Graduations

Today was DD's Kindergarten Graduation. The ceremony began with the kids coming into the hall in two lines to the tune of Pomp and Circumstance. The program started with the Pledge of Allegiance, then the Star Spangled Banner, and then Texas Our Texas. Next, they recited the Our Father in Latin and then in Spanish. I remember DS#2 doing that when he was in Kindergarten. It was amazing then as it is now that they can teach these 5 and 6 year olds how to do say all of those words. Next they sang a few songs and then each child walked up and received their certificates from their Headmaster. After the ceremony came the "celebration" according to DD. They had a nice spread, with wraps and sandwiches, Chick-Fil-A nuggets, chips, and veggies. They also had these cute cupcakes topped with chocolate covered graham crackers to make them look like mortarboards.

This afternoon, DS#1 achieved his own graduation of sorts. He was offered a position on the "Super 2" soccer team. For those of you not familiar with soccer speak, this means that he will be moving up to a more competitive level. Basically, his coach (who will be coaching this "new" team) said that, although DS is probably not quite at that skill level yet, he has shown his dedication by being at almost all of the practices and games. DS's coach knows how he plays better than anyone else, and it was a nice vote of confidence that he asked DS to "move up". Sadly, because they are moving a few of the boys from DS#1's current team up to the more competitive level, there aren't enough boys left to field a team. There are eight boys (from DS's "old" team) who won't be offered any spot for the Fall season. Still, we're very proud of our two new "graduates".

Another Long Travel Day

Wow, we had another long travel day yesterday. We left for the airport yesterday at 7AM and we didn't get home until 3PM. What made it worse was that we were on the plane during all of the time that might be considered "lunch". Since airlines don't provide "real" food anymore this was not fun, especially for the baby. We made do with snacks, but all of us were so hungry by the time we got home.

Something to note--don't leave an unattended drink when your baby is on your lap. He'll take it, drink it, and spill it on your lap despite the lid on it. When you try to clean it up, you'll end up tilting the tray table and spilling the crackers he was eating all over the floor. Overall, I have to say that flying with the baby has been like that drink experience. DH and I aren't looking forward to the next time we're cooped up on a plane with him.

I don't have too much else to say, except that it's so good to be home!

Our Last Day

Yesterday, we started out the day with out "free hot breakfast" again. I ended up staying there for about an hour as various family members left and were replaced by other family members. My cousin S and her DH were there. She is 4 1/2 months pregnant with her first child and it was cool to hear how excited they were. I missed their wedding almost six years ago because I had just given birth to DD.

Eventually everyone ended up in my Mom and Dad's room. My sisters and their families were there, along with three of my uncles and their families, and my Lola. My uncles and their families and my Lola were all checking out of the hotel that day and this was just their gathering place. My Dad's brother and his wife and son were there but they were planning to go to a Broadway show with my sister. The rest of us went to my Uncle P's house--the family of the groom. We spent the rest of the afternoon there getting reacquainted with the cousins and uncles. DH and I always have such fun with all of them. They're all such fun people and I always feel so blessed to get along with my family so well.

Some other highlights include the following:
--DH found out that my cousin S's DH enjoys the Dungeons and Dragons stuff that he enjoys and they had a great conversation.
--We found out that the bride and groom (who stopped off at the house very briefly) were headed to New York to get more photos taken. She actually slept carefully so her hairdo wouldn't get too mussed. What a way to spend a wedding night!
--My cousins A, R, and G (siblings) stopped by with their kids. Cousin R just got chosen to be the Chairman of his department at a university in upstate New York. How cool is that? Cousin A goes to church with Kobe Bryant back in California. That was cool too, but not in the same way.
--The boys played video and computer games in the basement almost the entire time with my 16-year-old cousin A. Their second cousin Z was there. All of these boys love computer games, but my cousin A is the biggest game freak of all!
--DD played with her cousins all over the house. When she wasn't playing with her cousins, she was playing with her second cousin L who is 18-months-old. He is apparently very social and she was treating him just like she treats her baby brother!
--DS#3 impressed everyone with his knack for climbing stairs AND coming down safely. He started this new "trick" of stopping on the stairs, turning, and waving. He had the cutest smile, too! He also loved sitting in this "clip-on" high chair that was attached to their kitchen counter. He really enjoyed sitting there being alternately fed by my Mom and my Uncle B. He also practiced "sharing" with his 18-month-old second cousin--that is, fighting over the same toys!

We went back to our room fairly early and got ready to travel today. We were exhausted, but so happy that we got to spend all day with family once again.

M&M Wedding

Lots of stuff happened yesterday, so I'm going to list the various events below, mostly so I can remember them later for one of my scrapbook pages. I'll try to post pictures later this week.

We had a "free hot breakfast" where our favorites were the french toast and waffles. The french toast was yummy enough to eat without syrup. Other favorites were mixed fruit and bacon. My Mom and Dad were already there when we got there, so my Mom was available and willing to feed DS#3. We were all able to sit at this one big table that seated 10.

After breakfast, the kids all went to my sisters' room and watched the movie Enchanted. DH took a short nap with DS#3, and I wrote in my blog. After DS#3 woke up in a good mood, I took him to visit my Mom and then my grandmother's room (who I call Lola, which is Filipino for "grandma"). My uncle B takes really good care of Lola. He also loves to feed everyone, and he had bought some jugs of milk specifically for the kids. He also brought fruit and various Filipino pastries. DS#2 was with me, and he started out eating a mango, an orange, a banana, and finally, a "mamon" which is a sponge cake (very tasty and one of my favorites). Everyone else eventually ended up in Lola's room.

For lunch, we went to the local mall because it would be quicker and everyone could choose what they wanted to eat. My aunt and uncle (my Dad's brother) met us there and we all ate together. When we left after 1PM, we just barely had enough time for all of us to get ready for the wedding, which was at 2PM. Luckily, everything was located close to each other this weekend. This is different from previous family weddings here where it seemed like we had to drive an hour between the various places.

The wedding was beautiful, of course. My younger sister (the one who just turned 40) looked amazing in her dress, and she wasn't even part of the wedding. She remarked on how all of the bridesmaids were skinny and the dresses really flattered them. I told her that after seeing her in her dress, she herself shouldn't ever complain that she is fat ever again! I will definitely try to post photos of my sister in that dress! The bride looked amazing (and very skinny) in her dress too. The "best" part of the wedding was the father of the bride and the aunt of the groom singing a duet with the father of the bride playing the guitar. That was such a sweet moment.

Poor DH stayed at the back of the church or even outside the church for almost the entire ceremony. He realized too late that he might have been more efficient if he had gone back to the hotel room and gotten DS#3 to take a nap. The wedding was smack dab in the middle of nap time. After the ceremony, we stayed for the traditional family photos, including a photo of the extended family. It's usually a very impressive photo and each time the extended family just gets bigger and bigger. Ours was the last photo, of course, and we headed back to the hotel to allow DS#3 to get a nap since the cocktails didn't start until 6PM and dinner wouldn't start until 7PM.

When we got to the reception at around 6:30ish, we had some hors d'oeuvres and sodas--we were all quite hungry. We were seated at the same table as my youngest sister and her family were seated at the same table. We had plenty of time to mingle before any food was served. My Mom took the baby for most of the night. She fed him, she played with him, and eventually he fell asleep. When she had to go to the bathroom, she would hand him off to her brother or her sister-in-law's sister.

Some highlights of the reception include the following:
--The groom and the father of the bride sang a duet for the bride--so beautiful. The groom then sang two songs that he had written himself. DH and I were amazed at his talent.
--I told the boys that if one of them caught the garter, I would give them $10. DH guess correctly that I just wanted the photo op so I could scrapbook it. He was right! ;-) Well, DS#1 almost got it but it bounced off his fingers (and off the fingers of the guy standing next to him who really seemed to want it too), it fell on the floor where I saw DS#2 dive for it, but someone else eventually claimed it.
--DD and her two cousins danced the night away. They were on the dance floor when no one else was on the dance floor. Some of the time, my cousin's 18-month-old boy was out there too, relishing all the attention from his female cousins.
--DS#1 spent most of the time talking with his second cousin Z who is around 6 months older than him. Z's mom remarked to me that she is amazed that the two of them only see each other once every two years and each time they start talking and playing like the best of friends. At least this time they exchanged email addresses so they can keep in touch.
--There was a "money dance" where people would contribute in a basket to dance with the new couple. I was with DD when she danced with the groom. He is such a sweetie anyway, and she looked happy to be dancing with him. Unbeknownst to me, my DS#1 went to dance with the bride after originally saying that he didn't want to. I asked him who gave him the money to dance with her and he said, "We were supposed to give money?" He said this with a huge sheepish grin on his face showing his newly straightened teeth. Oh well!
--No Filipino wedding reception would be complete without line dancing to include "The Electric Slide". The boys actually went out there with me and it was a lot of fun once I finally learned the steps. My aunt talked me through the steps and then I tried to talk DS#2 through the steps but he never seemed to be listening--what a surprise!

We finally left at around 10:30PM. We all had so much fun that it was actually hard for us to leave, but DS#3 had been sleeping for a while already and we really needed to get him to bed. By the way, both the bride and groom's first initials are "M", so I thought it was cute when they left personalized M & M's candies on the tables for their guests. Tomorrow, I'll talk about today's events.

Plane or Road Trip?

Yesterday, we travelled from Texas to NJ. We left the house at around 9AM and didn't get into our hotel room until almost 7PM. What a long day! Our flight was non-stop, which was convenient from the standpoint of not having to get off the plane and roam around some strange airport looking for our connecting flight with four kids in tow. Three and a half hours, however, is too long to be on a plane with at 13 month old! At first I thought it would go well. We got on the plane and after 5-10 minutes (it felt endless) of wrestling with the little man, he went to sleep. He was asleep for a little more than an hour, and he seemed happy, at first. He ate the leftovers from my Chicken Caesar Wrap from lunch. He drank his milk. Then, he started getting upset when he had trouble pulling the window shade open and closed. He got upset that he couldn't roam around the plane cabin like he wanted to. DH thought he was tired again, so he tried to get him to sleep. After an hour and a half or so of wrestling, he stopped trying. Sigh--he needed more sleep.

At the end of the flight, DD and DS#2 were feeling sick and had the barf bags poised and ready next to their faces. Luckily, although I'm prone to motion sickness also, I felt okay, so I took the baby in my lap while DH tended to the middle two. Why is it that the only child who isn't prone to motion sickness is the one who doesn't like roller coasters? The middle two love rollercoasters, but unfortunately, they inherited this little problem of motion sickness from me. So anyway, that part of the trip wasn't very fun either.

We got off the plane, picked up our checked luggage, then headed to the car rental place. Since we have so many people in our family, we have to rent a mini-van whenever we go anywhere. That really drives up the price of travel for us. The first mini-van that they gave us had the "check oil" light on, so we had to get another one. All of this just made the trip that much longer. When we got on the freeway on our way to the hotel, which was about 50 or so miles away, there was bumper-to-bumper traffic. Ah, the joys of traveling in the Northeast.

Some time during the driving part of our trip, DS#3 ran out of milk and was very unhappy about it, so we exited where one of the signs indicated that there was a McDonald's--except that after a mile or so there was still no McDonald's, so we pulled into a KFC. Did you know that KFC doesn't have milk? *SIGH* So, we pulled into the Burger King next door. We give DS#3 the milk, he takes a few big swigs of his sippy cup, and then he throws the cup to the floor. ACK! Oh well, at least we're on our way again, after the boys take their potty break and DH gets himself an iced coffee drink.

After we checked into our hotel, we went to the place where my cousin and his bride were having their rehearsal dinner. My Mom's family is close enough that whenever they have a child getting married, the whole extended family is invited to the rehearsal dinner. There were probably at least 100 people there. It was really very heartwarming to walk into that big room and immediately be greeted by all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. Of course, I was carrying DS#3, so they were probably drawn by his cuteness. ;-) The rest of the night, he was being entertained by my sisters or my Mom.

DD was playing with her cousins (my sisters' girls) dancing on the dance floor (even when there wasn't any music). They also loved dancing with their 18-month old second cousin. The older boys mostly played with my nephew. The kids all sat at one table and DH and I sat at a table with my sisters, brother-in-law, and my favorite aunt and uncle with my grown cousin. Everyone at the dinner remarked on how tall DS#1 was, even his 16-year-old second cousin, who was only a couple of inches taller. Everyone remarked on how good-looking DS#2 was, and how pretty DD was, and of course, how cute DS#3 was. We left when DS#3 started screaming more frequently from being so tired. It was a very long day, and still, DS#3 fought going to sleep. This day just made us wonder if traveling by car or by plane would have been easier. We'll have to see when we make the trip to visit Grandma and Grandpa this summer.

Tomorrow--details from the wedding...

Spring Concert

This week my kids had their school Spring Concerts.  The music program at their school is really quite good.  They take non-singers and make the group sound beautiful.    Every child in the school is one of the various choirs, which makes for large audiences at their concerts.  Grades 3-12 had their concert on Tuesday night, PreK and Kindergarten had their concert on Wednesday at 11AM and Grades 1-2 had their concert on Wednesday at 1PM.  Thankfully, we only had to go to two concerts, but even those made a big dent in our week's activities.

The boys sang on Tuesday night starting at about 7PM.  Unfortunately, the Headmaster started the concert by making a speech.  That man doesn't know how to be brief.  Also, as is the tradition at our school, our parish priest led everyone in an opening prayer.  DS#2's class was up first.  I was happy to see that he was actually singing.  In the past, he just seemed like he was trying to move his lips as little as possible. He has a decent voice--not good enough to brag about, but pleasant enough to listen to.  He's usually easy to spot since he's one of the tallest, so he's usually on the top row.

DS#1 didn't perform until closer to 8PM.  He was in the "Middle School Treble Bass Choir" specially formed this year for those boys whose voices are changing.  DS#1 used to have a decent voice, but this puberty thing has really cut down on his range.  So, Mrs. M, one of his music teachers talked about how before this choir was put together, these boys would just hum along or try to keep up with the regular Middle School choir and usually end up not really participating.  I have to say that this seemed like a good idea.  Once their voices were done changing, they would go to one of the Upper School choirs, depending on how good their voices were.  Anyway, I think they did a great job, although DS#1 looked a little uncomfortable at times being one of a small group of 12 or 15 or so boys.

After DS#1 performed, I had hoped that we could leave early.  Parents aren't really supposed to leave before the end of the concert, but really, it was getting so late that DH and I had to worry about the younger two.  I convinced him that we had to go get the younger two, who were in the babysitting room.  Unfortunately, all the kids were supposed to sing in a Finale, so we couldn't get the boys out yet, but I took the younger kids to the car.  The walk to the car killed some time and kept the two busy, especially the baby who walked almost the whole way holding onto me with one hand.

DH and the boys didn't get back to the car until 9:15ish.  When we got home, we quickly got everyone ready for bed.  The baby had fallen asleep in the car and he didn't wake up when DH changed his diaper and put him in bed.  What a long night!

Oh, and I didn't mention that DH and I were a little apprehensive at first leaving the younger two at this babysitting area that was provided.  There were only a handful of teenage boys and well, let's just say that we know how irresponsible teenage boys can be.  We were fairly satisfied, however, since one of them basically followed the baby around as he pushed one of the little chairs all around the classroom.  He even changed his diaper.  That's why DS#3 was crying when we got there to pick him up.  He couldn't believe someone had just changed his diaper! :)

A Mama's Homecoming

We met my family at 9 AM mass this morning.  We were a few minutes late because we decided that I would go get the car and pick everyone up with their luggage plus we took some last minute pictures in the hotel lobby.  DH suspected that we would be late, so he picked a pew near the back of the church.  There was an empty pew directly in front of us, and DS#3 was making his way to the empty pew as we got there.  When he saw me, he had such a big smile on his face, and he walked all the way around that long pew to the right side and then back to our pew straight to me.  He gave me a big hug and just lay there on my shoulder.  What a perfect greeting for his Mama! :) DD was sitting next to me and she gave me kisses too.  The boys just looked in my general direction, but I like to think that they had still missed me. :)

We went to brunch at La Madeleine then went home.  It was great to be home!  My sisters relaxed a bit then headed for home.  I told my dear sis that I wanted her to feel pampered and she said she was! :)

This afternoon/evening was all about end of season soccer pool parties.  DS#2 and DD had parties scheduled at about the same time.   DD's party was at the home of our good friends (and DS#3's godfather).  I spent much of my time in the hot tub with DS#3.  He hasn't enjoyed our neighborhood pool very much, we think because of the cold water.  He was still hesitant in the hot tub despite the warm temperatures, but he eventually started kicking his feet, then splashing the water with his hands while bending down, then finally, after a few hours, he started walking along the side of the hot tub.   DH and DS#2 went to this party after their party was over, so we all ended up at the same party.

It was still great weather today, and the family togetherness was a great end to my weekend!  I have to say that I had a fabulous time with my sisters, but I feel happiest when I'm with my DH and dear children. :)

Spa Day

This morning we all had pedicure appointments at 9AM. I got into my head, however, that the appointments were at 9:30, so we were almost late. This was my first pedicure, and from this experience, I would certainly have another one. First, I got a nice warm whirlpool bath for my feet. Next, she put some lotion on my feet and wrapped them up in towels. The rest of the pedicure included a foot and ankle massage and removing the dried skin from my feet. I joked about how I only got foot massages from my DH when I'm pregnant, and since I didn't plan on getting pregnant again, this was a nice treat. She finished off by putting polish on my toes. It felt so nice that someone else was doing my toenails, and doing it much better than I do, too! :) My sisters later both remarked on how I was chatty with my pedicurist. I really enjoyed talking with her and that just added to the whole experience for me. After our pedicures, we went back to our room and there we took some pictures of our feet. We were laughing so hard at one point because we thought this was silly that we were taking photos of our feet!

We went to the Cracker Barrel Restaurant for brunch/lunch. We've been to other Cracker Barrels, but I'm not sure if we'll be going back to one any time soon. We waited a short period of time before they had a table ready for us. Usually the hostess will tell the person seating you what table to seat you at, right? Well, she didn't, and the lady showing us to our table thought there was only two of us and not three, and she didn't even know what tables were even available. The table she finally took us to hadn't been cleaned yet, and my chair was sticky. I ordered milk, and our waitress brought me two 8 oz. cartons of milk and a glass. I started pouring the first carton into the glass and I was horrified when it was chunky! The expiration date was the 18th of May, but there was no way I was going to drink this milk! I opened the other carton that was dated the 27th of May. It tasted a little "off" and I'm not sure there was anything wrong with it, but I couldn't drink this milk either. I ordered orange juice instead! The rest of the meal was fairly uneventful, except for our waitress forgetting to put blueberries on my pancakes as I had requested.  Thank goodness that was all!

We went back for our afternoon spa treatments. The birthday girl got an outdoor massage. She said it was nice, but she kept thinking, "But it's outside!" It was a great weather day, at least. My youngest sister and I had facials. I had never had one of these, either. I have to say that it was a pleasant, relaxing experience, but I wasn't crazy about it. I almost felt like she was pushing the products.  I didn't like closing my eyes in a strange place.  I like knowing what is going on around me.  After our treatments, we congregated in the Women's Lounge and chatted for a bit, then we shopped in their little store.  My youngest sister and I even bought our DH's their Father's Day gifts.  I can't reveal what those are, of course. ;)

After the spa treatments, would you believe that we went shopping?  That's what the birthday girl wanted to do, after all.  We went to the big outdoor mall here in town.  We mostly shopped at Ann Taylor Loft, Ann Taylor, the Gap, and the Children's Place.  We had such great weather-- the high was in the 70s, I think, but there was a nice breeze and it was dry.  That's as good as it gets here.  Dinner was at the Kona Grill.  We split three dishes so we could get tastes of everything.  On the way back to the resort, we stopped at my favorite ice cream shoppe.  We were on our way back again and we ended up doing some more shopping at Payless Shoes and Target.  Even when we were supposed to be doing this "spa day" to pamper ourselves, we couldn't help but think of our families--and shopping for them! :)

We were pretty exhausted when we got back to our room, but we did a little scrapping before going to bed.  What a fun day!

For My Sister

My dear younger sister is turning 40 next week. She wanted to do something extra special, so she made reservations at a local spa/resort so that we could have a girls’ weekend. Originally, she had wanted to do something like a weekend in Las Vegas or New York, but decided that a weekend visiting me here would be more practical.

I have to admit that I was a little reluctant, at first. I always welcome the opportunity to spend time with my two younger sisters, but I would be away from my family. I have a lot of mommy guilt already from all the time I spend away from my family because of work, and this was additional time away from them. I have some "wife" guilt too, since DH does so much for me already, and here I am leaving him for two nights. We also have a trip over the Memorial Day weekend next week for my cousin’s New Jersey wedding. The weekends are my only extra time to get caught up with stuff at home, so this "getaway" would be cutting into that also. I've also never had any "spa" type treatments, so this was a new thing for me. Still, I love my dear sister, so what else could I do? As the time got closer, I got more excited about just spending time with my sisters.

This afternoon, my dear sisters arrived in town to pick me up at my house. DH left for DS#2's last cub scout den meeting for the school year. It was a pool party, so all of the kids were going to be swimming. I did some last minute packing of some scrap supplies. My youngest sister loves to scrap, and my younger sister had just received a scrapbook as a "prize". Anyway, after I was done, we left for the resort. As we drove up to the property, the gate guard asked my younger sister's name to put on a placard to put on the car dashboard. He had the hardest time spelling her last name (my maiden name). It took him three times--despite us telling him how to spell it. My other sister and I were the ones that got upset by this, even though we didn't have that last name anymore.

It's funny how people can be particular about what they want to pay for. We decided to self park instead of valet park. As we were walking up to the hotel, my younger sister complained that we should have valet parked. My youngest sister and I just laughed since she had wheeled luggage--I mean, how hard was it? :) After we checked in, we unpacked and went to dinner. On Friday nights they have a seafood buffet, and we were very hungry. We had such a great time at dinner. We chatted and laughed, and we indulged in the great food. We shared some of the desserts, mostly because we wanted a sampling. After dinner, we went for a nice walk on some of the nature trails. It was such beautiful weather. They had some exercise stations. We stopped at the leg lift station and my youngest sister took a goofy photo of me doing the exercise. Afterwards, we washed up and my youngest sister and I started scrapping. The birthday girl had forgotten to print any photos, so she couldn't use her scrapbook prize. We're all enjoying ourselves and we're looking forward to tomorrow's fun.

Proud Parents

We received a letter from our kids' school yesterday. They had given all the seventh graders the Catholic High School Placement Test and apparently, our DS#1 did very well. He scored in the 99th percentile in most of the categories, with a 98th percentile in Reading and 94th percentile in Language. This is in comparison with eighth graders. So, I read this and I'm thinking that my DS has already skipped one grade and he still does better than kids one more grade up! :) That's not all. The next sheet of paper talked about how our parish is going to be celebrating their twenty-fifth anniversary, and they're offering scholarships to their high school. They offered DS the largest scholarship--$10,000 for four years!

I showed DH when he got home with the kids. He wanted to play a trick and tried to sound mad at DS when he called him to tell him about the letter. He couldn't keep a straight face! :) All he could manage was to "yell" at him (while trying to hold back laughter) for getting a "low" score of 94 in one category! DS did later say that he did think DH was mad at him, although he quickly realized that wasn't the case.

We feel very privileged to have such a smart boy. At the same time, however, we're sad because we will be turning down that offer. That high school has a lot of potential, but it's still so new that DS#1 won't be going there, no matter what. We would like him to have more options for electives, and more opportunities for extracurricular activities. We also want a more experienced guidance counselor that will help us place our firstborn in whatever college he wishes to go to. These are just some of the reasons why we'll be going to a different school, next year and beyond.

Still, we're pretty proud of our boy! :)

Young Chef's Academy

Yesterday, DD went to the Young Chef's Academy with her Daisy Girl Scouts group. One of the other moms brought her there from school. I went straight there after work. When I got there they had already made the filling for their calzones. They were kneading the dough and then rolling them out with rolling pins. Then, they filled them and folded them over and put the fork pattern on the outer rim. The adult chefs did the baking then the girls all got to eat their creations. It was pretty good, except that I prefer mine with more sauce. DD's calzone also looked pretty good, if I say so myself. Some of the girls had very flat and wide calzones. :)


I realized that I forgot to take photos of DD actually eating her calzone. She really only ate about a quarter of it, then complained of a stomachache on the way home. I'm not sure if it was the calzone, or (more likely) that she has some illness since she came home from school today with a low-grade fever. All in all, it seemed like a good experience for her. She wanted to go back there again right away, of course. I guess I'd better start letting her help me in the kitchen! :)

Mother's Day 2008

This morning, DS#2 came in and said he wanted to give me something. He seemed very proud of it. It was a rosary that he made at school and they all had them blessed by our parish priest. He said that he was almost finished with the first one when the string broke. Then, DD came in with her gift bag and envelope for me. In the bag was a frame that said "Princess" that she had painted. The envelope had her card in it with a teapot shape on it, a teabag and a cute printed poem.

A cup of tea to say thank you
For all the things you have done
Enjoy, relax and have a day
Of happiness and fun

After they had presented me with their treasures, I let them both climb into bed with me. I've always let them do that, mostly because I have fond memories of climbing into my parents' bed on the weekends. DH doesn't like it, however, because he is such a light sleeper that he can't get any rest when they're there. Well, DH had gone out for his usual Sunday morning run to get donuts, so he wasn't there, so I got to cuddle with my two middle children. It was nice. :)

I got to take an afternoon nap. I slept for two hours with DH and DS#3. I guess we all needed it! Some time after I had awakened from my nap, the kids showed me the poster they had made for me. I was so tickled to receive it. I got the idea that DS#2 was the instigator, and that made it even more precious for me because he's usually the one who runs away from me when I try to kiss him.

Last night he was asking me what I wanted for Mother's Day. I told him that I just wanted them to do as I asked them to and to show me they appreciated me. He seemed to be pushing for something material, but I just repeated what I had said. I can only imagine that he took this to heart and that's why he did this. What a sweetie! As you can see from the photo, DD made me her own little note.

We also went to a nice brunch after church and for dinner, DH grilled salmon. After the kids were in bed, I got to scrap. It was a wonderful Mother's Day! :)

Looking for a Break

DS#1 had a friend from school sleep over last night. "A" is the youngest of three children and he just turned 13. I don't remember if I blogged about this before, but "A" went home after one of these sleepovers and he started asking his parents if they could have another baby. They were tickled at the thought and asked DH jokingly what sort of ideas we were feeding their child while he was staying with us. :) Well, "A" is pleasant to have around because the older boys all play video games together plus the younger two enjoy his company, too. The baby even reaches up at him asking to be carried. I guess he's like one of the family.

We had our usual banana pancakes (some with chocolate chips) and turkey bacon for breakfast this morning. DH loves this meal and I enjoy the fact that the kids actually ask for it (unlike anything else I usually cook). I was wondering today, though--why is it that I've been making this for Saturday morning breakfast every week for probably a couple of months now and I can remember the ingredients, but I can never remember how much without looking at the recipe. I guess it may just be something that I don't have to commit to memory, so I don't. I've got to save room in my head for all of those important things like what activity to take the kids to, when they have to be there, and where to take them.

Speaking of places to be, I'm looking forward to a little break from soccer. Today was the last game of the Spring season, and it was DD's game. All of the parents were relieved when the game ended, and not just because it was the last game. It was blistering hot and humid today, especially at 2PM when her game was played. DS#3 finished his milk lickety split. We filled his sippy cup with Gatorade and he finished that too. I took this photo this morning when everyone was still fresh and clean. The baby was playing with a box that I no longer needed. DD was just trying to get in every photo.

DS#1 still has two practices a week until the end of the month and DS#2 still has practice this week. I just want to not have to be somewhere every day of the week. We also only have one more Daisy Scouts meeting--yay! I'm secretly hoping that DD won't want to be in the Brownie Girl Scouts next year. I'd like to get her into some sort of dance class or maybe even piano lessons. The only way we'll have time is if she trades one activity for another.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. We'll be going to a brunch after church and then DH says he will take the kids out somewhere while I stay home and relax, if that's what I want, that is. I'm not sure. I would love to have time to play with my scrapbooking supplies, but I rather enjoy going out and doing something fun with the kids. I guess it's a good thing that I do enjoy being with the kids, since I have to spend so much time at all of their activities, huh? :) I'll have more time when their activities slow down for the summer anyway.

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom and my DH's Mom! We love you! Oh, and this is a photo I took earlier in the week so I could show off DS#3's haircut. Isn't he handsome? ;)

National Scrapbook Day 2008

National Scrapbook Day (NSD) was actually last Saturday, May 5th. There is an ongoing NSD crop for this whole week at Scrapaddict.com's NSD Forum. I've been scrapping instead of blogging. ;) Here are some pages I've done so far:

These pages were done using photos from 2004. In the first page, DD had been desperate to get into the tub with her brothers, but when she managed to get herself in there, she wasn't happy about getting wet!
This page has some of my favorite photos on it. This was taken at my uncle's house in NJ, and I love how this turned out.This page is a "just because" page. DD was playing with rocks at the neighborhood park while wearing her pink dress and pink frilly socks.


These pages were done using photos from 2005. This first page talks about my mother-in-law's sister and brother who live in Wisconsin and her nieces and their families, too.
This page is about the chair and parasol that DH got for DD at Walmart just because it was too pink to pass up. She LOVED it!


On DS#3 news--he's getting close to walking! This week, he's been taking a few steps without holding onto anything. He's been a handful, as usual, but DH and I still have fun with him. :)

Tomorrow is the last soccer game of the season for us! DS#1 actually has a tournament during the Memorial Day weekend, but we'll be out of town for my cousin's wedding then. Woohoo! Free time!

First Haircut

DS#3's hair has been getting a bit long in places. I wasn't in a hurry to get it cut because he really doesn't have too much hair anyway. I knew my mom was going to visit this weekend, so she volunteered to cut his hair. That was probably our first mistake. We should have probably just gone to the hair salon or barbershop and just paid someone to cut his hair. If nothing else, they probably would have been quicker. On the other hand, he probably wouldn't have allowed a stranger to cut his hair. Our second mistake was doing this near his afternoon nap time. Still, he did well for the first five to six minutes or so. Oh, and we forgot to get a "before" picture, but these pics were taken just after the first few snips in the very back.

The following time line was reconstructed using the time stamp on my digital camera.

About 1:00PM--My mom and I take DS#3 outside. My dear sis comes with us at my request so she can take some pictures. He does okay at first. He gets a toy to distract him, and my mom starts to use a comb/scissor combo that she uses when cutting my dad's hair.



















1:02:38--DS#3 starts losing his patience with us. He starts to screech whenever he feels that comb at the back of his neck. Since his hair is so fine and "flyaway", some time in the next couple of minutes we decide to wet his hair to make it lay flatter.

1:06:30--We've switched to me cutting his hair because Mom seems a bit more hesitant. She doesn't like to hear DS#3 when he is unhappy...and he is certainly not happy by this point.

1:07:49--Some time before this, we switch back to Mom cutting his hair because now I have to hold his head to keep him from getting poked with the scissors.


1:11:46--DH comes outside. After watching from inside, he has to get closer to observe up close how the baby is being tortured. He tries to distract DS#3 but then he starts trying to help by holding the baby's head. Soon after this, I start cutting DS's hair again, because my mom gets too afraid to cut DS's hair and I just want to get this over with.


1:13:52--We decide that the haircut is as good as it's going to get. After all, DS#3 still did have a slight bald spot at the back of his head anyway from when he was about three months old and always lying on his back.


1:18--DS#3 is now "safe and sound" in DS#1's lap. DS#1 is very good at comforting his baby brother.

We'll see what happens when it's time for the second haircut...

I'll have to take some "after" photos tomorrow. :)

Infrequent Visitors

My youngest sister and her family don't get to visit us too often. They are always running around with various activities just like we are. Below, I'll just recap some little things that happened during their visit here this weekend:

Yesterday my brother-in-law (BIL) saw DS#1 for the first time since about Christmas. We knew DS#1 was getting pretty close in height to him. When I asked my BIL if we could put them side-by-side to see who was taller, he went from standing on the floor to standing on the first step of the stairs before he said, "Okay." He is too funny! When we put them back-to-back, my BIL was maybe about an inch taller than DS#1, so DH said, You've got about another month!

This morning, my niece asked me if she could borrow a few Magic Tree House books to read. She seemed so excited about it and I couldn't say "No" of course. I remember when DS#1 couldn't wait to get the next Magic Tree House book. That was the first series that he really got into, and DS#2 followed him in that. DD isn't ready for them yet, but her cousin, who is only 5 months older than her, is certainly ready. Another proud Auntie moment!

This afternoon, my DS#2 was telling us how happy he was that his uncle (who was playing in a soccer tournament in town this weekend) and his team were progressing to the finals. His reasoning? He was excited because now he would get to play with his cousin longer! :)

I actually get to see my younger sister a little more than the rest of her family. She'll be in town in a couple of weeks again. My other sister is turning the "big 4-0" and wants to come have a "Girls' Spa Weekend". That's going to be so fun!

Proud Auntie Moment

My nephew (and godson) tried out for a Select soccer club this week. They came for a visit this weekend and I guess things look good. Although they haven't received a formal offer yet, one of the trainers came up to my brother-in-law and told him that he had a "ringer". I've never actually seen him play any sports since he is usually playing when MY kids are playing, but knowing that someone thinks that highly of him gave me a proud Auntie moment. :)

School Visit

I'm sorry I haven't had time to post about how the school visit went. The kids all enjoyed it and they seemed excited to be going to that school, although we're not certain that we'll be sending them there. DH and I were a little disappointed that the boys felt that they already knew a lot of what they were teaching in Math and, for DS#2, English. DS#1 didn't get a good glimpse of some of the classes, though, since those classes were working on projects at the time. Overall, the school just didn't seem that much different academically from the school we're leaving. Of course, there are other reasons why we're leaving that school they're at now besides academics. Now DH and I have to weigh the pros and cons of this school versus public school. I was going to go into a long pros and cons list here, but I think most of you are tired of me talking about this already. ;)

DS#3 is doing much better. He still has an icky cough, but he doesn't have a fever. He's been having nasty poops, though, so who knows--maybe he's teething again? Anyway, he gave me a big smile today when I got home from work and crawled to me without the whining cry that he's been greeting me with earlier in the week, so I think he's doing great. Of course, my mom and dad just got here today for their monthly visit and he's getting very spoiled. :)

School Visit Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the day when the kids are visiting the school that we potentially want them to attend. The boys are going there for the whole day while DD is only going for the last hour of the school day. The school parent handbook says that they don't allow eighth graders to transfer in, which is the grade that DS#1 will be in--unless it's a special circumstance. We're hoping that he qualifies as a special circumstance. If he can get in, we feel confident that they'll allow the other two to go there. They already have "waiting pools" for the grades that DS#2 and DD will be in, so since it's not a "list" then there's a chance we will get in ahead of others that are already waiting. Wish us luck! DH and I would really like to be able to rest easily about this soon!

The baby has awakened with a fever for the past couple of days. He actually took a three hour nap this afternoon in addition to a 45 minute nap in the morning. I had gone to take DS#2 to get his hair cut. When I got back, DS#3 had awakened in a great mood--he often wakes up rather grumpy. I sat down on the floor near him. When he saw me, he gave me a big smile and crawled over to where I was. He came up to me to give me a hug! What a precious boy! That totally made my day! Now, if he would just get over whatever it is that he has, that would really make my day!

Transitions

Tonight, I was walking with DS#3 and holding both his hands to stabilize him. Suddenly, I saw him let one hand go and walk while holding on with just one hand. At one point, he let go of that one hand and did a controlled drop or sit to the floor. He's so close to walking! It's just amazing to see the subtle "steps" forward in his development!

Today, DH made arrangements for our kids to go to class one day at the school we'd like our children to go to next year. I'm a little anxious about this because I know that this might be an "interview" to see if they'll accept our kids. I know there is a "waiting pool" for at least two of the grades. We have a better chance with a "pool" than a "list" since if they want to accept one of our kids, it will be more likely that they accept all of them. Still, this will be our kids' first look at this school and we hope that they love this one also.

Those of you with children know that sometimes it's better to warn them ahead of when things will happen, so they can mentally prepare for a change. Tonight, I didn't give DD much warning before taking her home from her Daisy Scouts meeting. She really loves these meetings because she gets to play with her friends, but I didn't have a watch on and when I realized the time, it was already 7:30 PM (her usual bedtime). She started crying, of course, and it took a little bit to calm her down.

I hope she and the other kids take the upcoming transitions better than that. It has been a very stressful last couple of weeks with the usual kid activities, some atypical stressors at work, and then this added stress of finding a new school. I'm sorry that I keep dwelling on this school thing, but it's consuming our thoughts and lives right now! Despite the stress of changes, we're looking forward to this one more transition or change in our lives.