Staying Out of the Rain

Our area has been catching up on rain the past week or so. Poor DS#3 hasn't had his outdoor play time lately as a result, so we took him to an indoor play area at Ingram Park Mall called "Simon Kidgits" after the company that runs the mall. It's a nice little area with small play structures perfect for the toddler set.

At first DS#3 stuck near to DH and me. He seemed to enjoy just looking at the other kids playing. There were really only about six kids there. I finally took him to the small slide shaped like an armadillo and he started playing. Finally we got a few smiles out of him.

He didn't play as "hard" as he usually does at the outdoor playground that DH likes to take him to, but he did seem to have fun. He would play on a few things then run back to where DH and I were sitting. We ate in the food court and then he wanted to play some more. DH and I were having a conversation when we realized that he was sitting next to us again just watching the other kids play. We decided that it was time to go at that point.

As I mentioned earlier, we've been getting lots of rainfall recently, so much so that DD's first two games (tonight and tomorrow morning) were cancelled. We found out this afternoon around 2PM that DS#1's game tomorrow morning was also cancelled. DS#2 has a "bye" week. That left us free to go to Houston to visit my family a little early. Despite the rain, traffic was moving along well until we got to a point a little over an hour away. We were basically stopped for about 50 minutes when traffic suddenly started moving again. Now we're at my dear sister's house. Here no matter what we'll all enjoy ourselves whether or not it keeps raining.

Calm Before The Storm

I took DS#3 for his haircut today. We've been taking him to this place called Sharkey's Cuts for Kids for a while now. I took him the first time and DH took him the last couple of times. Apparently the last time, he didn't cry at all. Today he seemed very calm when we first walked in and he wanted to get in the Lightning McQueen car. He was looking down, though, and I sensed that a change in mood was coming. That's when I took this picture. After a couple of minutes, he decided that he wanted out of the Lightning McQueen car. *SIGH* Then, he started crying and he cried through the whole haircut.

One reason why we go to this place is that they just roll with it and just get the haircut done quickly. We were joking around about how I was torn between trying to comfort him and wanting to take video so I could show it to him when he gets older and hopefully doesn't hate haircuts anymore. We also joked about how it would be funny if he still did this when he was 40--umm, no. Actually, I told her that once he's 18, he'll be out of my hands. In any case, I took one picture to document the sad, crying, pleading face as well as the finished haircut.

There was a toy train at the checkout counter. It's one of those that you can attach a balloon too and when the balloon is blown up and then released, the train whistles as the air rushing out of the balloon propels it forward. He wanted it, it was only $3, so I bought it for him. I may have been joking, but I still felt bad for my poor little guy.

Wendy's Baconator

Today DS#1 stayed after school to work on his Photoshop assignments that were missing that I mentioned in yesterday's post. Luckily, his teacher didn't count them as late because he did see DS#1 working on them in class. DH and I also told DS#1 that the teacher was probably more "lenient" because DS#1 had the initiative to ask about the assignments and to volunteer to stay after school to finish them.

The bad part about that was that I stuck around waiting to pick him up. I usually get off of work around 3PM. Since school started, I stay around until 3:30PM so I can pick up DS#1 at 4PM (since his school is very close to where I work). Today I stayed at work until 4PM and waited around for DS#1 to finish for an hour. It took him that long to finish just one of the assignments. We didn't get home until 6PM. Ugh!

Since it was so late, I asked him if he wanted me to pick up something for him to eat before heading home. There is a Wendy's near the school, so he specifically requested the "Baconator" with "meat and cheese only and jalapenos" and a large Chocolate Frosty. I was shocked at how many fat and calories items had, but then I looked at his smiling, satisfied face (that was chewing at the time) and it all seemed worth it. He even said, "I love you, Mama" after he finished swallowing. That made the long wait worth it. ;)

New and Old Things

DH wrote on his blog about how DS#3 was making his trains "talk" to each other this morning. I wish DS#3 had let him take a video! DS#3 did allow DH to take some pictures at the park, though. I love this picture of him--no cheesy smile, just a nice, big, happy smile! He was actually swinging on a swing today. I know that sounds weird, but he's never liked swinging. At most he would just sit in the swing but then he would want to get out as soon as you made the swing move.

This afternoon when I got home, I took this picture because DS#3 was balancing trains on the blinds again. He used to put vehicles in weird places like that, but since then he has only been lining them up on the carpet.

Also today, DS#1, my big boy, looked so defeated when I picked him up from school. He had some trouble with a couple of assignments in his Survey of Design Technology class. They're learning how to use Adobe Photoshop CS4 to manipulate images. Apparently one assignment that he had turned in was blank when the instructor tried to open it. He accidently deleted another assignment today after finishing it. He's always been good at everything at school without trying too hard and this is a new feeling for him. Hopefully he'll settle right in after a while and it'll be easy like everything else is for him.

Lifelong Friends

This is a picture of DD with her dearest and oldest friend M. M is one month younger than DD, but they've known each other since M was six weeks old and in the same "room" at the same daycare. When they were babies, they were the smallest and youngest ones in that room, but they were the "ringleaders". M is one of the few friends that DD gets to be "girly" with. M's mom and I were talking today about how they get along so well. We've never heard them quarrel. I'm sure they don't always agree, but they seem to compromise easily. This photo was taken at the pool today. They even thought of the same pose. Of course, this pose worries their respective fathers...

They spent a lot of time playing with each other this holiday weekend. DS#2 spent a lot of time playing with M's big brother A, who DS#2 has known since they were about 3 years old. Tomorrow we're back to our busy schedule, but for a few days it was nice to take it easy. I even got some scrapping done, mostly using old pictures. I'll try to post them some time this week.

Unexpected Things

Yesterday when we got home from church and eating out for dinner, the garage door would not open. DH found out that it was because the springs were broken. A few years ago something similar happened when we lived in Illinois. At that time the garage door came down on the hood of the Camry mere hours after DS#1 had been playing in that area. We were relieved that no one was hurt then, and we were once again relieved that no car was hurt either. Unfortunately, this being a holiday weekend, it cost us an extra $50 to have someone come out and fix the door. We didn't have much choice, though, because DH didn't think he could lift the very heavy garage door in order to could get my car out to go to work on Tuesday morning. Thankfully, they came out to fix it early this morning.

This also meant that I didn't go shopping with my mom and sister today. I was going to take a separate car because I don't have nearly the "shopping stamina" that they do and I needed to be able to come back early. I could have taken DH's car, but I'm not as comfortable driving it and I didn't want to leave him without a car with the four kids. It was probably a good thing anyway, because the $600 cost of repairing the garage door would have cut into my shopping money plus I would have gotten restless during the hour or so that Mom and Sis spent in the Coach store alone. ;)

Since it is a new week, that meant another trip to Target. My kids have been Target obsessed lately. DD still had her gift card to spend. My mom also gave her a gift card that she had with about $5 left on it and she also gave DS#2 $20 to spend on his beloved Legos. DD wanted some Hannah Montana doll that came with a horse. When we got there she discovered that it was out of her price range, so she got a HM dress-up set instead. That wasn't a surprise, but what did surprise me was that she also wanted to get this small Space Patrol Lego set. She has recently been more interested in Legos. It's good in a way because that gives her something in common with DS#2 and they both get along a little better when they're playing with Legos. DH took this picture just because she looked so excited about the Lego set.

Another unexpected event today was DS#3 taking his sister's HM microphone and singing into it. This picture has a weird tilt mostly because I was trying to capture the action before he stopped. He was tilting his head back and everything. He was SO hilarious! I actually saw this before, in the last week or so. I would hear him "singing" upstairs and I would hear him getting closer and closer until I saw him downstairs singing into the microphone.

Labor Day Visit

My mom and sister arrived today for a visit. Mom was just here last week, but she came this week because my sister was driving--and they plan on going shopping at the outlet mall tomorrow. I don't have the shopping stamina that they do, so I'll probably take a separate car and leave early. The last time they did this, they stayed at the outlet mall ALL DAY.

When my sisters or Mom are here in town, my DD forgets that I'm around. Whereas she usually is fighting with her siblings (and DH) to be the one who sits next to me, she now fights to sit next to my sister. At church tonight she was all the way on the other end of the pew, sitting in between them. In this picture taken at Chili's tonight, she is wedging herself in between them again.

On the bench opposite of where DD and company are sitting, all of my boys are sitting together. DS#3 has been rather clingy today. He didn't even run towards my mom and give her a hug today, even though she was just here last weekend. Of course, he had just awoken from his nap when he first saw her. Here he is pushing DH away because he claimed that the seat next to him was "for mama". Even though it can be a hassle for me sometimes, it does feel good that he still wants me around. :)

This afternoon, DS#1 went to a neighborhood friend's house. He was also there last night when I was at work. On both occasions, it rained on DS#1 as he was walking home from his friend's house. We haven't had good rain like this in several months, so it's nice to see it. Since it has rained when DS#1 is walking outside, his little brother says that he should walk outside all the time so we can get some more rain. :)

Family Outings

First an update on my drama with my contracting company. Today I got a call from one of the vice presidents. She told me that I was right and that they decided that "the right thing to do" would be to give me my four vacation days back. You're damn right that that's the right thing to do! *eyeroll* Now maybe I can stop stressing about it after over 4 weeks of being in limbo! Grrr!

Now on to happier tales... Yesterday was a day off for me, a "comp" day for working last Saturday. DH suggested going for a walk after he dropped off DS#1 at school. Up until yesterday we had a few days of nice weather where, even though it still got up into the mid 90s, there was a nice breeze that actually made it nice to be outside. There is a fairly new park area near our neighborhood that has long walking/jogging paths. It's pleasant to look at the scenery, but it's even better that the paths are shaded.

This is a picture of DH pushing the stroller that DS#3 was riding in. DS#3 was adorable, pointing out the "tees" (trees), "das" (grass), and "dawdies" (doggies) that we saw during the walk. A couple of times there was even an "air pain" (airplane) in the sky. He would point and say, "Look Papa! There's (fill in the blank)!"

Later I got to eat lunch with my friend Jen and her own adorable little 4 1/2 year old boy, and I reminisced about how he was the age DS#3 is now when they moved into town two years ago. I then got to take a nap with DS#3, eat dinner with the family, and then the kids and I went to Target.

I took this picture because I thought it was hilarious that we were taking this little family outing to Target. The kids LOVE to go to Target. We all can usually find a little something to buy. DS#1 actually actively looked for clothing on this trip and he ended up buying three T-shirts. DS#2 wasn't allowed to buy any of the Legos he wanted because he recently bought some. Star Wars Legos are his current obsession, and he counts the days until he can buy another set. DD got a gift card from her godmother for her birthday and it's been burning a hole in her pocket. She didn't end up getting anything, however. This visit happened to be a little rushed because DS#3 found some Thomas the Tank Engine Legos that he desperately wanted to play with. It was too big a set to buy "just because" but it definitely gave me some ideas for Christmas.

Overall, DS#1 came out ahead with some clothing, and DH got to do his own thing at home. I got to spend some time with the kids. It's all good.

Tooth Fairy x 2

DD finally lost a tooth the "normal" way! No dentist had to get involved this time! The "normal" way, however, involved DH brushing DD's teeth before bed yesterday, and causing her tooth to come out. I'm sure DH can describe the experience in more detail on his blog later. The Tooth Fairy gives dollar coins for each tooth lost at our house, so I thought I would take a picture of DD with her coin and her missing lower front left tooth.

Of course I had to take a similar picture of DS#2, who also lost a tooth last night. Because of the two lost teeth, DH had to "buy" a dollar coin from DS#1's stash with a dollar bill since we didn't have enough dollar coins. DS#2 decided to be goofy and put his dollar coin on his eye for his picture. I couldn't complain--at least he was letting me take a picture and showing his personality in the picture. That's all good with me!

What's interesting is the number of pictures it required to get that last picture of DS#2 with the coin on his eye. You see, he kept dropping the coin out of his eye. If this picture looks a little funny, it's because the coin dropped out just after I pressed the shutter release button on my camera. You can see the outline of the coin still on his eye but not a full image because the coin dropped out of sight. This was also a lesson on lighting for DS#2. I took all of these photos without a flash. I thought it was interesting that when I took a picture using the flash and I showed the picture to DS#2, he didn't like the picture using the flash as much as the picture WITHOUT the flash. I'm not going to show that picture here, because I already deleted it, but the color in the flash picture isn't as natural and the image looks more flattened.

Just to show a little more of his personality, DS#2 decided after all of that to put my camera lens cap on his eye for a final photo. His head is tilted back here because he obviously can't squeeze his eye around that huge lens cap so instead he has to balance it on his face. I'm just happy that he let me take all of these photos! Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that as you can see, he lost the upper front left tooth this time.

Afterschool Snacks

I brought DS#1 a snack almost every day when I picked him up from his summer camp in July. I've been doing the same thing since school started. Often it's cookies that I buy at work. Yesterday I brought him one of those packages with the six little chocolate-covered donuts. Today I decided that since he had lunch ("A" lunch) at noon, that he would be hungry enough at 4PM for a bigger snack, so I bought him such buffalo wings from Wendy's.

When I saw him, however, he just looked really tired and rundown. Apparently, during last period (soccer) he had to run for 45 minutes. He didn't even get to drink water during that time, and the temperature was in the mid-90s! He only ate a couple of pieces and said that he wanted to finish the rest at home. That's when I started to worry because he is almost always gobbling food down. He explained that he wasn't as hungry because there is more food available at "A" lunch. When he has "B" lunch (the schedule alternates between "A" and "B"), he doesn't get to eat lunch until almost 2PM and there isn't much food left. That really doesn't make sense to me, except that maybe he is so hungry by that time that he needs more food to fill up. In any case, he did finish his "snack" when he got home and he drank plenty of water tonight.

This is my photo for today. It's Tuesday, so that means soccer practice for our family. DD is wearing an old practice shirt that used to belong to DS#2. DH bought her some new black soccer socks so she can match better than with her red socks. She has pink shin guards, pink soccer cleats, and a pink soccer ball, of course. I love that she and DS#2 are both putting on their gear on the bottom step together. He had tried to hide, but thankfully, he listened to my pleas for him to stay put. :)

Relaxing Mondays

I found the perfect picture for my new header! DH took this photo today. DS#3 looks so relaxed just nonchalantly blowing bubbles. Unfortunately, this was not tiring enough and he did not take a nap today. All the kids stopped taking naps around this time, but DH and I are hoping this will not be the routine for DS#3.

This is how he looked later on. Even though we were watching "Wipeout", which can be an exciting show, DS#3 did not look excited at all. I almost thought he was going to fall asleep on my lap. Fortunately, I was able to give him a bath first and he went to bed willingly. I thought it was hilarious how his tucked his arm underneath his head. He often likes to climb into my lap when we watch TV, an interaction we both tend to enjoy. He is growing up way too fast.

I took this closeup while he was on my lap. I love that for once he isn't doing his cheesy smile and I can actually see his beautiful brown eyes.

Mondays tend to be a little more relaxed around our family lately. No scheduled activities means we can stay at home and be a family. We watched "Wipeout" earlier and DH and the older boys are currently watching one of their new favorites, "Warehouse 13". Tuesdays and Thursdays are soccer days with DD's piano lessons also on Thursdays. Wednesdays will soon get busy with DS#2 and DD taking Faith Formation (CCD) classes along with DS#2's guitar lessons. Fridays will hopefully be more relaxed also so we can store up some energy for soccer weekends. That's how our fall is shaping up. I think it's better than in previous years when we have had daily scheduled activities. I'm thankful for those days when we can catch our breath. :)

A Bad Day Can Always Be Worse

I was going to title this post "Bad Day" after my bad day yesterday, but then I realized that it could have been worse. I was already bummed this whole last week anticipating that I would have to be on call at the hospital all day and night on Saturday. When I got to work, it started out as usual but after a couple of hours I started feeling a little dizzy. At the time I thought I was just tired because I sometimes feel this way when I'm really tired. Luckily I had the opportunity to lie down, but after having to get up a couple of times to get some work done, I was more than dizzy--the room was spinning so much so that I threw up. I felt a little better after that but then I ended up throwing up again. To make a long story short, after getting my resident to start an IV on me and giving me some medications and then lying down a couple more hours, I did start feeling better--much better. I was so worried that I would have to call in the backup staff to cover me, but then I didn't think I could drive home either. Thankfully I didn't have to do that. I also realized that if I hadn't been on call, I would have been at the soccer field with DH and the boys when this all happened. Now THAT would have been horrible.

The rest of the day was fairly routine and even though I skipped lunch completely, I managed to eat a regular dinner. I also managed to get some sleep before we had to operate on a very unfortunate man who was the victim of an armed robbery. Things did not end well and again I was "bummed out" when I drove home.

Things generally get better when I'm at home with my family. As I drove into the garage, the door to the house opened quickly and my two youngest children stepped out and greeted me, still in their pajamas. Their excited cries of "Hi Mama!" just lifted up my soul. My mood sank for a brief moment when I realized that I hadn't seen them for a day and a half, since I had tucked them into bed on Friday night. Again my mood lifted when they rushed up to me and gave me hugs and kisses, without my even have to ask them. Even a good day can become a great day with some hugs and kisses! :)

I wanted to also mention a little about what I missed on Saturday. DH has more details about yesterday's soccer games in his blog. DS#2 had a 7AM game yesterday morning, which meant that they had to leave the house a little after I did. Both boys are wearing all-white uniforms for their home games this year, and I thought this was a good photo of DS#2 in his. DH said that the white uniforms looked impressive, even if they don't stay white for very long. By the way, notice the "tongue in cheek". DS#2 tends to do this when he's concentrating sometimes. I just hope he doesn't end up biting his tongue.

DS#1's team doesn't have a designated goalkeeper, so everyone will have to take a turn being goalie. During one game on Saturday, it was DS#1's turn. Doesn't he look intimidating? He's the tallest person on the team at the moment, including the coach, although there are several boys that are close in height. Apparently he took his position seriously and was more vocal than ever before, shouting instructions to his defense. I think he would make a great goalie, but he doesn't want the job. I just realized that I haven't seen either boy play yet this year. I'm sure I'll be making up for that in the coming weeks.

Work or Play

My mom and dad arrived on Wednesday for a visit. Besides the fact that it has been over a month since we've seen them and they wanted to come for a visit, I also asked them to come for this particular weekend. The boys have a soccer tournament this weekend plus I'm on call tomorrow. Between them they have five games tomorrow, from 7AM to 7PM. If my parents weren't here, then DH would have to take the two younger kids with him and they would be just miserable in the hot sun all day. DH would be miserable because DS#3 wouldn't be able to take a nap. I'm not sure if I would be more miserable at work or at "play" with the family...

Because of the busy schedule this weekend, we went ahead and took everyone out to dinner tonight. This isn't the greatest picture of everyone, but it was nice that we were all together. I'm going to miss them all tomorrow when I'm at work, although I'm not sure I have the tougher job tomorrow, or DH.

This is DS#3 entertaining himself at the soccer practice fields yesterday. We have quite a busy schedule this fall. Luckily, all the kids have their soccer practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Unfortunately, DD and DS#2 have practice from 6-7:30PM while DS#1 has practice from 7:30-9PM. This means that DH takes all of them to practice and then either DH has to bring DD and DS#3 home after their practice and then go back to get DS#1 or I have to go pick them up while DH stays with DS#1. I've been picking them up since DH is already making the sacrifice of staying outside for three hours in 100 degree temps. Alas, no staying home with DS#3 while DH takes the kids to soccer practice this fall!

DD's First Soccer Practice

DD has played soccer before, but this is her first foray into club soccer, or more competitive soccer. In this picture, DD is the one with the blue shirt and red socks. I'm not sure if you can appreciate this in this small photo, but she has her tongue out, she looks very intense, and her left hand is on the other girl, like she is shoving her out of her way to get to the ball. Now, I may sound a little too competitive when I say this, especially since we're talking about seven-year-old girls, but I was glad to see her doing this. DD can be a bit passive sometimes, and it was nice to see a little bit of aggression on the playing field from her. DH says that she seemed more aggressive at times than her brothers, perhaps because she's used to them "beating up" on her. Believe me--they don't cut her any slack!

I love this photo too. Once again, she looks intense and she's running after that ball, despite the fact that it was 99 degrees outside (even at almost 7:30PM)!

DH and I aren't sure what other teams DD's team will play. They're the only seven-year-old girls' team at this soccer club and there aren't many around town. They may have to play boys' teams and older girls' teams. Somehow I think that will only get that competitive spirit out of my DD even more!

So now with this first soccer practice, three of my children will have soccer practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which is good. The bad part is that the younger two are practicing at 6PM - 7:30PM but DH will stay at the field with DS#1 until 9PM while I take the others home. It also means a rushed bedtime routine. The other part is that we will have lots and lots of soccer games on the weekends again. *SIGH* The boys have six games between them with five games on this coming Saturday alone (they're in a tournament) and I'll be at work all day Saturday.

In other news, our local Little League team, the one that our neighbor plays on) just won their bracket at the Little League World Series tonight. They're playing in a semifinal game tomorrow night. Go Southwest!

First Day of School 2009

I got up at 5:30AM on my day off so I could make chocolate chip pancakes and turkey bacon for my beautiful children. I gave them the choice of a special breakfast on the first day of school and since I'm going to be at work on Saturday by the time they get up and Saturday is usually our pancake day, I agreed to make pancakes today instead. Even DS#3 who doesn't usually really eat breakfast ate one pancake and one piece of turkey bacon, so I was happy. DH said he would have given them cereal for breakfast. :)

Is it sad that I didn't really pay attention to what the boys had to wear for their first day of school, but I went shopping with DD a month ago to pick out a first day outfit for her? When she saw this outfit, she immediately said that she wanted to wear it on her first day. You can't see it in this picture, but the shirt says "big sister". She's all over that role and likes to make sure everyone else knows she's a big sister.

She was all bubbly with excitement this morning before school and this afternoon after getting home. She has a homework packet for the week that we need to start working on. *SIGH* My summer "vacation" is over, too.

The boys didn't really get any "new clothes" for school, so this shirt that DS#2 is wearing is two years old. It says, "Football It's the beautiful game", a quote by Pele. Notice the athletic shorts? DS#2 is all about comfort and being sporty. Notice the smile? That took a bit of coaxing...and threatening.

When DS#2 got home, he talked a bit about how he liked his teachers and how he had to be more "organized" to move from classroom to classroom this year instead of being able to only stay in one classroom like last year. One of the other parents at the bus stop this morning said that the school needed five more fifth grade students in order to be able to get one more fifth grade teacher, so apparently the classes are very full. I just hope DS#2's teachers are as good this year as they were last year. He needs extra attention so he doesn't get bored.

Is it sad that I barely even took a picture of DS#1 about to be on his way to his first day of high school? The younger kids' bus left a little after 7AM and DS#1 didn't even get up until about 8AM. By that time I was busy doing other things while he quietly got ready for school. Before I realized it, DH and DS#1 were on their way out the door, so I made DS#1 get out of the car briefly so I could get a picture of him. When I picked him up this afternoon I didn't want to embarrass him by taking a picture of him there, although I had my big camera with me. I have to admit that I felt the most apprehensive about this one going to school. He is at another "new" school for the second year in a row. I shouldn't have worried, of course.

He had two homework assignments to complete this evening along with some beginning of school paperwork. The assignments didn't take too long, but we didn't get home until about 4:30PM. On Tuesdays and Thursdays he'll have to leave the house by 5:30PM for soccer practice, which doesn't give him much time for homework or eating dinner. Tonight even with the homework and going out to eat for dinner and then ice cream to celebrate the first day of school, he had time to play some video games, so we'll see what the coming weeks will hold.

This is DS#3 waiting for his siblings' school bus. He missed them today. He didn't have slaves to order around and to play with, only Mama and Papa. I don't know how stay-at-home parents do it. I couldn't get anything done today. Either I was getting DS#3 snacks or reading to him, or trying to get him to take a nap. I did really enjoy spending time with my little guy, though. He is growing up so fast and changing almost daily. It won't be long before he'll be riding on that bus, too. I know I'll be a basket case on that day.

Last Day of Freedom

This morning after church we asked the kids what they wanted to do before school starts tomorrow. DD wanted to go to the pool. DS#2 wanted to go to Target (for some reason, he always seems to want to go to Target!) and play with his friends. DS#1 said he just wanted to relax. Relaxation won out for the most part.



We did go to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch after church. That's where the above picture was taken. DS#3 is going through this phase where he doesn't want to sit in his high chair. He wants to sit next to me. Of course that means that sometime during the meal, he'll go visit DH or just roam around. He was doing just that when I took this picture.

After lunch I painted DD's toenails and fingernails, at her request, and all the kids got their clothes ready for tomorrow. DH wanted them to do this early so if they decided that they needed something washed, he could do this earlier rather than later. DD and DS#2 then had some friends over to play while I got to nap with DS#3.

This evening we had leftovers and DD went to a soccer clinic at the kids' soccer club. I'll let DH explain about Micros vs. U8 more in detail on his blog. Basically, DD missed the age cutoff on soccer teams, because the cutoff date is August 1st and her birthday is after that. If she joins a team with her age group, she will be the oldest on the team. If she joins a team with kids in her grade level, then she has to "play up". The other advantage is that "playing up" for her would allow her to play on a girls' team vs. a mixed team. I thought that DD might benefit from being around girls. Tonight DH asked the coaches at the soccer clinic which team DD should join and they decided that she should do well by "playing up". DH said that DD did pretty well out there despite the 104 degree weather. I've never considered myself "athletic" so I'm always excited by the possibility of DD being part of a sports team.

Well, I did say it was a relaxing day for the most part. Now that I've listed it out, that looks like a lot of stuff!

Good Friends

DH already recapped some of today's events on his blog, so I'm not going to repeat all the information. I'm going to summarize it to fit my theme, however. Good friends are good to have around. Today DS#2 was invited to his friend A's birthday party at Laser Quest. DD was also invited to keep A's little sister M occupied during the party. DD and M have been friends since they were six weeks old and in the same daycare "class" together. Their parents took our kids back to their house with them after the party so we could go to DS#1's convocation at his high school. What great friends!

As a brief aside, at the convocation, the Director of DS#1's school announced that they would allow limited cell phone use during school hours. She sounded very excited about texting and even using web-enabled phones to research quick topics. Apparently they might use the kids' cell phones during class but when the teacher tells them to put them away, they have to put them away. Since they're trying to teach the kids about technology and how to use it, I thought this was an interesting tie-in.

After the convocation, we picked up DD and DS#2 and headed out to another birthday party. At the party, we met many friends that we haven't seen since we switched schools. DH and I have to agree that these are good friends that we have a connection with that we don't have in the public school system. At the private school, the parents WERE the school. We saw each other when we volunteered at school events. We saw each other when we were at sporting events. We saw each other when we picked up our kids, since the kids didn't take buses. Maybe it's partly because we haven't really gotten into the volunteering at the public school yet, but the closeness is just not there. We had a really, really fun time and we were thankful that AV and her family put on such an awesome party and invited us! Thanks, AV!

Speaking of good friends, DS#1 and DS#2 often bicker about things, but ultimately they have very similar interests and they manage to get along because of that. I needed a picture for today so I sat in front of our TV and just started playing with the camera. This is one of the first pictures I took, and it just cracks me up because they both look so focused on the TV and so totally disinterested in what I was doing. Even DS#2 didn't try to hide his face, at least not yet.

This is the last picture I took. DS#1 was obviously the one playing the game and still focused. DS#2 wanted to have a little fun. He said he was going to count to three and then put the pillow on his brother's head so I could take a picture. I don't know if you can appreciate how DS#2 is a blur in this photo, but that's because as soon as he dumped the pillow on his brother's head (who barely noticed the pillow on his head), he wanted to get out of the picture, but I caught him in the act!

Meet the Teachers Night

I took the day off today to spend some time with the kids and to take care of a few things before school starts on Monday. We ended up going out for breakfast at IHOP, getting the older boys haircuts, and then getting a few groceries. For lunch we went to a local pizza place because we'd heard that they were giving 20% off their proceeds to one of our local Little League teams that are one of only sixteen teams in the world to make it to the Little League World Series. Our neighbor across the street is on the team and I still remember when DH said about four years ago that he had an amazing arm for a kid his age. They won 10-1 tonight with our neighbor being the winning pitcher AND getting three hits with four at-bats. Amazing! Almost equally amazing was that DS#3 ate 2 1/2 pieces of pizza at lunch and then took a three hour nap!

After a long nap (because I took a nap with DS#3) we went to DD and DS#2's elementary school for their Meet the Teachers Night. DD's teacher looked very young and because I didn't see her in last year's school directory, I'm assuming that this might be her first year teaching. She could also just be teaching at this school for the first time, but like I said, she looked really young. DD was really, really excited to be there. We bought a package of school supplies from the PTA for their fundraiser so we saw the box at DD's assigned seat. She opened it immediately even though they're supposed to do all of that on their first day of school. I think all of the kids are poised for another very good school year!

DS#2 was a bit less energetic but probably no less excited (on the inside). We met his two homeroom teachers, and both have been teaching a while. DS#3 will actually be moving from class to class this year with different teachers, like in middle school. This is to help with the transition to middle school next year. The teacher in this picture, Mrs. B will also be his Math teacher. She seemed very friendly and when he balked a little at having his picture taken with her, she said that he should get a picture on the first day and the last day. I think I'll be quite happy with this teacher! Look at DS#2's smile--totally different from the picture I took in front of the classroom just a few minutes before.

This is Mrs. W, DS#2's other homeroom teacher. I'll have to reserve judgement on her. She seemed preoccupied with meeting people other than us. We were waiting to meet her. When the people she was talking to left, she also left to another part of the classroom. When we went over there to try to meet her, she saw someone else that she knew and I felt like I was forcing myself on her. When I asked for a picture with DS#2, she said that we should get a picture with Mrs. B. Only when I replied that we had already gotten a picture with Mrs. B did she consent to the picture.

This is a picture of DD and DS#2 with their GT (Gifted and Talented) teacher, and as you can see they really enjoy her as a teacher. She still remembers DS#1 when he was in her class when he was in second grade. When we told her where he was going to high school next year, she said that one of her very best friends was a teacher there and she was going to ask her to keep an eye out for him.

Stinkin' Cute Part 2

I've been battling my contracting company for two weeks now, ever since they decided that I only have one vacation day left in the fiscal year instead of the four I thought I had. They've decided in my last year of this five year contract that they would change the rules. When I pointed this out to them, they made up some other reason where they compared my hours to the other contractors for the month of December 2008 only. I fell short of what the others worked so they decided somewhat arbitrarily to charge me three days of vacation for the shortfall. They didn't take into account that my contract doesn't say they can do that and that I'm well within my required hours worked for the year. Apparently now they've decided to bump it up to the higher ups. I am absolutely livid about this but I feel so helpless to do anything about it that I've been really stressed out.

Retail therapy always makes me feel better when I'm stressed, so I've been buying lots of things like books, camera bags, and clothes for the kids. I've been buying clothes for DD especially, and Gymboree clothes in particular. I love Gymboree clothes and I'm going to be very sad when she doesn't fit into Gymboree clothes any longer. DH actually encourages retail therapy sometimes when he knows I need it. He's so good to me. :)

Tonight DS#3, DD and I went to the mall to exchange one of her pants that I bought online and to shop their new line. We saw these Glow-in-the-Dark Skeleton Pajamas. DD begged for me to get her the pink ones. Last year they had this same set of pajamas and she asked for them then. I wanted to wait for a coupon or sale, but by that time, they didn't have anymore. Tonight they didn't have any more size 7's, but they did have this size 8. When she saw that, DD told me, "I'll be able to wear them longer!" That just made me smile because she sounds just like me. :)

DD also insisted that I buy the boy set for DS#3. I wasn't sure he was going to wear them because he usually only wears clothes with pictures of vehicles on them. When I showed it to him and asked if he would wear it, he said, "Ya!" He sounded convincing and I thought they would look so "stinkin' cute" especially with both of them wearing the pajamas, that I had to get them--plus I had a 30% off coupon AND I could get Gymbucks. Retail therapy was definitely lifting my mood. :)

Something that wasn't so cute was DS#1 popping a blister on the bottom of his foot during soccer practice on Tuesday. He couldn't continue to practice because it was so uncomfortable that DH brought him home early. We've been trying to get him to stay off of that foot for a while, but today was soccer practice again and DS#1 really wanted to play. DH said he seemed to be doing fine although he did limp a little sometimes. This is a picture of DH dressing the area last night. DH always likes to point out that he does these things for the kids instead of "the doctor" but I really have this queasy feeling when it comes to soft tissue injuries and especially when those injuries involve my children. The kids and I are lucky that we have DH around. :)

Stinkin' Cute

DH and I have a running joke about how the kids being cute and how that is a means for their survival until they reach the point where they lose "that cuteness that has kept them alive all those years". I know DH is looking forward to school starting next Monday, but then he's going to miss them all after a few days. :)

DS#3 likes to play on the piano. Yesterday he turned on the piano and then when DS#2 tried to sit down and play something, DS#3 wouldn't let him. I asked DS#3 if he wanted DD to sit and play for him. He said his usual "Ya" but then when she did sit and play he started doing his screaming bit like he just wanted to play by himself. DD still had her Hannah Montana wig on while she was at the piano so I had to take the opportunity to take a picture. DS#3 did his cheesy smile, but I missed the first part of it and you can see that he's starting to look down again. They both looked so "stinkin' cute" sitting at the piano. That's usually DH's phrase, but I'm going to borrow it because it's so appropriate.

I got DD and DS#3 some costumes from Gymboree. I thought for sure DD would choose one of the costume dresses, but instead, she wanted to be a "doctor". A couple of weeks ago she was talking to me about how I was a doctor. In the very next sentence she said that she wanted to be a scientist or a nurse. Slam! I guess she doesn't want to do what I do, but I had to laugh at the way she put it. She must still be fascinated with being a doctor because she says that's what she wants to be for Halloween. This outfit is a little big. That's what happens when they only have "size 7-8" and not just a "size 7" or a "size 8".

Speaking of "a little big", DS#3's costume was a "Size 2T-3T" so it looks humongous on him. Gymboree had this "stinkin' cute" train conductor outfit that I thought would be perfect for my train-crazy little man. I was a little worried at first that he wouldn't wear it, but when he saw it, he had to wear it right then and there. He even wore the hat and didn't want to take any of it off. He did eventually take it off to put his swimsuit on and he "forgot" about it after that. It's so hot here that I wasn't in a hurry to put it back on.

I went to the gym this morning to exercise and DH met me there so we could go to the gym pool. DS#3 got it in his head to wear this floppy hat instead of his conductor hat. He was SO "stinkin' cute" that I had to "break the rules" a little and take this picture at the gym. You see, you're not supposed to take pictures there, but I figured this was a private dressing room so there wasn't anyone else there but DS#3 and me. Unfortunately, this led to my accidently leaving my camera in the dressing room and DH had to go back for it later, but that's another story...