday afternoon/evening. I was trying to convince Eric to wear his warm penguin pajamas (long sleeves and pants) instead of his Thomas pajamas (short sleeves and shorts) that he had worn the night before and that he insisted on wearing again. I told him about how it was getting cold outside. He stated emphatically, "But I'm not sleeping outside! I'm sleeping inside!" I couldn't argue with his logic and I figured that he would be under blankets while sleeping anyway, so I dressed him in his Thomas pajamas.

I didn't get a good picture of the three girls this weekend, and Emily wasn't feeling well as we were leaving, so I couldn't get them all to pose for a good picture. I asked the boys to pose instead. I finally got Nick to stop chewing, and I was able to get this decent picture of the four of them. The girls got along so well this weekend, despite spending so much time together. The boys always get along so well too, especially Alex and Nick. As always, I wish we lived closer to each other! Miss you!

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

I can't upload photos from my SLR camera right now, so instead I took this photo of my sister's big coffee table with my iPhone. I've taken over her coffee table with my cardmaking supplies. Thankfully I've had some days off this week to work on this. Thanks for my dear sister Cynthia for her advice with my cards and the use of various tools. She's a pro at this! ;) Thanks so much also to my sister for housing my entire family and hosting Thanksgiving! She's done an incredible amount of work in the last couple of days (probably for longer too, but I've only been here for a couple of days). Thanks also to my Mom and Dad and my other sister Melissa for driving over here and spending the day with us. The kids had a lot of fun playing with each other. I only wish that we could spend more time with my in-laws and Patrick's family as well.

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

Painful Shopping

I finally made the decision to make my own Christmas cards this year, so I went to Joann's craft store today to pick up some Christmas paper that they had on sale. Yes I have lots of patterned paper in my stash already but I always use my Christmas paper, so I didn't have much of it left. In any case, Natalie and Eric wanted to go too, so I took them with me.

Usually they stick pretty close to me, but for some reason, Eric wanted to wander off on his own this time. Being the dutiful big sister, Natalie felt that it was her responsibility to bring him back to me. He did not like that at all. He screamed and he cried. He ran away, so she chased him. He ran away even farther, so she kept chasing him. At that point, I had to go get them, because they were running towards the opposite end of the store. I convinced Eric to stay closer by offering him candy, but unfortunately, he wanted a lollipop, which I didn't have. *SIGH* I ended up carrying him for most of the rest of my visit. That was fun--NOT!

Eric still looks a little pouty in this picture. Alex is helping him get his shoes back home so we can get in the car to go visit my family in Houston for Thanksgiving. I'm sure it won't surprise anyone that he fell asleep in the car shortly after we left and napped for two hours. Natalie napped for a little while too.

I'm bringing my card reader, so I might get to post some pictures to my blog while I'm gone. Just in case, I hope everyone out there has a Happy Thanksgiving! Remember your blessings!

Other Weekend Events Besides Soccer

We didn't just go to soccer games this past weekend. We had a couple of other things going on.

It's unusual for me not to post about Eric every day. He's probably the most interesting member of the family. ;) This past weekend, I didn't really see that much of him or Natalie. Mom and Dad took very good care of them, of course. We didn't have to worry about cooking or laundry either. It was especially good because Eric ran a fever on Saturday.

Before I took this picture, the ibuprofen had worn off and Eric started acting very tired and needy. We gave him some more ibuprofen and then he wanted to be held so I held him for a while. When I had to get ready to leave again, Natalie was willing and ready to hold him in her lap and he was not energetic enough to resist. After a few minutes though (too soon for the medicine to work), he started playing with her face, squishing her cheeks together in his hands. Nothing like a big sister to make a little brother feel better.

Anthony always tries to get together with friends on the weekends. He goes out more than Patrick and me. On Saturday, the school that he used to go to was holding their annual King's Fair, which is a sort of Renaissance-type festival, their biggest fundraiser for the year. He still has lots of friends that go to that school, so I dropped him off there so he could spend time hanging out with them. When he got home, he had this pink unicorn painted on his face. Apparently the unicorn was his idea, but the pink was the idea of his friend that painted the unicorn. It's good to know that Anthony is secure enough to wear pink! He does look a little annoyed that I was taking his picture, however.

So, we did a little more than just go to soccer games this past weekend.

Fall Shootout Tournament Day 2

Anthony's team lost their morning game, which meant that they only played two games total. They didn't go on to the final that was supposed to be played in the afternoon. The boys seemed like they played well for most of the game, but they came up short at 0-1.

Anthony and I made it to the last part of Alex's game again. Poor Alex! His team lost 0-3. Their last game was at 5:30pm. They were up 2-0 at the half, but they ended up losing 4-2. They didn't win any games at all. :(

On the positive side, we got to relax at home this afternoon. Mom and Dad went ahead and left for home when we got home so that Mom could go to her doctor's appointment tomorrow. Natalie got to play with her friends. The boys got to play some games. I got to take a nap. It was all good.

After Alex's last game, the whole team went to a local pizza place for dinner. It was nice for the boys to get to hang out and just be kids. Anthony stayed home so he could play on the PS3. Eric and Natalie decided to go with us to the game so they could play in the sand at the soccer field and so they could go out to dinner with us. It was a nice end to a busy weekend.

Thanks again to Mom and Dad for helping us a lot by watching the little ones!

Fall Shootout Tournament

Anthony and Alex's club soccer teams are both in a tournament in town this weekend. Originally we started out with eight soccer games scheduled with two games today and two games tomorrow for each boy. One of the teams in Anthony's bracket didn't show up, so his second game today was cancelled.

Anthony and I left the house at 6:45am this morning for an 8am game, which is the same time we'll leave tomorrow. So much for sleeping in on the weekend! The team they played this morning beat them during the regular season and are eligible to go to the playoffs. Our team missed going to the playoffs by one point, so the boys really wanted to do well against this team today.

They gave up two goals in the first half and although they shut out the other team in the second half, they only scored two goals, resulting in a tie game. Since their second game was cancelled, they only have one game tomorrow, and then the final at 3pm--probably against this same team again.

Anthony started the game, but he was substituted after about 18 minutes and didn't play again for the rest of the 60 minute game. He was disappointed and uncertain why he didn't get to play more. I was disappointed that I didn't get to see him play more. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Alex played two games today, one at 9:15am and one at 2:30pm. Of course, he was at a completely different field as Anthony. I got to watch the last part of his first game because Anthony's second game had been cancelled. By the time Anthony and I got there, they were losing 0-4. Soon after we arrived, that score became 0-6.

After the other team fouled one of our boys, Alex scored his team's only goal with this beautiful free kick. This picture wasn't taken from the best angle, but the goalie is on the ground after diving for the ball and missing it. You can see the ball to the right as it was about to hit the net.

I thought it was interesting that even though the other team had scored so many goals, they were still getting upset at our team for various things. I even heard one of their parents say that "Number 17 plays dirty." One of the parents on our team asked who #17 was. That's Alex's number, of course. Patrick and I are amazed by that statement because we've spent a lot of time trying to get Alex to be more aggressive and he still isn't aggressive. Whatever!

Four more games to go--I hope we win tomorrow!

Hallmark Snowman Band

Aren't these the cutest snowman decorations? What's even cuter about them is that when you press the button on one of them, a wireless signal is sent to the other ones and they all start playing and moving together. I have them all lined up for this picture, so that might not sound like such a cool thing, but the kids and I were at the Hallmark shop tonight and there were several of each snowman on different shelves and they were separated by several feet. When we pressed the button on one of them, all of them started moving. After seeing that, we bought the three that they had. The fourth one, a trumpet player, will be released on December 2nd. I guess we'll be back at Hallmark to buy that one.

I'll report on what ornaments the kids chose at a later date, when I can get a photo of their ornaments.

Having a Ball

I was on call last night, so this morning, I again met Patrick and Eric at Starbucks. I've described our Starbucks visits before, but it has now become routine for us to meet there on my post-call days when Eric doesn't have school. Eric and I then went Christmas shopping at a local toy store. They were having their annual sale so I made my annual Christmas shopping visit. I'm usually able to complete most of my Christmas shopping during that one visit and I'm very happy to report that I was able to do that again this time.

We took a break at lunch to enjoy the beautiful weather by eating at a local restaurant that had a play area for Eric. After lunch, Eric and I dropped Patrick off at home and we proceeded to go to one of my local scrapbook stores (they were having a big 50% off sale) and then to Target. With the few little things I bought at Target, I'm finished with all of my Christmas shopping, except for my nephew. Usually Patrick takes care of getting his gift, but I plan on getting that shopping done by this weekend.

Eric and I got home just in time to see Natalie get off the school bus. I didn't get to take a nap this afternoon, but it was worth it. I was pretty tired, but Eric wanted me to read to him and then he wanted to play catch. Despite all the running around we did today, he was pretty energetic and he was in a great mood.

We were both sitting across from each other on the floor. Eric threw the ball hard and downward, so he kept hitting me in the belly. The ball would bounce off my belly and he would laugh and laugh. I threw the ball at him, but he can't catch so the ball would fall through his arms/hands and he would laugh and laugh. I enjoyed just watching him try to throw and catch the ball. Mostly, I enjoyed watching him laugh and laugh.

Tomorrow, I plan on ordering some items online for the people left on my Christmas list. I already know what I'm going to get so it'll be quick and easy hopefully. My Mom and Dad are coming for another visit to help out with the little ones this weekend. The boys have four soccer games apiece during this Pre-Thanksgiving Tournament. It'll be another busy weekend, but I can't imagine enjoying it as much as I enjoyed today.

My Hugger

This is Eric hugging Patrick's legs before Alex's game last Saturday. Patrick was talking to Alex's coach and Eric kept going over to him and hugging him. He would run to me saying, "Mama!" and hug me then run to Patrick saying "Papa!" and hug him, back and forth. I took a few pictures trying to capture his happy smile and I loved hearing his belly laugh.

On Saturday afternoon, we went to an Open House/Housewarming Party at the house of one of my co-workers. He has a beautiful new house on nearby Canyon Lake. His family actually moved into the house last Memorial Day, but his pool was just finished and he finished sodding only the day before. Our whole family was supposed to go, but Anthony's friends planned an outing at La Cantera Mall and he went to that instead. Alex wasn't that excited about going, but my friend's son goes to his school (he is a seventh grader) and they played Xbox during most of our stay. Natalie hit it off with my friend's fifth grade daughter and all of the kids enjoyed the huge TV and the air hockey table in the gameroom.

Eric mostly hung out with Patrick and me. After about an hour, he started warming up to our host and hostess and and everyone else. He started talking and laughing and enjoying himself. He even made an impression on the ten-year-old son of one of my other co-workers.

When his godfather arrived, he was a little hesitant because he hasn't seen him in so long, but soon he was hugging everyone--his godfather, the host, the hostess. He only just met the host and hostess on Saturday and he was still hugging them. His godfather encouraged Eric to tell him what he wanted for Christmas. He named off "Thomas computer" and "Lego Lightning McQueen and Lego Toy Story 3". I was a little embarrassed at how easily Eric was telling them what he wanted, but he was pretty cute, so I forgot my embarrassment. I told my friend that Eric is a good "last child" because he's a good hugger.

Eric did very well until he fell and hit his head after running around. It was around 8pm by then and past his bedtime, especially for a napless boy. We all had a great time and I was glad that my little boy made a good impression with his hugs.

Christmas Photo Take 2

This is it! I found our Christmas card photo! Now, I have to decide whether I want to use the portrait or the landscape orientation. That'll probably depend on the card I choose, but I rather like the portrait one because it cuts out all of the dead space on either side of the kids. Alex and Natalie like the landscape one. Alex says the extra space distracts people from looking at them! He is such a joker.

Speaking of joker, I had to threaten Alex this time. I told him that if he didn't smile, he would suffer the wrath of his siblings. He's been having trouble with his cell phone lately. Apparently some of the keys don't work which means he can't text properly. Patrick said he would take him to the AT&T store to see about getting it fixed (or get a replacement) if he behaved during the pictures today. Of course it was Eric that I was having trouble with this time. He kept making silly faces. The side effect was that he made his siblings smile.

Aren't my children beautiful? :) They're beautiful when they smile and don't talk back. ;)

Verbal Alex

Today was the last soccer game of the regular season for Alex's team. They could have totally won that game, but at least they tied 1-1. There was one girl that played for the other team, and she was pretty aggressive, as you would expect from a girl that plays on a boys' team. Alex handled her pretty easily as you can see from this picture. He played pretty well overall.

Some of the moms were joking around about how they taught their boys not to hurt/hit girls and how they were hoping that wouldn't stop their boys from being aggressive on the field with that one girl. I told them that a girl on the field wouldn't affect Alex, after all, he hit his sister just this morning. The moms just laughed and said that sisters don't usually count!

This wasn't the first time he has hit his little sister. Usually he does it in frustration because she won't stop talking or she won't leave him alone. We've explained to him that he needs to talk and tell her to stop first. He tends to get non-verbal sometimes, and it would really help everyone involved if he would just talk out loud.

Alex is taking Debate in school this year. We hope it will help him talk a little more and help him with public speaking. He is currently working on an assignment that isn't due until Friday, but he knows he won't have time this week to work on the assignment, so he's working on it now. Patrick and I are proud of him for realizing this. Anthony would not have thought to work ahead like this when he was in sixth grade.

So, despite the fact that he got in trouble for hitting his sister this morning, we're pretty proud of Alex today. He's so used to expressing himself physically. Hopefully he'll get better about expressing himself verbally over time.

Maya the Dog

I didn't have my big SLR camera with me today--can you believe it? I had to resort to taking these photos with my iPhone.

This first one is a little blurry because we were on the freeway on the way to the gym and the road was a little bumpy. Eric looks like he's actually reading that comic book, doesn't he? He looked up from his reading a couple of times but decided that he didn't really want me to take a picture of him, so he put the comic book up high to cover his face.

Notice his blue stuffed dog on his lap. He named her "Maya the dog" after one of Natalie's good friends. Natalie received this dog as an early birthday present from her school bus driver at the end of school in June. Her bus driver is a kind soul who remembers all of the kids' names and gives them all presents on their birthday. Her birthday was in the summer, so she got her present ahead of time.

She gave the dog to Eric and since then, Eric and the dog have been pretty much inseparable. We even took Maya with us to Detroit this summer when we went there for my cousin's wedding. He sleeps with the dog every night and gets upset when he can't find her. He usually takes her in the car too, but we always insist that he leaves her there we go into stores, go to daycare, etc. We don't want to take the chance of losing her.

We went to the grocery store today, and he insisted on sitting in one of the big carts shaped like a car. I usually avoid those because they're too big to maneuver around, but he insisted and I felt like indulging him. It was a two-seater, so he wanted me to belt Maya in the seat next to him. I thought that was just too cute that I had to take a picture. I usually don't have a very organized grocery list, so I'm glad he was distracted enough to let me take my time and get everything I needed at the store.

Unfortunately, he wanted to get out when we went to the parking lot, so I had to push the big cart while holding his hand. His hands were full carrying Maya and a blue balloon tied to a lollipop. They always have balloons at the store for kids, and he's used to that, so he retrieved the balloon all on his own while I was checking out.

Sometimes he makes the dog talk in a high-pitched voice. That can get old after a while, but luckily he didn't do a lot of that today. It's pretty cute to watch him take care of the dog and comfort her when she's "crying", so we put up with the high-pitched talking and the dependence on the dog.

Family Car Wash

Patrick hasn't washed our cars in ages. With the drought last year and the resulting water restrictions, we weren't allowed to wash them at home. This year we don't usually have time, so we often use one of the local car washes.

This past weekend was so nice that Patrick decided to go ahead and wash both cars. I thought it was interesting that this time he made Anthony clean the roof instead of trying to reach it himself. Natalie loved the idea of washing the cars, so she was out there the whole time. Alex was hiding out inside the house as usual, although this time he wasn't on the computer or the PS3, he was cleaning out the old clothes in his closet as he was told to do. Eric just enjoyed watching. He didn't really seem to want to get his hands wet or anything. Of course all I did was take pictures. :)

Cut Lip and Bruised Chin

I quickly snapped this picture of Eric tonight, right before I was about to brush his teeth. I wanted to get a better view of his cut lip and bruised chin, but he didn't want any pictures, of course.

Eric and Patrick were at the outdoor playground at La Cantera Mall. He was running, fell, and hit his lip (and bit it, too) and chin. Apparently, there was blood all over his hands and face. Patrick rushed over and started trying to figure out what happened and to comfort him. Some woman who was old enough to know better, and who didn't even know Eric, starting yelling that he was bleeding. Patrick was so angry at that woman, because then, Eric starting freaking out and then he wouldn't calm down. Eric insisted on going home right away and getting some ice to put on his face. When they got home, they put ice on his face while he sat in Patrick's lap watching a movie. He still looks pretty cute, booboos and all.

Not much to report today. I worked late, so when I got home, Anthony was already at soccer practice, the two little ones were bathed, and Alex started playing some PS3. I'm off for the next four days, though, and boy am I going to enjoy it!

My Sweet Boy

I took this photo of Eric on Sunday when he was talking on the phone with my mom. He looked so animated while he was talking. He's getting better and better at one-on-one conversations. I can usually find out a lot about how his day went by what he tells me about his day when I get home from work--although sometimes he gets mixed up what happened on one day versus another.

I also have to share a story that Patrick told me yesterday. He took Eric to the childcare area at the gym while he went to go exercise. One of the childcare workers later told Patrick about what a sweet boy Eric is. Apparently, a little girl was crying. Eric sat down next to her and talked to her. This calmed her down and according to the childcare worker, "brought down the volume in the area considerably". This story made me so proud. That's my sweet boy! He must be learning something from us! :)

Shopping With Alex

Alex doesn't like being in pictures. He usually tries his hardest to avoid being in the photo at all, or he will purposely put a frown or non-smile on his face (see the last post on my Christmas Card Photo Shoot). This is a constant source of frustration to me. Here in this photo he is in the process of trying to run away from me and my camera. Look at him, he's smiling here and enjoying it! This is the only picture that came out somewhat sharp. the others were blurry. The lighting is also horrible, but beggars can't be choosers.

He is like Anthony in that he tells me he has outgrown his clothing when he has already outgrown his clothing--meaning I have to rush out and get more clothing soon. He won't go with me to get new clothes unless he has to. On Saturday, we were returning home from Wurstfest when he informed me that he needed new jeans. I had recently given him some of Anthony's old jeans (size 14) but they were still too big and his "old' size 12 jeans were too short. Because the Gap was having a 40% off sale on Saturday only, I dragged myself (and him) back out of the house to the mall to get him some clothes, even though I was exhausted from the day's activities.

Luckily, the size 12 jeans at the Gap fit him with a little room to grow (adjustable waist pulled in and the length still a little long). I don't really understand why the different types of jeans (loose, straight, etc.) are all different prices. In any case, we got three pairs. After he tried on all the jeans (he is not fast when he tries on garments), he wanted to look at the shirts and hoodies. He tried on another five or so shirts and finally bought the one he is wearing in this photo. The hoodie he is wearing is Anthony's old hoodie that he wore in 8th grade.

Once Alex gets started, he actually seems to enjoy shopping for clothes. Anthony, on the other hand, goes for the jeans or whatever we're shopping for, and nothing else. Anthony will remember on a subsequent day that he needs shirts too. At least Alex gets it all taken care of in one trip. So, we should be good until the next growth spurt--which could be tomorrow.

Help Choose Which Photo

Today was Christmas card photo day, after church. Of course I'd been warned the kids but two of them had to change after church because they weren't wearing red. Eric kept untucking his shirt--on purpose and he shed his shoes as soon as we got home. He was mostly cooperative but kept looking elsewhere. I couldn't get Alex to smile for many of the pictures plus he wouldn't tuck in his shirt. He also insisted on wearing the new pendant he got at the Renaissance Fair. Natalie was not very ladylike when she squatted down.

I wasn't super happy with any of the photos, but these photos "will do". Help me choose which photo by telling me which is your favorite. I can't seem to format this blog correctly so the numbers will show up next to the appropriate pictures. Please count down--ONE for the first photo below, TWO for the second photo below, THREE for third, and FOUR for the last one. I threw in this first one just for comedic value, so it doesn't count. :)

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

Trying To Spend Time Together

With Natalie starting swim team this week, and my overnight call on Tuesday, we've been pulled apart as a family with separate meal times and activities. I feel like I've barely seen Alex. We still do what we can to spend some time together. Today was a good example.

As I posted about yesterday, we spent the morning in three different locations. Patrick, Alex, and Eric did eventually end up at Anthony's game near the end of the first half after Alex's game was finished (they lost 0-1 despite dominating the game and getting lots of shots on goal). I was with Natalie at her piano festival.

This isn't the best photo, but I had to use it because it's the only one I took where you can see the little half-smile that she does when she has to get up in front of people. It's like she's embarassed but excited at the same time. She made that face all the way up onto the stage and then when she finished. Having practiced with her frequently and being a perfectionist, of course I heard every imperfection, but she did very well.

Her song was titled, "Yiki" (about an elephant) and the judge's comments were as follows:

"Your attention to detail was very impressive--nice use of articulation and dynamic contrast to really portray your subject (the elephant). The opening and closing clusters could be even bolder--really come crashing down there. This sounded fun--nice!"

After the performance, her teacher told me how well Natalie did and how proud she was of her. I had to agree. :)

We spent another two hours there with various "activities" that were supposed to be fun and designed to teach the kids a little something about music. I have to admit that I was bored most of the time, and so was Natalie. In the end she enjoyed it overall just because she loved performing and she enjoyed being there with one of her piano friends. We finished at about the same time Patrick was leaving Anthony's soccer game (they won 3-1). We were able to meet up at Double Dave's for a late lunch.

Another one of our attempts at spending some family time together was going to Wurstfest this afternoon. We didn't spend much time at home after lunch--just enough time for the boys to shower and change and for me to make a quick run to the local scrapbook store sale. The kids weren't very excited about going to Wurstfest, they didn't even know what it was, but we thought it would be a fun, different thing to do together.

Wow, there were SO many people. This wasn't unexpected, but Patrick and Alex both really hate crowds, so it was a challenge. We didn't do too much there except fight the crowds, eat a little (since we had such a late lunch), and spend time together.

This picture of Natalie perfectly summarizes our trip. Her hoodie is stained with strawberry juice from her sno-cone, as are her lips. She also had this huge sausage on a stick, which Patrick helped her with. The kids noticed that there were lots of people there with funny hats, and we found the place that sold them. Natalie picked out this alligator hat and I thought she looked cute in it.

We went home after about an hour and a half. The drive was about 40 minutes one way. I think overall, everyone had fun, and Patrick and I were happy to be together as a family, although I'm not sure we'll do that again next year.

A Friday With Eric

Okay "Papa" just grabbed Melanie's laptop to take over for a bit. She wants me to write a bit about Eric and my trek to the Brackenridge Park to go to the Zoo Train, and, surprise, surprise, the zoo. Eric enjoys going to the zoo almost half as much as he enjoys riding on the train, which says a lot. I have learned that the best thing to do is make short trips to the zoo after our train ride (the train ride always comes first!). I find that 1-2 hours works out well. We don't get to see everything in one trip, but we have a family membership so short visits work out very well. Today we saw some of the bears and we went to the "Africa Live" exhibit at the San Antonio Zoo. In a new twist, Eric seemed to be more interested in the fish he saw in the tanks than in some of the animals.

One of the key features at the San Antonio zoo is a bronze statue of a pride of lions near the entrance. Eric was acting very tired when we started heading out, but when he saw other kids playing on the statues he lit up and wanted to play on them too. Of course, he didn't want any pictures, so I kept shooting away until he finally dealt with it and actually looked at me once in a while. After all, I like to earn points with my lovely wife...

Well, well, I guess it takes me a long time to type because Melanie has fallen asleep with me still typing into her blog, oh, the things I could do. This picture is a quick shot she took tonight during Eric's bathtime. He now loves baths and wants one every night which is a good thing in a 3-year old with a penchant for investigating every dirt-covered item he can find. He has begun playing with some bathtoys he received a long time ago. When he first received these building blocks he played with them as simple floating toys, now he is happy to spend a LONG time in the tub building various structures with the many shapes that are included.

Okay, this is Melanie taking over again. Thanks to my "guest blogger" for writing the above post. I just wanted to add that in the above picture, Eric described that the above rounded object as a "big old egg". We're not sure why he had to insert the "old" in there, but it's always amazing to hear his language developing.

Patrick also forgot to include that Eric didn't say goodbye to Anthony again when they dropped Anthony off at school this morning. This time it was because Eric had fallen asleep in the car trip there. He woke up shortly before arriving back home. They had originally planned to go to the gym, but Patrick couldn't go because Eric was asleep. When Eric woke up, he still wanted to go to the gym. Patrick compromised with him by telling him they could go ride the train and then the zoo. Thank goodness distraction techniques still work with the little man!

Tomorrow we have a busy morning. The boys both have soccer games at almost the same time. Patrick will take Alex and Eric to Alex's game (at 10am at Alamo Sportsplex). Anthony will get a ride to his game from one of his teammate's parents (at 11am at Jumbo Evans). I will take Natalie to her Contemporary Festival (10am to 1pm at UTSA). We'll all meet up again at home in the afternoon and hopefully get to go to "Wurstfest"--more details on all of this tomorrow.

Handwriting Excellence

Natalie was so proud of herself for getting an "E" (for "excellent") on this handwriting worksheet at school. She told me about it over the phone when I was on call on Tuesday. She showed it to me in person today when I got home. Usually she rushes through her work, which includes messy handwriting. She usually gets "Satisfactory" for her handwriting, even on her report card. Patrick and I think this is the first time she has gotten an "excellent". I just hope this means that she likes getting E's and that she will try harder in the future to be neater, at least in her handwriting. Her desk and her room, on the other hand, still need some work.

The Mall With the River

My favorite thing to do when I'm post-call is spend some quality time with Eric. I'm reminded constantly at how fleeting his toddlerhood is. Soon he'll be going to preschool every day and I won't get to spend my post-call days with him.

Because the skies were gray today and it was a little breezy, I didn't want to take him somewhere where we would have to be outside. They have a new indoor playground at the Rivercenter Mall that Patrick has already taken Eric to. I mentioned possibly going there to Patrick, and I didn't know until just a few moments ago that he mentioned going to "the mall with the river" to Eric. I had been a little surprised when I was with Eric later and he said he wanted to go to the "mall with the river".

Patrick rested at home because he had to get up around 4am to get ready and to get Alex up so they could be at Alex's school for the field trip to the Renaissance Festival by 5:30am. It was just Eric and me.

We started at the play area. It around 11:30am already, but he wasn't interested in eating. We played there for at least an hour before going downstairs to the Food Court. He jumped, he crawled, he climbed, and best of all, he laughed and had fun. I couldn't help but want to take pictures of him having fun. At first he kept telling me, "No Pictures!" He would turn around or look down instead of looking at the camera. I read somewhere that if you keep snapping pictures and don't make your subject stop to look at the camera, eventually they'll forget about you and behave naturally. That's what I did and it worked! I even got some great smiles!

Eric insisted on eating outside (thankfully it wasn't breezy so the temperatures felt great, even if it wasn't sunny). He also insisted on having a hot dog for lunch and Dairy Queen was the only place that had them. Their kids' meals have dessert included. He said he wanted an ice cream cone, but after we had already gotten it, he insisted on going to get ice cream with gummi bears in it. *SIGH* My kids are so spoiled when it comes to ice cream! In any case, I convinced him to go ahead and eat this one. I wasn't sure how he would feel about me pulling out my camera again, but this is the first shot. I love it!

After the ice cream he again insisted on going back to the play area. We played there for another half hour or so before returning home. I wasn't sure if he would take a nap, but he did--for three hours! Patrick joked that I must have tired him out. I got to take a nap with him and Patrick got to nap when we were gone also. This was a nice post-call day all around.

New Swim Schedule

I'm on call tonight and I didn't get a chance to upload any photos (or to even take any), so no pictures today. Patrick and I had a nice lunch at the Lodge Restaurant, which is where we've gone for our anniversary the last couple of years. This is the first time we've been there for lunch and it was very nice. The lunch bill was very reasonable and even less than if we had gone to our another of our favorite restaurants, Paesano's!

Today, Patrick signed Natalie up for another "swim team". We had signed up at the local Jewish Community Center back in September. She had practice there from 4:00-4:50pm on Monday through Thursday, but she didn't go on Mondays because of her piano lessons from 3:45 to 4:30pm. Because we weren't members of the JCC, they didn't sign us up automatically and that meant that our spot was taken for October, so we stopped going. Natalie was a little disappointed at first, but then she said that she didn't want to swim during the winter because it was going to get too cold (the pool was outdoors). Since then, we found that they also had a similar recreational swim team (non-competitive) at the gym that we go to, Lifetime Fitness, and practices are at the indoor pool. We didn't sign her up until today, for various reasons (mostly we needed a break from shuttling kids around). This one is from 5:30-6:30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There were only about 10-11 kids signed up and only six were there tonight. Patrick thought they gave her some good instruction on her strokes, which is what we were looking for. She doesn't need to compete right now, but she does need some work on improving her strokes. She loves swimming and we don't want her to burn out too early.

The shuttling of kids gets a little more busy again, since Alex has soccer practice at a completely different location at 6-7:30pm. Tonight was even trickier since I was working and Patrick had to do it all by himself. Alex stayed home from soccer tonight for a different reason, though. He has an early field trip to the Renaissance Festival tomorrow and the bus leaves at 5:30am from his school and staying home means he'll get to bed earlier.

On the plus side of this schedule, Patrick got an extra workout while Natalie was swimming. The pool is also open for Family Swim, so in the future, we could even take Eric there at the same time if we want to. Natalie was able to take a shower there too, before heading home. Apparently she enjoyed standing in the warm shower so much that it took her half an hour to take a shower. Meanwhile, Patrick was waiting and wondering what she was doing in the shower for so long!

Little Sister

As soon as Anthony's friends starting arriving yesterday, Natalie clung to Anthony. She kept hugging him and staying near him and his friends. Anthony is such a good kid that it didn't bother him. I asked him, "Why is she hugging you so much?" He replied, "I don't know!" She wasn't as annoying as she can be, mostly because she didn't do a lot of talking. She mostly watched them and laughed with them.

When they went upstairs to play a board game, she went with them. She sat in the circle with them, and she even wanted to take a turn reading one of the question cards. They were all very good with her and didn't tease her or make fun of her. What can I say? Anthony has good friends. :)

As you can see from the picture, she was already dressed in her Halloween costume at that point. She left them when it was time to go outside for the block party. Later, after trick-or-treating, she gave the boys some of the candy from her pillowcase (as I mentioned yesterday). She loved the attention she received from them. I found myself wondering if this is something that happens with older brothers and much younger sisters.

As we were watching Natalie behave like this, I asked Patrick if his little sisters ever tried to hang out with him and his friends. He replied that his sisters were only a few years younger and that they mostly peeked in and giggled--they didn't actually hang out with him when his friends were around. I grew up with only sisters who were close to me in age; we had the same friends. Eric does like to stick to Natalie when she has friends over, but that is probably because he plays with Natalie all the time. She isn't quite as good to him as Anthony is to her when they have their friends over, but that could also be because of their ages. Seeing how well Anthony acts toward his little sister just makes me that much prouder of the young man he is becoming.