Howse Family Happenings

One Year Down...

2010-06-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

....only twelve more years to go! Thankfully if this first year of schooling is any indicator of the next twelve years to come then there shouldn't be too many tears or gray hairs.

First day of school:
Alexis with her teacher, Mr. Gillotti. We could not have been happier with her teacher this year. Andrew also had Mr. Gillotti in Kindergarten and I really feel like he sets the tone for their future and guides them onto the right path. He is an awesome teacher!
Of course with the start of schooling comes classroom birthdays. Mr. Gillotti really tries to make each child feel special every day, but especially on their birthday.Alexis was the "Birthday Queen" for the day. Fall picture
Here favorite activity at school: THE SWINGS! Each morning there was a competition for who could get to the swings first. She LOVED when I got to work in her classroom because that meant she got to go on the playground a few minutes before the entire class while I pulled out the toys, which guaranteed her a swing.Lexi and Ms. Heather, the yard duty. The kids know since Mommy works on campus often that they better be on their best behavior because I will always find out what they are doing. Doesn't hurt to make friends with the yard duty.Lexi is a VERY social person and rarely has a problem making friends. Her problem is actually knowing when to NOT be social (like in the middle of class). Every day when I would pick her up from class it would amaze me at the number of kids who would be yelling out, 'bye Lexi!' more so then any other kids' name. She really is very friendly and accepting of everyone around her.Her other 'problem': BOYS! Early on in the school year I had the mother of these twin boys J & J approach me and tell me that Alexis had a crush on one of them and that they both had a crush on her. Thankfully they are good kids and the three of them are really good friends, but boy am I not ready for that!Spring picture. Comparing her fall and spring picture it is interesting how much of her baby face she is loosing.Not only does Alexis have Mr. Gillotti as her teacher but she also gets to have MRS. GILLOTTI as her teacher too. She teaches the afternoon Kindergarten class, so in the morning before her class arrives she reads with Mr. G's class and helps out. They are a great pair! Could you imagine going to work everyday with your husband? They are with each other 24/7 and you can just feel the pure love between them.

Last day of school. Alexis has grown so much this year physically, but the academic growth is amazing. Her reading has taken off and her love of math continues.

THANK-YOU MR. GILLOTTI FOR A WONDERFUL KINDERGARTEN YEAR!! Though this may be the first year of many, you have set her off on the right path, and for that we are very thankful. I know it is a lot to ask, but could you PLEASE not retire before Aiden gets into Kindergarten??

Mom's Wedding, March 20, 2010

2010-06-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

On March 20, 2010 my mom and Mr. David got married locally. It was a pretty crazy weekend since the wedding was taking place in my town and all my sisters and other family and friends would be traveling in with their families to stay for the weekend. It took every ounce of my energy to make it through that emotional weekend. It was the following handsome and beautiful faces that got me through it all.Trying to keep Aiden still for more then 2 seconds to take a family pictures was more then one could ask for that day. He was wanting to play with all his cousins that he rarely gets to see and especially wanted to get his hands on the drum set that was still set up in the corner of the stage. My sister Grace made all the floral arrangements for the wedding. She is such a talented person! She also made the arrangements for my wedding, which I if I could dig out the pictures I would show you her amazing work on mine as well.The kids were all lined up on the front pew just waiting for their marching orders. They were trying to be so patient, but there is only so much patience you can expect out of a 2 year old who has the energy level of the energizer bunny.

Lexi with her cousin Desiree, who is almost 4 months older then her.
All the boy grandkids! They range in age from 11 down to 2.

Dale had the pleasure of walking Grandma Leader down the aisle. I made sure to remind him to smile as he walked up the aisle so he wouldn't look like the pallbearers that walked me up the aisle on my wedding day. ;) *My Grandpa L. and Grandpa W., who had the most stern looks on their faces the whole walk down the aisle.*
The grankids were all matched up by similar heights to walk down the aisle. Lexi was matched up with Eric. They all looked so cute and took their job very serious.
Aiden was the ring bearer. The minute he entered the church he tried to pass the ring pillow off to the first person he saw. That of course solicited a laugh and after they handed it back to him he jetted down the aisle to deliver the pillow to the correct person.
Next down the aisle was my mom, who was being escorted by two very handsome young men. Her eldest grandsons, Jacob and Andrew, had the honor of walking her down the aisle.

The ceremony went off without a hitch and then Andrew had the privilege of playing the wedding march as the new couple exited the church. He did an awesome job!

Of course once the ceremony is over the true 'fun' begins with all the pictures. I was not looking forward to this part because I, for one, knew Aiden would not cooperate, and two, do not like my picture to be taken at all.

Mom with all 4 daughters. From left to right: Faith, me, Mom, Charity, and Grace.

Mom and I.

The story behind this picture is hilarious! The photographer wanted to get each family set of kids together for a picture. She couldn't for the life of her get Aiden to sit still for longer then 2 seconds. She finally made the statement, "Well, we really don't need him in the picture." Excuse me! He is part of the family! It wouldn't be my family if he wasn't in it. Well, moments later he came running over to get in the picture and he had a HUGE piece of bread in his hand. The poor child was STARVING! He had had enough with the pictures and just wanted something to eat.

Once he had a few bites in his stomach he was willing to cooperate, or at least ham it up for the camera.This is one of my favorite pictures of my Grandma. She is just so stunningly beautiful!

Once again, here is Grandma trying to hold Aiden down long enough for a picture of her to be taken with the three kiddos.And Lexi was still velcroed to Grandma on wedding day. Beautiful girls (minus one tired flower girl) all blowing bubbles at the reception.

So, now there are 16 grandchildren (only 2 could not make it, my brother's children in NC) who are all under 11 years old.

Though it was a stressful, emotional weekend, it was great to be able to see and spend time with my family, and for the kids to be able to spend time with their cousins that they rarely get to see.

Time with Grandma Leader

2010-06-25T13:57:00.000-07:00

In March my Grandma Leader was able to fly to CA from OH for my mom's wedding and to spend some time with the family. It was a little iffy as to whether she would be able to come or not because her health has not been the best recently. Physically she seems like the same grandma on the outside with a few aches and kinks, but it is mentally that the decline has happened the most, and that is sad to witness since she has always been the sharpest witted person.From the moment Grandma got to our house Alexis was smitten with her. She has only ever been around her a few other times since we do not live close to each other, but it seems like they always pick up right where they left off. Grandma had a velcroed Alexis to her hip and a chatterbox in her ears for the next few days.Grandma even humored her by letting Alexis teacher her how to play the Leapster.

Of course this was only Aiden's second time seeing Grandma and he was more interested in her shoes. This was during his phase where if your shoes were off your feet they were on his feet. He thought they were the coolest shoes because they made 'clopping' noises and he made sure the whole neighborhood knew he was having fun.

I really wish we had the time to get ALL the great-grandkids together to get professional pictures taken, but that wedding weekend was already chaotic enough. So, here are the 9 who were present out of the 14 total kiddos. I wish that we could spend more time with Grandma. I wish that we could live right next door to her so the kids could grow-up learning more about her then just what they know from my words and pictures. I know that the memory loss will only increase instead of getting better. I find myself shying away from calling as often since I am sad when the phone call is over, and then I am angry with myself for not seizing the opportunity to talk to her now while I still have the chance. May I take the time now, while I still have it, to spend as much time with my Grandma as I can. And may she have MANY, HEALTHY years to come.

**I also wish that we may be able to save enough to take a trip to Ohio this next summer so we can spend some time with her and the rest of our extended family**

Redlands Symphony - Family Concert

2010-06-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

On April 18, 2010, Andrew, Lexi, Daddy-O and I had the opportunity to go to the University of Redlands to enjoy the Redlands Symphony. Each year they put together a family friendly concert that is geared directly toward children, which is interactive and shorter then a usual concert would be.The concert included 2 narrated musical interpretations of children's stories with a twist. The kids and adults in the audience enjoyed it immensely After the concert they had all the instruments out on the lawn and allowed the children the opportunity to "pet" the instruments.

Both Lexi and Andrew both did an awesome job playing the French Horn. We were teasing Andrew that he actually made a better quality sound on the french horn then he did on the trumpet and that he might consider a change. Lexi seemed to be a natural, so maybe there is a french horn in our future.

Andrew and Lexi then tried out their skills on the violin. Andrew said it was awkward holding the instrument on his chin, but liked not having to blow into the instrument for once.Lexi was all over the place and couldn't understand the concept of keeping the bow lower on the neck. For the sake of mom's ears I am REALLY praying one of these is NOT in our future.

Lexi also attempted to play the flute (or a portion of the flute. The lady didn't have it all assembled since she felt it was too long for the small kids.) She did eventually get a sound out of it but it took A LOT of work. I do like the sound of the flute and wouldn't mind of she tried this one out in her future. :)

There were MANY more instruments to "pet," but the lines were long and the kids were getting pretty hot and tired. Overall they had a wonderful time and we really enjoyed the concert. I definitely think we will be adding this to our calendar again next year. Hopefully Aiden will be old enough and calm enough to join us then.

My Little Miss

2010-06-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

Alexis has many different names around the house. When choosing her name when I was pregnant I wanted to make sure she had a name that could be shortened into variations of her name. At the same time I wanted to make sure that she got to choose which variation of her name she would be called by, so we have pretty much always called her Alexis up until this Kindergarten year when she started expressing that she wished to be called LEXI now.

So Lexi it is most often.
Unless of course your name is Aiden and you have a hard time pronouncing your L's and X's so you call her FeFi.

Or, there are other times when mom just simply calls her by her middle name, which is Julianna.

We all call her 'Little Miss' from time to time because we also have 'Little Man' and 'Little Guy.'

And then there is the variation of Lexi-Loo, which I use often. Not sure where that came from, but it usually comes out more like a bugle horn call at the end just for giggles.
Then there is the 'Little Lady' name when I am scolding her for flipping and flopping around when she is in a skirt and showing her wares to the world or I need to get her attention.
But most importantly she is my Alexis. My only daughter. The one I buttheads with most often, but also the one that teaches me the most about myself because she holds that mirror up each time we have conflict.

The one I love, my Little Miss!

Andrew's 5th Grade Promotion

2010-06-24T19:16:00.000-07:00

It is so hard to believe that June 10th, 2010 marked the end of Andrew's Elementary years. He has been a very hard working student who is always well liked by both his peers and teachers through out the years. Proud Daddy-O and Andrew.

Andrew and his extremely proud Mama.

Andrew with a bunch of his buddies! The guy to his right is one of his best buds, Ben, and physically they could not be any more opposite, which always reminds of me of that movie Twins.

Andrew and Nick have been friends since they first met in Mr. Gillotti's class in Kindergarten. They are excited that they will both be going to the same Middle School next year. Where we live our Elementary school falls right on the boundary line between two different Middle schools, so the kids often get split up.At the promotion ceremony that night Andrew was awarded the Medal of Honor, which is given for those students who have overall high citizenship, academics, and essentially a well-rounded student. We were pretty disappointed because he should have also received an award for 3.5 GPA for the entire year, as well as perfect attendance that night, but the awards had been left at the school. So instead, they had to hand out those awards on a different day that I was not able to attend because I was already scheduled to substitute.
Here he is receiving his certificate of promotion from his teacher, Mrs. Pierce. The past months I have been subbing A LOT so we could save up for a VERY important promotion present. On promotion day we took Andrew to the local music store and showed him the new trumpet that we had been researching and saving for, an Accent professional trumpet.
Though he doesn't have it in his possession yet, (need one more paycheck to pay it off), he was super excited and can't wait to take it home and begin playing on it.

So come this August Andrew will be starting a new season of life, Middle School. He says he is ready for it and can't wait for school to start. I, on the other hand, just wish this summer would never end. Why do they have to grow up so fast? I tear up just thinking about it.

Music To My Ears

2010-06-24T18:08:00.000-07:00

***I am working on getting the videos to play properly. Of course they play for me but I think that is because I created them and my computer recognizes them. Sorry no one else can enjoy them though. :(

Over the course of the past year Andrew has been working really hard in Advanced Band at school. Towards the end of the year he took part in an All District Music Festival that showcased the top Elementary, Middle, and High School Band students. It was a great performance. I was able to record one of the songs that the Elementary band played, The Marines' Hymn. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I do.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Towards the end of the school year Andrew performed in his first ever private recital. He was pretty excited and according to what he told me he wasn't nervous at all. There were 16 performers total, all ranging in age from as young as 6 all the way up to 18. His Nana, Mr. David, Grandma Blanche, Ginny, and of course Daddy-O and I were there to cheer him on and show our support.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Though he may not hit every note perfectly right we are still very proud of his efforts and willingness to continue stretching himself. This piece was challenging for him, with new techniques and higher notes then he is usually comfortable with. As he learns, he grows and becomes a better musician along the way.

Andrew with his private instructor, Mr. Johansen. *Who ironically was one of my professors in college. He is VERY gifted himself and does an awesome job passing that love of music along to his students.

Another special guest came to listen to Andrew's performance, his school band instructor, Mr. A. This was a surprise to both Dale and I as well. He was there to pass on some very exciting news to Andrew, which of course Mr. Johansen had to give him a lecture about. :)

And the exciting news: Andrew has been one of the 12 out of 400 Elementary Band kids selected to perform in this summers Redlands Bowl production of The Music Man!! There will also be a band made up of a select group of students from the local Middle and High School Bands which he will get to join at the end to play the huge finishing piece. What an excellent honor and opportunity! Andrew, and of course his mom, dad, and extended family, are extremely excited to see him perform on the big stage on July 22, 23, and 24th. He has been practicing REALLY hard each day even though he originally thought he was going to get part of the summer off. He realizes this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and just couldn't pass it up, not even to go to church summer camp, which as he said he could do 6 more summers of his life. So, if you are in the local area, come on out and enjoy a good show with some fun music.

Dale's 41st Birthday

2010-06-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

Today is blog catch-up day... or at least my attempt to catch-up on a few posts that I have been wanting to do for the past MONTH! :(

Dale and the entire family celebrated his 41st birthday on May 16th. Of course he had to work that day so we joined him on his lunch break so we could have some extra time with him.

**He was oh so pleased to put the Burger King crown on and pose for a picture can't you tell. :)

If you were to ask Dale what he would want more then anything else in the world, (besides a HUGE plasma TV) it would be to just spend time with his family.The kids each gave him a gift and made him a card to show him how much they love him. Then we tortured him by making him wear this button that says, "Worlds Greatest Dad!" Deal was he had to wear the button the rest of the night, including when we went out to Dale's favorite restaurant for dinner with my mom and Mr. David to Red Lobster (where of course I took my camera, had it sitting on the table, but never took a single picture. DUH!)After dinner we came back to the house to enjoy some cake and more relaxing.Happy birthday to the best Daddy-O, husband, best friend one could ever ask for or dream of!!

Andrew's 11th Birthday

2010-06-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

On May 27, 2010 we celebrated Andrew's 11th birthday. He has grown-up into such a handsome, fun-loving son. And even though he may be a goofball at times, we are blessed beyond measure to have him as our son.For his birthday we got him a basketball hoop. He was super excited when it showed up in the front of the house one day and could not wait to try it out.Daddy and him have been getting in some pretty good one-on-one time, all while dodging Alexis and Aiden who are running around beneath them.

In keeping with the whole basketball theme of the birthday I attempted to make him a basketball birthday cake. I wish that it could have been more ball like in shape and have since learned how I could have achieved that look. Overall I was pretty pleased with how it turned out, though it was certainly a labor of love. Thankfully our teeth were not stained orange and black too bad.

Happy BirthdayAndrew!! May you have many more birthdays! Thank you for being such an awesome, compassionate, helpful, hilarious, tenderhearted son. I love you more!

Week Long Birthday Celebration

2010-03-07T14:07:00.000-08:00

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY,

AIDEN!!!

It is so hard for me to believe that just 2 short years ago you were born into your daddy and I's arms at home on March 3rd at 11:18 a.m., weighing 9lbs 7 oz and 21 in long. The whirlwind of activity surrounding your birth is still etched in my mind as if it happened yesterday.

And today you are this rowdy, loving, crazy at times, cuddly, life of the party 2 year old, who has taught me so much and continues to do the same each day.

A one day celebration for such a party guy would not do, so we had a week long celebration instead. It all started with an impromptu cake/party with Nana and Mr. David the Saturday before your birthday. You weren't quiet sure what to think while everyone sang to you but seemed to enjoy it by the time we finished the song. You tried really hard to blow out the candles by yourself, but in order to save the cake from the flying spit, Daddy decided to help you out a little.

On the actual day of your birthday you seemed a little melancholy, as was I, mourning the loss of my little baby, who was now a big boy. I know you haven't been a baby for a long time, but something about you turning 2 just sealed the deal.

You have really been into The Cars movie, anything that has to do with Lightening McQueen, or just cars in general. You would wear these socks EVERY day if I would let you (and I often do).

Whenever I pull out the camera now you have one of two responses; either a total cheesy smile or you try to act all shy and pull your shirt up to hide. Today was a shy day, but I couldn't resist a picture of your cute belly anyways.

You have also started wanting to help me in the kitchen. This is not something I like to encourage because each task then takes me four times longer to complete. If you hear me pulling out a pan, loading the dishwasher, or rifling through the silverware, you often come running from whatever room you are in to see if you can get your hands in there to help out. Here you are pulling out a new container of apple juice since you were all out of juice in the fridge. You have just become so independent at times.
Daddy and I just sit back and laugh at how you will help yourself when you want something bad enough. If you want a refill on your drink you will often bring us your cup, the container of juice, and start saying, "peas!" Hard to resist that big cheesy smile that comes along with the please.

On Wednesday, your actual birthday, we celebrated with a small cookie since we knew we would be having cake again on the weekend. You were actually able to blow out one of the candles this time by yourself, but Daddy helped you with the second one because you kept getting super close to them with your face in order to blow it out.
You are my little cookie monster and REALLY enjoyed every last crumb!
Other then The Cars movie, you are also a major Toy Story fan. Buzz Lightyear pjs and Buzz baseball hat (not pictured) were a major birthday present hit. You are so easy to please and I am cherishing these simple times because I know those days will not last forever.

On Saturday we had our third, and final, celebration for your birthday. I attempted to make you a Blue's Clues paw print cake since you are a HUGE fan of Blue's Clues. The biggest compliment came from you when you loudly exclaimed, "A COO A COO!!!" when you first saw it (Translation: A clue, a clue!) If you could tell what it was from looking at it then it was a success in my mind. To finish off the birthday week long celebration I took you to get your 2 year old portraits taken today. You did a great job! Were a ham as always!! Made everyone in the place stop and take notice of you! and then walked away with a look on your face as if to say, "Mission Accomplished!"

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY,

AIDEN!!!!

***Current updated weight/height stats and list of can-dos to follow later this week after his doctor's appointment on Thurs.***

*****To view his 1 year old picture and the video I made about his birth, go here.*****

Ken Aiden and Barbie; Single Mom Tuesdays

2010-02-10T10:49:00.000-08:00

Aiden has a thing for Alexis' Barbie cars. It has gotten to the point that Alexis doesn't even try to claim them as her's anymore and has just resigned to the fact that they live in his room now. He loves to race them up and down the hall and crash them into each other. But his favorite thing to do is..... climb in and try to 'drive' the car around, of course all while looking so cool with his sunglasses on upside down.

And then there is this look when he finally realizes that I am taking his picture.... "CHEESE!"

Of course Andrew plays so nicely with his brother and was only doing this because it was keeping Aiden happy to have a playmate, not because he too is a silly guy.

When Andrew's not trying to fit all 65lbs of his 10 1/2 yr old body into a Barbie car he can usually be found curled up on the couch or in his bed reading a book. Oh the good 'ol days of being able to sit around and read for hours on end and finish novel after novel. To be young again.

Of course no post would be complete without a cute picture of my Little Miss. Recently whenever I get the camera she wants to pose for the camera. I keep asking her if her neck is broken because this is what she comes up with: neck totally cocked to the left practically touching her shoulder. I shouldn't complain, at least she is looking at the camera and not some shifty eyes off to the side somewhere.

And my boys, minus their Barbie cars, are sharing a moment on the couch. Only Aiden can steal Andrew's hat without serious consequences. Anyone else would have their hand chopped off if they tried to touch his hat. That $1.00 Christmas gift has not left his head longer then one laundry cycle when I couldn't handle looking at it on his head anymore. Sometimes I question whether Andrew has blue hair or black hair anymore.

He does take it off to shower, and when he did take it off Sunday night to take a shower, he left it laying on the counter. I had specifically warned him about picking up after himself (something we have been working on), so I was not pleased to find his things still litering the bathroom floor an hour later. I promptly cleaned the place up and found a "home" for the hat. He was lost without his hat come Monday morning and didn't know what to do. Dale and I agreed that it would be returned to him later that afternoon. I think the message hit home because there has been no more liter left laying around. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to shower with his hat on tonight so I couldn't get my hands on it.

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Tuesdays are tough for me. That is the day that Dale normally has to work late duty, which means he goes into work from 10-7, leaving at 8:45 and doesn't get home til 8. I feel like a single mom on those days. I still get up at the normal time (6:15) to get the kids ready for school, all the while letting Dale sleep in as long as possible since I know he only gets this day and one other day to do so each week. He usually gets up 15 mins. before the kids head out to school to spend some time with them and then him and I (and Aiden) get about 45 mins. together before he is out the door for his late duty. The morning goes as normal with Aiden, pick up of Alexis at 11:15 is normal, but then it all falls apart from there. Normally Andrew comes home at 2, but on Tuesdays he also has 'late duty,' or after-school band, so he doesn't get home till after 4:00. Having Andrew's extra two entertaining/helping hands at 2:00 are greatly missed when he is not there those two hours. So, to add that to Daddy' late duty day just sends me into a tailspin of tears by the end of the night. Dale usually gets home at 4 and can spend time with the kids while I start/finish up dinner. He is also there to help with after dinner clean-up, bathtime, bedtime routine and everything else that makes a household tick. On Tuesdays he usually pulls into the driveway in just enough time to kiss the kids goodnight before they close their eyes. I know this one late duty a week is unavoidable, and Tuesdays is the only time it works for his department, and I need to stop whining because at least he has a job! blah blah blah... but it sucks feeling like a single mom and I just needed to ~~lovingly close~~ slam some cupboard doors closed as I put away dishes and cry it all out last night when he got home (which I am sure he loved coming home to after a long day at work). He and I work so well together with our routine that this one day a week just throws such a monkey wrench in it all. Anyone have any coping strategies on what I can do when I am going it alone? It gets so overwhelming at times and I don't handle it very well.

Misc. Monday

2010-02-08T10:16:00.000-08:00

I have been HORRIBLE at keeping up with my blog in the past 6 months so I won't even begin with excuses on this one as to why I haven't blogged for over a month. I will just jump right in with the misc. pictures and ramblings from the past few weeks.

About a week and a half ago Lexi and Aiden were running up and down the hallway, playing around, and tangled feet as they ran past each other. In that split moment Aiden fell face forward on his sippy cup (I know, I know, he shouldn't be running around with his cup in his hands!) and met the hardwood floors with a huge crash. Before I could run the 5 feet over to pick him up his left eye had already turned purple. He would not calm down for the longest time and wanted no one to even touch him. We thought a bath would do the trick since he LOVES bath time, but even that was a disaster as he screamed the entire time and wouldn't even let Dale come close to him. Eventually he calmed down (about an hour later) and by then the bruise was pretty significant. I didn't think to take a picture that night since it was a pretty traumatic time but here it is about a week later with his new 'cheesy' pose he does everytime I pull out the camera. He still has a little residual yellow/green bruise left 10 days later. Just praying we can keep that face scratch/bruise free for his 2 year old pictures next month. Wish us luck on that one! He is ALL boy. He loves his dirt backyard and BEGS to go out there all day long. I on the other hand can not wait till we have grass so we can be done with tracking in dirt, all the dust that seems to find its way onto my furniture, and the instant baths everytime the kids come back indoors.
Mr. Tim (our landlord) could probably have the yard done a lot faster if he didn't have such eager helpers all the time. Andrew was super jazzed when Mr. Tim let him 'drive' the tractor and help with the backyard. Now he begs to drive it all the time. I just want them to leave him alone so he can get more work done. He is already easily distracted and LOVES to talk, but also loves to get the kids involved by giving them a rake or shovel or having them move rocks around or lay out sprinkler piping. I would REALLY like my yard done SOON and all these little hands seem to be taking forever. :)
Dale's parents were able to come by and see the house last week for the first time. They had a Pastors' Luncheon they had gone to nearby so they stopped by afterwards and spent some time with the kiddos and checked out our new place. The kids were excited to show them their new rooms and give them the grand tour. It was great to see that Grandma was starting to feel much better then the last time we saw her.
For Super Bowl Sunday we played it pretty low-key and stayed put at home to watch the big game. We got a few extra munchies that we normally wouldn't have and Aiden got to try out a few new things, one of which was olives, which he loved and claimed the whole bowl as his own.

It looks as if he is going to share one with me but really he is just showing me his now found favorite food. I think he seriously ate like 10+ olives.He then moved on to tortilla chips. One wouldn't do! It was an entire fist full at a time.What is Super Bowl without some good food? For us it was a few extra munchies and some DELICIOUS New York steaks that Dale cooked to perfection on the grill. And what is Super Bowl without a good game? For us it wasn't THE ideal game since neither one of our teams, Chargers and Cowboys, made it to the big game, but it was a good game since the team we picked (Dale put more thought into his choice then I did, we just happened to pick the same team) to win did indeed win the game.

Well, that is all the misc. thoughts my head can handle for this Monday. I really do hope to post more than once this month but don't hold me to it. :) Hope everyone has a blessed week!

The New View

2010-01-09T13:26:00.000-08:00

Over the past few weeks we have been pretty busy packing and unpacking boxes yet again. We do not intend to make this a yearly occurrence, moving around New Years, but we found ourselves relocating, this time to a bigger and better HOUSE.

We are now in a 4 bedroom, 2 bath house with a HUGE (unfinished) backyard where the kids (and hubs) can do things like this..... and this.....

and find shiny rocks like this.....

and ride their scooters around on the large patio like this.... (and doesn't everyone have a tractor and trailer in the middle of their backyard?)
The yard is obviously a work in progress but the inside was ready for us to move-in at the most perfect time since the kids were off for Christmas break and I wouldn't have to worry about getting them back and forth to school and dealing with juggling that schedule while moving the household.

Aiden LOVES his new room, though he is having to adjust to going to bed by himself. When he wakes up alone he gets a little disoriented and often ends up upset and wandering trying to find where we are at. Andrew is LOVING the fact that his toys have been separated from Aiden's and he hasn't once had to clean up a Lego catastrophe. Alexis LOVES the mirrored closet doors and will love them even more when the boxes are cleared out from in front of them so she can dance around.

*Thank-you Auntie Charity for passing down this fun busy block that has already provided HOURS of fun*

My favorite room in the house is the kitchen. I am no super cook by any stretch of the imagination, but I do enjoy making things for my family. Though the kitchen is SUPER narrow (read: one way street), the cabinets are VERY well thought out (a friend who was helping us move in said that our landlord must be a man trapped in a woman's body when he designed the cabinets because he thought of EVERYTHING). There are tons of uppers and lowers and a HUGE pantry with drawers so I won't loose another can of anything in the back.

With so many places to put things I set out on the task of putting everything away. First I laid it all out on the top of the counters and organized it in like groupings.

By the time I was finished the counter tops looked like this again.....

and my pantry looked like this...... Alexis and Aiden were my SUPER helpers who brought me cans from off the counters to make my job go A LOT faster.

And of course my kitchen would not be complete without my alligator. This salt shaker was once my dad's and now takes up residence in whatever kitchen I am in as a daily reminder of my dad. (I believe my sister Charity has the other half.) Aiden sees that alligator and says, "Papa" and then I give it to him and he gives it a kiss. Mind you Aiden never knew his papa since Papa passed away in 2002 but he will always hold a place in our hearts and in my kitchen.
Our first meal in the new house was generously brought over by our church family and from the kids faces it was a hit!!! SPAGHETTI!!!

I am sure there will be many more great meals in this wonderful new home, just hopefully not as messy as that one was.

Here is to a great 2010, getting settled in, and staying put for a LONG time!!!!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-06T14:39:00.001-08:00

For Christmas this year "Santa" went a little hi-tech for the two older kiddos. Andrew has been wanting a Nintendo DS for the past few years but his mama is not a big fan of game systems because she sees too many kiddos in the school systems who veg out and have no imagination of their own due to hours and hours and hours spent just staring at a video game. After much pleading and begging she finally gave permission for a DS to be included in a letter to Santa. Andrew was SUPER excited to find his DS under the tree, knowing of course that it comes with conditions and restrictions for length of play time and age appropriate games and blah, blah, blah. :) Who cares he says, as long as he has one now.Alexis didn't even have a Leapster on her radar but we knew that if Andrew had a DS she would be wanting to play with it and the fight would begin. The princess leapster seemed to be the perfect fit for her and she has loved playing with it. It has been a lifesaver during the past few days while I have needed some peace to get things done for the move.

Daddy helped her get going and now she is the Leapster pro.

Aiden's favorite character is Elmo. We took him with us when we went Christmas shopping, knowing this is the last year that is going to be possible. We pulled out a few different toys, handed them to him, checked for his reaction and this toy got the best reaction by far. We almost couldn't get it away from him without a major melt down in the store. Of course by the time we got a few aisles away he had forgotten all about it. Christmas morning's reaction was no different. HE LOVES IT!!
His second favorite toy: a SUPER cheap (read: broken by Saturday) plastic trumpet. He always wants to be just like his big brother when Andrew is playing his trumpet. For the $2 we spent on this it was well worth the enjoyment he had while it lasted all of a few hours.And then there was this picture that my mom took. Who could resist those adorable eyes and huge dimples? (Gotta love our fake fireplace on the TV in the background).

Christmas for me is all about the huge smiles on my kiddos faces at the end of the day. For each of them I am truly blessed.

Christmas Eve 2009

2010-01-06T13:44:00.001-08:00

It is a tradition in our family to open a family gift on Christmas Eve. When it came time to open the gift after dinner Aiden decided he wanted to throw one of his fits, so he is doing that in the background while Andrew and Alexis wait to find out what family gift they got. This year we got the Toy Story Mania Wii game!!! The kids (and mommy and daddy) were super excited to get this game and played it for a long while before heading to bed.

Though the tree and decorations were super muted this year due to yet another move, the family's enthusiasm and Christmas spirit were not.

Howse Gingerbread House 2009

2010-01-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

The kids had been asking each time we went to the store if we could buy a gingerbread house kit. I gave in and bought one and then decided to brave making it with them on Dale's day off, Monday, Dec 21st. The kids had a hard time being patient while Dale and I tried to piece it together and wait for it to harden as a house. After dinner that night Andrew, Alexis and I set off on the task of decorating the house. It was messy, it was chaotic, but it was F-U-N!

Here is the finished product. Front view: Side view:

Other side:

Back view:

Not so sure if I will make this a yearly event but I do know that the kids and I had a wonderful (and messy) time doing it.

Hide 'N Go Seek

2010-01-06T13:28:00.000-08:00

WHERE'S AIDEN? HIDING IN THE EMPTY TOY CABINET!!!!
Since the toys had all been packed up for the move Aiden thought this cabinet was the perfect place to hide from mom and dad when it was time to go to bed. He is such a character and always makes us laugh with his funny ways.

Hi-tech Christmas Card 2009

2009-12-24T12:57:00.000-08:00

Since life has gotten the best of me and time has run out for the real thing to be sent out before Christmas, I have decided to send our card out the hi-tech way.

So without further ado, here it is:

2009 Summary:

This year found things crazy, busy as usual. We are planning for yet another move in the midst of this busy season and are really excited to be getting into a 4 bedroom house. It will be nice for the kids to each have their own space. I know Andrew is really looking forward to having his legos in one piece instead of worrying about Aiden's destructive hands on them all the time. Dale and I are looking forward to unpacking and staying put for a while in this newly remodeled, beautiful home.

Aiden has grown like crazy over the past year and it is hard to believe that he will soon be two years old. He has just recently started talking a lot more and really cracks us up all the time with the funny things he says and does. He just learned to say pretty when he sees Christmas lights, except it sounds more like "pity." He is also THE best hugger. There is nothing better then a huge bear hug from my little dude first thing in the morning. He has had a pretty uneventful medical year, but it looks like there will be a surgery of some sort in his future for 2010. More details to come when more is known.

Alexis started Kindergarten this fall and LOVES it. She is excelling at school and really has great enthusiasm for reading everything she gets her hands on. She also started gymnastics at the beginning of the school year and loves going to her weekly lesson. We were hoping that this would give her an outlet for her energy but so far her energy seems to be endless.

Andrew is now in 5th grade. It is so hard for me to accept that he will be going into Middle School next year. He is still a good student, super reader, and now adds to that list the title of awesome trumpet player. This year alone he has played in four different performances, in one of those concerts he had the trumpet solo for being the top trumpet player in all of elementary band for our district. He did a great job and "owned it" as his director says. He continues to be our little comedian and often keeps Dale and I in stitches with his witty sense of humor. I hope he never looses that light hearted attitude about life.

Dale is still working in Palm Springs for Stater Bros. He and I both are hoping he will get moved closer to home in the coming year so he won't have such a long commute. I have been subbing quite a bit this year at the kids' school. There are times I wonder why I am working so many days at sub rate instead of getting a full time teaching position, but then I am reminded how much I am needed at home as a mom. I truly enjoy being a stay at home mom who is also able to work on my own schedule.

We all hope and pray that you and your entire family will have a wonderful Christmas and an extremly blessed year in 2010!

He "Owned It!"

2009-12-16T10:28:00.000-08:00

This year in Elementary School Band, Andrew is playing in the Advanced Band. He was chosen out of all of the district trumpet players to have the only trumpet solo at the Christmas performance. And as his director says, "He owned it!" When I asked him before the performance if he was nervous he said he was a little, but more excited. The whole group played a medley of Christmas songs with solos being played inbetween each song by Andrew on trumpet, a trombone, clarinet, saxophone, and flute (another kiddo from Andrew's school).

I was thankful that Andrew's solo was first because I was so nervous for him. I knew he would do a great job but I just wanted it to be over with so I could sit back, breath and enjoy the rest of the program.

The kids gave a great performance and brought the crowd to their feet. You could really tell the kids enjoyed what they were doing.

We were glad that Andrew's grandma and grandpa were able to come and enjoy watching the concert with us. I am sure this will not be the last great concert we will enjoy of Andrew's and hopefully not the last solo that he will "own!"

Walk a Mile In My Shoes

2009-12-16T10:20:00.000-08:00

Aiden has this recent fetish with wearing everyone's shoes. If you leave your shoes out long enough Aiden will have stolen them and be clomping down the hallway.It is the funniest thing to watch him try and walk around in shoes that are a million times too big for him. He just loves his daddy and mama's shoes!
Future shoe salesman? Future runner? Time will tell. In the mean time, Aiden is trying to figure out what it is like walking a mile in my shoes.

Craniofacial Team Appt. 2009

2009-12-16T09:02:00.000-08:00

On Monday Aiden had his annual craniofacial team appointment. This appointment was like all the others in the fact that I didn't find out about it being scheduled till the week before. It was then time to scramble to find a sitter and someone to go with me. My niece, Candace, came over to watch the older two kiddos so they wouldn't have to be bored to death at the LONG appointment. Dale was not able to take the day off so my mom offered to go with me. I told Dale after I got home that he has been replaced and that I would be taking my mom with my on all future team appointments. She did an awesome job playing the part of secretary, writing down everything; baby soother by putting him to sleep between doctors leaving and entering the room; question reminder, I always forget what I want to ask once I get there even if I have written it down; and lastly, my sanity saver by giving me some adult conversation while we waited and waited.

First up was Dr. E. He is the general pediatric doctor who oversees the team. He did a complete exam on Aiden and seemed overall impressed. He did say that his tube in his right ear is in the canal so it is no longer serving it's function and will continue to work itself out. The left ear was slightly clogged but still in place. He suggested we make an appointment with the ENT (who of course was not there since he comes every other week). He would like his hearing and pressure checked just to make sure he is still on track. We will consider a tube replacement if those tests do not come back clear, otherwise it is a wait and see, hoping to avoid repeat ear infections.

Next up was speech. Of course Aiden doesn't like to perform when asked to, so that left it up to mama to relay what he is capable of doing. He did inadvertently show his ability and she gave him clearance in that area. She does want to see him again in 6-9 months instead of waiting for next year's team meeting since this is such a pivital time for speech. She gave me a few handouts of things to work on at home, which seem to be all the things we already do in every day life. I do need to get better at reading to him. I read ALL the time with Andrew, little less with Alexis and now even less with Aiden due to time. That is something I want to get better at so I can help build that love of reading in him that his big brother and sister have.

The dentist followed right behind the speech pathologist. I was especially interested in our conversation with the dentist since we have been concerned about Aiden's "hidden" teeth. I showed her the x-ray and letter that we had gotten from our regular pediatric dentist and then she did her own exam on him, confirming what our dentist had recommended. She then made sure that the oral surgeon was added to our list of people to see that day. She feels that the wait and see approach is probably not the best solution, but rather that something needs to be done to "expose" the teeth. The problem is trying to avoid creating more scar tissue that could get in the way of successful future surgeries, like a bone graph to the gumline.

The oral surgeon entered the room moments after the dentist left (so far this looked like it was going to be a quick team appointment, boy did I jinx it!) The surgeon did his exam, read the letter, and looked over the x-ray and seemed to echo what we had already heard. He recommended we make an appointment with his office for a more complete evaluation so a plan for surgery could be made.

The only doctor left on the list was Dr. M, plastic surgeon, and a social visit with Dr. Garcia, his orthodontist when he was doing the NAM as an infant. We waited a super long time, Aiden took a nap, mom and I talked about anything and everything, and then waited some more. I finally popped my head out of the room to see what was going on, only to be told that Dr. M. had just shown up at 3:30 and had to get to all the rooms that had been waiting, just like us, since 1:00. That man does great work, but WOW!?!, his sense of time is way off. In the meantime we had a great time catching up with Dr. Garcia, seeing pictures of her 6 month old little guy, loving on Aiden (who was groggy from his nana nap), and chatting about all that has happened in the past year. She will forever hold a special place in my heart for all she has done from Aiden and my family. I have never met a more caring, sincere doctor in my life, and feel blessed that she has been a part of Aiden's team.

After she left we waited some more for Dr. M. At this point Aiden was done and just wanted to GO, GO, GO! He was done waiting, done being looked at, done opening his mouth for anyone, and just wanted out. Thankfully, right when all was about to break loose, Dr. M. entered the room. He did a quick look and then seemed to be heading for the door. I stopped him in his tracks and told him I wanted to discuss Aiden's "hidden" teeth, what the others had suggested, show him the x-ray and try to get a clearer answer to our options for Aiden. (My hope was to accomplish all of this so we could cancel next weeks appointment in his office, where no doubt we would have waited a LONG time again! Mission accomplished!) He closed the door, washed his hands, and got down to business. He did agree that something should be done, but wasn't sure which approach would be best without causing problems for the future. He said he would discuss it with the team and should have an answer for us when I call on Monday.

So, after waiting a total of 3 1/2 hours to see 6 doctors, we now wait a few more days to find out Aiden's fate. Will he have a simple exposure procedure done in the dental chair with just numbing? Will he have a slightly more complicated surgery, where they will put him under? Will he have a graphing done to the gumline, which would be even more complicated? I guess (and hope!) we will find out on Monday so we will know which direction 2010 will take us. I know that no matter what decision is made, he will be a super trooper through it all!

Teeth, Teeth Everywhere!!

2009-12-07T10:47:00.000-08:00

We seem to be in a season of hurting teeth, loose teeth, and crazy teeth these days. Alexis's front teeth have been bugging her for a while and I think it is just because her big teeth are beginning to push on the roots of her baby teeth. They are not wiggly yet, but I am sure it won't be much longer before she has a toothless grin.

Andrew on the other hand is still loosing teeth at a steady pace. The most recent loss was a bottom canine tooth. It was SUPER wiggly that he could actually push it sideways with his tongue. It got to the point that he couldn't bite down on anything on that side so I decided it better come out sooner then later to prevent swallowing it. He loved pushing that tooth straight out and freaking his sister out (and mommy for that matter). After lots of coaching, coaxing, and a few tears from anxiety, the tooth was pulled. Then came the tooth fairy negotiations. "Do you think she would be willing to give me a lego set since it was so painful?" Uh, no! "Well, then don't you think it is at least worth $5?" Uh, no!! The tooth fairy gave a fair price for that clean, shiny tooth - $1.

Aiden on the other hand doesn't have hurting teeth or loose tooth, but rather crazy teeth. I knew to expect craziness when he was born with a cleft, but seeing the x-ray put crazy into a whole new perspective. Aiden is such a trooper and did a great job at the dentist. He sat so patiently in the chair and allowed the assistant to clean his teeth, even asking her to do it again. He sat great for his x-ray, even sitting a second time since the tech didn't get the film in the right location for the spot the dentist wanted to see. And then, he patiently let the dentist poke and probe in his mouth without too much resistance.

And this is the x-ray! This is of the front top teeth. You can see how crooked they are, how crazy they are coming in, and even some tooth fragments that will never be 'real' teeth but will have to be dealt with somehow. The cleft is still pretty significant the dentist said, so he highly doubts we avoided the bone graft surgery by using the NAM. Time will have to wait and tell us if that is the case or not.

Dale and I have had some concerns about two of his teeth (his left front teeth and one tooth on the left side in the back of his mouth) that have cut through the gum line but are still hidden by soft tissue. Our plastic surgereon wants to take a more laid back, wait and see approach, but after talking to our dentist I am not so sure that is the best route to take. He explained that the soft tissue covering his front tooth is lip tissue. When connected to the gum line it was attached lower then what ours is so the tooth came out the path of least resistance. The only reason to leave it the way it currently is, is to prevent a cavity, but the reasons to expose it are numerous. Though Dale and I were concerned about the front tooth he was more concerned about the long term effects of leaving the back tooth alone. The soft tissue that is covering that tooth is actually cheek tissue. Because that tooth is covered, Aiden prefers to chew everything on the other side so he can break it down. After all, who would want to bite down on your cheek all the time? In the long run that one sided chewing could cause jaw problems. He STRONGLY suggested we have both teeth exposed, which from what he explained to us will not be a simple slit the tissue procedure, but yet a rather extensive reconstructive surgery similar to the initial palate surgery and recovery.

I have asked for the dentist to write up his findings so I can take that synopsis and a copy of the x-ray to Aiden's craniofacial appointment next Monday and to his plastic surgeon the following Monday if he isn't at the team meeting (which he rarely seems to be when we go... whole other story). The dentist feels so strongly about him having use of those teeth that he has suggested we find an oral surgeon who is willing to do the surgery if our plastic surgeon refuses. Dale and I feel so strongly about doing what is right for Aiden and all along have not felt in our gut that leaving it alone was the right thing to do but did not have the expertise to back those feelings up. I am really praying that the surgeon will be open to hearing what someone else thinks and consider helping him out. I am also praying that Dale and I will know exactly what to do when the time comes. I am not looking forward to another surgery, but guess that I have always known that this was a possibility.

We should know more in a week or two and then it will be decision time. In the meantime, it is teeth, teeth everywhere in this house.

Crazy Excitement on Maderia

2009-12-07T10:27:00.001-08:00

One Saturday morning not too long ago the kids were quietly enjoying their Saturday morning cartoons when all of the sudden we heard this big pop and then the power went down. I heard some commotion coming from the back of our condo so I peeped my head out and saw that a power line had come down in the yard across the street from us. What I didn't find out 'til a little while later was that a tree trimmer had knocked the line down with his bucket and was dangling from his safety harness behind this palm tree.

Safety crews worked quickly to get the area secured and then began to run a ladder up to the man who had been dangling upside down for about 20 mins at this point.

They were able to get him down safely and he didn't seem to have any major injuries, besides a huge bruised ego from everyone in the neighborhood watching him dangle from the work bucket.

The kids on the other hand just wanted to know when their electricity would be turned back on since this is the only morning of the week they get to watch cartoons. It was two hours later, 5 packed boxes, two cleaned rooms, and one consummed lunch later till the electricity resumed and cartoons could commense.

That was enough excitement on Maderia to last me a very long time.

Howse Family Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-07T09:55:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving this year we went out to Palm Springs to spend the day at Dale's Mom and Dad's house. The kids' Auntie Deana, Uncle Anthony, Auntie Dawn and Uncle Ralph joined us there as well. The kids were so excited they made sure they were up bright and early that morning and must have asked me a million times if it was time to go yet.

After a crazy drive on the 10 freeway, we arrived and the kids were ready to hit the ground running. Aiden just wanted to go, go, go, which is now his favorite word.

A favorite thing to go at Grandma and Grandpa's house is to play on their exercise equipment. Even Aiden wanted to get in on the action this time.

Andrew can burn some serious calories in no time. Not that he has any calories to spare.

The kids and I made place cards for the dinner table. Alexis had the most fun coloring them and then placing them on the table.
The kids' Uncle Ralph has enough energy to keep up with all three kids. Aiden loved being attacked by his kisses,

learning how to wrestle,

and having Uncle Ralph do repeated push-ups over top of him. He giggled the entire time.

Of course after all that exercising and giggling he had to get some snuggle time with Auntie Deana.

And then it was back up for some airplane time with Auntie Dawn.

Most times when we go to Grandma and Grandpa's house, Aiden is a little stand-offish with Grandpa since he doesn't see him often enough. This time that was not the case. He went right to Grandpa and snuggled with him. He even cried when he would leave the room to do something else.

The kids were pretty bummed when the day came to a close and they had to say goodbye to everyone. We sure wish we could be around family more often.

Uncle Anthony, Auntie Deana and kiddos.

Uncle Ralph, Auntie Dawn and kiddos.

Grandma, Grandpa, and kiddos

We have so much to be thankful, family being one of the most important. HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2009!!

My Amazing Trumpet Player

2009-12-07T09:23:00.001-08:00

Andrew's trumpet playing has flourished, and he has had a few opportunities to perform in the past months, enjoying every moment of it.

In November he played in the church Talent Show. He did an awesome job!!!
Every time we go out to Grandma and Grandpa's house we seem to forget to bring the trumpet. They have been wanting to hear him play for some time now, so we made it a point to pack the trumpet first thing for our trip to their house for Thanksgiving dinner. After we dined on turkey and all the fixings, we were entertained by this absolutely wonderful trumpet player. Dale's family really seemed to enjoy hearing him play in person.
Andrew had yet another chance to perform this past Saturday for our town Christmas parade. He performed with all the local elementary band students, which has over 400 students. Here are a few of his fellow trumpet buddies from his school, all warmed up and ready to go.

Andrew said that when they passed by the judging station the judges gave them a standing ovation. They sounded great and all seemed to enjoy their first collective performance, even if their legs were tired from marching a mile and a half.

Andrew's band instructor, Mr. A., has such patience to deal with so many kids at one time. He really has a heart for music and has passed that passion on to Andrew.

Once they hit the end of the parade route, the students gave the parents a short concert. Since I can never find him amongst all the orange shirts while they are marching I made sure to get a few pictures while he was standing still.

We are so very proud of our awesome trumpet player. He has another Advanced Band Christmas concert on the 15th, where he will have a solo, and we are waiting to hear this week if he made Honor Band. He has such natural talent and loves to perform whenever he can.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-11T21:00:00.000-08:00

This picture is perfect for Wordless Wednesday because there are no words to explain this get up Aiden put together with the help of his sister. Enjoy a good laugh compliments of Aiden. :)

Halloween 2009: Invasion of Star Wars

2009-11-01T07:17:00.001-08:00

This year we decided to go with a theme for all three kiddos. Daddy and the kiddos are major Star Wars fans, so we stuck with that theme. Introducing Andrew as Darth Vader, Alexis as Princess Leia, and Aiden as Yoda.

The kids had been asking since noon if it was time to go. Alexis couldn 't grasp the concept that it had to be dark before we could head out. She sat in front of the clock and watched every minute tick by. When it was time to go they were the first at the door. Aiden couldn't understand why his bucket was empty. That would all change before the night was over.

We met up at Mrs. T's house (Aiden's sitter on the days I sub) so we could walk the neighborhood with her family and a few other friends. In all we had 20 people walking together. That was too many if you ask me because it was pretty hard to stay together and not be tripping over each other at the same time.

Daddy and I took turns walking him up to the doors and reminding him to say "Thank you!" My friend's daughter, Katee, helped him walk up to the door as well, which gave Dale and I a nice break to sit back and watch the action instead of having to be all up in it.

Little Yoda's legs were tired. Thankfully Daddy came to the rescue and carried him from house to house. He even said 'Trick or Treat' at a few houses. When we reminded him to say thank you at the last few house he just said, "NO!" He was definitely done and wanted to go home.

Once we got home we dumped all the candy on the living room floor for mommy and daddy to inspect and for the kids to pick out their 10 pieces of candy to keep. Aiden couldn't get his hands on enough candy and kept dropping them and starting over to see if he could get more with a different approach.

Before we knew it he had decided he wanted a sucker and had helped himself.

Before the night was over we had to see who was the cutest Princess Leia.

First up: Daddy Leia

Andrew Leia

Aiden Leia

And the winner: Princess Alexis Leia
(Somehow the picture of Mommy Leia never made it to the blog. Wonder how that happened?)

Around our house we have a new tradition: The Switch Witch. The SW, after being invited by the kids, exchanges their candy, minus the 10 pieces she lets them keep, for something non-candy. If they have not been good then the Gobbling Goblin gobbles up all their candy and leaves them nothing. After the kids were snuggling in their beds, the Switch Witch made her appearance. She left them this little note and flew away in the midnight sky with their candy in exchange.

I am thankful that I will not have to hear the begging for candy for days on end, and I am looking forward to taking them to Toys 'R Us to spend their gift card this week.

We are now looking foward to a very thank filled November.

Pumpkin Patch/Farm Visit

2009-10-24T08:33:00.000-07:00

Most families have a favorite place that they go to each year to find their pumpkins. Us on the other hand, have yet to find that favorite place. Until now that is. In the past we have gone to the grocery store, produce market, commercialized/bouncy house/crazy pumpkin patch in order to find the perfect (overpriced!!) pumpkins. This year we decided to give the local Greenspot Farm our business. And we were impressed.

Aiden was immediately drawn to the animals, most of which he had only ever seen on his Baby Einstein Farm video. That kid has no fear! Walking right up, nose to nose with each of the animals. I think he liked the goats more then they liked him because he kept trying to ~~pet~~ smack them through the fencing, all while using his new shrill voice. Next, we went to see the rather lazy llama. Again Aiden wanted to climb in with her and had to be held back by Daddy.

This llama had the coolest eyes. One brown....and one blue.

About the only way to contain this wild man was to make him immobile on Daddy's shoulders. This kid has no fear and seems to want to conquer the world in one afternoon.

Alexis didn't particularly care for the wonderful smell that permeated the farm air. Not sure I blame her for that one, it was pretty pungent.

The horse was our next stop. He was of course more interested in his dinner and never even looked up once while we were trying to check him out.

Alexis was excited to see her favorite animal: a bunny! She of course had to reminded me multiple times that she is allergic to them and did not want to pet them.

Aiden tried to climb into the pig pen. I guess he felt like he was at home in his own pig pen of a room at times.

This guy on the other hand Aiden wouldn't even come close to. Not sure if it was the tusks (is that what they are?) or the weird, misshapened toe. He wasn't the cutest animal on the farm that is for sure.

Last on the animal excursion was the very ~~likeable~~ lickable cow. If you got within 5 feet of this guy he would stick his tongue out and try to lick you. I almost got a very slobber kiss from him before we figured this out. Aiden really enjoyed 'talking' to the cow.

Our next stop was the actual pumpkin patch, the real reason why we came here to begin with. Of course I forced the kids to sit for a minute while I took the annual pumpkin patch photo. Can you tell Andrew and Alexis are SO over the whole photo thing? At least Aiden seemed excited.

After we picked out three (inexpensive I might add) pumpkins we were on our way to the car. Aiden was super fascinated with the old tractor, or was he just trying to figure out what the guy was doing on the tractor. He kept pointing as if he was asking to go on a ride.

Daddy and Andrew loaded up the pumpkins in the car and we headed home to decorate them.I am so not the type that likes carving pumpkins, dealing with knives around kids, and pulling out stringy, seedy pumpkin guts. So, a few years back I came across these nifty pumpkin kits and HAD to have them.

The pieces are like Mr. Potato Head parts that you poke into the pumpkin. No carving, no degutting, clean and simple decorating. I LOVE IT! Andrew is the vampire, Alexis is the princess, and Aiden is the clown. In the past Daddy and I have decorated a pumpkin as well, as a pirate and a witch, but this year's space issue only allowed for three pumpkins to be displayed on our porch. And as if they aren't the cutest things, they are also very educational for Aiden. Everytime we come and go from the house he has to point out the eyes, nose, mouth and ears on each of the pumpkins. That beats him poking my eye out all the time to point mine out, or trying to pick my nose.

What Happens when Kids are Unsupervised?

2009-10-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

I know I am the only mommy out there that does not follow my kids around all day long and watch their every move. During these unsupervised times, like times when I HAVE to go pee or switch the laundry around, Aiden always seems to find something to do.

A few weeks ago I made a yummy batch of brownies as a suprise for Dale. I had pulled it out of the oven and placed it on the table to cool. Not remembering that my little guy is a proficient climber and that the temptation of brownies would be too much for him, I left the room to visit the lady's room. When I returned, this is what I found...... Clear sign that my little guy had helped himself to some brownies and then fled the scene of the crime, hoping to not be caught. Not that the brown gooey stuff all under his fingernails and all over his face wouldn't have given him away a few moments later.

He also has this new found fascination with the Cars movie. He likes to carry it around with him wherever he is at in the house. He has either the movie or a car replica in his hands at all times. So, during one of my bathroom trips (sounds like all I do is go pee around here), I returned to find this sweet, innocent, little boy swimming in movies.He had pulled out every movie on the bottom shelf in search of the movie of his desires, Cars! With such a cute face like that, how could I be upset about the mess? Instead of scolding him what did I do? Turned the movie on for him of course. He really only likes to watch the first 15 minutes of the movie, the big race.

Speaking of the Cars movie, he was watching the movie on Friday night (no really, he doesn't watch it ALL the time). All of the sudden he disappeared from the room and

returned with his Lightening McQueen car in hand. How cute? Well, REALLY cute, that is until he took the car and started running it around on the race track on the TV screen. Dale practically jumped out of his skin, with vision of his screen being ruined forever.

So moral of the story is: kids will find creative, destructive, annoying, funny things to do whether you watch them like a hawk or leave them unsupervised. Kids will be kids! And you want to be mad at them but can't when you find them like this..... sleeping all curled up next to their big brother, cuddling Scooby the stuffed dog.

Star Wars in Concert

2009-10-12T08:35:00.001-07:00

About two months ago I was half-heartedly watching TV while I messed around in the kitchen unloading the dishwasher when I heard the familiar sounds of Star Wars. I looked up (not because I am a fan but because I thought Aiden had started a movie) and saw an advertisement for Star Wars in Concert. I knew right away that Dale and Andrew HAD to go!

I looked up the info online and sent it directly over to Dale's email with instructions that they would be going and he would not argue with me over the date, late night, or cost of the show. And then the fun began. We told Andrew that he and Daddy would be going on a suprise night out on Oct 2nd, but that he wouldn't find out what they were doing till he got there. For the next two weeks he would try and guess at every opportunity, but never came close to guessing. I knew that never in a million years would he figure it out, unless he saw a commercial (which thankfully he did not).

So the day came and Dale and Andrew were on there way to the Honda Center to enjoy a wonderful night of Star Wars characters, music, and footage from the films.

The symphony did an AWESOME job and it was great for Andrew to see professional musicians in person and encourage his love of playing the trumpet.
Dale and Andrew had a great time and enjoyed every moment, minus getting home around midnight and then Dale having to get up and go to work the next day. It is great when we can make lifetime memories with our children.

One Year Ago Today

2009-10-01T19:12:00.000-07:00

One year ago today we woke up SUPER early, put a VERY sleepy baby and two nervous parents in the car, and drove in SILENCE to the hospital. By the time we made it to the hospital Aiden was all smiles. He had no idea how significant that day, Oct 1, 2008, was going to be in his life. He flirted with the nurses (somethings never change), admired the new toys he was offered to play with, and was mesmerized by the red blinking light on his toe. After a VERY long surgery we got our first glimpse at his new face. I have to tell you there were mixed emotions. It was not love at first sight. It took me a while (not just minutes or hours, but more like days, maybe even weeks) to fall in love with his face again.

Even as he experimented with his new smile through the nose stents, stiches, and bloody drool; I was still very uncertain about what had just happened to my baby.

I LOVED his wide smile!!! I MISSED his wide smile!!! Still today I miss it, but know that what we did was best.

It was a LONG recovery. There were MANY sleepless nights. There were MANY tears, both Aiden's and mommy's. There were (and still are) MANY post-op appointments. And, there were MANY prayers.

And now? It is one year later and it is hard to believe that that much time has transpired since those sleepless, crying, prayerful nights. He struggled with eating, mainly consuming fudge bars and not much more for well over a week. He struggled with gaining control over his pain, staying on pain killers much longer then we had anticipated. And mommy struggled with holding it together as I held him in the wee hours of the night just sobbing and crying out to God. I struggled with seeing him in so much pain and not being able to make it go away. I struggled with knowing that I had willingly handed him over and allowed them to do this to my son. I struggled with the loss of my little one, who seemed to grow up during that very long surgery.

And today? He has THE most infectious smile!!!

He lights up my world! Keeps me busy!! And makes me laugh!!! But most of all he has caused me to fall in love with him all over again!!

He has been through SO much in his short lifetime, but has taught me MORE then one can imagine during that short time. And who could resist a smile like that? I am definitely in love!!!

Reserve Me a Bed at the Looney Bin

2009-09-26T21:03:00.000-07:00

I am sure all of you have already reserved a bed for me at the local looney bin after my last post on the #18. But, it was this comment that got me thinking even more:

Charity Carter said...

Ok, I got one for you. Your name JOY is:

J=10

O=15 +

-----

Y=25

Thank you Charity (my sister) for sharing/feeding into my insanity. So, that comment got me thinking about my kids' names and how their numbers would work out. I was pretty disappointed with Andrew and Alexis' numbers (65 and 70 respectively), but that all lifted once I got to Aiden's name. His equaled....

drum roll please....

(and not it is not 18).....

his number is 33!!

Now you are asking, "why is that so interesting?"

Well, his birthday is 3/3, that's why!!!!!!

And just because the insanity never ends, I decided to count the syllables in my kids' names. Andrew: 4, Alexis: 8, and Aiden: 18 of course, because that is HIS number (or at least was back on Sept. 21st).

Weird Numbers: 18

2009-09-21T08:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have this weird thing for numbers. When I went to bed last night we were talking about how old Aiden is and all the things that he has endured in his short lifetime so far. And then I started doing the math and figured out that today he is 18 months and 18 days old. It is also 2009, which translates to 2x9=18; and 9/21, which translates to 9x2x1=18. Ok, my weirdness is over, but only for the moment. Happy 18th month, 18th day, son. :)

Hide 'N Go Seek

2009-09-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

We woke up this morning to having a leaf bug by our front door (I know that is not his official name). I think the poor little guy was hurt because even though he could move, he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. The kids enjoyed looking at him and marveling at how camouflaged he would be in a tree filled with leaves. Playing Hide 'N Go Seek with those who would want to eat him. Or maybe he thought my big green bag by the front door was his mother ship coming to take him home. Who knows, but the kids enjoyed looking at him upclose and personal.

Later in the day Andrew and Alexis decided they wanted to play Hide 'N Go Seek around the house. I was trying to catch a few zzzz's on the couch and decided they could have free reign since that is a pretty quiet game. They both came up with a few usual hiding places and then started coming to me for suggestions. They hid in the shower, under the beds, behind doors, under the couch cushions, under the end table (that Alexis walked by 11 times before finally spotting Andrew), in the linen closet, in a trash can, in the vacuum closet, but my favorite spot by far had to have been this.....

Andrew was able to fit himself in the bottom shelf of my pots and pans cupboard! I am shocked and amazed at how small he could make himself and even managed to get the door shut. Unfortunately Andrew and I were laughing so hard at the fact that he was in there that it gave it away pretty fast to Alexis.

Even though she found him she still could not believe that he had gotten himself into that small of a compartment. They really did enjoy their 30 minute Hide 'N Go Seek game. And even though Mommy didn't get very much shut eye, I enjoyed every minute of their determination in hiding, and subsequent laughter in being found.

Always Playing Catch-Up

2009-09-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

I have sat down a few times to write a post and end up walking away, uninspired to write anything. Not sure why I am in this funk but I know I need to snap out of it and write a quick recap of the past weeks events since we have had a few things going on.

For Alexis' birthday she got a new bike, and she has been loving this new adventure. Right now she is working on getting the leg strength to even peddle the bike, but daddy has been teaching her a few tricks. She gets the most serious, concentrating look on her face when she is riding.

Aiden loves to join her on his 'bike' but needs to learn to stay out of the way if he doesn't want to get run over.

What is it about boys that makes them instinctively make the 'vroom vroom' noise when they play with cars? He has really started playing alone a lot more and seems to enjoy this reflective time.

Still sticking out that darn tongue every time he concentrates. I worry that one day he is going to bite right through his tongue, just like his mommy did when she was little, and require a mouth full of stitches.

Andrew has a new way to play the trumpet: blindfolded! He likes to challenge himself to memorize his pieces and then he checks his progress by wearing this blindfold to see how he does. He has a great memory! Hoping that at today's lesson he gets passed on some of the songs he has played for a while.

Last Wednesday we sent Andrew off to Catalina Science Camp. It was a very early morning and the other two kiddos did not appreciate having to wake up at 4:30 a.m. They payed me back later in the day by being cranky, all while I was hoping to catch a nap after having been up so early and then having to teach third grade for the day.

Here he is getting ready to leave on the bus. This was such a big day for me. I finally got to see all my hard work come to life in front of me. We worked hard to raise the funds, which was not an easy thing to do, but they made it and I could not have been prouder then at that moment. Well maybe a little bit prouder when they got off the buses on Friday night with HUGE, tired grins. He had an awesome time and really enjoyed kayaking, but not snorkling so much. He had taken a disposible underwater camera with him, but it got stolen when he got sick on the boat ride over to the island. (MAJOR BUMMER for this momma who LOVES pictures, and a big disappointment that someone would do that). I am waiting for a few chaperones to give me copies of their pictures.

Aiden had his 18 month appointment today, two weeks late because I had to reschedule.

THE STATS: weight - 25 1/4 lbs, 25th% (he got to weigh on the big scale today and was so proud); height - 33 inches, 75th%; head - 46 3/4 cm, 25th %

No real big news. He is growing and hitting all developmental milestones as expected. Of course he had to flirt with every nurse there, bat his long eyelashes, ask then for 'five fives', tell them 'tank ew' and then blow them a kiss. Boy am I in trouble!! He did get a few shots and I thought for sure that would guarentee me a longer nap this afternoon, but no such luck. We did talk about the H1N1 shot. Not so sure how I feel about that. So, I would like to see what the other wonderful mommies in blog land think. Leave me a comment on your thoughts: will you get it for your kiddo or will you not and why? I know I am going to be asked again when we take Alexis for her yearly physical in Oct and I would like to be more prepared this time for a discussion.

Aiden's newest passion: COLORING! He loves to sit down at the kitchen table and color with his sister. Now if only I could convince him to 1) not eat the crayons, 2) not throw the crayons, 3) stay on the paper and not my table,

and lastly, to ask his sister for the color he needs instead of walking across my table to help himself.

On FLYbaby news: I have been doing a pretty good job at keeping up with the cleaning program. I seem to excel on days off and fumble a little on the days I have to work. I do love having just one or two loads of laundry a day instead of 6-7 on the weekends, keeping Mount Washmore from taking over my life. I like not killing myself trying to walk into the kids' rooms to check on them in the middle of the night, accomplished with a 5 min. fly time each morning before the kids head out for school. I like waking up to an empty, shining sink instead of one filled with dirty dishes just waiting to be cleaned. I love clean toilets and sparkling mirrors, which are as easy as a swish and sweep each morning once the kids have brushed their teeth. All these little, simple things seem to make my day go by so much smoother. I have even gotten the kiddos trained on clearing, rinsing and loading their dishes RIGHT AWAY! Now if only that same training worked on my hubby and on my mom when she spends her weekends here. :) Baby steps!

Hope everyone has a blessed week!! And, don't forget to leave me your thoughts on the H1N1 shot or about anything for that matter. I love comments. :)

LABOR Day!

2009-09-06T15:51:00.000-07:00

I know that the true meaning of this Labor Day really has nothing to do with laboring moms, but I thought it might be fun to learn a little more about each other.

How long were your labors?
A1, 60+ hours!!!

A2, 0 hours

A3, 14 hours.

How did you know you were in labor?
A1, was sent from a routine 37 week doctor’s appointment straight to the hospital for an induction due to semi-elevated blood pressure.

A2, no labor

A3, after 6 nights of prodromal labor I just wanted to pack my bags and go to the hospital to have the baby cut out of me. That irrational thinking should have been my clue that it was the real thing. But, it took my midwife looking me in the eyes and telling me it was finally the real thing. I don’t think I truly believed her till my water broke all over the bedroom floor..

Where did you deliver?
A1, Kaiser, San Diego
A2, Redlands Community Hospital
A3, at home, in my bedroom, in the water.

Drugs?
A1, every drug in the book since it was an induced labor that lasted FOREVER!
A2, a botched spinal that has left me permanently numb down the side of my left leg.
A3, not a single thing and I love the fact that I felt EVERY moment.

C-section?
A1, I finally signed the form and got wheeled down the hallway after trying my hardest to avoid the cut. If only I would have avoided the induction and just let nature takes it course.
A2, automatic pass to the OR since I didn’t know there was any other way after an initial c-section.

Who delivered?
A1, have no clue what the doctor’s name was. I had seen so many cycle in and out during my 60+ hours of labor that their name really was of no importance to me at the time.
A2, Dr. Vasquez, but I don’t really consider it a delivery since we made an appointment and met in the OR.
A3, DADDY!! and my wonderful midwives, Karen and Ali.
.
If you want to play along, just cut and paste the questions into your own blog, and leave a comment so I know you played along!

And here are the fruits of my labor (because no post is complete without pictures). I wouldn't change a single thing about their labors for they have all made me the who I am today.

September is Craniofacial Acceptance Month

2009-09-02T14:49:00.000-07:00

Being accepted by others is a natural human desire, but it’s not often easy for the 100,000 children born each year in the United States with facial differences. September is Craniofacial Acceptance Month. Please join Children’s Craniofacial Association in their vision that all people are accepted for who they are, not how they look, and realize that beyond the face is a heart.

Please visit: http://www.ccakids.org/

Thank you to all of those in our lives who have supported and encouraged us through Aiden's journey. May my purpose for having gone through Aiden's experience help me to be a source of support and encouragement to others who are also on this path in life. I have met (in real life and through my blog) so many families that have inspired me and lifted me up through their stories. All of that would have never happened had Aiden not been born with his cleft lip and palate. I am truly thankful for the lessons I have learned and I look forward to learning even more in the future.

2009-09-01T07:57:00.000-07:00

HOLY CRAP, AM I REALLY

ANOTHER YEAR OLDER?

(Yes, that is me.)

Check out this post from my sister for my birthday (Warning: lots of old school pics. What was my Mom thinking with those outfits?). Thanks for all the well wishes on my special day.

Happy 5th Birthday Little Miss!

2009-08-30T20:16:00.001-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE MISS!

aka: Alexis, Baby Girl, Girl, A2 or thing 2 when talking in code,

Miss AJ or Juliana when using a stern voice, Lexi, Sister, and many more.

As always Alexis' birthday was a whirlwind of activities. Her birthday celebration started at school on Friday. Mr. Gillotti had the class sing her happy birthday while he stapled a crown to her head. Of course that would cause blood so he kindly took it off before stapling. That brought laughter from all the kiddos.

I had brought cookies and balloons and then had the opportunity to hang out for a while to watch her play with her friends on the playground.

Later that night we went to a minor league 66ers baseball game. Fortunately this game did not drag on like the last one and was actually pretty enjoyable. One of the opposing players even gave her a ball. Dad was super thankful because that took the pressure off of him catching her one like he did at brother's birthday baseball game.

After getting home late that night we had to be up super early to travel down to San Diego to join my family for a birthday celebration at Sea World.

They all had lots of fun at Elmo's Bay of Play, as well as watching a few of the shows.

The birthday celebration continued through today, her actual birthday.

After daddy got home from work she opened her gifts: A Tinkerbell activity pad.

More mixes for her Easy Bake Oven,

A cute pink and purple, butterfly outfit,

A Tinkerbell figurine,

and lastly, a much anticipated new 2 WHEEL BIKE!!!

She didn't have much time at all to enjoy the gifts because we were then jumping in the car and heading to her favorite restaurant.....

Birthday girl enjoying some fun coloring time.

She kept asking the entire meal when they were going to come over and sing to her. Then when they did sing she got all shy and looked like she might cry.

Those feelings all disappeared when she dove into her yummy, chocolate shake.

And since one dessert is never enough, we headed back home to light some candles on the cupcakes she and I had made together earlier in the day. Once again she looked like she wanted to cry when we sang to her.

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY, BABY GIRL!!! MOMMY AND DADDY LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!!

And now after three days of birthday celebration I am ready for a nap..... so I am ready for MY birthday on the 1st! :)

Happy Birthday in Heaven 'D'

2009-08-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Today would have been my brother's birthday. I kept debating if I should do this post or not. I did not write a post for my sister Faith's birthday on the 8th, and neither did I do a post for my sister Charity's birthday on the 16th so why should I do a post for my brother's birthday? Even though it is great to remember my brother, wouldn't it be even greater to remember a person and honor and celebrate them while they are still here? My thoughts are rambled but I am really struggling with how much life seems to focus on a person when they are no longer here instead of really showing them that extreme love and devotion while they are still here to appreciate and receive it.

I miss my brother more then words can express, and even though I loved and appreciated him while he was here on earth, I wish that today I could, even just one more time, show and tell him how much I love him in person instead of having to honor the life that he lived.

Tumbling and Trumpets

2009-08-19T08:22:00.001-07:00

Andrew has really taken off with his trumpet playing and really enjoys music in general. His private instructor had been telling Andrew about a band called Dallas Brass that would be playing at the Redlands Bowl on Tues. Andrew and I marked it on the calendar and made it a date. Much to our surprise we found out that Dallas Brass would be making an appearance at his school on Monday to give a special concert to the students. I took Alexis and Aiden down to the school so they could enjoy the music as well.They showed off each of the instruments and gave a really good performance. Although Alexis doesn't look too happy, she really did enjoy them. Aiden was dancing and wiggling around and was the first to give them a huge round of applause at the end of each song.The crowd favorite: They played the theme song from Pink Panther with their sunglasses on, which the kids went wild for. Shortly after we left the school performance we were on the road to try out Tumble Tots. T.T. is a fun gymnastics center that is geared toward younger kiddos. Alexis' friend had just started going and her mom was telling me all about it. The class sounded just like what we were looking for to give Alexis an outlet for her energy and creativity. Of course since I was running out the door I forgot to grab the camera (Contrary to popular belief, it is not surgically attached to my body.) While at the center I picked up lots of info on their upcoming classes and activities. Much to my surprise they were having a toddler free play time the very next day for only $2/kid. Can't beat cheap!

So, with camera in hand we head back to Tumble Tots on Tuesday for both Alexis and Aiden to play. Thankfully it fit perfectly into our new school schedule for me to pick up Alexis and head straight there.

**Disclaimer: the lighting is awful in the place with super florescent lights so the pictures are not the best by far but help you get the general idea. Even the instructor vented her frustration with the lighting so I know I am not the first mom that was frantically trying to find a setting on my camera that would work, with no success.**

Alexis was the pro since she had been the day before and was eager to show Aiden everything they had to offer.

One of her favorite activities was jumping on the trampoline. She could get a lot of air time and loved doing the splits in midair.

Aiden on the other hand preferred to just sit on the mat and play with the maracas. Go figure, my boy wanting to play with the noise makers.

We finally convinced him to go on the trampoline but he didn't stay long.

Alexis in the meantime was moving from one place to the next. The uneven bars.

To the tumbling mats to do the splits.

Back to the uneven bars to do a flip and so on.Aiden finally got off the mat but never gave up the maracas.

He was in noise maker heaven.
After finally prying them away from him he moved on to making hats out of the various objects around the gym. They were fun to bang together too. Not much tumbling going on for him, but he still had fun nonetheless.He was worn out within 40 mins and ready to go home.

But we stuck it out to the end of the hour long play time for the parachute. He wasn't too sure about shaking the thing wildly and even less sure of running underneath it, but didn't mind climbing on top of it and being spun around by the parents (mind you there was only one other mommy, the instructor and myself there so I got my workout too).

All in all they had a great time at Tumble Tots and Alexis is anxious to start taking classes next Monday and Aiden and mommy are anxious for the next toddler open play time.

*********************************************

Later that night, after the dinner dishes were cleaned and put away (still working on FLYing), Andrew and I got ready to go out on our date to the Redlands Bowl to watch the Dallas Brass performance. He was so funny he even asked me if he could drive us on our date. Maybe in a few years son, but not tonight.

The performance did not start till 8:15, which is already past our bedtime, so we decided we would try to stay till intermission and then head home and straight to bed.

We lasted till intermission, which was a little after 9:00, and the performance was GREAT. My date was awesome and even held my hand on the way back to the car. Who wouldn't enjoy some great music at the oldest outdoor theater, soaking in the night air and gazing at the stars with a handsome guy sitting next to them holding their hand? Boy am I one lucky lady!!

Thanks for the wonderful date Andrew. Oh, and thank-you Daddy-O for holding down the fort at home with the two younger kiddos.

Learning to FLY, Baby Steps

2009-08-17T09:13:00.000-07:00

My goal now that the 2 older kids are back in school is to learn to FLY. No, no, not airplane flying or helicopter flying, not flying by the seat of my pants, but FLY CLEANING. Now if you are a clean freak then this isn't for you, but if you live in CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) then I encourage you to check it out and think about joining me on this FLYing adventure.

FLYing means Finally Loving Yourself. I am learning that my house is a direct reflection of how I view myself. When I look around and see the chaos/clutter it speaks volumes as to how I see myself and how much I don't value myself. OUCH!! That hurts to type but it is a true statement and one that I am vowing to work on now that we are back to a 'normal' routine.

It all starts with Baby Steps. The messy house didn't happen overnight (well, sometimes it does, but generally not) so it isn't going to get cleaned overnight either. Today's Baby Step is Shining the Sink. This is going to take some time to get used to this new habit but I know that overtime it will just become a natural part of my life and lead to conquering future Baby Steps.
The FlyLady system is all about establishing little habits that string together into simple routines to help your day run on automatic pilot.

So today I shined the sink before the kids were even out the door for school. All the dishes were loaded and started, extra dishes washed and dried, and the sink cleaned and wiped downed. And then the cleaning bug kicked in. By the time we walked out the door at 7:40 I had taken my first Baby Step of shining the sink, picked up all the clutter in the living room and hallway, assited the kids in a general bedroom cleaning, wiped down the bathroom counters and picked up the dirty clothes to get them ready for my first load of laundry, made the beds and put my sneakers on for the day. Heck most days I am lucky if I get a shower before we head out the door let alone get all of this done. The kids were even pleasantly surprised to get to turn the T.V. on for 15 mins since I NEVER allow them to watch T.V. in the morning on school days. We were that far ahead of schedule that I worried they would get bored and mess up all the work we had done if I didn't allow them to be entertained by mindless cartoons for a few minutes.

I thought for sure that by the time I got home from school the bug would have worked it's way out of my system and I would be more then content with what had been accomplished already. Well, much to my surprise the bug was still in full force and I got the vacuum cleaner out and conquered all carpet areas of the house. Then the kitched called my name again and I decided to vacuum around the perimeter of the kitchen and under the table. Then the fans, vents, and A/C input vents were screaming to be cleaned. I feel such a great level of pride in getting so much done before 9:00 (and had my sister not called me I would have had it done by 8:30, but I love talking to her so it was worth it.) :)

Now I intend to take a step back and admire what I have finished and take a little more time getting myself comfortable with the FLYlady system and see what is in store for me tomorrow.

Care to join me in FLYing lessons? or maybe just be my cheerleader? Leave me a comment and let me know. And as always, I hope you have a blessed week and now happy FLYing. :)

What I Learned at School Today

2009-08-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

Alexis and Andrew had their first day of school today. There were up and ready to go super early since they were so excited. Thank goodness they were on the ball because I ended up being called in for a substitute job and needed to be to the school earlier then we had previously planned, but more on that later.

Alexis on her first day of Kindegarten

Andrew on his first day of 5th grade

We found Alexis' seat in her classroom and she was super jazzed to have her own box of crayons and other school supplies.
Mr. Gillotti and Alexis. Andrew also had Mr. Gillotti for Kindergarten. He is the most tenderhearted 6 ft., former Marine, you will ever meet. I told him again today that he is not allowed to retire till Aiden has gone through Kindergarten with him.
Mrs. Pierce with Andrew. Mrs. Pierce and I are really good friends from my year of fundraising last year and I know that she is going to be an awesome fit for Andrew. She is super organized and really gets her kiddos ready for Middle School. I hope Andrew is ready to hit the ground running because she means business!
So this morning while we were getting ready for the first day of school the phone rang. I was suprised to see that it was a call from the school at 6:40 in the morning. When I picked it up it was the principal calling to see if I would be available to sub in the Kindergarten class this morning. Little background info: This year the Kinder classes went from 20:1 all the way up to 32 kids to one teacher, but on minimum days the morning and afternoon classes all come during the morning time which means there would be 64 Kindergarteners with only 2 teachers and NO aides to help out! Part of the agreement that was made with the teachers was that a substitute would be hired on minimum days to shadow them and help them out while they had so many kids. Why she waited till the morning of to arrange the help is beyond me but I am still thankful she thought to call me. So, I got off the phone with her and immediately called my sitter to see if she was up to watching Aiden on the first day of school. Thankfully she loves him lots and was willing to take him last minute. I called the principal back and let her know I was good to go and would see her at 7:30.

Then the hussle began. I couldn't possible show up to work in my flip flops and shorts so I had to quickly change out of my mommy clothes and into more acceptable teaching clothes. Like I said before, the kiddos were so excited they were actually ahead of schedule, which made for a pretty smooth morning considering the sudden change in plans.

I get to school, check in and find out I have been assigned to Mr. Gillotti's class. This means that I will be getting paid to watch my daughter's entire first day of school! Could it get any better then that? The principal has put me on the minumum day sub list which means I will get paid to work in Alexis' classroom 16 times this year.

So what did I learn at school today:

Do not put your finger in the mouth of the scissors, they bite and make you bleed and Mr. Gillotti does not like blood. And, always hold scissors with your thumb on top.
Glue gets crusty just like boogies so when we are done we need to wipe the top of the glue bottles off on our hands, rub them together and then it magically comes off. Did you also know that it only takes a few dots to make it stick and not a whole glob of glue? Could someone please tell the little guy at the blue table that he doesn't need 1/2 bottle of glue for one small piece of paper?
Do not eat the teacher! He read a cute book about a Shark on his first day of school that would get so excited he would eat the desk, his pencil, anything in sight. But whatever you do, DON'T EAT THE TEACHER!

I had so much fun in the class but I really did work hard for my money. I tied more shoes today then I have in an entire week for my own kiddos. I wiped up more tears then I do in entire month for my kiddos. And, even cleaned up some bodily stomach fluids (YUCK) from a kiddo who cried so hard he made himself sick. Adjusting to Kindergarten is not an easy thing.

Here is to hoping that tomorrow has less tears and such, and more fun crusty glue boogies!

No Forward Progress

2009-08-10T11:37:00.000-07:00

Today was the big day that Andrew and I had been waiting for! Andrew would be getting his allergy test done to see if he had made any progress in regards to his allergies, see if the shots had been working, and if the medicines he takes daily were doing there thing and he could wean off them. We were disappointed all around.

Having the allergy test is much like giving birth; you forget how painful it is until you are in the midst of it all over again and then those memories come flooding back. Andrew was not phased by the mentioning of taking the test and even told people, "on a scale of 1-5 it hurts like a 2, not bad at all." Well, that all went out the window with the first batch of pricks when he started asking if we could stop and just not do the test because it hurt so bad. He had to have 50 pricks on his back, mostly trees, weeds, molds, and animals. They started itching from the get go and the nurse administering the test could already tell there were issues before she even got to the last batch (they come in blocks of 8 at a time and then two single ones). She would prick his back with these 'scratchers' that had been sitting in the concentrated juices, and then mark with a pen each section so she could come back and 'score' them later.

Here is Andrew once she got all 50 on his poor, little back. He is inflammed, red, and itching like crazy already but has to sit and let them 'marinate' for 15 minutes to get a good reading. Dale and I knew it was going to be pretty traumatic for him to go through the test again so we had bought him a special treat ahead of time. Indiana Jones Lego game for the Wii, a game he had been begging for for over 6 months. I pulled it out right as she began the test to hopefully take his mind off the pain. He was so excited and had no clue we had gotten it for him.

Even the new game wasn't enough to keep him for being in lots of pain and just needing to breath through it (again much like labor where he would get a pain and start breathing through it and then it would taper off for a minute or so before it began again...... we had a good laugh that he sounded like he was having a baby and would name him Indiana Jones).

After she came back in and scored his back she decided that he needed to do the food panel on his arms since there was no more room on his back for the top foods (13 in all). This was not as painful as the back, due to the location in part but mainly because foods are not his serious triggers.

And then we waited again for the test to do it's thing and then for her to come in and 'score' his arms. After she did all her writing she made me a copy and left us to wait for the doctor to come in. I had brought copies of the test he had done in Feb. of 2006 so I could have a comparision of the results side by side. I was pretty discouraged. Seems like his allergies have gotten worse with time instead of improving with the shots, meds, and time. Dr. M. agreed that they were worse and that we need to change our approach. Most patients on allergy shot therapy have relief within 2 years of taking the shots, not a regression or worsening. We are going to switch Andrew back to taking shots every 2 weeks instead of monthly and are going to order a more concentrated amount to help build up the immunity faster. Faster still means years of shots in our future. He wants him to be symptom free for 6 months before we start decreasing his medicines. He can't even make it one month (or even a week or day at times) without a flair up but we are going to do what we can to get to that 6 month mark. The food sensitivities have also increased but not to the point where we need to eliminate them completely from his diet or require special care at school. He just needs to make sure to not eat super concentrated amounts of the foods he tested positive for.

So what is he allergic to: (LONG LIST WARNING!) Trees: Acacia, White Alder, Arizona Ash*, Olive*, Western Juniper, Fremont Cottonwood, Chinese Elm, Eucalyptus, Mesquit, Costal Live Oak, Sycamore, Box Elder, Mulberry, Bottle Brush, CA Pepper Tree, and Walnut; Weeds: Pigweed, Russin Thistle, Kochia, Lamb's Quarters, Scale, Ragweed*, Sagebrush, Yellow Dock*, Sheep Sorrel, English Plantain, Marshelder, and Pine Tree; Grasses: Johnson, Bermuda*, Timothy, Ryegrass*, and Kentucky Bluegrass; Molds: Aternaria, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Penicillium*, Helminthosporium*, Minor Mold, Candida, and Cockroach Mix*; Animals: Feathers; Dog, Cat* and Horse*; Foods: Wheat*, Corn, Tomato, Soy Bean*, Peanut, Banana*, Almond, Shrimp, Tuna*, Cows milk, Chicken, Egg white*, and Egg yolk*! WHEW THAT IS A LONG LIST!!! **The ones with stars next to them where the ones with the most severe reactions in their group.

When asked again about the pain by Mrs. B.; who so kindly watched Alexis and Aiden, he said it was a major 5 on the scale and to never do the test again. (She was asking because her daughter is going to take the test in a few months and wanted to be prepared).

He is now at home with no more itches (thank you big tube of itchy cream!!), and enjoying his Lego Indiana Jones Wii game!!! I am so thankful to have this in our past and hopefully we can now get a clearer picture for our course of treatment.

******************************************************************************

Other randomness:

Aiden sitting by the front door waiting to go to church yesterday. For some reason we were 15 mins ahead of schedule and he didn't know what to do with his tired self so he parked it by the door and just waited.

After church we got a quick bite to eat and then headed to the haircut store for everyone to get their back to school haircuts. Andrew and Aiden love to play with the beaded rollercoaster toy.
Andrew got just a little trimmed off, no major buzz this time. Alexis got a shorter in the back, taper to the front cut (I don't like it and wish it would have been cut shorter and with a more drastic taper.) Had I not been holding Aiden during his haircut I might have been able to communicate what I wanted for her better. Oh well, next time.
And Aiden got his typical little boy cut, cute as ever, tongue and all. :)
Now that the shopping is done, the hair has been cut and the backpacks packed we are ready for school to start on Wednesday. We have Alexis' Kindergarten Orientation tonight at 6:30 and she is anxious to see some of her friends from preschool that she has been missing dearly. And me, I am anxious for school to start so Aiden and I can have some one on one time again, and less hours of begging to play on the computer and/or the Wii. :)

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious....

2009-08-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

Andrew has been working really hard on his trumpet this summer, practicing at least 5-6 times a week for at least 30 mins each time. He has learned the Mickey Mouse March and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, along with his scales and other small songs. He is excited for school band to start so he can show his band director what he has learned and hopefully be selected for advanced band placement. In the mean time he will continue to practice and take his lessons from Mr. Johanson.

Enjoy this presentation of Andrew showing off his trumpet skills.

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YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!

2009-08-05T08:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had another post-op appointment with Aiden's plastic surgeon, Dr. Martin. This is at least his 4th or 5th post-op appointment since his surgery 10 months ago. I wasn't really sure that we NEEDED to go but decided it would be a good opportunity to ask him about the tooth that I feel has grown out in the lip tissue. We had him prescreened by the school of dentistry and they had scheduled him for a full exam at the end of this month to discuss the treatment for the entrapped tooth. I wasn't super comfortable talking to someone new and really wanted Dr. Martin's opinion since they would be cutting into his work that had been done on Aiden during his Oct 1st surgery.

When we got to the waiting room for his 3:30 appointment I knew we were in for a wait due to the sheer number of people in the room. I overheard one of the receptionists tell a patient (who had a 2:00 appointment) that it would be about 30 minutes more before she would be seen. This prompted me to ask my receptionist how far behind Dr. Martin was seeing his patients. She called back there and then gave me the answer that he was "slightly behind schedule." HMMM..... slightly behind? 2 1/2 hours behind?? Which is it??

Aiden and Daddy-O waited patiently while I was sent over to the registration office to verify our insurance and then back to the check-in line. The run around had begun already.

Once he was all checked in we start to take turns running around after little guy. He had lots of energy and did not want to sit around waiting for the nurse to call him. He made several laps around the lobby, checked out the elevators, said hello and thank you to everyone in the waiting room, banged his head on every glass panel, attempted to open every office door, banged his fists on every empty chair, convinced another little kid to hand over his cookie for him to eat, and created havoc with every potted plant along the way. All that work makes a little man thirsty.

And all that waiting makes for a grouchy man too. Can you blame the guy?

We were FINALLY called back to a room at 6:30!!!! 3+ hours later!! This was even after a few patients got up and walked out because they were tired of waiting. We thought about doing the same thing but had already invested so much time that we hated to walk away.

Once in the room Aiden had to explore his surroundings. First he had to check out the handsome little guy in the mirror.

Then he had to figure out how the table worked.

Followed by a discovery of the noisy table paper. That stuff is heaven to a bored and crazy 17 month old.

Discovering the doctor's ROLLING chair provided entertainment for a few more minutes.

But in all honesty, he was just done and wanted to go home!

Time to bust out the blanket before he had a total meltdown. By this point we had fed him every last reserve of food in the diaper bag, had two stinky diapers, and gone through two sippy cups of liquid.

We could finally hear Dr. Martin coming so we placed him on the table and got ready for a lightening fast appointment after a 3 1/2 hour wait.Dr. Martin came in super apologetic for the long wait, the longest wait in his entire career. He had gotten called in on a lot of trauma cases that morning that just set his entire schedule into chaos. He asked Aiden how he was doing and the response elicited a laugh from all three adults in the room. Aiden said, "I wanna go bye bye." in the cutest baby talk that even Dr. Martin chuckled and asked if he had heard him correctly. He replied with, "I don't blame you little buddy, I wanna go home too." He checked out Aiden's mouth and then we discussed our concerns.

As far as the tooth goes: he doesn't want to do anything to it now but wants to monitor it every two months until it breaks through. Great, more appointments, more co-pays, and worst of all more waiting. If it does not break through then he would have to sedate Aiden and make a small incision to help the tooth come through. He said the odds of that being the course of treatment is very small and our last resort. He does not feel like we need to go to the dental appointment since they should really only be seeing him for cleanings. Here is to hoping that that tooth decides to make it's entrance soon so we can avoid more appointments.

As far as the scar goes: he is of course impressed with his work and sees no real issues that will need to be dealt with in the future.

As far as his nose goes: he loves the symmetry and says we are now at the point of the waiting game to see how it grows along with his face in the next 3-4 years.

So now we wait two months, go back on Oct 6th and hope in the meantime that his tooth breaks through on it's own. Really, that for a 3 1/2 hour wait???

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!

By the time we picked up a quick bite to eat, picked up the kiddos from my best friend's, picked up some itching cream for Andrew (whole other side story), got home, ate, and got ready for bed it was already 8:30. So much for getting back into a school time routine.

****Andrew's itching: Next Monday Andrew will have a scratch allergy test done to see if his allergies have progressed at all and help the doctor determine the right course of treatment for his allergies since his current meds are not keeping him balanced. Due to this upcoming test Andrew had to stop taking his antihystamine so they can get an accurate reading. This has sent him into an itching tail spin, starting with his back, moving to his shoulders, arms and thighs, and then on to hands, feet, eyes and head. He is miserable!!! I have a call into the doctor to see if there is anything topical we can do for him and in the meantime he is spending a lot of time in the bathtub with 2 ounces of baking soda which gives him relief at the time but no long term relief the minute he gets out. Boy is it going to be a long week till his appointment next Monday at 8:30. Any anti-itching suggestions that don't involve antihystamines?

17 Months Old

2009-08-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

Aiden has really started showing his unique personality and learned lots of new things over the past month. It is so hard to believe that he is now 17 months old! I miss my little baby but love the little toddler he has become.

*He had his first beach experience and was a little intimidated by the waves.*He has mastered the poochie lip and pulls it out often if he wants something.

*He loves chasing birds, or any creature for that matter. He has such patience and could chase them for hours even though he never catches them.

*He still does the crazy tongue thing! Not just when he is deep in thought, but also when he is talking, walking, laughing, doing just about anything and everything. *He wants to be just like his big sis and big bro, even if it means being buried in the sand. He loved every moment of it!

*He drove his first car, and did a good job if I might say so myself. If the look on Daddy's face is of things to come then we are in trouble when he turns 16. Dale will be in charge of teaching the kids to drive because I just don't think my heart could handle it.

*He loves going to the pool but not necessarily IN the pool. He would rather dip a toe in on the steps and then run around the pool making mommy nervous the entire time. I thought for sure he was going to be my water baby but he seems a little overwhelmed by the big pool.
*He is my stunt man and getting more and more dangerous with each attempt. He finds anything and everything to climb up on and then has no fear getting down. He has fallen out of his highchair more times then I can count in the past month and then proceeds to climb back in the minute he gets up. No surface is off limits. He can climb on the couch by himself, into bed, onto chairs, up on baskets that have been overturned, onto his highchair and then across to the kitchen table. He gets this wonderful climbing ability from his daddy, thank you very much. He also has no fear when it comes to jumping off high objects. He no longer just holds his hands out for me to get him out of his highchair but instead has to stand up on the chair and lunge himself into my arms. A couple of times he has caught me off guard and was lucky I caught him. He keeps me on my toes that is for sure!!

He loves his wheels. He found Andrew's old skateboard when we were playing in the garage the other day and could not get enough of it. He loved to stand on it, sit on it, push it and drag it all over the place. He was so proud of himself. He has also learned how to get his bike to work by moving his legs back and forth. He is definitely a boy on the go!*He now eats anything and everything as well. I found him this morning with TEN lemon drops in his mouth at the same time!! First of all I was very thankful he hadn't choked on them since they were so stuffed in his mouth and then I couldn't stop laughing at his drooling, puckered mouth. He had found the bag and was quietly stashed in the corner eating them before he got discovered. Some of his favorite foods include pretzels, cantelope, apples, grapes, chicken, noodles, froot loops, and doritos (even super sandy ones at the beach). He does really good with his sippy cups but is sometimes a little mischevious and likes to shake it's contents all over my floor. He does the cutest thing when I make him a milk sippy cup. He stands in front of the microwave, holding the lid, and watching my every move. Once the microwave is doing it's thing he does the milk dance while mommy sings a silly made up song. I REALLY need to get it on video because it is THE cutest thing ever!

Words he can say include: mama, bubus (brother), biper (diaper.... he even brings me one when he needs his diaper changed. Is it training time??), tank oo (thank you), peas(please), more, milk, cookie, dog, cheese (as in posing for the camera with a scrunched up nose), baby, and meow (which if you didn't know is the sound a DOG makes in Aiden's world).

*He is still super physical around other kiddos and really has to be watched. He is the kid that likes to throw things, hit other kids, and push them out of the way when he wants something. I am open to parenting suggestions on this one since it is not fun having the bully in the Sunday school class.

**He really is my SUPER BABY, and I love him more then words can express!!!!!

A Day at the Beach

2009-07-31T13:28:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we packed up the cooler, grabbed the beach towels, umbrella and blanket, gooped on the sunscreen, and hit the road for the beach. This was Aiden's first beach experience and the 2nd time for Alexis (I know, bad mommy, since we only live an hour and half away). Overall it was a great experience and I hope that our next beach trip is not too far off in our future.

Check out the video I made of our day at Newport Beach, CA

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Knott's Berry Farm

2009-07-24T16:53:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we headed to Knott's Berry Farm to enjoy the park with Grandma and Grandpa. This would be Aiden's first time there since we had last gone in 2007 when he was in my tummy. The kids all enjoyed the day and loved the fact that we could go from ride to ride and practically walk right on.

Grandpa wasn't feeling the best since his vertigo was acting up, but I think that over all Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed their time. Dale also got pretty sick during the wait and ride on the ferris wheel and needed to get a drink and lay down right when he got off the ride. I have never seen him that white in my life. He is used to eating lunch by 11:30 when working and snacking on his days off if we eat a later lunch, so the late lunch got the best of him. He was much better once we got some food into his tummy.

We all had a wonderful time even though it was pretty warm and muggy. The kids were worn out and pretty much feel asleep the minute we got home.

Enjoy the video of our day at Knotts Berry Farm!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Wordless Wednesday ~ Computer Time

2009-07-22T09:57:00.000-07:00

Enjoying some computer time with Sister.

Aidan's Palate Surgery Tomorrow

2009-07-20T19:08:00.000-07:00

******UPDATED*****

Aidan will be having his palate surgery tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.. Please keep him, his daddy Chad, and amazing mom, Heather in your prayers. Though this will be his second surgery it never seems to get much easier. It is still their child that is being handed over, their child that has to endure the pain of recovery, but it is also their child that grows stronger with each difficulty that life hands him. Aidan is a great little guy and I pray that he will bounce right back and be back to his spunky self in no time. I pray that Heather and Chad's nerves will be calm as they wait for him to be taken back and that they will have a peace as they wait during the surgery.

Can't wait to get a positive update!!!! Many prayers coming your way Aidan!

UPDATE: His surgery will be at 2:00 p.m. This poses a dilemna with feeding since Aidan will have to go all day without any food. I pray that he is like Aiden and will be so preoccupied with the everything going on around him that he won't notice his empty stomach. If you want more details for his surgery today go to Heather's blog and check them out. Plus, leave her an encouraging word to let her know that we will be thinking about them today.

Busy Week in Review

2009-07-18T10:06:00.000-07:00

My lack of blogging is due to a BUSY week. The 2 oldest had Vacation Bible School all week long which called for extra running around, getting up early, and grouchy kids due to a change in the schedule. Even with all the changes they had a great time and learned lots of new fun songs with dances. During one of the songs they would zoom the camera around the audience and then focus in on one or two kiddos who were dancing. On Tuesday they zoomed in on Alexis and she got to join the singers up on stage and dance with them. She was so excited and said she couldn't wait to go up on stage on Wed. too. I explained to her that the odds of her being picked again out of over 300 kids was pretty small but that she should still dance her little heart out. Would you believe she got zoomed in on AGAIN on Wed! She was the happiest little girl in the place. The church did an awesome job and really put A LOT of work into making it a huge success.Aiden and I got some more one on one time while the kids were gone during the day. His newest favorite thing to do? Pull all my mixing bowls out and throw them around the kitchen.

Or wear them as masks, playing peek-a-boo.

And of course mommy had to introduce him to mini oreos, which from the look on his face and the mess on his hands and face he was throughly enjoying it.

He has been doing an awesome job sleeping in his big boy bed. He has cut back to one 2 hour nap before lunchtime and then has been going to bed exhausted by 8:00. I am very thankful for this pretty smooth transition.

SUPER BABY! to the rescue.

I also had the opportunity to deep clean the kids rooms while they were gone during the day. Usuallly I like to do this with them so they take ownership to the cleaning process of their things but I found that I was able to get it done A LOT faster by myself. Imagine my shock when I found this........

Just in case you can't tell what that is.... it is a HUGE clump of freshly CUT hair!! Alexis' hair to be exact. Once confronted about the clump of hair it was painfully obvious where she had cut it. Right smack dab in the front for all to see. Why I hadn't seen it that morning is beyond me. Sometimes I guess I just brush quickly to get us out the door and don't really pay attention to the details, like the fact that she had cut a huge chunck out of her bangs. She was mortified that I wanted to take a picture and kept saying over and over, "are you going to blog about this mommy? please mommy!" She has tried everything she can to disguise the fact that she is missing a section of hair. Everything from the comb over look to putting huge bows over it to cover it up. In reality growing time is all that is going to work to fix this gapping hole.My battle with the ants came to a head the other morning when I woke up at 4:00 a.m. and had an ant crawling on me in bed with a few following behind him ready to attack. I couldn't take it anymore so Dale and I decided that we needed to bomb the house. Not my idea of fun since that called for a deep cleaning not only before the bombing but also wiping every surface down after the bombing. I am not a super cleaner, but rather despise having to do it. So after the kids got home from VBS on Friday we set out cleaning every nook and cranny of the house. By the time Dale got home from work at 3:00 we were finishing up a few last minute things and were able to evacuate the house at 4:00 to allow the foggers to do their thing. This created a 2 hour window that we were required to stay out of the house and then another hour of airing out the house before going back inside. We went to dinner and then to Kmart to pick up this little contraption I had seen on TV which I am hoping will help with my entry way carpet area.

After these few errands we went back to the house for Dale to open all the windows, and start up the A/C and the fans to air the place out. To kill time we decided to take the kiddos to the park. This was the first time Aiden tried out the slide for himself, though he preferred to go up it backwards then to follow the rules. The concentration on his face shows that this is serious business to him.

Dale, Aiden and Suzy enjoyed running down the hill

...though walking back up always proved to be a little challenging when you have short legs.

"Do these stripes make my butt look big?"

And then I noticed a common theme in the pictures I was taking.... his tongue sticking out when he is doing something. I know that the tooth that is growing in his lip flesh is really bothering him, but he seems to really be working his tongue all the time.

Tongue out while he is walking....

Tongue out while he grabs a quick drink.....
And tongue out while he runs around some more....
We returned to a debugged house, did a complete wipe down and vacuuming of all surfaces and then had a peaceful night sleep with no ants crawling around. Let's hope that solves the problem long term.

This morning the kids got to sleep in a little (though I wish they would have slept a little longer). And then it was time for a little lounging around in pajamas and watching some cartoons. Nothing sweeter then laying on the ground holding hands while watching Mickey Mouse Club House.
Hope everyone has a blessed weekend. Oh, and don't forget to leave me a comment if you are reading because Dale comes home from work every day and has to check out how many new comments have been left on my blog. Mentioning him in the comment makes his day. :) Nothing like trying to stroke my husbands ego a little.

HAPPY 6TH ANNIVERSARY BABE!

2009-07-12T08:10:00.000-07:00

Six years ago today I made the best decision of my life.... I married my best friend!!!

I never seem to have the right words to tell you how much I love you. Love you for being such an awesome husband. Love you for being such a wonderful father to our three children. But most of all for just being you!! I can not wait to continue spending the rest of my life with you. I love you very much!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We celebrated our anniversary on Saturday since it was easier for Dale to get off early and for my mom to watch the kiddos on that day. Dale had planned for us to go to Palm Springs and ride the Aerial Tram up the mountain. This is something we have wanted to do for a long time but just never took the time to do it. The drive out there was nice and peaceful and we actually got to have some adult conversation.
After initially getting over my fear of heights and just holding on tight as the tram rotated, we were able to enjoy the beautiful scenery as we ascended to 10,00 ft.
The view as SPECTACULAR. We had dinner out on the patio, looking over the Palm Springs valley and once again got to have uninterrupted adult conversation.Happy 6th anniversary hunny! Thanks for such an awesome night. I pray that we are able to enjoy many more anniversaries as special as this one.

And now I need to get his ~~Thanksgiving~~ ~~birthday~~ anniversary French Silk Pie in the refrigerator so it can chill before he gets home from work. YUM YUM!! At least this one didn't turn out like the strawberry pie of last week.

Mom vs. Ants and Loosing Ground! HELP!

2009-07-11T12:53:00.001-07:00

*On my sister's blog, she is working her way through the alphabet one letter at a time with her kiddos this summer. I, on the other hand, seem to be working my way backwards with my all things 'C' post, then my Big Boy Bed 'B' post, and now the 'A' for Ant post.
Well, the ants won last night!! We had come home from a long day out in the HOT HOT desert (114 degrees!!), visiting Dale at his work, getting his car turned in to the collison center that will be repairing it, and then heading over to Grandma and Grandpa's to spend some time with them, only to find that various parts of our house had been invaded by HUNDREDS of ants while we were gone. We have had a few ants here and there and occasionally a small party of them but NOTHING like last night. (*Wish I had pictures of our adventures yesterday but I left home with the camera card still stuck in the computer from uploading the big boy bed pictures that morning. BUMMER!!)

They, the darn ants, find their way into the house from the oddest places. Recently the bathroom has been their favorite place, coming in from the faucet. And, I get ~~some~~ a lot of pleasure in drowning them as I turn on the faucet for a shower. Well, yesterday they decided that the boys' room electrical outlets would be the place to make their attack.

As we went to put Aiden in his Big Boy Bed for the second night in a row we quickly noticed that the ants had all but taken over the room. Dale and I quickly went on the defense with the only thing we had handy, a can of ant spray. By the time we finished killing the little boogers and then clorox wiping the whole room down and vacuuming up the carpet, the room still smelled of ant spray fumes. We both felt that it was not very safe for Aiden and Andrew to fall asleep amongst the fumes and potential ants that hide in the walls. So, out to the couch for Andrew and back into his crib for Aiden. :( Talk about a major step back! I was not happy but was given really no other choice.

So, if any of my blogging buddies out there have a great remedy for ants that won't be so toxic for the kids then I am all ears. I will be making a call to our landlady on Monday to see if she can get someone out here to spray around the outside of the condo during the week. But in the mean time, I would like to reclaim the boys' room and prevent them from taking over the ~~world~~ whole house and get my little guy back into his Big Boy Bed that he loves SOOO much.

BB&B for Aiden's new BBB

2009-07-10T07:53:00.001-07:00

UPDATED: See video link below the third picture!

Yesterday was a BIG day. We made our way to Bed Bath & Beyond with our $10 off coupon and a mission to find Aiden some new Big Boy Bedding. I was pleased to find a sports themed comforter and sheets set on the clearance rack. It was perfect for Aiden while still being grown up enough for Andrew.Daddy and I got the bed all made up while the kids kept Aiden entertained in the living room. I was excited about Aiden moving into Andrew's room because I would like our room back and his crib moved out of there, but was also sad at the same time because this is just another step away from him being a baby.

Once the bed was all made we brought Aiden in to show him his Big Boy Bed. He LOVED it and couldn't stop jumping around and throwing himself on the bed!

Aiden's Big Boy Bed Click on the link to see his reaction when we first showed him his new bed!!! SO CUTE!!

We were off to a great start but the real test would be at bed time. He usually stays up till we go to bed around 9:00 but we decided that we should start him on the kiddos' schedule and go to bed the same time as them around 8:30. He laid down right away and things looked promising.

Andrew was excited to have a new roommate. He has been looking forward to this day since the moment Aiden was born. We decided now was the time so we could make the transition during the summer just in case there were any glitches then it wouldn't keep Andrew up at night when he needed to be getting his rest for school.

It was a little rough at first but nothing big. He got up a few times but only because he wanted to jump on the bed. I ended up standing at the door, laying him down when he got up without saying a word to him and then going back to the doorway to wait. It took all of 25 minutes till he was sound asleep. It would have taken less time if Alexis had not kept talking to me while I was standing between their bedrooms.

He slept through the night, no tears, no getting out of bed repeatedly. I woke up a little earlier this morning then usual because I was worried about him waking up in a strange place. I checked on him multiple times, only to find that he was still sound asleep. He ended up sleeping till 7:56!!! and woke up with the biggest smile on his face. When I asked him if liked his Big Boy Bed, he replied with "uhhhhh yep!!!! big boy bed!!" in the cutest squeeky Aiden voice with the biggest smile.

These were taken the other day while the other two kiddos were gone. Could someone please feed this child? He decided to help himself since I wasn't getting breakfast fast enough for him. He found a box of cereal, took it to the living room and decided to pour himself some ~~in a bowl~~ all over the living room floor. (and you can't see it, but yes he does have a diaper on.)He was right there beside me ~~helping me pick them up~~ shoveling them in his mouth as fast as he could.Here is hoping for another smooth transition to the Big Boy Bed again tonight and to having no crib in our room!!!

WordlessFULL Wednesday

2009-07-08T14:05:00.001-07:00

It is never fun to be at work and be called to the front of the store to be told that your car has been hit in the parking lot. That is exactly what happened to Dale today, on a day that was already going down hill fast enough on it's own. Two cars had gotten into an accident, and from what I can understand, one hit the other causing it to fishtail into Dale's parked car. Fun times! Now we get the pleasure of dealing with insurance companies, rent-a-cars and repair shops. And in the mean time, while insurance tries to work things out, we get to spend my sub money we were going to use on a small family get-away on a insurance deductible in hopes of getting it paid back. UGH!!

I know what we will be doing tomorrow on Dale's day off besides picking up Andrew from his camp experience and me going to the dentist (NOT looking forward to that); we will be making lots of insurance phone calls and getting Dale some reliable transportation set up for the next who knows how many days at a rate of $20/day. Double UGH!!

Chairs, Cousins, Car Rides, Camp, & Contest Winner

2009-07-06T19:16:00.001-07:00

Guess one could call this the 'C' post.

First up is a pic of Aiden trying to sit on a dollhouse chair. He played with that chair for well over 30 mins; setting it down on the ground, turning around, trying to sit, turning back around the assess the situation and then trying over again. It was the funniest thing.Cousins: This past weekend my sister's kiddos, Shayna and Shelby, came up with Nana to our house to spend some time with the cousins and their favorite ~~Auntie~~ Uncle Joy.

Nana, Alexis, Shelby and Shayna had to pose for a picture before we set out to celebrate our 4th of July. I just love Shelby's scrunched up happy face in this picture. She is just the cutest little thing and calls me 'uncle joy' in the most adorable voice.

The boys wanted to get in on the picture taking action too. All the kiddos dressed up in their red, white and blue.

Rare picture of Nana with the kiddos. I was looking through all my old picture files on Nana's birthday and it became clear to me that I have not taken a picture of Nana with my kiddos in ages. She is up here almost every weekend but our time with her is usually pretty short and the camera just never makes it out.

After the picture parade we headed over to our friend's house to have some food and watch the fireworks from their backyard. Aiden was really too young to enjoy them or really know what was going on last year, so it was great to see the excitement in his eyes as he watched the pretty colors in the sky. We are far enough away from the show that the sounds really didn't bother him.

What was bothering him was his diaper. During the show he had a blow out but neither Dale or I wanted to take him away from the fireworks early so he ended up leaking. Of course I was not prepared for an outfit change so he got a diaper change and made his way home in his diaper and shoes. He was of course asleep before we made it off their street.

Uncle Dale didn't get to spend much time with the girls since he was at work the three days they were up here. So, when he came home early on Sunday, I tortured him with a picture. Shelby just loves her Uncle Dale (which I have been trying to get her to call him Aunt Dale since she calles me Uncle Joy. No such luck YET).

The plan was for Nana to take Alexis back down with her to San Diego when she left with Shayna and Shelby on Sunday. Alexis was eager to go spend time with her cousins; Desiree, Caleb, and Tatiana. Here she is sporting her sense of fashion by wrapping her blanket around her neck like a scarf even though it was 100 degrees outside.

Car Ride: All three girls were strapped in and ready to go on a fun ride to San Diego. I guess it didn't turn out that way. Instead there was lots of picking on each other by the sisters, crying by Alexis, and shot nerves on Nana's part. That must have been the longest 100 miles of my mom's life.

Camp: Today we got Andrew all packed up and ready to leave for 4 days at church camp. He has been excited to go and time couldn't go by fast enough this morning as he awaited his 11:15 departure.

I was a little worried that he would have a hard time leaving since this will be the first time he will be away and not at a family member's house. He hooked up with his buddies right away and seemed pretty confident that all was going to be ok. He did get a little teary eyed when I was telling him goodbye, but I am sure he will have a great time.

They got all loaded up in the boy van and were on their way. But wait, is that a little stow away in the van? No Aiden, you can not go with your brother and his buddies to camp. Andrew won't be back till Thursday so it should be interesting to see how Aiden does without his big buddy for 4 days.

Contest winner: Sorry if I bored you with all the other 'Cs' first, but now for the big announcement. I numbered little orange pieces of paper for each comment entry and placed them in a hat. (*Remember I don't have one of those super high-tech husbands like Heather who runs a computer randomizer thingie. I am sre he could figure it out if I ever gave him a chance to get on the computer long enough).

So, right after Dale got off work and was changing Aiden's diaper so we could go out for the night I had him pick a number out of the hat. (*And yes, immediate family members were not eligible to win the contest. They just wanted to have fun getting in on the commenting action.)

And the number that was drawn.......

#29, which would be Nicole!! CONGRATULATIONS Nicole on winning the $15 giftcard to Starbucks. Dale would like a tall Caramel Macchiatto upside down with extra caramel, and I would like a tall Strawberry Lemonade blended with Raspberry. :) j/k

Maybe I could save a stamp and just drop it off later this week? Let me know what day works best for a stop by or if you would like me to drop it in the mail.

Thank you to everyone for playing along. Based on the strawberry pie suggestions I think I am just going to stick with Marie Callender's strawberry pies from now on. Plus I need to focus on making my hubby his French Silk pie for our anniversary on Sunday since he so kindly pointed out to everyone that I forgot to make one for his birthday in May. Sorry hun!!

Now I better wrap this up so I can go cuddle on the couch with my hubby since there aren't two extra kiddos climbing all over him.

Ciao!

Happy 4th, Freedom of Speech and a Giveaway

2009-07-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!

Aiden has really learned the concept of 'freedom of speech' recently. He has started saying thank you, please, dada (finally!) and lots of other words that don't make sense to you and me but have lots of meaning to him when he is using them. Of course when you pull out the camera to hear him talk he usually clams up. At least in this video (click on the link) he did his babbling but wouldn't show off the words he has learned. Maybe next time.

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What says Happy Independence day more then strawberry pie? Well, maybe apple pie, but my taste buds were screaming for strawberry. So, I found an easy recipe online and went about making this pie from scratch (well, almost 100%, everything expect the pie shell). I found the best looking strawberries, slaved over cleaning and cutting them up and then set about cooking the pie shells and prepping the filling The pies looked beautiful once they were done and now they just needed to chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours to give it time to gel up.

We were all anxious to pull out the pies and slice them up, only to find that they were still a soupy mess. They didn't gel in 3 hours so we gave it another hour. Still soupy. So, instead of slices of pie, we had strawberry soup, grabbing a spoon and diving in. Though it was yummy it was still a disappointment because I was so proud of the fact that I had made it from scratch instead of driving down to Marie Calander's and buying a strawberry pie like I normally would. Oh well, I might try it again in the future if I can figure out what I did wrong.

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What else says American? Strawberries mixed with Starbucks!! My favorite drink by far at Starbucks is their Strawberry Lemonade blend with a squirt of Raspberry. I am not a coffee fan (except for the smell, love it!!) so you won't ever find me ordering a double expresso, hold the foam, triple latte, blah blah blah.

In the spirit of my 200th post, it is the 4th of July, I was born during the 200th year celebration of our nation (1976 for those that might not know), and the reality that I am on a severely limited budget, I would like to give away one $15 Starbucks card to the lucky radom winner.

Here is how to play: Leave me a seperate comment on each of the following to earn one entry per comment. I will have my hubby draw one random number out of a hat (since I don't have a tech savvy hubby like Heather's Chad, we are going to do it old school style) sometime after 8 pm on Sunday. The winner will be notified on Monday and giftcard in the mail as soon as I can get the address.

Let me know if you are a follower. If you are not a follower, become one!! :)
What is your favorite kind of pie?
Any suggestions on what I did wrong with my pie can get you yet another entry!!
What is your favorite Starbucks drink?
How will you be spending your 4th this year? Do you have a tradition or just fly by the seat of your pants each year?

Hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July. Remember to stay safe. I look forward to reading each and every one of your comments.

WordLESSFULL Wednesday

2009-07-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

Hi to all my Mama's blogging friends!!! We all know by now that my mom is not good at the wordLESS thing (and obviously not so good at keeping the living room clean either from all the clutter in the background of this pic, but anyways), so today is going to be a wordFULL Wednesday. Enjoy!

What could be more precious then a Daddy-O reading to his daughter at bedtime? ...reading while all three of his kiddos listen in. Dale is such an awesome dad!!

No, that is not a binkie in his mouth. You must be seeing things. We I did not give him the binkie the other morning just to see what he would do, knowing that if he liked it we would be back to square one with binkie withdraws if he actually liked it enough to not want to give it up. Thankfully he just thought it was something funny and wasn't really amused with the whole experience. Andrew and Alexis were both binkie-holics and it took an act of God (or Tinkerbell in Alexis' case) to get rid of them. Aiden had liked the binkie from birth, but when he got the NAM at 10 weeks old the binkie went out the window, but not without withdraws first. What kind of mom would want to introduce the binkie to a child at 16 months old? *ahem* Not Me!! (oh wait, that is for Mondays only).

*** I am feeling a lot of pressure to do a giveaway for my 200th post (which would be my next one if you are paying attention). So if you don't hear from me for a long time then the pressure was too much for me and I have dropped off the face of the ~~earth~~ blogging world.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

2009-06-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

I hope you have a wonderful day.

Evil Stepmother and Discipline Gone Bad

2009-06-27T09:07:00.000-07:00

Alexis: Mom are you a stepmother?
Me: No, why hunny?
Alexis: Because stepmothers are mean and so are you.

Alrighty then!!! There ya have it!

Dale and I started a new bedtime routine with Alexis this week. Each night is such a fight, with multiple trips back out to the living room for hugs, kisses, drinks, hugs, kisses, drinks, and so on. It gets exhausting. So, we decided that we would give her one warning and then if she did it again she was going to have 5 of her favorite toys taken away and not given back for a long time. Well, that first night of the new routine was heaven!! Not once did she come out of her room. She fell asleep right away and Dale and I were able to enjoy some ~~alone time~~ time with Aiden who refused to fall asleep right away. Go figure.

The second night wasn't as smooth and we actually had to go in and handpick her favorite toys. She of course will guide you to her favorite toys if you let her. "No daddy, this doll is my favorite, not that one." So, Daddy collected 5 of her toys and put them in a trash bag to store them for a while till she would earn them back.

Well, that trash bag was hung on the front door till I could think of a good place to store it. (Read: find a a good, out of the way place to store it, but without forgetting about it for years.) The next morning I woke up, saw the bag and gently reminded myself that I needed to find a solution for the bag so it wouldn't spend it's time on the door handle. (I have a serious short-term memory problem that I had actually forgotten it was there to begin with till I saw it the next morning, but that is a whole other post in and of itself). I, of course, didn't think about it again ALL day.

Later that night when we were starting the bedtime routine all over again I remembered I needed to find a solution for storing the bag and looked over at the door, only to find that the bag was no longer there. Where could it have gone? Did she get it and just take the liberty to return the toys to herself? Did Dale actually put it somewhere? Where could it be?

And then it hit me like a ton of bricks!!!

Did Andrew actually think it was trash and do his chores without me asking him? No, that couldn't be! He never does the trash without me ~~nagging~~ asking him multiple times.

Dale and Andrew were sitting on the couch watching TV (probably something SciFi in nature) when I started in with my interrogation. Once I got to the bottom of it we had determined that he had in fact taken the bag out that morning when he took Suzy Q down to go potty. Dale actually got sick to his stomach thinking that 5 of her all time favorite toys were gone. He and Andrew put on their shoes and made their way down to do some dumpster diving.

They weren't gone long. That could be a really good sign OR a really bad sign. Unfortunately I knew it was not good news when they entered empty handed. The dumpster was completely emtpy! That is when the reality of it started to hit. Of course it was empty! The trashman had come today, with the kids standing at the kitchen window, Aiden pounding on it, just waiting for him to look up and wave at them. Little did Alexis (or the rest of us) know at that time that she was waving goodbye to her first ever Cabbage Patch doll, her Cinderella and Ariel princess dolls, her lullaby teddy bear from grandma and grandpa, and some other toy that still remains a mystery.

Andrew went to his room and just sobbed. Repeating over and over, I am the worst brother EVER!! Which of course was not true at all. Had he done it out of spite for his sister that would be one thing, but he had done it out of a helpful spirit. That could not be punished.

Now how to break the news to Alexis? Dale and I decided to let her get a goodnights sleep and then we would deal with it in the morning. The next day came and went with her asking multiple times when she would get her toys back, but without us mentioning what had happened. I just wasn't ready for the meltdown I was envisioning.

So, on Thursday night we decided we would tell her at dinner time. We were at a small Mexican restaurant and thought that might be best so she wouldn't throw a huge fit like she might at home. We told her the bad news and then followed it up with the fact that we would be heading to Toys R Us after dinner to get her a new doll. She really was ok with it and was actually super jazzed to be making a trip to her favorite store in the world.

We picked out the new doll that would replace her 5 (or was it really only 4?) toys and happily returned home. It goes without saying that she went to bed that night without a fuss, and without any toys being taken away. We seem to have found the trick that works for now. Maybe, just maybe, having them thrown away really sent the message to her that mom and dad are not fooling around. And from now on if we do need to take toys away they will not be placed in a trash bag and we are all going to take a peek at the trash before it gets taken to the dumpster. Lessons learned!!

Even with the replacement doll (which honestly freaks me out because it talks and crawls), I am still an evil stepmother. Go figure!! Such is the life of a mom.

ROAD TRIP!!

2009-06-26T14:16:00.000-07:00

Today, Friday, June 26th, Andrew went on a road trip to Arizona to spend the weekend with his cousins. He is sporting his new color-do with three red, spiked, strips in his hair. And what are the 5 essential items needed for this road trip?

BIG smile
Favorite blue M&M pillow
DVD player for the ride
Case FULL of the top 10 movies: Star Wars (all 6), Spiderman (all 3), and Indiana Jones. Whatever it takes to make it 6 hours in the car there and back.
Stow-away bear.

Can you spot the three stow-aways in this picture? Aiden and Alexis hopped in the front seat, hoping to ride along. No such luck.

I gave my mom an assignment as she drove away. She must take at least 6 blog worthy pics of Andrew while he is spending time with his cousins in Arizona. I am sure they will all have a great time together, but I also know that he will be missed here at home over the next few days.

ANDREW, HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT TIME

WITH JACOB, GEORGE JR., CLINT,

AUNTIE GRACE, and UNCLE GEORGE.

Summer Swimmers and Sunbathers

2009-06-26T10:27:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we had the opportunity to go to the pool as a family for the first time this summer. This would be Aiden's first experience ever and I was certain he would love it since he is a lover of all things water (ie: he loves taking a bath or shower, playing in the toilet, playing in the dog's water dish.) Here he is anxiously waiting to head out the door.Dad, it looks like a beautiful day to go swimming, but I am going to need some sunscreen.Not so rough on my chipmunk cheeks, Dad.This big bathtub is NOT as fun as the one at home. It took about 10 minutes for him to calm down and start to enjoy the experience.Finally, happy face, floating around in his Swim Canopy.As an interesting side note: When Dale opened the packaging for the Swim Canopy, papers went flying. Amongst the coupons and instructions was this interesting brochure all about supporting Operation Smile. I had no idea that our little purchase from the Swim Ways products would put a smile on our little guys face while also benefiting someone else's smile. :) So, if you see these products in your store and want to help out as you purchase something you need, know that it will be going to a good cause.

At the end of our swimming time we got all dried off and ready to go home.....

....but not without a little sunbathing time just like big brother and sister.This is the perfect ending to a wonderful time at the pool.

Chipmunk and Stuntman

2009-06-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist posting this picture of my little guy with his button nose and chipmunk cheeks that look like he is doing some serious storing for the winter. He may look all nice and innocent here, but this is just the beginning.Kicking back, doing the no leg thing. But that isn't good enough either.Now moving on to a more challenging stunt, no hands and sitting on the backing. But wait, that isn't good enough either.

Look mom, NO HANDS!!
And the object of his desires: Getting closer to the TV. This child can not be mine if he loves Star Wars.

Look at these adorable blue eyes and how awesome his lip scar looks. We are super pleased with the outcome of his repair.

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I finally remembered to bring in my camera for Andrew's trumpet lessons. His teacher, Mr. Johansen, loves two things in life (well I am sure there are more, but two are super evident). He has a love for music, trumpets inparticular, and PIGS. His whole studio is lined with pigs. Flying pigs, stuffed pigs, pig lights, pictures of pigs, figurines of pigs. You name it, he has a pig doing it.

He is a major story teller and I think half the lesson is spent listening to him talk. Hopefully as time goes on we can get into more playing and less talking. Andrew is really enjoying the lessons but not all the practicing. I think I work him too hard sometimes but I just want him to be successful at what he loves. We are working on scales, a few short songs, and currently Mickey Mouse Club House. It is coming along and I am hoping to post a video once he has mastered the song.

Andrew thinks he looks a little like Santa Claus. I happened to know Mr. Johansen from my college years (he was a professor of music at my university but has since retired). All I remember is that his long mustache and beard made it hard to understand him sometimes. I swear he can hide half a trumpet in his mustache when he goes to play it. But besides the resemblance to Santa Clause due to the serious mustache and beard, and his love of pigs, I know that Mr. Johansen will really help Andrew blossom as a trumpet player.

Horton Hears A.....

2009-06-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

...... a little girl who is whining that she is hungry for something other then what we brought, whining that she is tired, whining that she is sad, whining that she is scared, and whining that she is bored, amongst a million other things I am sure I have tried to block out of my mind.

Today kicked off the Krikorian Summer Kids Series. I was excited to see the movie, Horton Hears a Who, since I had not already seen it. When it originally came out in 2008 I had just had Aiden, was recooping from life saving surgery, dealing with a NICU baby that had just come home, going to endless appointments, and overall didn't even know that life outside the four walls of my house even existed. My friend Jen and her two kiddos graciously took Andrew and Alexis to see the movie so they could get out of the house. I was thankful they had this time, but bummed at the same time because I had really wanted to see it as well.

So, when I saw the summer list I marked the date on my calendar and looked forward to today. Darcy emailed me last night to see if we were planning on going because her and Rachel had planned to go at 10:00. The plan was set to meet at the theater and the enjoy the movie together. It was great to see Darcy and Rachel again since we hadn't seen them since Aiden's 1st birthday party. The girls laughed and giggled together as we waited in line (it is amazing how many people show up for a $1 movie, even when we were 30 mins early), and they even managed to mother Aiden as much as he would allow them to before the movie started.

I really did enjoy the movie even with the whining girl in my ear and the wiggling boy in my lap. This will not be the last $1 summer movie we will attend. We have a few others marked on the calendar and hopefully we can meet up with Darcy and Rachel again. The more the merrier.

Lessons learned:

Show up at least 30 mins early for $1 movies and expect a wait, but for heaven's sake, do not stoop so low as to camp out overnight for the release of a movie. Come on people, do you not have anything better to do?
No matter what treats you pack they will want something different. Stick to your guns even though the popcorn is calling you by name.
If you think you have it bad with three kids, imagine raising 96 girls and one boy like Mr. and Mrs. Mayor Who!!
And lastly, everyone is somebody, no matter how big or small!!!

Dad, Daddy-o, DaDa

2009-06-22T09:34:00.000-07:00

*Dad = 10 year old, cool guy way of acknowledging dad.
*Daddy-o = 4 year olds term of endearment for her Dad, which started when she was super little.
*Dada = 1 year old way of saying Daddy, which is more of a voice influx and still working on the correct letter sound.

Since Daddy was working, as usual, on Father's Day, we were waiting till he got home at 5:00 to celebrate with him. The plan was to have everything ready and on the table so when he walked in the door we could give him his Father's Day gifts and crafts and then have dinner. I got a call from Dale at 3:30 saying that he was on his way home early. That was awesome, but really sent us here at home into a tail spin to get everything done. Not only was he off early, he was also already 30 mins into his hour commute. That gave us 30 short minutes to get the cupcakes frosted, the table set and gifts laid out, the dishwasher loaded and unloaded, and the living room picked up and vacuumed (the vacuuming had to wait, there wasn't enough time). We ended up finishing with about 1 minute to spare.

The kids sat on the arm of the couch to greet daddy the minute he walked in the door. They were so excited to share their cards, gifts, and crafts with him. You would have thought it was Christmas with all the excitment from the kids. Aiden even attempted to say Happy Father's Day in his own way. He is really mimicing sounds and usually copies the influx in voice even if he doesn't get the sounds right. So cute!

The card given by Andrew said, "Dad, here's something for you to wear on Father's Day--" I AM THE BOSS! (You can return it to Mom tomorrow!)

So we made Dad wear this huge, bright, orange tag for the rest of the night. Even though Mom and Dad are both the boss around here, it is a joke that Daddy always uses when he doesn't want to be the one to make the decisions around here... "go ask your Mom, she is the boss."

With all the gifts, cards, crafts, dinner, cupcakes, and family movie, we were able to show Dad/Daddy-o/Dada in a small way how much he really means to us. For the greatest gift is the fact that he is such an awesome dad, not just on Father's Day, but EVERY day!!!

To the One I L-O-V-E!!!

2009-06-21T13:59:00.001-07:00

They say when you are little that you will grow up and marry a man just like your Daddy. And when I was little I knew that meant it would be a very hard working, gentle but fair, loving man; for my dad was all of those qualities and more.

Dale is all of those attributes and more. He works so hard for our family, making sure we have what we need and even some of the wants. He does not complain as he walks out the door before the sun comes up six days of the week. He doesn't verbalize how tired he is when he walks in the door 11 hours later and the kids want to jump on him and play. He takes off the working man 'hat' and reveals the daddy hat that is never taken off even when he is gone from the home.

His compassion for the kids is overwhelming. He is checked in to their daily lives and truly cares about them in every way. Instead of spending that one day off a week doing 'man things', he would prefer to spend it with his family. Even if that means just cuddling up on the couch watching the same movie for the millionth time, wrestling on the living room floor, running to swim lessons or trumpet lessons, or even skipping the evenings baseball game for news for some kids' cartoons.

I pray that one day Andrew and Aiden will become great fathers just like their Daddy, and that Alexis will grow up and marry a man that is just like her daddy, a hard working, gentle and fair, loving man.

Prayers Needed

2009-06-19T09:20:00.001-07:00

I am not even sure how to write this post because my heart is so heavy. Having personally known the loss of the most important person in my life, my dad, I know all too well how Kelly is feeling right now with the loss of her mom. But, add in the mix with that the emotions that come with helping your child recover from surgery and I think that would send me over the edge.

Though Gavin was off to a tough start in his recovery with feeding difficulty, he seems to be doing much better now according to Kelly. But she on the other hand is devastated to have learned that her mom died in a plane crash on Wednesday.

I would ask that each of you please lift Kelly, Matt, Gavin and the entire extended family up in prayer as they go through this very difficult season in life. It is so hard to deal with the loss of a family member who was so intrical in your everday life. You have to learn a new normal, a normal you do not want to have to create but that is forced upon you.

I wish there was more that I could do. Prayer, though it is powerful, just doesn't seem like enough right now. But, not knowing her in real life makes that a little bit harder since we just met online a month ago. I also remember people telling me to let them know if I needed anything. Well, what I needed was for my dad or my brother to be brought back to me, obviously something they can't do. So, I find myself in a hard place, wanting to help, but not knowing what to do more then just to pray for them right now. If you could please do the same I know it would be appreciated.

Up, Up, and Away!

2009-06-18T14:58:00.000-07:00

We are not big movie goers, mainly because it takes an arm and leg to afford to go and because two of my three kiddos do not know how to sit still long enough to make a movie enjoyable. We decided to give it a go and try and see UP! IT WAS AN AWESOME MOVIE!!! It was still super expensive, but very good. We had purchased discounted tickets from a fund raiser, making the tickets $6.50 each instead of $8.50. But, when we got there expecting to be saving $2 per ticket holder we were informed that the cost of the 3D movie was $2 more per ticket, even with these special passes. So, we ended up coughing up the $8 and went on our merry way. We had packed snacks but for some reason my family can not pass up the movie theater popcorn, so we grabbed a large bag with a free refill and made our way into the movie.

Suprisingly Aiden and Alexis were pretty good during the movie. Not too much jumping around, squeeking, or crying. After all they couldn't do those things while I was shoving peanut butter crackers and M&Ms down their throats. Bribbery that I am sure I will pay for later when they are hyped out on sugar.

I wish I had been more prepared for the movie in terms of how emotional it would make me. Thank goodness I am not a hormonal cry baby these days or we would have been in big trouble. Thank goodness those beautiful 3D glasses are great at hiding the mist in your eyes, that is if I had some mist in my eyes.

So, if you get a chance to see the movie (and the bank loan to afford it), don't forget that I warned you that it can be an emotional movie. If you don't tear up at all then just forget everything I have told you, maybe I am just a super hormonal cry baby.

**********WARNING: To Heather and all other non-Oregon loving people, Oregon pictures to follow!!!

Look back now!!

Don't say I didn't warn you!!!

This is your final warning!!!!!!!

For Christmas last year Auntie Dawn and Uncle Ralph bought each of the kiddos an Oregon shirt. Well, they finally all fit the kids at the same time so I couldn't resist a quick photo of the three of them on the couch.And since Daddy owns his very own Oregon shirt, he was pursuaded to put his on when he got home from work and then was attacked by the mamarazi. Can't you tell he is thrilled to be getting his picture taken?
Ok, if you looked away from the Oregon pictures, it is now safe to resume reading. No more Oregon pictures will be featured in this post.

I have a feeling we will be visiting B&N this coming weekend. Andrew has finished all three of the novels that he started last Friday, all averaging about 300 pages each. He just fell in love with these books and couldn't put them down. He spent the entire day in MY bed, devouring the words on the pages of his book. The deal was that he couldn't get this book that he REALLY wants (I have since been informed that it is a SERIES of books he REALLY wants) until he finished all the books at home that had been waiting to be read. So, now that he is finished I guess it is time for me to live up to my end of the deal and make a trip to B&N. Between B&N and the movies I think I need to get a summer job.

Oh the good ol' days of curling up with a good book and shutting out everything going on around me. Oh wait, that was pre-kiddo days. One can dream can't they?

Gavin's Wide Smile

2009-06-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

Isn't he such a cutie??

Gavin will be having surgery tomorrow at Loma Linda, with Dr. Martin, the same surgeon Aiden had. This smiling little guy, his mommy Kelly, and his daddy Matt, would appreciate any prayers as he heads into surgery at 6:00 a.m.

As a mommy of a cleft affected kiddo, I know all too well the feelings Kelly must be having right now. The feelings of sadness that he has to go through this all, hope for a bright future, despair for the pain to come, gratefulness that skilled professionals can do the repair needed, and a host of many more feelings. No matter how much we trust the physician and know we are doing the right thing for our child, it is still hard to hand them over for surgery. Please lift them up in your prayers if you think of them tomorrow.

I look forward to posting a positive post-op report.

There's a New 5th Grader in Town

2009-06-12T14:06:00.001-07:00

In Aug of 2008 I sent Andrew off to 4th grade. Greeting his teacher, Ms. Nelson on the first day of school.

He excelled through out the year (though there were bumps along the way), and received lots of awards, not only for academics, but for citizenship, and attendance.

Finishing off his 4th grade year with Ms. Fletchall (Ms Nelson had a baby).

And this 'little man' came home yesterday as a grown up 5th grader.

When I first started teaching in 2000, he was only one year old. I had this class filled with 5th graders and could not for the life of me imagine Andrew, my little man, being a 5th grader himself. And now that time has come.

Little blast from the past - Andrew's Kindergarten picture. TOO CUTE!!!!

Preschool Memories

2009-06-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

This past week has been a crazy week for Alexis and the rest of the family. She had participated in a preschool Mom and Me class called T.U.B.S. So, on Wed. night they had a little circus party and gave each of the kids a certificate for completing the program. She even got her named pulled out during the raffle and won this fabulous (sarcasm) prize that includes over 1,000 pieces (says that right on the front and they weren't kidding). It is an Activity Super Chest with markers, stamps, paint, and much more. But my favorite, the supplies to make TONS of beaded necklaces or braclets. I know she and I will have fun with it, but come on, 1,000 pieces might be a bit much!!

Her teacher, Ms. Veronica, dressed up like the master of ceremonies at a circus for their fun filled evening. She has such a great personality and does so much for the kids.

After our late night at Wed. night's circus (literally and figuratively), we got to sleep in a little on Thurs. morning since she didn't have to be to school till 8:15 instead of 7:30. They had a cute little performance with a few songs and then passed out certificates to the kiddos. (Alexis is on the top righthand side.

They sang, You Are My Sunshine while they held up these cute sun faces. Love her long eyelashes on her sun. :)

Then they were each called up and given a very adorable certificate. The poem on it was awesome so I thought I would share it with you.

You're a Special Person
You're a very special person,

And we wanted you to know,

How much we enjoyed being your teachers.

How fast the year did go!

Please come back to visit us

As through the grades you grow,

Try hard to learn all that you can

There is so much to know!

The one thing we tried to teach you

To last your whole life through

Is to know that you are SPECIAL

There is no one else like you!

Ms. Regalado with AlexisMrs. Anderson with Alexis

Now my little girl is getting ready to start a new chapter in her life, Kindergarten, in the fall and she can't wait!!!

HAPPY KISSIVERSARY

2009-06-08T20:52:00.000-07:00

HAPPY KISSIVERSARY, HUNNY!!!

I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!!

Today marks the 7th anniversary of our first kiss, now known as our kissiversary. On this night 7 years ago we had gone out to chinese food, taken a walk around the neighborhood, and then gone back to his house for me to get my car and head home. And then IT happened and the rest is history.

So, tonight we celebrated our kissiversary by going out to chinese for dinner (any excuse to not have to cook on a working week night). I have been craving some REAL chinese food, not the fast food, americanized stuff. The kind we used to get when I was a kid going to Sen Yeng's. Yummy wonton soup with crispy noodles, the egg roll appetizers, the tea, the bowls of endless rice, and then huge plates of entrees, followed by a fortune cookie of course. And nothing came from a warming plate as I walked down the case with a tray, it was brought to my table for me to enjoy with my hunny (and the three restless children who very much would have preferred something more fast food style).

And so this night will end with another kiss as we mark this 7th kissiversary. *MUAH*

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

2009-06-07T08:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday marked the 7th anniversary of my Dad's passing. It was a bitter sweet day, remembering all the good times, but then knowing that this day signified a sad ending to a great man's life. Each year doesn't necessarily get easier, I have just learned new skills for dealing with it. Today is Great Grandpa Howse's 102 birthday!!!! You read that right 1-0-2! This picture was taken when we went back to Indiana to celebrate his 100th birthday. I really wish we could be there today, joining in on the celebration, and singing him Happy Birthday Howse style (trust me you are not missing out if you never have to experience this one in person, Andrew is still traumatized from the first time he was exposed). HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA HOWSE. WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!!!!

Tomorrow will mark our 7th anniversary since Dale and I started dating. We met in 1998 when I was pregnant with Andrew and became close friends fast. We maintained that friendship when I moved down to San Diego and then life brought me back up to Redlands were we became even closer friends. Those around us thought we were a married couple the way we acted together and how Dale was just so natural with Andrew. My dad always said he knew Dale was the right guy for me the first time he met him. And Dale's Grandpa (the one who is 102 now) told me I was accepted as one of the family before Dale and I were even dating. It came as no suprise to the world when we finally started dating on June 8th, 2002, just two days after my dad passed away. Not sure what caused Dale to finally initiate the first kiss, but there was no looking back from that moment on. From then on out we knew not only were we now dating, we were planning a wedding, and spending the rest of our lives together. I could not imagine being with anyone other then my best friend.

**(Darcy gets brownie points if she can tell me where this next picture was taken.)

Hope everyone has fond memories of yesterday, celebrates today with passion, and enjoys the tomorrows for as long as we are given them.

Fire Alarms, M&Ms, and 15 Months Old

2009-06-06T14:35:00.000-07:00

Friday was a minimum day at school. I couldn't be any happier because that meant that I would be getting home at a decent time and could relax before we had to take Aiden for his 15 month pictures. I was winding things down and talking to Mrs. Gee (the teacher I am subbing for), when Andrew said, "Mom, I think that is the fire alarm." To which I replied, "No Andrew, that is just the movie." Only to finally realize that the noise I was hearing was in fact the fire alarm. It took me another second to find where Alexis was playing in the classroom and realized SHE HAD PULLED THE ALARM ON THE WALL!!!!

By this point some of the other teachers had come out of their classrooms and were trying to figure out if it was real or just a false alarm. I immediately called the office to let them know what had happened so they could cancel the fire department coming to check things out (thankfully the station is right next door to the school). The preschool class and the after school program kiddos had already started the evacuation plan and had to be sent back to their rooms since it was just a false alarm.

Alexis went and hid under a table while I talked to the other teachers and the custodian who was trying to reset the alarm. I know she felt sorry for what she had done and she truly did not know what she was doing, but it sure was not fun trying to explain it to everyone else. She is terrified to go into the office on Monday because I told her she would need to apologize to the principal for pulling the alarm.

Fun times with a curious, mischevious, four year old.

Doesn't that look like a yummy pile of M&Ms?? I love chocolate and couldn't be happier when I got my coupon in the mail the other day for a free chocolate purchase from Mars. Then, when we were at Andrew's Kids Connection end of year event last night they had a M&M eating contest. They set plates of different colors out in front of the kids and waited to see which team could eat all of theirs first. They quickly figured out once the first kids got started that they had put way too many on the plate for young kids to be eating (this was thought of by a junior high teacher who obviously didn't change the amount to compensate for the smaller kiddos). So, when Andrew came up for his turn they had eliminated half of the M&Ms on the plate and he started going to town. He had successfully gotten all the M&Ms into his mouth and had moved on to chewing and swallowing this huge mouth full. The kids were all yelling around him and cheering him on when all of the sudden the thing I had feared the most happened.... he started gagging! Once this kid gags it is all over with. I couldn't act fast enough before the inevitable happened... blue M&Ms ALL over the place (sorry for the TMI, maybe I should have given a warning). He was so horrified and embarrassed that he ran to the bathroom to hid. Of course I followed right behind him and helped him get cleaned up and tried to help his bruised ego. He wanted nothing but to leave and head for home. So that is what we did. The whole way home I just kept wondering if that was the right thing to do. The right message to send him? Run away when embarrassed or just go face the people? Selfishly I had wanted to go home since I was tired so this was my opportunity out of there and I didn't look back once. Not so sure he will be eating M&Ms any time soon.

On to a better topic: Aiden turned 15 months old this past Wed. It is hard for me to believe how much he has grown and how he is loosing that baby look. He is now totally a toddler and really showing his personality. He thought this tub was the funniest thing and kept putting it on his head the whole time we were in the car.

We took Aiden to get his 15 month pictures on Friday night (before the whole M&M fiasco). He did a great job. If you would like to check them out, click on this link and then enter JOY HOWSE in the customer name section. He loved the motorcycle and would not get off even after she was done taking his pictures. He had everyone else in the studio giggling while he smiled and worked the camera.

Things he can do now that he is 15 months old:

*Eats anything and everything now. *Still only says mama, uh oh, bubus (brother), and up. *Claps for himself when he is proud of what he has accomplished. *Throws away his own diapers when we are finished changing him. *Throws away anything he gets his hands on, including my tennis shoe I searched for for almost 30 minutes Friday morning until I gave up and started digging through the trash in one last final desperate attempt to find it. *Offers kisses to anyone and EVERYONE by leaning in and making a 'mmmmm' sound. *Plays quietly with his toys for an extended period of time. *Climbs down off the couch by himself by getting turned around and slidding off. *Tries to go fishing in the toilet if someone forgets to close the lid or the door to the bathroom (YUCK). *Can reach the top of the table and pull down full glasses of water on top of his head if not put far enough back. *Loves to pull all of the can goods out of the pantry and scatter them all around the kitchen.

I am sure there are many more things I can not think of right now. He is growing up so fast and althought I love this new big boy phase, I also really miss my baby. I have the baby blues.

Howse Family Happenings

One Year Down...

Mom's Wedding, March 20, 2010

Time with Grandma Leader

Redlands Symphony - Family Concert

My Little Miss

Andrew's 5th Grade Promotion

Music To My Ears

Dale's 41st Birthday

Andrew's 11th Birthday

Week Long Birthday Celebration

Ken Aiden and Barbie; Single Mom Tuesdays

Misc. Monday

The New View

Christmas 2009

Christmas Eve 2009

Howse Gingerbread House 2009

Hide 'N Go Seek

Hi-tech Christmas Card 2009

He "Owned It!"

Walk a Mile In My Shoes

Craniofacial Team Appt. 2009

Teeth, Teeth Everywhere!!

Crazy Excitement on Maderia

Howse Family Thanksgiving 2009

My Amazing Trumpet Player

Wordless Wednesday

Halloween 2009: Invasion of Star Wars

Pumpkin Patch/Farm Visit

What Happens when Kids are Unsupervised?

Star Wars in Concert

One Year Ago Today

Reserve Me a Bed at the Looney Bin

Weird Numbers: 18

Hide 'N Go Seek

Always Playing Catch-Up

LABOR Day!

September is Craniofacial Acceptance Month

Happy 5th Birthday Little Miss!

Happy Birthday in Heaven 'D'

Tumbling and Trumpets

Learning to FLY, Baby Steps

What I Learned at School Today

No Forward Progress

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious....

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!

17 Months Old

A Day at the Beach

Knott's Berry Farm

Wordless Wednesday ~ Computer Time

Aidan's Palate Surgery Tomorrow

Busy Week in Review

HAPPY 6TH ANNIVERSARY BABE!

Mom vs. Ants and Loosing Ground! HELP!

BB&B for Aiden's new BBB

WordlessFULL Wednesday

Chairs, Cousins, Car Rides, Camp, & Contest Winner

Happy 4th, Freedom of Speech and a *Giveaway*

WordLESSFULL Wednesday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

Evil Stepmother and Discipline Gone Bad

ROAD TRIP!!

Summer Swimmers and Sunbathers

Chipmunk and Stuntman

Horton Hears A.....

Dad, Daddy-o, DaDa

To the One I L-O-V-E!!!

Prayers Needed

Up, Up, and Away!

Gavin's Wide Smile

There's a New 5th Grader in Town

Preschool Memories

HAPPY KISSIVERSARY

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Fire Alarms, M&Ms, and 15 Months Old

Happy 4th, Freedom of Speech and a Giveaway