Before the Kitchen Remodeling

Warning--this is a very photo-heavy post. We are starting our kitchen remodel this week. I took these photos on Sunday before the work was scheduled to begin on Monday, September 23rd. I'll try to share photos of the progress as it occurs.

This first photo is of the refrigerator and countertop next to it. We're getting a new refrigerator. This one is almost 16 years old. We bought it when we bought our first house. Eric has covered it in alphabet and dinosaur magnets. We also have our invitations on it as well as magnets from a few places we've visited. The new refrigerator is stainless steel and magnets will not adhere to it.

The countertop next to the refrigerator used to hold mail when it comes in, which means mostly junk mail. This is the cleanest it has ever been. We gets lots and lots of junk mail, and I usually don't have time to go through it all on a regular basis. Why don't I just throw it away? I don't just throw it away because I accidentally threw away a check from Patrick's publisher once. I also want to be able to recycle the paper and Patrick doesn't want our address still on the envelope. I'm still not sure why...

This second picture is, of course, our kitchen sink, with the plant that has stayed alive the longest of any plant we've ever had. This one is older than Eric. We're replacing the sink with a stainless steel one with a stainless steel faucet that is bigger on one side instead of 50/50 like this one. Our remodeler told us about a type of kitchen faucet that you can turn off and on just by touching it, which sounded super cool, but practical too. The spray thing also hasn't worked in years, so it'll be great to have one that works.

This is our kitchen island. Our kitchen isn't very big and I've always lamented the lack of counter space. We're replacing this whole island. I wanted sliding drawers to better organize the baking stuff and other things that are stored in this island. In order to do that they are building us a new one because putting sliding drawers inside these cabinets as they are now would really cut down on our storage space. Hopefully drawers will be better.

They are also expanding the counter top and making it one level, so it will be like one big table. That will enlarge the counter space and hopefully keep us from storing stuff on top of part of it, like we do now on the bar area.

The cooktop and vent hood will also be replaced. We have an electric cooktop and we're getting one just like it. We had wanted a gas cooktop, but we weren't able to find a gas house with a gas cooktop when we were looking for houses 11 1/2 years ago. The countertops are all laminate now but we will be putting in granite countertops. I'm excited about how pretty that will look.

Notice the cabinets under the cooktop versus the cabinets right next to them on the right. Because of the way the cabinets are made, with the doors that meet, we are going to get sliding drawers inside those cabinets to the right. I had sliding drawers in the cabinets at our last house and I loved them.

We're also adding a tile backsplash because right now the wall sometimes gets wet near the sink and the paint is peeling--not attractive at all. The backsplash will be a lighter color similar to the tile that will be on the floor and will hopefully lighten up the kitchen a little, to make up for the dark granite countertops. I picked out some tile I really like and I hope it looks like the picture I have in my head.

This the downstairs bathroom adjacent to the kitchen. We are also putting the same dark granite countertop in here and replacing the sink. The fixtures here will be more of an "oiled bronze" color. The original owners of the house put in wood floors in this bathroom and we're replacing all of that with a tile floor just like in the kitchen. I love the look of the hardwood flooring, but it's just not practical next to the bathtub, especially with my children not being careful not to splash water out of the tub when they get out.

We're also getting rid of the dark wallpaper and painting the walls a gold color. This will be Alex's bathroom when the remodeling is complete, and the adjacent bedroom will be his as well. This used to be Anthony's room, except when we had overnight guests, and then this would become the guest bathroom and bedroom. It's time that Alex had his own room and not have to share with his six-year-old brother.

This is the tub and shower in that same bathroom. We'll be taking out the bathtub and putting in just a shower. Alex will only take showers and not baths anyway, plus when my parents visit, my dad will be able to get in and out of the shower more easily. The tile will match the tile in the kitchen. The fixtures here will match the ones in the sink area. Again, I hope it turns out like the picture in my head.

This is the butler's pantry just off the kitchen. We're putting in the granite countertop here too. These cabinets are mostly storage for those items we don't use often, like our formal glassware. Patrick also puts his liquor here. He thought about incorporating a wine refrigerator in this area, but for now that is a separate appliance that is in the formal dining room.

Directly across from the butler's pantry is the laundry room. We're finally getting rid of this icky flowery wallpaper. I am not a flowery person. The tile on the floor will also match the tile in the kitchen and bathroom.

That concludes the tour of our kitchen before they tear it all up this week. My big DSLR camera stopped working, so all of these photos were taken with my iPhone. I'll post some photos of our torn-up kitchen and bathroom later this week.

Butt-Eye Jedi

It all started with my visit to the optometrist. I got my eyes dilated and checked. They gave me a nifty little sunglass insert to put behind my glasses (I was wearing my eyeglasses instead of my contacts) to protect my eyes, and I brought that home. I showed it to Alex and he got a big smile on his face. He asked me if I wanted it and I said that I thought he might want it. Patrick and Natalie were at Natalie's swim practice at the time, so it was just me with the two boys.

Alex and Eric were goofing off. Alex said something about being able to see behind his head and then putting that sunglass insert behind his back or rather closer to his rear. Eric, being very Star Wars-crazy right now, somehow coined the phrase "Butt-eye Jedi". He is at that age where any sort of underwear or potty type humor really gets him giggling uncontrollably.

In fact, this first picture is blurry because I wanted to catch that giggly smile and of course the lighting is terrible in my house. Eric has an ice pack on his head. He and Alex were upstairs. I heard the laughing and giggling, then suddenly I heard Eric start crying and Alex asking for ice. Eric came downstairs and told me that he had been walking behind Alex, but Alex stopped and Eric bumped into Alex and bounced off and hit his head on the floor. I was trying not to laugh. Alex knew how to cheer Eric up. He put that sunglass insert on Eric's face and all he had to say was "Butt-Eye Jedi" and Eric couldn't help but start giggling again--through the tears.

I bought Eric this red lightsaber last weekend, and he has been playing with it constantly. On Friday he put a pair of sunglasses on his backside and put the lightsaber next to it. He had to show me and ask me to take a picture. As per his usual routine he asked me to put it on Facebook. I thought I would tell the whole story here on my blog instead. :)

Anatomy of A Day Off

This is a very grainy iPhone photo of Eric at the bus stop this morning. He decided to wear his backpack backwards. He is goofy enough to constantly bring a smile to our faces but not too goofy that we are annoyed, for the most part anyway. :)

I had the day off today, and although this wasn't necessarily a "typical" day off, there were things that were typical about it. When I'm off there are some things that I like to do. I like to take Eric to the bus stop in the morning and I have to get my goodbye hug before he gets on the bus. I was able to do that today. The difference was that Natalie came along too, even though she obviously doesn't ride the same bus anymore. She is a big middle schooler, after all. I have been able to walk Natalie to the bus this year, but she doesn't want me to stay. Today she got a special treat. The two of us, just the two of us, went to Starbucks for breakfast after Eric left on the bus. She has not been to Starbucks in a while. Eric got to go with Patrick and me on Sunday, but Natalie was still sleeping then. I haven't gotten to take Natalie to school yet. I did today because we didn't finish breakfast until it was too late to get back home to catch the bus. She wanted that anyway, because then she got to school earlier. She wanted to be able to return her library books before school started.

I also like to exercise on my day off, preferably at the gym with Patrick. I was able to do that after he dropped Alex off at school. I don't get nearly enough exercise, and I prefer to exercise in the morning, but on a regular work day, I get up way too early to exercise before work. I also got to get a smoothie after I exercise. They even had one of my favorites today, Pineapple Mango. Patrick and I also got to go out to eat at Bin 555, one of our favorite lunch places. We love the food, but the dessert is to die for, Dark Chocolate Nutella Torte. Yes, we definitely like to be able to go out to eat when I have the day off.

This is, of course, another picture of Eric with his backpack on backwards, except that he was wearing his backwards backpack backwards. This is the way he came off the bus. I wasn't able to take a photo right when he got off the bus because my phone was updating. For those of you that don't know, the new operating system for iPhones, iOS7, was released. That took up much of my afternoon, since everyone else in the US was also updating their software, or at least it seemed like it. I was happy that I was at home to be able to do that, though. I was also happy to be at home when Eric got home from school. He always acts very happy to see me and gives me big hugs when he gets off the bus. I also managed to bake some brownies before Eric got home on the bus, despite all the time spent on the computer. I like to make something special for the kids when I have a day off. It made me a little sad, though, because one of the biggest fans of my brownies won't be getting any since he is far away at college. At least Alex made a big deal out of it and really appreciated that I made them.

As for the different things I did today, Natalie told me last night that she wants to participate in some of the UIL (University Interscholastic League) middle school competitions this year. She said she was particularly interested in the Math and Number Sense that her math teacher is running, and the Spelling and Dictionary Skills, which her friend Margot is especially interested in. I participated in some of those competitions when I was about her age, so it's nice to see one of my kids also interested in competing. In any case, the meetings are on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. Margot's mom called today and we decided that since I had the day off, I would pick them up today and Margot's mom would pick her up tomorrow. Of course, when I got to the school at 4pm and texted Natalie, she told me that she didn't know there was a meeting and that she was on the bus on the way home--with Margot. Sigh. I also had to pick up Alex from school less than an hour later. He stayed after school to "hang out with friends" and help them with their homework. Usually Patrick picks him up when I'm off work.

So, I got to do a bunch of things that I like to do today, so overall, it was a great day off from work. Eric even told me that he likes it when I'm off from work because then he gets to see me more. He is such a sweetie. Now I need to go explore that new iOS7 on my phone and iPad.

So It Begins

Yesterday, Eric started reading the first book in the Magic Tree House Series, "Dinosaurs Before Dark", by Mary Pope Osborne. He has been reading so well and he really loves dinosaurs, so I thought it was time. I gave him the book shortly before giving him a bath last night, and then I let him read after his bath. That didn't give him much time to read, but I couldn't wait.

Patrick said he had the same idea after he heard Eric reading one of the Clifford books, and he had planned on giving him the book too. Interestingly, Eric is used to the big dinosaur books that have huge chapters, so when he saw that the first chapter of this book was only three pages long, he remarked, "The first chapter is only three pages!"

This afternoon after I got home, I asked him if he had finished reading that book yet. He had forgotten about it today and remembered only when I reminded him. He finished that book tonight. His older siblings all loved this series, as did his cousins. He was able to read it easily, only needing infrequent help. He is so good at sounding out even unfamiliar words now. His first chapter book--this is so exciting!

Weekend Activities

Right now we have no weekend soccer games, swim meets, or other activities scheduled, so I have been totally unproductive. Natalie spent Friday night at her friend Allison's house, so she was gone for most of the day yesterday (Saturday). Patrick, Eric, and I decided to go to IHOP for breakfast. It was interesting that Eric said that he was "just at IHOP with Grandma and Grandpa" although that was over three weeks ago. He would have rather gone to Starbucks! Still, he settled for IHOP because Patrick and I hadn't been there in a while. I shared my food with him as usual, but he asked for extra sausage. He ate three sausage links and one blueberry pancake. That's a lot for that little tummy.

After breakfast, Patrick and I went to Lowe's yet again to make final decisions on the new appliances and tile for our kitchen/bathroom renovation. I'll have to do a post later this week or next week, some time before they start. The scheduled start date is September 23rd. I'm excited and scared at the same time.

In the afternoon, I took Eric to a birthday party at Artworks. I vaguely remember taking Alex to one of these around when Alex was this age. Kids love art at this age. There was a cool art station where we put a small paper plate inside a salad spinner, dropped different colors of paint on the plate, then spun the plate inside the salad spinner. That seemed to be the most popular station because the kids kept lining up there. In this photo, Eric was dabbing dye onto a shirt to make a tie-dye shirt. We're supposed to leave the shirt alone for 48 hours, but I'll be sure to take a picture of the final product.

We had some down time after the party, then we went to church on Saturday evening. We've been going to that mass lately so the kids can get to bed earlier on Sunday before school starts Monday. I probably shouldn't be taking pictures at church, but I had to take this one. Eric put his hand on Alex's hand and Alex remarked on how tiny Eric's hand was. Eric's pinky finger is about half the size of Alex's pinky finger.

Whenever Alex and Eric sit together at church, they tend to get a little rowdy. Alex can't resist touching his little brother, which means that he ends up tickling Eric. Eric is so ticklish that it doesn't take much. I have to admit that I might have tickled Eric once or twice during church also.

We picked up Chipotle for dinner before going home. That's a family favorite and a sort of "reward" for Patrick for cooking dinner four out of five days this week. Go Patrick! We watched the second new Star Trek movie "Into the Darkness" after the little ones were in bed. Now we need to watch Star Trek Wrath of Khan again!

This morning, Eric again asked to go to Starbucks. I saw no reason not to. Patrick traditionally gets donuts on Sunday morning, but I usually don't eat them. He wanted to go to Starbucks too. I took one photo of Eric eating his blueberry scone and accidentally included my finger. I showed him the photo and he laughed. Then he suggested that I put the photo on Facebook because it was so funny. The silly boys is always saying that I should put photos of him on Facebook. That is in sharp contrast with his sister who never wants me to take any photos of her, and when I do, I'm strictly forbidden to post it on Facebook OR my blog. In fact, I have some photos of her playing with her noodles. She was putting them on her face as a mustache. They're hilarious but blurry because she was trying to block me from taking the photo.

I bought Eric a lightsaber during our weekly visit to Target today. The kids used to have one but that broke, so Eric has been using some foam swords and calling them "lightsabers". He loves playing Star Wars so much that I couldn't resist. This is a picture of him trying to looking intimidating, I think. I think he looks adorable, of course. He has been using this so much today, turning it on and off, listening to the lightsaber sounds it makes and looking at it lighting up. I'm sure we'll need more AAA batteries soon.

This afternoon, Patrick tried to go to a local sports bar known to have a lot of Green Bay Packers fans (among other fans--it's a popular sports bar), and he took Eric with him, but it was so crowded by the time they got there that they only stayed for a bit then had a father-son lunch elsewhere. Tonight we watched more football at home. Patrick is enjoying his kid-activity-free weekends, for sure.

This Week

Beware--this will be a long post. It's about time to give an update on all the kids, so that their grandparents can keep up with their activities.

Anthony has been keeping himself busy. This past Sunday, I wanted to Skype or Face Time Anthony, so I texted him to ask if he was busy. He said he was painting bricks to use as doorstops for his room. I asked what color he was painting them, and he texted, "Lego colored" and texted me this picture. Eric thought this was "kinda cool". Last week Friday, he texted me, "Apparently this is what engineers do with their free time: make giant gummy bears." Along with the text, he sent a picture of them pouring the gummy mixture into a large teddy bear pan. Eric and Natalie thought that was cool and wanted him to come home and make that so they could eat it. Then, last night when I wanted to call him, he said he was busy with some "required program", a girls' volleyball game, and then soccer until about 10:30pm. He was too busy for us to even call him!

Thankfully, Anthony at least texts once in a while, although yesterday he texted his sister in the middle of Health class. She had forgotten to turn off her phone during school hours. Apparently her teacher didn't mind--thank goodness. When I told him, he basically said that he had forgotten that they have school all day instead of in session throughout the day and week like he does.

A friend just had a baby yesterday and I got to hold her new baby girl today. She was 6 pounds 1 ounce at birth. Anthony was 6 pounds 2 ounces at birth. I could fit her (and him) easily on one arm. I couldn't do that so easily with the other kids. I loved holding her, but that really made me miss by baby boy!

I always needed at least two arms to hold Alex. He has had lots of homework from day one of school starting, mostly from his class that is a combination of World History and English. He has homework from that class almost daily. I snapped this quick picture of him yesterday (because that is the only way I can get a photo of him). He was working on an assignment using tessellation for his math class. He cut a bat shape and traced it over and over on the poster board then colored and added detail to each one individually. He had planned to complete this by Monday, to get extra credit, but he decided to do other things like sleep and text his friends on his phone, etc., so here he was late on Tuesday night, working on an assignment due the next day.

Despite his procrastination with the above assignment, Alex has been doing well in high school so far. His grades have all been A's with the lowest one being a 93. He had to ask Anthony to help him with a Physics problem tonight. He's lucky that he has that resource, and Patrick and I are thankful for that.

Also notice his T-shirt. He has been tearing the sleeves off some of his T-shirts. Patrick jokes with him about how he is trying to show off his muscles. He is definitely working on his muscles. He could barely walk up and down the stairs this weekend because he had been lifting weights and he was sore. He is much more concerned with his appearance than his older brother. Right now he apparently has a "girlfriend" that he had asked to go to the Homecoming Dance with. This week, though, he said that he wasn't going to the Homecoming Dance because his friend couldn't go plus the tickets would have cost $50 per couple. That's a bit steep for high school kids.

Natalie is the second swimmer from the right in this photo. She is another one that I have to take secret photos of, otherwise she puts her hands over her face. She resumed Monday through Friday swim practices after Labor Day, and she even has a practice this coming Saturday. They get to swim in one of the outdoor pools right now. Her new coach at the very lefthand side of the photo. He has been working them hard and he's a stickler for technique. Patrick is happy with that so far.

Natalie just told us today that she has been falling asleep then waking up in the middle of the night and unable to get back to sleep because she starts thinking about school. She hasn't had much homework and she apparently feels like she is going to get more and that worries her. She's heard from her friends about how much more homework they get in middle school vs. when they were in elementary school. As it is, she has to practice 30 minutes a day on her practice drum. She has been very tired lately and now we know why. The other night I went into her bedroom to say goodnight and she was already asleep. Patrick had just spoken to her less than five minutes before to tell her to brush her hair. She fell asleep that quickly.

Alex said one of the sweetest things tonight. When he heard about how Natalie was worried about school and he volunteered to talk to her. He really does care for his baby sister, even when he gives her a hard time.

I probably talk too much about Eric, but he allows me to take the most photos. He is perpetually carrying one of these foam swords that he pretends are "light sabers". He has also been doing so well with his reading. He read a book to me last week called "Betsy Who Cried Wolf" by Gail Carson Levine. First of all, he read everything, including the speech bubbles over the sheep in the book. He read words that I didn't realize he knew. He read the entire book with minimal help. One interesting thing, however, was that he seemed to skip over some easy words, almost as if he didn't think they were important enough to say.

He seems to still enjoy reading, but his favorite thing to do is play on the iPad. His current favorites include Plants vs. Zombies 2 and Jetpack Joyride. I was at least able to convince him to play this one game that involved doing some addition. I had told him that he had to play that game first before playing anything else. I was happy when he played it another time when it was his choice!

That's it for today! Whew, that was a long post!

First Watch

I have to write a post about what all the kids are up to, but after fighting with the computer all evening, I only have time for this short post.

We had just received a Lego catalog in the mail yesterday morning, and Eric gravitated toward the Star Wars Legos in the catalog. Unfortunately, he had spilled some milk on the catalog and I tore off the cover because it had been soaked with the milk. The cover had a picture of the new Ewok Village Lego Star Wars set, so he wanted to keep the cover, but I decided that an old milk smell would not be good to have around the house.

A little bit later, Alex, Eric, and I went to the mall. The main reason was that I wanted to go out somewhere. I was post-call and I really wanted to do something besides nap. Eric, of course, wanted to visit the Lego Store. That is his one "must see" store at the mall now--it's replaced the Disney Store. He doesn't even ask about the Disney Store anymore, even though it's right next door. He always goes straight to the Star Wars Lego section and squats down to look at the sets near the floor and also reaches up to take down the sets in the middle section so he can get a closer look. Sometimes he even asks me to get a set that is higher up. Today, he spent a little extra time looking at the Lego watches. I've had my eye on the Lego watches because I know how much he loves Star Wars and I was thinking that it was about time to get him a "real" watch.

He actually had a "real watch" a couple of years ago. It had cars on it and it was brightly colored. I would have worn it myself except for the fact that it was kid-sized and could not be adjusted to a bigger size. He didn't even try to tell the time on the watch, but it was cute and it was only around $10, so I got it for him.

This time, the Star Wars Lego watch was priced at $24.99 without tax. That was a little too pricey for me to say that I would get it for him "just because", because the next time we go to the Lego Store, he would definitely want something else. So, when he seemed extra interested in the watch, I suggested that he use his allowance money to buy it. I don't think he really knows the value of the money he has received for his allowance. He picked out the "Darth Maul" watch that came complete with a Darth Maul mini-figure with the double red light saber.

He wore the watch for a little while yesterday and today. We took a picture because Patrick texted Anthony about it and Anthony thought a Star Wars Lego watch was cool, so we wanted to show him a picture. The red and black is a good color. We counted out his money today, $27.05 was the price with tax included, so he could "pay me back" for buying it. He has plenty of money left. We also talked about how to tell the time. He's a pretty smart kid so I think he will be able to figure it out soon.

Parent Orientation

I was sad when I missed "Howdy Night" at Eric's school. They scheduled it for the Thursday before school started--of course Patrick and I were in the Boston area at that time, getting Anthony settled in at college. Howdy Night is when we usually get to meet the teachers and I get to take pictures of them with my children. I was happy when I heard that Tuesday was "Parent Orientation Night" where the teachers get to tell the parents how they come up with grades for their children and how they do things, etc.

This is Eric's teacher, Mrs. B. I tried to take a picture with my big camera, but for some reason it wasn't working. Maybe it's time for a new one--hint, hint. She was good enough to pose for an iPhone photo instead. What would I do without my camera phone? This was a short meeting, only a half hour. There was a PTA meeting to follow, but since I took Eric with me, and we hadn't yet eaten, I really did not want to stay longer.

This year I decided to take a picture of Eric's daily school schedule. I haven't done this in the past but I realized that it would be a good idea. I asked Eric today what time his lunch is, and all he said was that lunch was "after Specials". That would have made it difficult to tell when to come if I decide to bring him lunch one of these days. Last year I just asked Natalie and she knew exactly what time Eric's lunch was. This way too, if Patrick and I decide to volunteer some time, we can choose to volunteer in the library on Wednesdays and the computer lab on Thursdays, so we can be around to help Eric's teacher and class. I also got the art schedule so I can hopefully help with that some time this year.

I used to be more involved in the kids' school, and I'd like to do that again. Maybe this year since I "only" have three in school here? Yeah, right--we'll see. :)

Labor Day Beach Weekend Day 2

On Sunday, I managed to get a photo of Patrick with Eric. Patrick took Eric out to the beach before I got out there, and let Eric run in and out of the water before playing in the sand. Eric really enjoyed the waves. The weather was noticeably more humid, but still nice with the stronger breeze.

FYI, I took all of these photos with my iPhone with its handy dandy waterproof case. I didn't submerge the phone in the water, but I felt comfortable using it with the splashing waves (and children) nearby. I brought my big camera but didn't really take it out at all.

Natalie willing came out to the beach on Sunday, and even ran into the waves, jumping on each wave as it got close to her. One would never guess that she refused (with her "piano face") to get into the water yesterday. She actually enjoyed herself--imagine that? Margot's parents had brought these pool floats out today, and almost everyone got to ride on them. Margot's mom Nancy even volunteered to take Eric out in hers, quite a few times. Alex went way out before getting in his float, so he went quite a long way before the waves pushed him all the way to shore. Natalie and Margot linked theirs together so that they could ride in tandem. Later, Patrick took Eric on the float with him.

Natalie and Margot also played in the sand with Eric. They made sand "mounds" instead of sand castles because they stayed close to the water where the sand was super saturated with water, and they were fine with that. They also took turns putting wet sand on each other--just their legs and feet.

One favorite activity that I forgot to mention yesterday was digging up and gathering a whole bunch of little shells. We then put them down in the wet sand and watched them all slowly burrow themselves back into the sand. Eric was completely fascinated with this on Saturday, and it was interesting to see Natalie's face when she noticed the shells moving themselves into the wet sand. She was quite interested and I could really see the concentration on her face.

At one point, Margot decided to draw the letters of their middle school in the sand and then she asked me to take a picture. I'm not sure exactly what she planned on doing with the picture, but I was happy to oblige, especially since Natalie willingly got into the picture instead of running away or hiding her face as she usually does.

On Monday, we all pretty much started packing up as soon as we got up and ate breakfast. We all had a really great time and we're glad that Nancy invited us to do this. We're back to school today and work for me tomorrow.

Labor Day Beach Weekend Day 1

We just got back today from spending the weekend at the beach in Port Aransas. We don't usually go anywhere for this weekend because the kids have been in school for only a week and we like to stay close to home before the chaos of weekend activities begins. The mom of one of Natalie's friends invited us to go to the beach with them and another couple, and it sounded like fun, so we decided to go.

Before I describe our weekend, I wanted to share this picture. We didn't pack up the car and leave the house until about 6:30pm on Friday, August 30. The kids wanted to go to our nearby Whataburger for a quick dinner before getting on the road. Patrick wanted to take a picture so he could send it to Anthony since Anthony no longer lives near a Whataburger. Alex injected his own "attitude" to the picture. :)

We didn't get to the beach condo until almost 10pm. We were all so tired! Each couple got a bedroom. Natalie and her friend Margot got the living room. Patrick and I got the biggest bedroom because there was a sofa in it and some floor space for Eric and Alex to sleep. Each bedroom had it's own full bathroom also. We realized when Eric changed for bed that we had forgotten his underwear. Oops! I should have packed his clothes on Thursday night but instead, Patrick got that responsibility amidst the chaos of packing everything else including food.

The first order of business on Saturday morning was to get Eric some underwear, along with sand toys that we had also left at home. Margot's dad Tony had forgotten his other bag with his toothbrush in it, so Patrick got him a toothbrush also. After he got back, we headed to the beach. They had brought two pop-up tents to put up on the beach to shield us all from the sun.

One of the first pictures I took with my phone was a picture of Eric's and my feet on the sand. The next picture shown here is of Eric playing on the beach. I purposely included the two blue pop-up tents as well as a view of the condo buildingin the background. We were located on the far left hand condo on the fifth floor (of six). We had a great view of the beach from our balcony.

Eric ran around and played in the water and then started playing with the sand. The girls stayed inside to read until about 11:30am. They came out briefly, Natalie refused to get in the water because in the past, because of her eczema, the salt water caused her some uncomfortable burning. She and Margot went to the pool instead.

Alex woke up around noon and came out to play in the sand with Eric. Alex refuses to wear a regular swimsuit since he says that he is more comfortable in gym shorts and underwear. He didn't spend too long playing before he said his chest burned a little from the salt water, so he decided to go to the pool also. We didn't get too many photos of him because whenever he sees a camera pointed at him, he leaves the area.

Patrick was a sweetie and sent out sandwiches with Alex for Eric and me. Eric and I stayed out there for a good 4-5 hours. We both had small areas that I think we missed with sunscreen that turned a little red, but we were sunburn free for the most part. It was a beautiful day with a wonderful breeze, so we enjoyed as much of the outside as possible.

I'll share more photos and stories tomorrow.

Adjusting to Daily Life

We're back to the school daily grind. No more reminiscing about our Boston trip. Eric and Natalie go back and forth to school on the bus every day. Patrick takes Alex to school in the morning, and I take him home after work.

Of course this first week didn't exactly follow that pattern since I was off work on Monday and I had to work late on Tuesday, so Patrick picked up Alex on both of those days. Alex has also started ramping up his social schedule again. He stayed after school on Tuesday to go to a pep rally for the first football games of the season. Tonight Patrick drove him to the football game on Thursday night. He has been swamped with homework from day one, so I hope that's been a nice break for him. Patrick really misses our extra driver, aka Anthony.

I took this picture of Eric on Wednesday. I found this Darth Vader battery-operated toothbrush on one of our many trips to Target, so of course I had to get it for him. It's a bit cumbersome since you have to keep pressing the red button to make it turn on, but he loves it since he currently loves Star Wars, even if he has to use two hands to operate it.

I've been holding it together since dropping Anthony off at school, but I started really missing him on Wednesday night when he said he didn't want to come home during his Midterm Break at the end of October. I work with the mother of one of his high school friends and on Thursday, we commiserated with each other. It doesn't help that Anthony isn't very descriptive about his life. On Tuesday, I asked him if he was making friends. He texted me back this picture. He was apparently in one of the common rooms on the second floor of his dorm, one of the girls' floors. At least a picture is worth a thousand words. Although I was still left wondering who all of these people were, at least this was better than his standard one word answer--"Yes".

One of our good friends, Gary, texted me on Wednesday about how he enjoyed a line from one of my previous blog posts about how I am now my mother by wrapping up cookies for Anthony. He told me, "She would be proud!" He also asked how I was doing, because his daughter also just left for college and she decided not to come home for the Labor Day weekend. He was also having a tough time coping with her absence. I texted him back, "We raised independent children, right Gary?" He replied, "We did and not it is biting us. LOL." Yes, we raised independent children and we are happy for them. We just have to make some adjustments of our own.

A Visit to the City of Boston

Today I'm going to share a few photos from our day trip to the City of Boston. Our main reasons for going to the Boston area was to visit family and to take Anthony to college, but I also wanted to do a little sightseeing.

Lisa drove us there on Friday afternoon and boy were we glad she drove. The streets are crazy! She also knew some ways to cut down on some of the traffic plus give us a more scenic view. One of the places she wanted to take us was Boston Common. Boston Common is a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts. It is sometimes erroneously referred to as the "Boston Commons". Dating from 1634, it is the oldest city park in the United States. (Info from Wikipedia) Braeden loved being outside and being able to look at birds, dogs, and trees. I took this photo of one of the entrances and I love the contrast between the modern skyline in the background and the lush trees in the foreground. Boston is definitely not in the middle of a drought like we are, back home in San Antonio.

We saw a lot of beautiful classic architecture also. There were especially a lot of grand old churches, almost on every block we walked. I wanted to show this particular photo because of the contrast between the old and the new. This is Trinity Church, that was founded in 1733, located in the Back Bay of Boston. We actually walked into the church, but they charged an entrance fee, so we decided that we weren't that interested in seeing the inside, plus Braeden really preferred being outside anyway.

Also found in the Boston Common was a special exhibit. I copied and pasted the following blurb from the Boston Globe:

“Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet” has landed in Boston. The public art project, for which artists designed globes with green strategies to contend with environmental issues, originated in Chicago in 2007 and has traveled the world. The globes, 48 in all, can be found at sites such as the Esplanade, Copley Square, and Logan Airport. The Common is globe central, with 26."

Braeden really thought the globes were cool, especially since he loves balls. He wanted to touch each and every one. As he approached a globe, he would reach his arm out as if to try to reach the globe from his stroller. Lisa would get him up really close, he would touch the globe, then he would quickly pull his hand back as if to say, "I'm done with that one. On to the next one." Amazingly, he seemed to recognize when he had not yet touched a particular globe, because we came back by some of the ones he had already touched, and he didn't extend his hand out to those at all, but instead to the ones beyond that he had not yet touched. Smart kid. :)

Lisa wanted to get a picture by this baseball globe, since Derek is such a big baseball fan. They even got Anthony a Boston Red Sox T-shirt as a "Welcome to Boston" gift. I hope we get many more chances to visit Boston in the coming years. We can explore some of the many other sites that we missed during this quick trip to the city.

First Hello

This is my nephew Braeden. This isn't the best picture I have of him, but this is the best one showing his cute little expression with his tongue sticking out. I met him for the first time when we went to the Boston area to drop Anthony off at school. Patrick's sister Lisa lives in the area, and she let us stay at her house. Braeden was born last April, and we haven't been able to take a trip up there to meet him. Anthony and Patrick met him this past April when they visited WPI. Natalie is anxious to meet him too, but we couldn't take her on this trip.

We got to Boston on Wednesday evening (Aug. 21st) and we headed to Lisa's house. We also got to meet Derek's children from his first marriage, Griffin, Teagan, and Sydney. They're all such beautiful children. We didn't spend too much time with them because they went away for the weekend with their mom Amy. She seemed nice too, and between her and Derek, I could totally see why they're such beautiful children.

This is a picture of Braeden during our short sightseeing trip to Boston. I'll post some other pictures later. I love that wave! Braeden was a bit clingy towards his parents, especially his father. He would start crying whenever they left the room. At one point on Friday, Lisa had to get some work done from home, so Patrick, Anthony, and I spent time with Braeden in the basement. He was very upset at first but then started playing with one of his toys. He started getting tired and was laying on the ground. We were afraid to pick him up for fear that he would start crying again. Patrick got a bottle for him and Braeden allowed Patrick to hold him while feeding him the bottle. Score! Later, Anthony played with him quite a bit and he warmed up to Anthony. I have a cute video of Braeden and Anthony playing with balls. He still cried whenever his parents left the room, but at least he started showing us some smiles!

Lisa, Braeden, and Lisa's husband Derek live about a half hour away from WPI. They have already told Anthony that he has a "home away from home" there with them. They told him several times to give them a call when he wants a home-cooked meal or when he wants to get away.

I'm glad that not only does Anthony have some family nearby but also I'm glad that we have an excuse to see Lisa and her family more often. That next visit might be really soon, though, because I thought I was holding it together, but today I started really missing my biggest boy!

Early Move-in Day

The move-in day for freshman at WPI was on Sunday, August 25th. Luckily, we were able to request to move in on Saturday, August 24th, instead. If we had known about being about being able to move in early before we got plane tickets, our weekend might have been a little more relaxed. Still, it was much easier moving in on Saturday than Sunday, because there was no one around on Saturday and we could park right in front of Anthony's dorm and make multiple trips to get more items for his room.

This is Anthony's corner of the room that he shares with three other boys. He picked the one corner with the two windows on two sides. The other beds had either one of the windows or none at all. We were surprised at how dirty and dusty his room was when we moved in. The school website says that they take care of cleaning the bathrooms and common areas but not the individual rooms. We at least expected that they would clean the rooms before the kids moved in. That did not appear to be the case. Patrick's brother-in-law Derek got Anthony a few cleaning supplies (paper towels, Clorox wipes, Lysol cleaner, and a dustpan and brush). We got him a small vacuum cleaner and some Swiffer dust cloths. We needed them all. The community bathroom (two for each floor) was located right across the hall to Anthony's room since he is on the end (Room 101), and that was filthy too.

When we got there, the dresser you see under his bed was in the closet. We decided to move it out to make more room to actually hang stuff in the closet. I realized later that I didn't take a picture of the closet. Maybe Anthony will have to send that picture to me another time. I didn't realize how many clothes Anthony actually had until I saw them in the dresser and the closet. That's after purging a bunch of stuff when he packed up his bedroom at home. We bought him three packs of 18 plastic hangers and he used them all, including hanging most of his T-shirts. It was interesting to see his roommates hang up a few flannel shirts and such. Anthony may have to make room when he buys some cold weather clothing. He really doesn't have any now, and August in San Antonio is not a good time and place to buy cold weather clothing, so he will buy them in Boston when the time comes.

This is a view of Anthony's desk area under his bed. He is not actually sleeping, of course. I just wanted a photo of him in his bed and he decided that he would pretend he was asleep. The beds were all very squeaky, so hopefully he will get used to that noise when they are all in there sleeping.

We got him a plastic drawer cart for his school supplies (under his desk) and another one for cleaning supplies and extra toiletries to put in his closet. That lamp on his desk is new as well. That was one of the suggested items that students should bring to campus. Anthony said he didn't need one, but he is just not used to being at a desk. He also displayed a couple of stuffed animals (one from a friend and one from his cousins for graduation), his DATA wooden statue from graduation at his magnet school, and a wooden lizard that he bought in the Bahamas when we were there for Spring Break last March. He also has a small set of plastic drawers for smaller supplies such as pencils, pens, scissors, and such.

There is a wireless internet system on campus, but the IT guys were there on Sunday also connecting the students up to wired internet. The one good thing about moving in on Sunday would have been that there were lots of people to carry stuff into the dorm instead of the multiple trips we made to and from the car.

This building has one of the cafeterias that they can eat at, Morgan Hall, and this is where we ate on Sunday for lunch. When we got there on Sunday, we met his roommates and their parents. Each roommate also had one sibling with them--I didn't ask if they had more siblings. There were students and parents everywhere. These pictures would not have been possible. One roommate brought a refrigerator and another brought a microwave. The dad of the third one seemed to be planning on buying a second refrigerator because he didn't think the one would be enough for the four boys. One boy brought a bunch of snacks--peanuts, popcorn, etc. Anthony didn't want me to buy a bunch of snacks for him. I guess he's not that much of a snacker anyway. He did accept two bags of Dove chocolates, though, one cookies and cream and one caramel. Lunch was "all you can eat" for Patrick and me, so I grabbed some cookies and brownies and wrapped them up in the napkins you see on Anthony's lap in this picture. I have officially turned into my mother. ;)

All of his roommates are from the Northeast--one from about 20 minutes away, another from Connecticut, and the third from Rhode Island (I think). I guess I wasn't as chatty as I should have been and gotten the whole scoop while I was there. When the parents heard where Anthony was from they all said, "Wow, that's far." Yes, it is.

I'll post more pictures from our trip tomorrow.

First Day of School 2013

We've had quite the busy last few days. Patrick and I just got back very late last night from Boston. We had a little scare. Our first flight from Boston to St. Louis was delayed by an hour, but thankfully, they held our second flight from St. Louis to San Antonio until we could get there (they waited for seven other people also). I would have been very upset if I had missed the kids' first day of school!

We set the alarm for 6am since Eric needs lots of time to eat breakfast. For some reason, the alarm didn't go off, and we didn't wake up until 6:15 or so. I sat next to Eric to remind him to keep eating and it worked out. He had his clothes already ready and he didn't take a long time to brush his teeth. We were a little surprised he didn't choose a dinosaur shirt, but he has so many shirts that it's nice he seems to like most of them. We both took him to the bus stop.

Eric's friend Liam was there at the bus stop. Liam used to be in Eric's PreK class in daycare because Liam is a big boy. He is a few months younger than Eric, however, and was just starting Kindergarten this year. Liam was not too happy about being there. Eric, on the other hand, was relaxed and excited and talking animatedly with his friend John Daniel, who is also our neighbor and who is going into the third grade. There was only one other little girl at the bus stop this morning. We think that most of the kids were driven to school today.

No problems at all on the first day for Eric. He got off the bus okay this afternoon and for the first time, when I asked him if he had learned anything today in school, instead of saying, "Yes" he said, "No." I told him that was okay for the first day since he and his teacher were just getting to know each other. He had Rainbow Sherbet for an after school snack and proceeded to play Dinosaur Star Wars upstairs in the game room.

Natalie was next. Eric's bus picked him up at 7:04am (scheduled) and Natalie's bus was supposed to get to the same bus stop at 7:31am. She has to wear a uniform to school this year. Apparently they can wear a "spirit shirt" any time also, but she didn't get to buy one last week when she was in Cub Camp since we weren't around to give her money. So, she wore her white polo shirt today and some of the other kids at the bus stop wore their "spirit shirts".

I was surprised when we were shopping for school uniforms and she picked out skorts to wear to school instead of shorts. We got her a couple of pairs of shorts too, but for this girl that doesn't usually wear skirts or dresses, skorts were a surprise. Natalie thankfully let me take pictures of her this morning. As a concession to her, I did not wait with her at the bus stop and I only took one picture of her at the bus stop, really before the other kids got there. I also did not meet her at the bus stop this afternoon. She's been able to walk the short distance to our house from the bus stop for a year now, so I figured she would be okay.

Alex is happy he doesn't have to wear a uniform this year. Patrick questions Alex's choice in footwear often, but I like that he knows what he likes and that he has his own style. Interestingly, he took Natalie's old Libby Lu drawstring bag to school today. I guess it went with his pink shoes.

He had to get another student ID today. When he went to a movie with Grandma and the other kids last week, he thinks he left his wallet at the movie theatre. He took it upon himself to call the theatre, but of course they said they didn't have it. He texted Patrick about this, but of course we couldn't do much from where we were. Luckily Alex didn't have much money in there, but he also lost his Fiesta Texas season pass.

Oh, and another note about his facial expression in this picture. He willingly went outside with me so I could take the picture, but he wanted to look serious in the photo. That was fine with me, he's a cutie either way. :)

Both Natalie and Alex spent a couple of hours in an "advisory period" at the beginning of school where they straightened out schedules and such. The first day of school doesn't usually involve a lot of actual class work, although apparently Alex already has homework.

We gave them their choice for dinner and they chose Chipotle--easy enough. We ordered through their phone app and Patrick picked it up. The order was ready and already paid for when he got there. Hopefully the rest of this first week will go as uneventfully. I'll try to blog about our Boston trip in the next few days.

It Happened

Yes, it happened, Natalie got braces again. When she got braces the first time, it was to correct a more immediate bite problem. One of her upper incisors on both sides were turned inward and situated behind the lower corresponding incisors, to the point that the lower incisors were rubbing the upper incisors--not conducive to good tooth health. She had a reprieve for a year or so, while permanent teeth grew in, but now she has to have them again. She had spacers put in last week and today (Tuesday--when I wrote this blog post) she had the upper braces placed. She'll have the lower braces placed later, but for now, she won't let me take a picture of more of her face than this. She has red and blue rubber bands in place, her choice. Her teeth have been sore today, so we indulged her with a chocolate shake when she finished at the orthodontist's office. She had refried beans and flour tortillas this evening instead of Tampiquena (flank steak) because she said it hurt more to chew something harder.

Yes, it happened, Natalie is finally taller than Grandma. Grandma has always been just a hair shorter than five feet tall. Patrick "blames" her for the fact that he is shorter than his father. She "held him back". When we first saw Grandma and Grandpa after Patrick picked them up from the airport, it looked like Natalie still had an inch or so to go--then I realized that Grandma was wearing shoes and Natalie was only wearing socks. Grandma was a little reluctant to take her shoes off for the "official" photo comparing their heights, but she did it and the result is shown this photo. Natalie is just a little taller than Grandma. Also notice the silly photo bomber in the background.

Lastly, yes, it happened. We are taking Anthony to the Boston area to where he will be going to college--class starts on Thursday next week (August 29). By the time you see this, we will hopefully have landed in Boston and are getting acquainted with my youngest nephew. We still have things to get--toiletries and snacks and other miscellaneous stuff. One roommate is apparently bringing a refrigerator and one is bringing a microwave.

This is a cute picture of the little ones hanging onto Anthony and goofing off with him today. I will miss that big goof.

Today, Patrick had a talk with him about how this is a brand-new experience that might seem a little scary, which is normal and okay, but we're proud of him and that he'll be fine. I'm not sure if Anthony needed that pep talk or not, but the internet and communications with texting and Face Time/Skype will allow us to stay close even from so far away. Maybe I needed that pep talk more than Anthony did?

Krispy Kreme Trip with Eric

If you're on Facebook, you may have seen these photos already, but I thought I would add a little more journaling here on my blog. This past Sunday, Eric and I took a mother-son trip to Krispy Kreme. I like Krispy Kreme, but Patrick doesn't. Natalie was sleeping over at a friend's house or I might have taken her too. The big boys were still asleep, of course. This became a nice excuse to spend a little one-on-one time with my youngest child.

He wanted two of the chocolate iced donuts. He is used to getting two full-size donuts every Sunday. I got the chocolate iced vanilla custard filled donut. We also got him some chocolate milk. I gave him his choice of where to sit and he chose the comfy chairs instead of one of the tables. That meant that I spread napkins all over his lap and made sure he had plenty of napkins to wipe his hands on. He ate it all except for the last quarter donut because he was "full". We then watched them make donuts while we waited for the restroom.

I saw the pile of Krispy Kreme hats, so I put one on his head. He said, "Take a picture." Ah, at lest one of my children doesn't mind getting his picture taken yet. He has the sweetest smile and the cutest dimples! We went outside to leave, and he pointed to my phone and said, "Why don't you put that picture on Facebook?" This boy is hilarious! I told him that I had put the first picture on Facebook. He said, "Well, you could still put the other picture of Facebook, too." I didn't learn until later, when I was telling this story to Alex, that apparently Eric asks him to post things on Facebook all the time. Isn't it remarkable when the six-year-olds are so used to social media that even when they aren't yet old enough to post on those sites, they ask their family members to?

I remember when I used to take Eric on mother-son trips to Starbucks. We don't get to do those trips anymore since he started school. My in-laws are here and Patrick and I are taking the biggest boy to college tomorrow. Where does time go?