backwards again

OK, I loaded them totally backwards this time. So I guess we'll start with Sunday night :)

We almost got to make a trip to the ER with Speck about 7.

He swallowed a quarter. Do not know how this happened. All I do know is that his dad was supposed to be in charge and I got a panicked phone call. It was lodged. He was breathing ok but couldn't swallow and kept gagging. After a few phone calls and the realization he was likely going to have it removed we were on our way. As we got to the ER he says OH NO! It went all the way down. Maybe a better alternative. Nothing they could do at that point so now we wait. :) How my 9 year old swallowed a quarter I just don't understand. I would however, completely expect it from my 5 or 1 year old!! Guess it goes to show...they are never too old!

A few of them were rescued early and they got out of working. The rest of them had to help me clean house! Then off to church.

Saturday night we had a house full of kiddos & some of our friends for dinner. These two both needed to drive and sis wasn't sharing too well.

The big kids rode scooters & bikes & ripsticks & skateboards. Luckily no major injuries.


she is in love ... this is her favorite person in the world. she wouldn't even let me get her out of the carseat or carry her into church.

there is a spot in the driveway that has settled and made a pretty good bump. some of them thought it was fun to ramp when I wasn't looking. but it took a lot of concentration.

He is missing his buddies so bad we thought it would be fun to have them all get together to play

Saturday morning Speck had a baseball game. He got to pitch. These don't have time limits like church league. They play 5 innings...it took 2 1/2 hours! And I just thought parents were bad in spring ball...the other coach walked out on the field and yelled at ours..."have you ever coached baseball before?" UGH! Thankfully ours is so laid back he just laughed it off.

Friday night we had Little Man's 6th birthday. He was so excited to have just his buddies there. All but one made it. We had to call a mom at midnight ;)

They had a pinata.

and they loved it. but scared me to death with that bat.

no concept of distance when someone was around them. we did manage to escape injury again though!

he opened presents.

I made them sit still for a brief moment. none too happy.

sis even got in on some of the fun.

there was a silly string fight.

and water balloons. but I heard a lot of "ouch" they didn't pop very well!

she was giving orders in her ballerina outfit. definately a girly girl!

but she has figured out its ok to get dirty. her daddy built her a new swingset this weekend that she is infatuated with. she screams when you make her come in .

I'm getting ready

for a 6 year old birthday party :( Still about another hour but mine are already wired like they've had a whole cake!

sis got another leotard today. complete with a skirt. and she wont take this one off either. a glimpse into the future?

Got a new pair of boots this week. kind of fun but definately outside my comfort zone as far as attire is concerned. Hubby likes them so I'll keep easing them into the wardrobe I guess.

My grandmother was here playing with the kids earlier and Speck caught a lizard. He held it up for her to see and it jumped on her and ran up her shirt. It was hilarious! I'm sure she didn't think so and I was a bit worried she might literally be scared to death, but when we figured out all was well we were crying from the laughter! Definately a sight to see.

My Little Man

Only day 4 and he got moved to blue. For chasing a girl in the classroom! A cap fell off this afternoon and the tooth under it was 1/2 gone :( & can't get into the dentist til Monday. Could be a less than fun birthday party. Not to mention this morning he cried because they had a field trip to the fair and he didn't want to get on the bus with a bunch of people he didn't know. I met him there and that helped but he was determined not to get back on the bus and I had to load him crying. Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!

this week...

my pictures are loaded all out of order & a little fuzzy but anyway...
sis is finding all kinds of things to entertain her while we wait to pick the boys up. She has NEVER taken a pacifier of any kind ( and I have tried all kinds)

she got a new leotard for gymnastics and won't take it off. a little scary at only 19 months and already that independent! she says "UH-UH mom, no no zoe zoe (to zoey the bulldog when she tries to eat her food) pease mom", and if you ask her to sing her abc's she says "ABC" and grins. SOOOO rotten and only going to be worse now that its just her... she's having a cold hot dog for breakfast :)

I got some fabric in the doors. its kind of a shiny/sheer brown. cute. not sure I love it but better than nothing. might keep looking though.

playing games while she waits...not so patiently :)

we went to McDonalds after the first day of school

he says "did you just take my picture up here? DO NOT post this!"

Speck still isn't thrilled but doing OK. Little man seems to like it pretty good. He says he's only there 2 hours. If thats what it takes to keep him happy then we'll go with it! This morning when he was supposed to be brushing his teeth he said "hey mom, it was an accident" thats never a good way to start a sentence. He was sword fighting with himself in the mirror with his toothbrush (that already had toothpaste on it) and the toothpaste ended up all over the curtains. Made for an interesting start to the day anyway.

You'll never believe it

He went to K without crying...a few sniffles and watery eyes, but no real tears. & I made it too! At least until I got home and had the first phone call checking on us :) Sis is looking everywhere for them. She walks around hollering "bubba, bubba, bubba" and looks at me like I'm crazy.

He was such a big boy this weekend. He got up on the wakeboard all by himself.

And hubby tried to do major bodily harm to himself. I don't think there is any further explanation needed, the picture says it all.

And yes, that is me. I actually got off the boat and in the water and up on the wakeboard. Even if it was only for a brief moment. Its amazing what "please mom" can get you to do! needless to say my arms were soooo sore yesterday I could barley lift sis.

Today

did not start off well. he was still sad but now angry. he had quite the temper tantrum this morning. after I let him know I was sorry he was so upset but would not allow him to act out he sat in his room for about 10 minutes and came out with an apology. making every point to make sure I knew he was still unhappy of course. when I tried to explain I would go to jail if he didn't go to school he just couldn't understand why I wasn't there so he could stay home!! little turkey.
we picked up a kiddo from down the street to ride with us this morning and at first it wasn't much help. Speck was just as ugly to him as he was to me. as we got closer to school he warmed up a bit and by the time he got out of the car he was better. no tears or kicking and screaming...which was exactly what I was expecting after the start to our day. I will have to leave here early, early so I can be as close to the front of the line as possible :)

The boys both got new comforters now they want new "deco" on the walls too...other stuff is just too baby they said!

sisters new drapes. I found them at Target. They are so sweet and dainty. (& up off the floor so she can't pull on them!)

This is her dresser. It was an old pie hutch I found at the antique store and had painted. Still have to put some fabric in the doors but turned out too cute!

Her toy box. Hoping it will all grow with her!

Around here

I have a very, very, very upset 9 year old. He doesn't just dislike his new school...he sobbed and begged for quite a long time tonight. "I will do anything if you won't send me back. PLEASE! PLEASE! I miss my friends" It is breaking my heart. He said, "You don't even have to send me to WW, you could homeschool me. Just don't make me go back". Not exactly what you want to hear when they have 177 more days to go. Of course Little man had to voice his opinion but we'll get back to him in a minute :) I know he has to learn that life isn't always fair, you don't always get what you want and on and on but being the mother of a hysterical child takes on a whole new meaning when those life lessons are on the table. I would almost move him. Except I know it will get better (I hope it will anyway) and I couldn't have hand picked any better teachers, for either of the boys. And I have to admit I am afraid if I moved them I might not get so lucky. So torn as to what to do. I might not be as worried about him but we moved a lot when I was growing up. I remember the physical pain of being unhappy in a school. It felt like life was over. Like I was being tortured. And I can't stand that for him. I have 3 huge canker sores in my mouth from stress this week.
Back to Little man, I already started his K journal. Imagine that. We went to open house Wed and on top of being very impatient when he wanted Mrs. B's attention, the first thing he says is "I know my ABC's." so he says them A-Z but leaves out P. When she asks him where it was he says "running down my leg". Nice. When we left she patted my shoulder and said "bless your heart" with a sweet but almost scared smile. I was thinking, no bless yours, you're about to have him 7 hours a day!

Last & First

We had a great last day of summer. Lunch with friends, and sis wanted some loving but Mr. J wasn't too sure about it!

Then off to Kelley Cabin. They about had a fit when they saw "Girl Scouts" on the sign but had a change of heart when we got inside and saw 3 " real live" alligators! After that we ventured to Chuck E Cheese for a brief moment and then to Marble Slab.

His first day of 4th grade. He was laughing at me, not smiling because he was excited. Poor thing was sick at his stomach and was so nervous his hands were sweating. He had a terrible time going to sleep last night and was in my bed at 5 this morning. Praying it will be different when I get there this afternoon. & Little man has been ready to get him since about 10. Probably a good thing he will be going Monday.

Sister got to go to gymnastics for the first time this morning. It went OK, she only made one little girl cry! She was so tired and there was just so much new stuff it was a little much for her to handle. Maybe next week will be better when we work out a good schedule.

New digs

Sister got new drapes and should have a few new paintings and hopefully a dresser by Thursday. I've only been working on her room for how long now?! (about 2 years) The boys got new comforters. Working on it. Will share soon. Really cute, I think!

I don't want to

I don't want to know that my "lunch date" didn't eat because it would probably make them physically ill. Or know that they are overly friendly and talkative with the kids to keep from crying. I want to be 9 and starting 4th grade tomorrow. I don't want to know their 10 trips to the bathroom were to wipe the tears so no one would see. Or to know the feeling of someone's knees buckling when you hug them and feel the tremors as they cry so hard and turn to go. I want to be 5 and counting the days til my 6th birthday. I don't want to get late night texts thanking me for today but knowing what it "really" meant. I want to be 19 months and just learning how to really aggrivate my brothers. I don't want to know about heartache or anger or worry or sadness. I don't want to be a grown up any more.

All I can say

is that change STINKS! Not liking it at all and not handling it like I thought I would, none of it! 2 more days til school starts. Yuck. Last lunch date with friends this afternoon, I did take pics but for some reason they won't load and I don't have the energy to mess with it.

Little man had a battle with a wake board this weekend and the wake board won. Thank goodness I have learned to keep steri strips and glue with us at all times :) May even need them for hubby if he's not careful. He thinks he is still young enough to keep up with the kids (20 year olds) jumping on their boards and riding all day. Hmmm...he had a hard time getting out of bed this morning.

Change

Is time for a new school year. Kindergarten & 4th grade this year. Not sure I'm ready for this. I know sis isn't, she will be so bored. I was cleaning out some stuff and found a note that Speck wrote to Little Man. It says "Thanks for being my little brother. I have I have allwas loved you. Even when you pesseder me. Sinsirly...P.S. Please growe up and qiut sleeping with me" Too sweet, spelling & all. I had to put that in his box to save. They grow up too fast.

Not so sunny CA

We left Wed evening and drove to Tulsa. Last minute trip into Toys R Us...just in case they had something different for the plane rides, and dinner at Cheesecake Factory. A 6 am flight and off we went.

Uncle Kyle was waiting on us at the airport. The boys were SOOO excited but sis, not so much. He left when she was 3 months old so she had no idea who he was.

She started to warm up a little bit, but not too much.

We rode the trolley to Fishermans Wharf

Union Square

First week in Aug and we had to be bundled! I couldn't believe it was cold. We had to stop and buy hats & gloves for the kids.

China town. & this was just too perfect for him :)

there were lots of little parks & of course we had to stop at them all.

something could have been different!

They are very strict about some things...like not letting adults in or even near a park without a child.

The sand was even cold but they still had to play in it.

Pier 39. The sealions were neat to watch but oh my did they smell bad!

Freezing! (I'm sure if it wasn't 110 at home it wouldn't have felt quite so cold)

not exactly sure. A giant macaroni noodle?

Getting tickets to the aquarium. Still not convinced she likes him.

The touch pools. Full of starfish.

and a sting ray and a shark. They loved it! And begged to go back the next day.

giant shark teeth on the pier. Probably Specks favorite thing.

The public restrooms on every street corner. you pushed a button and the door opened.

taking a rest. we walked everywhere. 8 miles in one day!

One of the only places I saw grass. and I'm sure the conversation with Little Man and Uncle Kyle was very interesting.

This restaurant was in Little Italy. Everything had garlic in it. even the ice cream. We didn't try it.

We stopped to eat breakfast at a cafe called Squat & Gobble. Strange :) Looking up the street. Everything was straight up & down. All of the houses literally touched each other. A few were for sale. Brought home a real estate magazine. WOW! 2 bedroom 1 bath no garage or yard. $800,000. Rent on a 500 sf apt $1500/month!

A neat path they got to take down to the beach. Sis and I stayed in the car for that one. It was just too cold.

They found a few caves to explore

Driving across the Golden Gate Bridge. Not sure what I expected but wasn't too impressed.

a GIANT chair. Little man wouldn't get out of it.

One of the outside malls had a performer "Merry Mary". He got picked to be a part of her show.

Worn out! We got delayed in Denver 6 hours coming home. 2 of it was on the plane sitting on the runway.

There were just too many people to have 3 kids. Little Man didn't miss a beat and it didn't bother him at all. Sis was good. She just wanted to be held instead of riding. Speck was a nervous wreck and the homeless people really bothered him. He wouldn't let go of my hand the whole trip. Everything to eat was sit down and order. NO fast food. That was stressful 3 times a day. The public transportation was ok. Not as bad as NY but if you missed a train you had to wait 20-30 min for the next one. and chasing 3 of them on a platform that long wore me out. We didn't get to go to Alcatraz, all the ferries were booked. But you could see it pretty good from the pier. We did get to drive by San Quinten. pretty fancy for a prison. My brother doesn't have a car out there so we rented one, a mini van. He had an accord so he was really wound up with a big vehicle full of people in all the traffic. They have "zip cars" you can rent for 24 hours at a time.

Glad we got to see my brother. and it was neat to see SF once but I won't go back. The boys asked and asked why he wont move home. He cried when we left. But he loves it there and as happy as he was we visited, I think he was just as happy when we were out of his way!