It Was Just A Thought

I’ve discovered that the bigger this baby grows the harder of a time I have doing rather normal things like bending over, getting up from the couch and painting my toe nails. Considering my feet are swollen half the time and I’m now in flip flops and barefoot a good majority of the time nice looking toe nails have been my latest obsession.

In my past life when I was a single, career-girl with a cat I used to frequent a nearby nail salon. I didn’t even care if I couldn’t understand the women who seemed to talk more to each other while doing our nails than to us. However, after I became an instant mother, who shares her paycheck to provide for her new family and a cat my trips to get my nails done have become almost non-existent. In fact, the last time I did have a manicure/pedicure was when I flew out to Michigan for a friend’s wedding last September. It was by far the best manicure/pedicure ever.

Recently I attempted to paint my toe nails. I was successful in getting color on them, but not very successful in getting that fabulous polished look. I looked at FH and for a moment considered asking if he would help me. However, I dare not tread on his masculinity by asking that of him. I’m still trying to convince him that it would be a nice gesture to come home from work with a frozen yogurt topped with fruit in hand (it’s my one craving.) That has yet to happen, but I still have a couple of weeks left.

I later informed him of the idea that I ought to teach Middle Boy or Younger Boy how to paint my toe nails. I received a really fabulous look at that thought. But I didn’t really get an objection. The Pro is that someone else could help me paint my nails … for free. The Con is that it would probably look about as good as if I had tried it myself … or worse.

Maybe I’ll just try to save up for a trip to the salon. But it’s not a completely bad idea. Right?

Memo to Nasty Cat - Summer Vacation II

Memo: To Nasty Cat
Dept: Cats
From: Crys
Subject: Summer Vacation Again

Nasty Cat, I think it is time that I inform you that until all of the children are grown, out of high school and off to college or to live the rest of their lives that both you and I will have to suck it up for three months out of the year for this horrendous time period called Summer Vacation. Unfortunately for you and me the boys’ school is not year round – With this being said, welcome to Day 3 of summer vacation 2010.

Trust me when I say that the extra hours of whining and crying and yelling and playing are no comfort to my ears either. My excuse, at least, is that I’m working a full time job and actually having to concentrate is a bit troublesome when my focus is ripped in half by a wail of “I’m telling!” or “I Don't want to play with you!” I’m still, however, trying to fully understand what your excuse is.

You do nothing productive around this house on a daily basis. I’m aware that your nap times have been interrupted. And in Cat Land I have come to understand that not only is this a crime, but pure cruelty and unacceptable behavior. Perhaps you should try to do something with yourself to get through the day. I’ve heard fly catching is a wonderful sport and snack. I know you may not want to hear this but Fat Cat highly enjoys fly catching, and we definitely do not have a shortage of flies.

I also have a problem with your irritation with me. I’m sorry I did not consult you about the packaged deal when I first started dating FH. If it helps, I myself was not fully informed of what life would be handing me. However, I’ve managed to survive about a year and 9 months of it. If I can survive it then surely you can survive it too. Besides, I think you enjoy having some of the extra hands to pet you. I can also say I truly believe you enjoy having a bunk bed and a lofted bed in the home. [Please note Photo A]

I’m also aware that perhaps the fact that my stomach is growing bigger each week may not leave you the desired amount of space on my lap, and that you’re no longer allowed to knead and lay on my stomach. To this I say “Get over it.” My growing stomach is the least of your troubles. In a couple of months we’ll have a crying baby on our hands. This will be the next big challenge you and I will face together for the first time.

In closing – I will hand you the same advice I lent you last year. Suck it up and enjoy the time as it is before our little blossom of a baby arrives. You may even enjoy the boys more when the time comes.

Kind Regards,
Crys, House Co-Director

Photo A - I personally have snapped a photo of you enjoying Older Boys lofted bed where you can sleep in a high up place and not be disturbed because no one knows you're there unless we climb the ladder to look for you.

Younger Boy Gets the Last Word

Ever since I’ve found myself spending about 24/7 with Younger Boy I find myself in the strangest arguments. And by the time I’ve realized I’m in the middle of a ridiculous squabble with a pre-schooler he has already put in the last word and won.

YB: What do birds say?
Crys: They say Squawk!
YB: No they don’t!
Crys: Yes they do!
YB: No they don’t! Penguins say Squawk. Birds say Tweet.
Crys: Well, birds can say Squawk too.
YB: Oh.
Crys: Yup
YB: Well, whales make music in the ocean. [Play that one in a Toddler voice Matter-of-fact tone]

I guess that was him having the last word on that because quite honestly, how do you follow up to that?

Let The Holiday Festivities Begin!

This last weekend FH and I decided we should get into the swing of celebrating the holidays. Saturday FH took the two older boys out to pick out a Christmas tree. It’s cute and small and doesn’t overpower our apartment.

Last year we had to get a small tree to put up high on a table because Fat Cat is notorious for trying to climb Christmas trees. This year we got another small tree, but Nasty Cat is the only cat we have to keep an eye on since Fat Cat went back to live with my parents.

In following tradition with last year we brought home ornaments for the boys to decorate. At the moment all of the ornaments we have are the ones that we have made either here as a family or that the boys have made at school. Considering it’s a small tree our homemade ornaments fill it up quite nice. This year we brought home wooden stars for the boys to paint. Then we posted a photo of them from this year and put their name and the year on the back.

We also picked out a new patch for our stockings – Another tradition that we started last year. Since Jane had all of their stockings and my personal stocking is with my parents we thought it might be a nice idea to get new stockings for everyone and to put a patch each year. In my opinion they’re all really cute and I think the boys like being able to help decorate and choose what they would like on theirs. This year I added a sparkly martini glass patch to mine.

And we started one more new tradition. This year we decorated a gingerbread house. When I was little my sister and I would get to help decorate one with my dad and from what I remember it was a lot of fun. The boys hadn’t had the opportunity and both FH and I thought that they’d like to do one. I looked up a couple of recipes and finally decided that it wouldn’t hurt anyone to by a pre-made kit.

So last night the boys all took turns working together to put decorations on the house. It was really nice to see that the three of them were able to take turns and decide upon designs together. It was a refreshing moment from the usual bickering. FH even got in on the action by placing one gum drop on the roof, while I was the mistress of the icing.

Although as much fun as the boys had decorating I think their favorite part was when we were done and I let them lick up some of the frosting that I put on a plate.

Have any of you created any new traditions to do as a new family? I’m curious to see what other things blended families do together to create new holiday traditions.

And some holiday photos for your viewing enjoyment!

Middle Boy painting his ornament:


Our tree:


The finished gingerbread house:


And by popular demand! Stockings!


Last year's patches were the fish. This year he wanted the owl.


And mine! Last years were my purple flowers. This year the sparkly martini glass which FH found for me. I was going to get some ladybugs but FH found the perfect patch!

A Letter Short

I thought I’d send you an update about the progress with Younger Boy and working on Preschool activities at home. We discovered a great kids TV show the other day. It’s called Word World. Basically everything in the world is made of letters – literally made of letters. The dog’s body is made out of the letters d-o-g. We came across it after watching Sesame Street. It was kind of creepy but looked really cute at the same time so I decided it was OK to watch.

I’m pretty glad we did. As soon as the show was done Younger Boy jumped up and ran over to our refrigerator where we have those plastic magnetic alphabet letters. The problem is that we only have one set, but it works great for spelling small words. Younger Boy wanted to spell some of the words we had seen in the show so we spelled “dog” and “web.” He would say the word we were going to spell. Then I would ask him to find each individual letter and we would put them together to form the word.

I’m still trying to figure out just how much he knows. He can sing his alphabet song, but I’m not sure how much of that is memorization and how much is actually knowing. So we went through the alphabet and I had him grab each letter. There were a couple of letters he said he didn’t know so I made a mental note of those. But he did recognize and was able to find a good majority of the letters. I was pretty proud.

And this conversation ended our word spelling activity for the day. Apparently I need a couple more vowel magnets. (My apologies for those that are friends on my facebook page, but it was too precious to pass up.)

*playing with the magnetic letters on the fridge. We only have one set of the alphabet*

YB: How do you spell cat?
Crys: C-A-T
YB: Oh! How do you spell fox?
Crys: F-O-X
YB: How do you spell HBO?
Crys: You spell HBO
YB: H-B-O
Crys: Good Job!
YB: How do you spell pee?
Crys: P?
YB: Yes. How do you spell pee? *does the 'I need to potty' crotch grab*
Crys: P-E .... well. You need another E. But we only have one.
YB. Oh. P-E-E?
Crys: Do you have to go potty?
YB: Yes.
Crys: Then go! You don't need my permission.
YB: ok.

Memo To Younger Boy – Boys Have a Penis & Girls Don’t

Memo: To Younger Boy
Dept: Preschooler Unit
From: Crys
Subject: Boys Have a Penis & Girls Don’t

Younger Boy. First off I wanted to thank you for your help and assistance when your cousins Max and Tracie were over last Saturday. Specifically in the fact that you not only played nicely with Tracie who is a year younger than you, currently potty training, and learning to use her words instead of baby talk.

I thought it was very nice of you to play with her, to share your trains and your motorized hamsters with her. While I know that she often snatched (Footnote 1) the toys from you while you were trying to play with them, I am most impressed with your choice to use your words instead of screaming and crying and snatching it back. I am very proud of this progress in your behavior. It was also very helpful considering there were five children under my care that day (especially since your father was at work for most of it.)

And now I would like to get to the main point of this memo. I’ve come to realize that you might have some confusion about Tracie and going to the bathroom. On a quick side note I would like to thank you for your assistance in helping make sure that Tracie went potty on the toilet and not in her pants. I was very thankful to hear you say “I’m going to go potty too” or “Do you need to go potty? I need to go potty.” I think that your actions as a role model helped to prevent a couple of possible accidents that day.

On one occurrence I went to go peer around the corner just in case Tracie needed help. I noticed that you showed Tracie how to urinate while standing up. I’m pretty sure from the look of awe on her face that she was not only impressed with your ability to pee standing up, but also fascinated that you are able to pee standing up.

I think she actually considered giving it a try until I decided to step in and help her to sit down on the toilet. Now, I’m aware that you had a look of confusion on your face. You seemed to be most confuddled by this action. Let me explain.

Boys have a penis and girls don’t. Boys pee standing up and girls have to sit down to pee. However, yes, boys and girls both do have to sit down to poop.

I hope that this explanation is adequate enough for right now. I think that we can go into more detail when you get older. But I felt that it was necessary to at least give you the knowledge of these basic facts since you seemed confused by your experience in trying to help give Tracie potty training lessons.

Please direct any further questions to your father. Thank you.

Kind Regards,
Crys, House Co-Director

Footnotes
1: “Snatched” was the word of the day that day. I heard it from each of the five children that day. I’m also pretty convinced that Nasty Cat used the word “snatched” when all five children decided that his toys were the coolest toys to play with.

It's Setting In & Some Swank

It’s Setting In
I picked up my wedding dress and accessories today. Younger Boy came with me to help get out of the house and he proudly helped hold up the bottom of the dress bag for me. I must say it was kind of nice to have the help as I struggle up the staircase with a Caffino, the keys and my purse in one hand and the top part of my dress and bag with my veil and sash in the other. Otherwise I would most likely have dragged the bottom part of the dress bag up the stairs hoping that it wouldn’t tear and dirty the precious gown inside.

Bringing home the whole shebang though and seeing that I had 155 days on my Wedding Countdown Counter on my Facebook page kind of sunk in that I’m getting married next year. And I tell you now; I have been far too busy being an instant mom, an instant domesticated goddess to a family of five and a workaholic to really let it sink in.

And it’s still slowly sinking in that I’m getting married, and I’m officially going to be an instant mom, and that I’ll officially be off the market. Technically I am off the market, but as the saying is sometimes thrown around “I’m not married yet.” But still … it’s just plain weird to me. I enjoyed my long distance relationships that didn't get in the way of my career so much, that it just seemed so out of character for me to suddenly walk away from it all to be an instant mom. I don't think I've stopped to think about any of that either. Who has time to do such things when you're dealing with kids and Jane and work?

I'm getting married. Me … who the longest relationship I’ve had was back in high school (almost two years). And after that I was pretty good at having a new boyfriend every three to six months. And those were the long term ones. A guy was lucky if he was worth dating past two weeks. Even my own mother stopped trying to keep track of who I was dating after I went off to college.

So even though I have this role of stepmother in my heart and efforts, the thought of actually being married and someone’s wife is a whole other issue I’m finally considering.

Weird…just plain weird to me.

Some Swank
The awesome and amazing Swanky Smirking Cat has bestowed upon me the Swank Award. She finds my thought and heart of my stepmom role swanky. So Thanks!!

And now I shall pass on the Swank to my fellow following bloggers:

KweenMama: Who truly is the definition of Swank with her tips and recipes and advice.

JustMe: Who seems to always experience and understand just what I’m going through…because she’s often experiencing it at the same time too. She is by far swanky!

Congrats ladies!

Honest Scrap Award

So about a week or so ago I received a blog award from the awesome dragonflymama at stepmama metamorphoses. Considering I know I suck at updating when I have chaos among chaos going on I thought I’d give you something to really divulge in. This one would be a bit more introspective though since for this award I’m supposed to reveal 10 things about me that perhaps you do not know.

1. My Myers-Briggs Personality Type puts me as a hard core ENTJ. Most of my friends and family aren’t surprised. I’m an overachiever when it comes to my career and anything involved with it. I create my own systems and if the baton is ever tossed in the air I’m not afraid to catch it and take the lead.

2. When I was 10-years-old my parents sent me off to live with my uncle and his family at the Vandenberg AFB in So Cal. They thought it would be a great idea to send me off to stay with my cousin who is about two weeks younger than me. I hated it. My cousin annoyed me (and she still does today). Plus my uncle traumatized me. He asked us to clean the room and when we were done he came in with a white glove and ran it along the edges of the room and when he found dust he made us clean it again. Was he serious or was he just joking with us? Who knows, but when it comes to making sure that I’ve cleaned up after myself at other people’s homes you could eat off the floor.

3. I’m a survivor. I’m a survivor of so many things. From past posts you know that I lived as a victim for a couple of years. I hit rock bottom so many times I lost count. Then one day I turned my perspective around. I’m no longer a victim of any of the horrors that have been thrown my way. The thing that made me open my eyes to this was the book “Illusions” by Richard Bach. I still turn to it when I don’t know where else to go or what else to do. I wouldn’t say that it saved me, because I saved myself. But it did help make a path through the fog that I had chosen to stay in.

4. I am totally a cat person. Even though they’re a bunch of punk fuzz butts … I couldn’t imagine life without a cat. I’ve had a cat since 4th grade. I was without a cat while I was at college, and sometimes going to a friend’s house that had a cat made all the difference. Their affection might be on their terms, but when I’m really upset having a cat around sure helps a lot.

5. I love nature. Whenever I’m really run down a good walk up a trail, sitting among the redwoods or lounging by the ocean can really recharge my energy. I cannot wait to get a house with a backyard so that I can start a garden up. Digging in the dirt, watching things grow and breathing in the smell of rain and plants are amazing. I couldn’t even begin to describe the serenity and calmness of it.

6. Orchids are my flower. They’re mysterious and beautiful. They’re also my family flower from sorority. An orchid always makes me feel pretty, and refreshed, and energetic – no matter what kind of day I’m having.

7. I have four tattoos. I could probably do without them, but at the time in my life that I got them I really felt I needed them. I have a purple butterfly to remind me to never be afraid to spread my wings and venture into the unknown. I have a purple rose to remind myself of the beauty that I have hidden within. And that no matter how disgusting I may feel, I’m not. I have a shooting star to remind me to never give up on myself, and to never give up on life. And I have snowflakes on my back to remind me that my friends have faith in me, even when I may not. They’ve served as reminders of the hard times I’ve been through, and that I got through them.

8. I discovered that life was worth living my sophomore year of college. A friend of mine killed himself. And I was lost for about three days. That was when I realized that only I could change my life around from the downward slope I was sliding down. That was when I realized that no matter how horrible life seemed, I could never stand the thought of hurting my friends and family the way that I was hurting. It is unfortunate that he died. But his death inspired me to live mine.

9. Not only am I the oldest child but I’m also the first granddaughter of my mom’s side of the family. I’m also the oldest of all my friends and for some reason have always been the golden child amongst all of them. I was put into many play dates with other children who weren’t quite as golden in hopes that my “goodness” would rub off on them. I felt that pressure to not fail and to not disappoint the adults around me. I felt the need to be the perfect child, to always be the perfect child. Perhaps that is why I’m always hard on myself when it comes to the things I do in life. But I’ve slowly been learning that perfection isn’t attainable, and that accepting life and yourself for what it is will bring me toward true happiness.

10. My philosophy is that you can learn something from everyone that comes into your life. Whether it is someone you’ve known for years, months, weeks, days, hours or minutes. If you take the time to look at the people that come into your life you can learn something about yourself, something you’d like to strive toward, or something that you’d not like to be. I take in lessons like a sponge takes in water. I’ve also learned that sometimes you can learn multiple lessons from one person. And I believe that you can always learn something new.

So now I’m to pass this award along to some other bloggers. I can’t remember how many so I’ll pick a few that I think might enjoy this.

Rachael – One Unbelievable Adventure

Heather – Comparative Childhood

Jenn – The Not-So-Divine Secrets of Motherhood

Memo to Nasty Cat - Summer Vacation

Memo: To Nasty Cat
Dept: Cats
From: Crys
Subject: Summer Vacation

Note: please see attached photos for references.

Nasty Cat. I’ve come to realize that you are not too pleased with the boys being home all day long on summer vacation. You no longer have rule over the top bunk bed. You get kicked out of the room if you indeed have managed to sneak in there to try and take a day long nap. You also get locked in the room and have to pry your way through a maze of Thomas trains and transformer toys, the boys playing in various parts of the room and the closed door – hoping (*expecting*) like heck that one of them will either notice you pawing at the door or that I will hear your desperate pawing and let you out myself.

You also do not enjoy having the extra attention from them all day long. I realize that you do not like being brushed, hugged, petted or woken up from your naps. I really do appreciate the fact that you have been tolerant for the most part. Thank you for not tearing or ripping into the boys’ flesh as you have often done in past occurrences to my own flesh. If you haven’t caught on yet, you get treats for not hurting them when they are obviously bugging you and invading your personal bubble. I commend you for your patience and understanding that their well being is important to me.

I’ve also noticed that you have decided to claim the corner of the couch for the time being. I’m sincerely sorry that you do not enjoy having to share the couch with Fat Cat. But in the chance you haven’t noticed, the couch is rather large. You do not have to lay down right next to her. And if she decides to lie next to you on the couch you could get up and move to the other side. I realize this may not be fair and a bit inconvenient since you were obviously sleeping there first, but for the time being this is just how it is. A little less disgust and attitude on your part would be nice. I have, after all, caught you licking and grooming Fat Cat. So I know that a small part of you actually does like her.

In closing – Could you please just suck it up? June is almost over, and we are going on vacation in July in which you may have the entire top bunk bed to yourself for a whole week. And then the boys will all start school in August. In which you may once again claim the top bunk as your own.

Kind Regards,
Crys, House Co-Director

Reference One - You appear to acctually enjoy the couch for a good nap.


Reference Two - Again, you obviously have enough room to stretch out and really enjoy a good cat nap on the couch.


Reference Three - You should really drop the attitude and just move. Fat Cat obviously does not give a darn for your feelings. So do not give her the satisfaction of giving her a reaction to her actions.

Blog Lovin!

So I have received quite a few awards in my time blogging. And I haven’t been the best at following the trend of the awards. So before I go into it, I’d like to say to all of you that have given me a blog award, “Thank you! I’m really appreciative that you feel my blog is worth sharing. And I feel honored.”

With that said, I have at least three awards to recognize.

I’m a recipient of the Lemonade Award



A big thank you to Kweenmama, a fellow step mom, who not only is an inspiration that things will move along as my boys get older, but also shares so many great links and ideas!

What you are asked to do if you win this award:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post. (Check!)

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs that show attitude and/or gratitude.

3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post. (Done)

4. Let them know they have received this award by commenting on a post. (damn, you’ll see this when I post it, right?)

5. Link to this blog. (OK, I kind of suck since this is old, so I’ll just link to your blog again)

To my Lemonade Awards go to:
Meesha – Stepmother Revolution
I recently started following her blog and I really enjoy it. She asks the questions and gets me thinking. As stated in her about me: “this blog is about how to be a happier, less frustrated one (stepmom) by rethinking the role.”

Minnie – Their Wicked Stepmother
I love Minnie. Her relayed stories of her bio mom crack me up and remind me of the town I grew up in. Plus her encouragement that the rough times now pay off in the long run keeps my heart hopeful.

Just Me :) – The Tightrope of My Life
Somehow she and I seem to experience similar reality checks/situations. Hrm...maybe we're connected somehow. He he.

I have also received the I *Heart* Your Blog Award



Another big thank you to Smirking Cat, another fellow step mom, who writes entries that often make me think and reflect. And she likes cats and shares stories about her cats. What fellow cat owner doesn’t love that?

The rules of this blog award are:

1. Post the love award on your site (Check!)

2. Link back to the person who sent you the love (Done)

3. Pass it on to a handful of blogs you love by letting them know you've passed the buck to them and linking to their sites-keep the love flowing and read on!

My I *Heart* Your Blog Awards go to:
Full of Boys
A Fellow stepmom in a home full of boys, she’s always got great tips to share and ideas that I really want to try out.

Rachael at One UNBELIEVABLE Adventure!
She is another woman who I hold dear to my heart who is off on an adventure in another country learning to find her way.

Morocco and Rhonda at Full Moon
Their experiences touch my heart and my soul. I’m really thankful that I checked out their blog in the first place (Thanks Yo for introducing me to them!)

And I’ve also received the Friend's Award



This I received from fellow Midwesterner through transplant (and I say that with love) Heather over at Comparative Childhood. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know Heather through her posts and reflecting on some of her “sometimes controversial” topics. Bluntly I really appreciate her opinions on things in life.

This award is given to the writers of blogs that "are exceedingly charming.” These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers.

What to do: Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award. (Here they come)

My Friend’s Awards go to:

Laura Lee – Tenacious Me
LL is one of my dear friends that I trust with my blog, a fellow bride and editor, and inspires me to (one of these days) start writing down ongoing goals!

Yo (aka I change my pants while driving) – Write On Yo
I love Yo. Her love for wine, humor and personality are like a magnetic pull each day. She writes as she thinks and that’s really not a bad thing.

Recharging On the Mountain

This last week was not ideal. I can’t even really remember what started the domino effect of crappy happenings. The earliest I remember was Middle Boys crying fit over nothing except the fact that he just didn’t take a good nap. Then it rolled into the shit hittin the fan at work. Not necessarily that I was in trouble, but that I had a lot of trouble to deal with. With the help of Facebook changing their layout design, children on spring break and causing a ruckus on my forums and online communities, and then my work computer keyboard deciding to just die ... it was not a fun week.

But I did get to recharge a bit. Although not in an ideal, alone away from the boys, type of way that I would love (like the spa!). We decided that we all needed to get out of the house, especially I who had not really gotten out in far too long.

We decided to go hiking out at Point Reyes State park out here in Nor Cal on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and perfect hiking conditions – Sunny, beautiful with a slight breeze. We did a warm up lap around the Earthquake Trail. The trail is basically a big mile long loop, but it runs next to the San Andreas fault that is marked with big blue posts. There’s also a fence right up next to it that was jerked apart during the major 1906 earthquake up in these part. The kids thought it was pretty neat. The park also set up little kiosks with information about the earth’s plates and earthquakes in kid-friendly language so they liked to stop and read from there too.

Then we decided to hike up a mountain side. My fiancé and Older Boy were all about it. Younger Boy and I brought up the rear and Middle Boy hovered between both of us. Although he realized that you got to rest more if you hiked up front because from time to time you’d stop to wait for Younger Boy and me to catch up within a reasonable distance. It was beautiful. I actually didn’t mind being Younger Boy’s hiking buddy. It meant that I got to go slow and steady and drink in the nature around us. And since he held my hand the entire way he helped to balance me out as we climbed up the incline.

He also talked my ear off the entire way. I don’t know how he had the energy to talk the entire hike up and hike up, but he did it. It was entertaining. At one point he decided that we were trains. I guess this could be in reference to me telling him that we were like Thomas the Tank Engine going up a hill. Either way, it worked and provided entertainment.

YB: I’m pulling you Crys.
Me: Are you Thomas?
YB: Yes, and you’re a freight car!
Me: Oh OK, then I want to be Annie.
YB: Ha ha, You’re a freight car!

He also talked about macaroni and cheese and French fries at Red Robin, pooping and farting, and the horse that we saw. A lady was riding her horse down the side of the mountain, it was pretty neat.

It took up about an hour to go a mile and a half up the side of the mountain. We decided to cut the hike short and turn around at that point. It took us about half an hour to get back down. Younger Boy was so proud that he hiked that mountain all by himself. Usually when we go hiking he asks for one of us to hold him when we get near the end, but he did it all by himself and got a big high five for it.

I really loved being out in the forest though, even if was on the side of a mountain. It was beautiful. Here are some photos I took along the hike.


I really loved these little flowers. There weren't many of them as they grew one or two stalks here and there. But they were beautiful.


The scenery


I love trying to catch the tops of these trees. It's enchanting to gaze up at.

Younger Boy Antics

I always joke around that Younger Boy and I are attached at the hip since we literally spend all day together. I’ve come to the conclusion though that the kid needs some friends his age. I’m starting to rub off on him.

Corruption 1 – My Pony
I don’t know if any of you have heard it, but this sweet Northern California band, Far, did a cover of Ginuwine’s “Pony” from the 80s music scene. Anyway, Far’s version of Pony is one of my favorite rock covers yet. I don’t play it over and over, but I do play it often while I’m working out or just working.

My fiancé and I were sitting on the couch earlier this week. Younger Boy was splashing around in the bathtub. Out of now where I hear, “Ride my pony” come from out of the bathroom. He was singing his own version. I started cracking up and I grabbed my phone so that I could record it for my sister Wendy (who had to work a double that day and needed a good laugh.)

It was so cute, funny and wrong all at the same time.

Me: Are you singing the Pony song?
YB: Yeah. Just ride my pony Crys. My pony is green.
Me: *trying so hard to just smile and not laugh and hang my head in shame*
YB: And your pony is pink.

On a side note, my sister did love the voicemail of Younger Boy singing his version of Pony. I tell myself it could be worse. He could be belting out some rap song full of curse words.

Corruption 2 – Ready for the ER
In addition to my guilty need to watch One Tree Hill, I also watch Grey’s Anatomy. Except since I’ve moved in I’ve been DVRing everything and watching them on my own time. (You just can't get into a dramatic moment when there are kids running around.) This last weekend I decided it was time to catch myself up on some Grey’s. I watched quite a few episodes and got all caught up.

Monday rolled around. I was working and Younger Boy was in his room playing when I hear “Clear!” I stopped tapping away at the keyboard.

YB: Crys! Clear!

He’s been randomly yelling “Clear” through out the day. There doesn’t seem to be any game he’s playing that he can’t incorporate a good “Clear” into. At least he’s not going around calling everyone McSteamy, McDreamy or McAnything else or trying to perform life-saving operations on anyone. Right? Maybe this is subliminal workings to entice him to be a doctor.

He’s also showing signs of turning into a full-out boy. And I’m talking about gas and the humor in talking about gas. Although I don’t think he’s quite figured out just how funny it is because he says it so innocently.

Gas Man 1 – The Burp
Yesterday during lunch Younger Boy was sitting at the table eating and I was my desk working. That’s when I heard a very loud belch. Younger Boy whirls around like he just won a million dollar cash prize. Wide eyed and full of excitement he says:

YB: That was a good burp!
Me: I, yes. That was a good burp.
YB: That was a GREAT burp!
Me: *Trying really hard not to giggle* Sure! It was pretty great.

Normally I would have tried the good ole “And what do you say?” except I couldn’t quite manage to say it as I stifled my amusement. He was just so proud of himself. How dare I even think of taking away from that.

Gas Man 2 – The Fart
My mother came over for dinner last night. The six of us were sitting at the dinner table eating when Younger Boy yells out, “Fart!” We looked at him confused. That’s when he let it rip. And oh, how he let it rip – loud and long. I covered my face with my hand and looked at my mom with a look that I can’t quite describe. The look on my face had and OMG of disbelief, confusion and amusement. In fact, I was trying pretty hard not to laugh because at that point of the day I was pretty tired. She just looked at me and smiled and patted my hand with hers. I could hear the words she wasn’t saying, “There, There mija. Welcome to motherhood.”

So, that boy needs some friends his own age to play with and entertain himself with. You know, to play things that 3-year-olds play. I’ve tried looking into some social opportunities that he can attend for a couple of hours each week. I would love preschool, but I think he’s still working to master the wipe. (His arms are just too short! I’m pretty sure one of you mentioned that when I first began teaching him the art of pooping on the toilet.) I’m hoping I’ll find something.

Either way, that kid cracks me up.

Something Lighthearted and Fun

I apologize for being totally MIA lately. All I can say is that it’s been a really rough and super busy project-filled week (starting last week all the way up through this week). Before I dive into that though (While I collect my true thoughts and feelings before purging them upon all of you) I thought I would do this great, fun blog meme that Just Me :) tagged me in.

I’ve done it before, but really, I love this one…probably because it’s (hopefully) not the same book/answer each time.

Here are the rules of the tag:

1. Grab the nearest book.

2. Open to page 56.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the text of the next 2 to 5 sentences, along with these rules.

5. Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual book. Pick the CLOSEST!

6. Tag others to do the same!

My Book: Superfudge by Judy Blume

The following lines:

"Oh yes, that's the best," Alex said. "Nice soft bread with little worms here and there...."
"You can make a really tasty worm and cheese sandwich on it," I said. We were doubled over now laughing out heads off.
"And worm ice cream." Fudge said, jumping on top of us.
"Worm ice cream," Alex and I said together.
I decided that with Alex Santo in my class, Princeton might not be too bad.

Seriously, I smiled and about cried. Reading the lines made me really thankful for my best friend and my fiancé. I have so many inside jokes and things that we can joke about with them. Even when times get tough all that needs to be done is the mention of one of them and we start giggling. That of course made me really miss my friends (Like you LL! I’m in need of a sushi and saki fix!) Oh, how I could really use some time away from children and work.

I also can’t begin to tell you how many times in a day I’ll hit a rut and then think of some story or liner from one of you ladies that puts an instant smile on my face. So thank you all (sorry to be seriously mushy – but its really been rough!) for being my friend and in my blog. I seriously have been catching up on past blog entries I’ve missed out on and can’t believe I allowed myself to get so busy that I couldn’t just log in and read.

So in like-fashion, I’d like to tag the following ladies:

LL
Rachael

Imagine A Video Game

Bless my dear Middle Boy. He has an imagination and could talk your ear off telling you about it – that is for sure. Did you know that you could create a make believe video game? Now I totally know that a child’s imagination can create all kinds of adventures. I sailed the seas on my very own ship (sitting on top of the monkey bars), performed amazing tricks soaring through the air as a trapeze artist in a circus (swinging from the rings and the bar on the swing set), and I even prowled through jungles is search of the rare and dangerous white Bengal tiger (sneaking through tall grass and weeds in search of our napping Samoyed).

But I still am quite baffled that you can play a video game, while not playing a video game. Middle Boy has created at least two now. After school when I pick him up he tells me all about it. He levels up, he gets points, and sadly enough his good guy died yesterday.

Maybe I’m just an unknowing individual in the land of video games and that is why it is so surprising to me. Growing up we really weren’t allowed to play video games. We grew up playing my dad’s Atari system and the computer games we were allowed to play were classics like Oregon Trail, Create-A-Story with the Muppets, Lemonade Stand and Mario Brothers Typing. No Nintendo, No Sega Genesis, No PlayStation. In fact, I get really bored with video games. (Or maybe that's just my 20 second attention span.) It probably doesn’t help that in college I had a boyfriend that was much more interested in sitting in front of a TV/computer screen playing games instead of paying attention to me. But that’s my history with video games. I still can’t get past the 2nd level of Super Mario Brothers without dying. I totally crash my car in Super Mario Cart. And, I really get bored bowling on the Wii.

When I moved in I realized that video games ruled all four of my boys. Books were pretty much not picked up as much and kids cried when they lost, or couldn’t play, or didn’t get to play. I sat my fiancé down and made some video game rules, that he too had a hard time trying to stick too at first. I am proud to say that they have all been rehabilitated. Now video games are hardly ever played, more books are being read by all of them, and not as many crying fits. It’s become more of a once-in-a-while privilege to play than a necessity.

Back to the topic, did you know you could imagine a make-believe video game? I’ve tried to grasp this. Then I realized that yes, I guess you can. When I think of video games I think of kids sitting on their butts and staring mindlessly at a glaring screen with their tongues sticking out of the corner of their mouths. Middle Boy has created Quest Kitty. Kittens of different colors (he’s Orange Kitty) fight bosses (I guess this is universal for some major bad guy?) and level up. I think you’re supposed to eventually rescue a princess kitty or something. Lately he’s been telling me about “Make Your Own Boss.” This game I still don’t quite understand. I guess you create the gnarliest, nastiest, meanest boss (still kind of lost but OK) and you fight him. As I mentioned, his good guy died yesterday against this boss. But since it’s a video game, I guess he gets to use up an extra life and try again?

Oh well, I guess as long as he’s outside physically playing video games instead of sitting in front of a TV for hours upon hours a day playing video games, I really can’t complain. Maybe instead of getting angry and bottling it up I can go out and make up a make believe video game and fight off the evil, nasty Jane and save the world from her evil idiotic destruction. That’s got to be stress relieving, right? I wouldn’t look too crazy doing round-house kicks Chuck Norris style out in the middle of the park if I have work-out clothes on, right? Especially if I drop down into a Yoga stretch afterward.

Hrm … Yoga stretch. I think I’d rather go do that right about now.

How Their Progress Entertains Me

Can I just say that I love some of the conversation snippets the boys have? They really crack me up and provide me with the entertainment and a reason to get me laughing each day (although they usually aren’t trying to be funny).

Example 1 – Middle Boy’s Reading Progress
Middle Boy has really come a long way in his reading skills this semester. He started the semester off not knowing much or anything about sounding out words, and now he’s reading easy Dr. Seuss books and starting to learn how to read other books (those silent E’s and other *special* vowel sounds are tricky).

At his parent conference his teacher was so impressed at how well he blends his sounds together. My fiancé and I were pretty proud of this since we’ve been teaching him all along and encouraging him to read at home. I also can’t begin to tell you how many times a week I heard the phonics alphabet cd or heard about his Alpha Friends (the characters associated with letters that they learn/review each week).

Anyway, last night my fiancé and Middle Boy were sitting down reading a book. And Middle Boy was trying to blend together the sounds for the word “kisses.” My fiancé was having him sound out the different sounds/phrases that Middle Boy could recognize – “Kiss” and “Es”

FH: Put it together. What does it say?
MB: Kiss. Eh-sss. *loudly* Kiss-Ass!

I was sitting at my desk working when I heard this. Now usually when I’m trying not to laugh I hide my mouth in my shirt collar. Well, when I attempted to do just this I about cursed at myself for wearing a split V-neck that day. I ended up covering my mouth with my hand and leaning a little further onto my desk while I tried to control my giggles. It was so precious and classic.

Example 2 – Younger Boy Learning to Use His Words
Now, Younger Boy has this habit of screaming and yelling instead of using his words when he doesn’t like something his brothers are doing to him. In fact, all of them had this habit when I first moved in. Middle Boy and Older Boy have embraced my method of “Using your words” quite well. Younger Boy on the other hand is a bit more of a project. He still hasn’t quite grasped it yet. I’ve worked and volunteered at Child Development Centers for quite a while during college and high school. The method exercised there is:

Tell them to stop whatever it is they're doing. And then tell them why/what you want them to stop and how it makes you feel when they do it.

One I often use with Younger Boy: “Please stop yelling at me. It hurts my feelings because I don’t like it when you yell at me like that.”

It’s all nature to me now and I don’t usually stop to think about it when I use the method. And sorta off-topic, the method sounds pretty funny when used on some of my friends at the Fraternity House back in college. Great example: “Please don’t call me a whore. I do not get paid to have sex, nor do I charge others to have sex with me. So I’d appreciate it if you stopped calling me that.” Oh yeah, it came out just like that, without a thought. And it received a good chuckle, BUT it worked 92 percent of the time.

Back on topic, I’ve been working with Younger Boy to use my method. So earlier this week I caught this conversation between Younger Boy and Middle Boy who were playing in their room:

Story set up: Middle Boy is trying to shove his Transformer toy into Younger Boys Thomas and Friends train station (which Younger Boy is playing with) and Younger Boy is trying to push the toy out with his hands. They both try using my method against each other.

MB: Younger Boy! STOP! DON’T DO THAT!
YB: STOP! I'm MAD AT YOU!
MB: I'm sad *sniffs*
YB: Yes! You are!

OK, maybe I’m just mean and evil but that cracked me up. It was nice to hear that they were trying to use their words … albeit a little backwards and out of order … but still! And, oh, how I wish I could insert voice inflections because Younger Boy’s “Yes! You are!” sounded so direct and intended. Luckily for me they were in their room and I could silently giggle into my shirt collar in the living room at my desk.

Oh yes, How I Love the random snippets of conversation I hear from the boys.

Introspection And Fun

Kweenmama did a book meme and left it open for others to do, so I thought that since it’d Friday and we have the boys I’d do something fun.

Here are the instructions:

• Grab the nearest book
• Open to pg. 56
• Find the fifth sentence
• Post the text of the sentence on your blog with these instructions
• Don’t dig for your favorite book, or the most intellectual one. It has to be the closest one.
  

So the closest book next to me would be some of my old college books on my bookshelf. I chose the one that is closest to my hand when I reach out since it’ supposed to be the closest one to you, and technically, it’s the closest one to me.

Book: Elements of Fiction Writing – Characters & Viewpoints by Orson Scott Card

Pg. 56, Fifth sentence: “Do you constantly find yourself exploring a character?”

Can you get any better than that? OK, maybe you can, but still. As much as I try not to explore Jane and why she makes the decisions she does, I find myself trying to rationalize her. Fortunately and unfortunately, I have the tools to do so. I about double majored in Sociology and Journalism. If I hadn’t been so burned out from college after six years, I probably would have stayed on an extra semester to finish up my Sociology major. But to the point, I have tools and the experience to explore and try to rationalize a person’s character.

I think the problem comes down to the fact that I really, really, really want Jane to be a good person. I really, really, really want her to be a good mother and to give the care to the boys that we do. But, I’m not trying to get too close to her. She has already shown her true colors on more than one occasion, and my conclusion is to stay away from her unless it’s a dire, real emergency. I would only be stirring the pot she so badly wants someone to stir. And I refuse to do so.

I also, obviously, have been exploring myself. Who I was, who I’ve become. What affects my own past experiences and choices make on the ones I make now. And how those experiences help me to choose which battle I’m going to fight and which ones I’m going to sit back and let glide over the surface.

And, I’ve currently been trying to work on not rationalizing too much because, man, that just stresses me out thinking too much. I need to work on having F-U-N. Something I’ve always needed to work on.

So, I know everyone is busy. So if you’d like to do the book meme, go for it! Oh, and you don’t have to do any introspection on it as I have. And I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!