Got the paperwork in for Nico

Good grief. If getting the paperwork is going to be this much hassle, one can only wonder what the rest of this journey is going to be like. Apparently they sent it out on the 19th. I called on the 27th since we hadn't received it yet and they said they'd overnight it to me. I got the packet yesterday that was mailed out on the 19th. *rolling eyes* Gotta love my post office that will love any and all important paperwork, deliver all sales ads the day after they are over, but every piece of junk mail you would never want will always be delivered on time.

Maybe I'm just annoyed by the whole process because in my heart, I don't agree with the drs and I think all this ASD screening is a cya maneuver on their part. Yes, my child is speech delayed and doesn't sleep. He is affectionate but not overly so. He plays with lots of things and has many different interests (tho most of them do seem to revolve around giving me gray hair). No, he doesn't always follow directions. Yes, he has temper tantrums. Yes, he hits and bites other people on occasion. Last time I checked, these were all normal neurotypical behaviors of a 22mos old.

I've been looking through the 0-6yr paperwork and it's just ridiculous the questions they ask. So many are either typical behaviors of a 2yr old or are so far beyond what you could reasonably expect of any 2yr old that the whole thing is just a waste. Heck, having one form for 0-6yrs for anything is ridiculous, imo, because there is such a huge gap of what you can expect from those ages. I know they weed it all out, blah blah blah, but do you need to waste my time filling it out??? I also love how they give me the paperwork to remind me to get his attendance reports, report cards, and IEP papers together. Ummmm....excuse me, remember, not even 2yrs old people! I know it's all generalized, I've been through it once before but at the same time, they give me a ton of papers to fill out that can not possibly apply to my child, none of which I might add have a single question on the major problem he does have (not sleeping), and then they fill out the remainder of the papers telling me about services 1½hrs away from me. Gee, thanks. Let me get right over there. *rolling eyes* You'd think medical people would be trained in the art of listening but so far, I'm not feeling like a single person in this has done that. There were inaccuracies on the report from the developmental pediatrician like stating that Nico's speech had regressed 3-4mos ago (that was weeks, not months buddy) and the complete failure to note any where that he had green snot coming out his nose and his mother had stated quite clearly that he was sick and not behaving like himself. No, don't mention any of that but state at least 10xs that "while I'm not diagnosing him as autistic, I think we should proceed as if he were until proven otherwise". Ugh!

Now I get to go figure out who I should give his teacher paperwork to so they can fill it out. Any volunteers?

What a holiday!

I still have tons of pictures to upload so that will have to be another post. Our weekend started with a trip to the ER for Mark on the 23rd. He was slicing an avocado but hit a hard spot. The avocado gave and the knife went into his finger at the second knuckle to the ligament. We couldn't stop the bleeding so he drove himself to the ER for stitches. 3 stitches and a tetanus shot later, he met us for dinner out with his parents, brother and family, and his great-aunt and her husband. Nico is sick and of course, it really kicked in that night so he was not in the mood to sit for anything so we took turns chasing him. His great-aunt has been going through her bookcases lately and giving us some of her old children's books that she and Mark's grandfather read growing up. I love getting these family treasures to share with my children. One of the books this time was one of her old texts from her classroom on the CA gold rush written by the State Dept of Education. I'm about to start CA history with Matthew so the timing could not be more fortuitous. She also surprised us with a Christmas present. We don't normally exchange with her and we were very surprised to open it and find a beautiful quilted table runner and 6 matching placemats. Someone at her church had made them and they are just wonderful.

Christmas Eve found us trying to get a few last minute things done and almost succeeding. LOL We went to dinner at the Dim Sum King with Mark's parents, his brother and family, and a few of his mom's friends. Nico decided that sleeping truly was overrated as he went from 7:30a to 6:30p before taking his nap. He fell asleep in my arms while we made a quick stop at home to pick up gifts before going over to Mark's parent's house. He slept through most of the opening frenzy but woke up in time to find Jelly Belly's and partake of those. LOL The boys got Amazon gift cards so while not what Nico was really wanting, the other boys were quite happy. We did some online shopping today and just need to go get Matthew's present elsewhere. I bought his GC off him as the one thing he decided he really, really wanted (the one thing on his list I was dreading him getting *sigh*) was $35 cheaper if bought at TRU or Target so we'll do that this week sometime hopefully.

BIL and SIL surprised us with a present for us as well as buying nicely for the boys. Christopher managed to read all 3 new manga they got him 2xs while we were still there and Jonathan is really looking forward to playing his new game (just need to find table room first LOL) from them as well. Mark and I are still trying to figure out the placement of teams on the NHL Monopoly board.

Next morning Santa visited and left each of the boys and the parents exactly what they had asked for (ok, the reasonable requests, he still won't leave me child dose Valium for Nico *sigh*). The boys tore into their presents under the tree and the wrapping paper was flying. I managed a few pics but it was quite the frenzy. LOL After the wrapping paper settled from their antics, it was declared by all to be the best Christmas ever and I was rated the best mommy ever as two boys started heeling through the living room on their new shoes, another acknowledged this with a grunt from deep in some manga, and a small squeal of delight was heard along with the voom voom noises in the corner.

Mark managed to surprise and spoil the heck out of me. In addition to a few cooking items and some books from my wish list, he got me a book on posing for portraits, tips for using all the features on my camera, and .... a backdrop frame & 2 tripods in a fabulous carrying case! The only thing he said about it all was that he was sorry that the posing book didn't have information on babies. I'm so very, very thankful to have such a wonderful supportive husband who is willing to go to such lengths to help me work towards my dreams.

After breakfast, we finished up some more last minute gifts (nothing like realizing, oops, I was supposed to give that to them yesterday), dropped them off, and headed up to my dad's for the rest of the day. The boys had a great time hanging out with Jack and loved their books and Matthew his CD. Nico, not feeling well, was a true terror and lived up to his nickname of "Nico the Destroyer". He managed to break or help to break a couple of Jack's stocking stuffers and got his hand on some of Jack's candy and helped make that disappear as well. *sigh* Jack seemed to like his new nerf stuff (it remains to be seen if Elaine is going to kill me for it or not as I'm not sure how obnoxious it's going to be).

Mike showed up after work with Rita. He and Mark had some sort of one upsmanship thing going with the presents between them but it left them with nothing to really exchange on the day. Or it wouldn't have if the Whiskey Bros. shot glasses hadn't been delivered a week early. LOL Mark wrapped them and put them and some weight in a Bushmills tin, which was then put in a box, and then wrapped. This would have been the most awesome way to prank him except he opened Elaine's present first. She had taken the bottle of whiskey out of the tin for him and filled it with chocolate, candy, and socks!!! ROTFL The look on Mike's face was priceless when he realized there was no whiskey in his present. After everyone had had a good laugh, she brought out the bottle from behind the tree. Mark then gave him his present so he'd have something to drink it out of.

Mike went absolutely nuts on everyone this year, not just Mark. He found awesome gifts for Mom (Elaine) and Dad. The boys got a few video games and a ton of different Munchkin expansions which I've been bugged to play all day (I told them to clean off a table and we'd talk, mean mommy that I am LOL). But the biggest surprise of all was when he told me that the big box was for me. He had asked me what I wanted and I had just asked for a couple of the books that he had recommended I read. Instead, he and Mark had been conspiring and I opened the box to find a grey backdrop for the frame Mark had bought me and a home studio lighting set! I told Mark today that I'm actually looking forward to taking the tree down so I can have some room in the living room again so I can try setting things up and playing with my new portable studio! This is the second time this year that Mike has managed to stun me into silence. Not something that happens to me often, that's for sure. He's always been my favorite brother for so many reasons but man, he has forever secured that spot now. LOL (Ok, he secured it ages ago and cemented it beyond insanely when he started coming down and helping with the kids so I could take care of other kids drs appointments, truly above and beyond!)

So today was spent trying to start the clean-up process. I did a full shine on my sink with bleach and everything. It's soooo pretty right now (okay, it has the dinner dishes in it but I plan to do those as soon as I wrap up here). We did manage to get quite a bit of the trash and recycling ou and start the sorting and putting away process. It's going to take a bit more before it's done tho. Nico keeps going and finding his new toys and bringing them out to be assembled. It really is cute to watch him.

So that was our holiday. It may have started out bloody but it ended on some wonderful high notes. All I can do is agree with Tiny Tim...

"God Bless us, every one!"

What?!

He managed to roll the laundry basket into the kitchen from the living room through the baby gate (which doesn't keep him out thanks to him breaking the secondary locks on it). Inventive little stinker, isn't he?! I can only pray that he actually has 10 guardian angels to keep him safe. He'll need them all.

12 Days of Christmas (Homeschool Style)

This makes the rounds on my homeschool lists every year and I still like it.

The 14 days of Homeschooling(sung to The 12 Days of Christmas)

On the first day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, Can you
homeschool legally?

On the second day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, Are they
socialized, can you homeschool legally?

On the third day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, Do you give
them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?

On the fourth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, What about
P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool
legally?

On the fifth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, YOU ARE
SO STRANGE! What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they
socialized, can you homeschool legally?

On the sixth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, How long
will you homeschool, YOU ARE S0 STRANGE, what about P.E. , do
you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool
legally?

On the seventh day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, Look at
what theyre missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO
STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they
socialized, do you homeschool legally?

On the eighth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, Why do
you do this, look at what theyre missing, how long will you
homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E. do you give
them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?

On the ninth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, Theyll
miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what theyre missing, how
long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E.
do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool
legally?

On the tenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, What about
graduation, theyll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what
theyre missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO
STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they
socialized, can you homeschool legally?

On the eleventh day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, I could
never do that, what about graduation, theyll miss the prom, why do
you do this, look at what theyre missing, how long will you
homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E., do you give
them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?

On the twelfth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, Can they
go to college, I could never do that, what about graduation, theyll miss
the prom, why do you do this, look at what theyre missing, how long
will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, What about P.E., do
you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool
legally?

On the thirteenth day of homeschool I thoughtfully replied: They Can
go to college, yes you can do this, they can have graduation, we dont
like the prom, we do it cuz we like it, they are missing nothing, well
homeschool forever, WE ARE NOT STRANGE!, We give them P.E.,
and we give them tests, they are socialized, AND WE HOMESCHOOL
LEGALLY!

On the fourteenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, How
can I get started, why didnt you tell me, where do I buy curriculum,
when is the next conference, WILL PEOPLE THINK WERE
STRANGE? I think we can do this, if you will help us, we'll join a
sports team, and we'll homeschool legally.

Love this one!

Found this on a fellow Homeschooler's Blog and had to share:
From: http://www.secular-homeschooling.com/001/bitter_homeschooler.html

The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List

By Deborah Markus, from Secular Homeschooling Magazine, Issue #1, Fall 2007

1 Please stop asking us if it's legal. If it is — and it is — it's insulting to imply that we're criminals. And if we were criminals, would we admit it?

2 Learn what the words "socialize" and "socialization" mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and pleasantly. If you're talking to me and my kids, that means that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet, and you can safely assume that we've got a decent grasp of both concepts.

3 Quit interrupting my kid at her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to socialize.

4 Don't assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.

5 If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a "reality" show, the above goes double.

6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You're probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you've ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.

7 We don't look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they're in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we're doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling.

8 Stop assuming all homeschoolers are religious.

9 Stop assuming that if we're religious, we must be homeschooling for religious reasons.

10 We didn't go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just to annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions.

11 Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my credentials. I didn't have to complete a course in catering to successfully cook dinner for my family; I don't need a degree in teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in the kind of chew-it-up-and-spit-it-out educational facility we call public school left me with so little information in my memory banks that I can't teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, maybe there's a reason I'm so reluctant to send my child to school.

12 If my kid's only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he'd learn in school, please understand that you're calling me an idiot. Don't act shocked if I decide to respond in kind.

13 Stop assuming that because the word "home" is right there in "homeschool," we never leave the house. We're the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it's crowded and icky.

14 Stop assuming that because the word "school" is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your kid does. Even if we're into the "school" side of education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don't have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.

15 Stop asking, "But what about the Prom?" Even if the idea that my kid might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to school don't get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I'm one of them. I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.

16 Don't ask my kid if she wouldn't rather go to school unless you don't mind if I ask your kid if he wouldn't rather stay home and get some sleep now and then.

17 Stop saying, "Oh, I could never homeschool!" Even if you think it's some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you're horrified. One of these days, I won't bother disagreeing with you any more.

18 If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class, you're allowed to ask how we'll teach these subjects to our kids. If you can't, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn't possibly do a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.

19 Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child's teacher as well as her parent. I don't see much difference between bossing my kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about everything else.

20 Stop saying that my kid is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious, quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud because he's homeschooled. It's not fair that all the kids who go to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as representative of anything but childhood.

21 Quit assuming that my kid must be some kind of prodigy because she's homeschooled.

22 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I homeschool my kids.

23 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I homeschool my kids.

24 Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won't get because they don't go to school, unless you want me to start asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you went to school.

25 Here's a thought: If you can't say something nice about homeschooling, shut up!

Now what???

We were using this on the gate to the kitchen because Nico was able to open the gate easily. So now that he can break this, what do we do to keep him out???

All curled up for a nice winter's nap

I went to go put some books in the boys bedroom tonight after Nico finally went down and found this. All three of the big boys were curled up together in about 1/2 of the full size bed. 3 pairs of feet hanging off the edge. 2 heads up at the top (you have to look closely to find Matthew's as he is buried under the covers) and this tiny one in the middle. Poor Jon had no covers when I first walked in so I tucked him but after a few minutes thought, I had to grab my camera and go snap a few pics. It's one of the few times they are in the same room with each and no bickering or crying is happening. If only they could always be this peaceful towards each other.

Ding Dong the Fish is dead!!!

Yeah, I know it's not nice to rejoice in the demise of a living thing but I can't help it. The fish went belly up on Sunday. I think it was the overfeeding that did it. All I know is that we are down to ZERO fish again and for this, I'm happy. May my children never bring home another one.

WW update

I find it a sad commentary on today's companies when being nice and reasonable gets you nothing but the second you start threatening them, you get almost instantaneous response. As I noted in my last post, I was having problems with WW (Weight Watchers for those not in the know) having turned off my On-the-Go service yet still charging me. I tried for 8 months to just ask them nicely to please fix it but had finally threatened to file a complaint with the BBB and look into small claims court. This was on Monday. I got a phone call today from a real live person who is actually a supervisor. She said that yes, she could see where somehow on my account things had been turned off but somehow on the billing machine they weren't (gee, just what I had been saying for months!). She turned it back on in my account and is going to check daily to make sure I don't get double billed (the reason I didn't just sign back up to start with). She has also issued a refund for $40 the services I was charged for but did not receive and gave me her direct line in case there are further problems.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy to have gotten things resolved and am pleased with the outcome. I'm just frustrated that something that could have been resolved so simply months ago was not even a blip on the radar screen until I threatened them. I would much rather live in a world where when there is a problem, it just gets fixed rather than one where you ignore people until they get mean and ugly. As a business person, I've always held the belief that customer satisfaction is of the utmost importance. I wish more big businesses had that mentality as well.

WW is ticking me off

Not the program but the online services. I had the On-the-Go added to my plan so I could use it with my Palm (much easier for me). Back in April it stopped working suddenly and would not connect with the the online points tracker. It took me a month or two to sit down and start messing with it and eventually I decided to delete it and reinstall because I couldn't get it to work right. Well, when I went to download the software again off the site, I was told that I had to sign up for the service. WTF?! I've been getting charged this entire time so how am I not signed up. I email the customer support, get given a HUGE list of questions about my set-up to see why it's not working which I filled out and then explained what I believed happened and....Nothing back! Another month goes by, I'm still being charged. I email again. I get the exact same list of questions. I refuse to answer since I've already done so and again state my case. I get told they are working on it. I ask how soon until things are fixed and again hear nothing back. Another 2mos goes by with me being charged and no communication.

This has now cost me $40 and a great amount of aggravation. It's not the money that is the problem but the principle of the matter which is they turned off a service they were providing and I was paying for but are continuing to charge me for it with apparently zero intention of stopping the charges. This has been going on for 8mos. I tried calling the number on my bank statement only to get a recording that says "email us". :evil: I emailed again today and am now threatening a complaint with the BBB and filing in small claims court. This is so ridiculous. All I wanted in the beginning was them to either turn the service back on or stop the charges and I would have signed up again. Originally I didn't even ask for a refund of the few months that the mistake had been made. Now I want the refund and I want this fixed. It's just ridiculous. I like the program but this whole experience is really turning me off of it.

Whiskey Bros...

So I'm not sure how it all started or turned into what it has but Mark has a new hobby with a new suspect, my brother Mike. Round about almost a year ago, the two of them started getting into this whiskey thing. It started innocently enough with a "Hey, you are trying new things, I like Red Breast, let me bring a bottle to share and enlighten you with" from my brother. It all sort of spiraled from there. Next thing I know, Mark is at the BevMo calling Mike saying "Hey dude, I got a bottle of Jamey 12, let's try it against the Red Breast" to which Mike would reply "I'm so there!". There, of course, being my living room. So I would get to watch these two fools drink themselves silly and play Guitar Hero until Mark would fall off a chair or Mike would pass out. Kids are in bed, they don't get loud or belligerent so it's all good.

Then they found out about WhiskeyFest in San Francisco at the end of October. By this time their collection or "the box" had grown extensively and it was decided that not only did they HAVE to go to this event, but that they needed to be there the second the doors opened. *insert eye roll here* They went, they drank lots of old whiskey, Mark fell down, they came home. That was the end of it, or so I thought. Next thing I know, they have a website (http://whiskeybros.com/) and they are putting in tasting notes and making a real hobby of this. Okay, that's nice honey, so long as you are having a good time with it. *insert wifely indulgent laugh*

Now however, the hobby has changed. At the boys Kuk Sool Wan photo day Mark was talking to a local business man who holds charity events at his establishment. Mark was invited to have a whiskey tasting at the next event, Jan 31. Now he's busy running around trying to get everything together for this and it's like watching a boy in a candy shop. He's so excited and it's a good excitement for him and I'm glad to see it.

Me tho, I'll just be sitting back watching and laughing as he falls off his chair as I sip my Mudslide Martini.

Not another stupid fish!!!!

Ok, anyone who has paid any attention to me at all knows where I stand on the idea of fish as pets. They are among the dumbest things ever! Seriously. Why would you want a "pet" where all it does is swim around a bowl and eat? I can understand koi ponds and such. Those are cool. There you have a beautiful outdoor scene with animals in their native environment for an idyllic, tranquil setting. Ok, get that. But indoors???? Goldfish??? Even betas? Come on. Get a TV. That you can change the channel and get some entertainment out of. I just don't get the fish thing tho.

So now with all that being said so that no one is unclear on my views on pet fish, you may wonder why we have "another one". For the record, I have never bought one. Never wanted one (obviously) and fought against them. My MIL didn't listen and bought the older 3 betas 2½yrs ago because they loved feeding her koi. Of course they did, that was a novetly. Here, they lost all interest in the fish after a week. The stupid fish on the other hand swam happily in their bowls, green water, no food for days for 2½yrs. The last one finally croaked about a month ago and there was much rejoicing at it's demise.

So that brings us to today, or rather Saturday. We went to a local school's holiday bazaar where, when my back was turned, my brother helped Jonathan procure a fish at some booth or other. A small, stupid, ugly, pale dirt yellow goldfish thing. He calls it Goldie. I call it "stupid fish". We left it in the bag in one of the bowls vacated by the late betas for 2 days and the stupid thing lived. Now, I am not a completely heartless individual (despite what some of you may think) and since it obviously had a will to survive, I relented and went to the store to buy some stupid fish food. We poured some fresh water into the bowl and dumped him out with a flake of food. At last glance, the stupid fish still hadn't eaten. *shrug* Whatever. I'm just hoping this one croaks well before 2yrs pass.

We saw Santa

We took the boys to Discovery Kingdom on Saturday to visit with Mark's high school buddy and his family. We took advantage of the fact that they had Santa visiting them there with a short line to take the boys to sit on his lap. Amazingly enough, Nico actually sat with him and didn't scream. I think this is the first time out of four kids at this age that I haven't been in the Santa pic. LOL

The big disappointment of the night tho is that they had advertised on their website that they had snow. Now we were a bit skeptical when Disneyland said it snowed during their parade but this said that they transformed part of their park into a Winter Wonderland and "Who says it never snows in Northern California! Giant snowflakes, icicles and blankets of snow have transformed Lakeside Pavilion into an enchanting winter wonderland." I remember going to there as a child and they would get snow machines and have real snow. Imagine our disappointment when their "snow" was one single bubble machine above Frosty's head. :(

A lazy day

I'm finding myself enjoying lazy days more and more. I think simply for the shear fact that they are rarer to come by than gold in this house. The Whiskey Bros were at it last night (more on them in an upcoming post) and Mike stayed the night and late into the afternoon. We played a few games of Munchkin with the kids, he played some video games with them, and we chatted a bit. After he left, I considered the schoolwork that needed to be done but with all of us unmotivated to do anything, I let it go. We just curled up and all read instead. Jonathan fell asleep just as I finished reading him The Tinderbox and I curled up with him for a 15min nap. Amazing how such a short nap can recharge you but it did and while I'm still enjoying not running around, I at least feel like I have enough energy to accomplish a few tasks around the house.

Maybe I'll even get to a few posts I've been meaning to write....

God's paintbrush

I was lucky to be out driving at sunset because I wanted to do a photoshoot of Matthew when I looked over and beheld this:

Nothing to do but grab a camera and say Thanks to G-d for putting such beauty before us. May we all find a moment each and every day to be thankful for all the beauty that is abundant around us.

Our Thanksgiving Miracle

He slept!!!! Yes, you read (and see) that correctly. Nico, our non-sleeping one, fell asleep as soon as we put him in front of his dinner. That is not the turkey magic there. He just went down. So what did we all do???? Laughed hysterically, took pics, and then moved him. He woke up around 9p and was up for less than 2hrs before going back down.

So what was I thankful for this year? Sleep!

Okay, okay, I'm thankful for a lot more than that. I'm thankful for all the usual stuff. My family, my boys, my friends, our health, that Mark still has a job. I'm so very thankful that Kim and Josie came to share the day with us. But I'm also thankful that I feel like I'm starting to find myself again. Who I am and what I want out of life, at least on a small scale, and am working on ways to improve myself and my relationships with others. I'm thankful that Matthew seems to finally be growing up just a touch to realize that instant gratification has it's drawbacks and sometimes you just need to buckle down and do the work sooner rather than later. I'm thankful that Christopher is growing into such a fine young man despite having me for his mom. I'm thankful for Jonathan's smile and all his snuggles. I'm thankful for Nico's boundless energy because I know that it will serve him in good stead when he's older even if it's hard on me right now. I'm thankful for Mark for being my partner in everything and putting up with me when Nico doesn't let me sleep. I'm thankful that while our country may not be everything we want or think it should be, we are still free to try and change it and make a difference. I'm thankful that we have the freedom to make choices and while some may be mistakes, we have the freedom to learn from them and try to correct them.

So to all my friends, Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you got some sleep too!

Joy

The joy that comes from having Nico fall asleep on my lap just snuggled into me. The joy of Jonathan coming in first thing in the morning to say "I love you". The joy of Matthew on hugging me while I say "My Matthew" and he says "My Mommy". The joy of sitting down with a cup of tea made by Christopher and discussing a good book with him or smiling into that cup of tea while he tells me absolutely everything about his latest favorite video game. The simple joys of being a mother.

Nothing Sweeter...

Than a man willing to get up early to go to TRU in search of Wii for his teenager who doesn't complain when it then turns into taking all 4 boys with him so they can make their holiday wishlists. It wasn't supposed to be a big deal, just go there, grab it, come home but then the games were one sale so maybe Christopher should go so he can pick out which ones he wants for Christmas since he's so hard to shop for. Then if Christopher is going, well Jonathan is awake and wants to go too. But now if Christopher and Jonathan are going, Matthew's just woken up and will be upset if he doesn't get to go as well. So then the baby screams that if it's a boys' outing, he better be going along with them. So off daddy goes with his 4 boys behind him in search of the precious Wii while mommy smiles into her first morning cup of tea in silence.

I know I have a house around here somewhere...

I just haven't been near it long enough to find it. LOL It's weird, I've been home this week but not really, always something else going on again. Unfortunately my house is showing the typical signs of neglect...in other words, WWIII has happened when I wasn't looking. I hate to point fingers since I know we are all responsible to some degree but I think, in this case, there is definitely one person who has more than the fair share of the blame. NICO!!! Love him but good grief child, slow down, stop tearing the house apart every second of the day, and SLEEP!!!! Please, for the love of G-D and all that is holy...SLEEP!!!! His current bedtime has been around 1a for the last week and I'm dying. I can't get up in the morning and function on 4hrs of sleep any more. He's killed all my reserves months ago and I'm not fighting a cold so my energy level is subpar any way. Yes, I know that this too shall pass. Trust me, I am reminding myself of that fact pretty much every second of every day and and twice that from the hours of 9p-1a. It truly is a good thing that he's almost as cute as he thinks he is.

To top off my lovely lack of sleep, Mark's company has just been through a major layoff. His job is secure (Thank you G-d) but for the first time, he was in the position of having to decide who got cut. It was very difficult for him as he can't see people as just numbers, they are humans with families and they are generally his friends. He had to let go one person with 2 boys who he had lured away from another company just a few months previously. He almost had to let go a man who just recently became a father. We've been in that position so many times with so many start-ups and it's impossible not to know exactly how that person is feeling. Unfortunately, all these cuts have only bought the company approximately 9 more months. They are switching tactics and goals and it's known that they will be turning away work and making very little for the next few months as they restructure and work towards the goal of being a true software company rather than a services company. It's going to be a long, hard road to get to where they need and want to be and turning a profit but Mark thinks they can make it. I will simply put my trust in him and G-d to see us safe.

Random thoughts on today...

Overall it was a nice day. Mark did get me my winter bear from BABW and also got me my favorite Lindt truffles, some maple candy, and some new teas from Teavana to try. They smell nummy! Walt and Kendra took us out to a dim sum dinner and ordered enough to feed a larger army than I come with (tho I think if Matthew and Christopher had been in one of their "must eat like an elephant" moods it would have been just right). We all took home plenty of leftovers so Mark and the boys will get to have that while I'm at my MNO tomorrow.

My mom got me a neat looking cookbook of make-ahead meals. Kendra gave me a silver pin that she made using a leaf from her garden as the template. She also took my wedding ring which I had asked her to fix to a local jeweler who could match the emerald. It wasn't ready today and he felt bad and sent a lovely hand-blown and painted bottle and hopefully my ring will be ready tomorrow. I can't wait to have my real wedding band back on my finger.

On the unpleasant side of the day, Mark got a phone call on the way home informing him that his company is laying off about 1/3 of it's workforce. He is not in any danger *whew* but he is in the position that he'll be making the decision as to who is most expendable from his dept. They are understaffed any way so things are going to be just that much harder and it's still likely that he'll be asked to take a pay cut at some point. This has happened before and they were able to rebound and I'm praying that they can again. It does unfortunately put a damper on any hope of us trying to get in on the housing market decline. *sigh* I guess we'll just keep praying that this company will actually go public and his options will get us a good down payment when the time is right.

What a little stinker!!!

My sweet little Nico has been STEALING MY CHOCOLATE!!!! The little stinker found my secret hidden stash in the fridge. Not the crappy chocolate mind you, he found the good truffles and has been sneaking them whenever his brothers leave the kitchen gate open! He got caught today with a whole TJ truffle in his mouth. He had opened the fridge, found them in the covered dish, gotten one, unwrapped it, and popped the whole thing in his mouth in about 20 seconds.

I knew he was my kid! (Now I'm off to go find a new secret hiding spot for the chocolate cause the good stuff is MINE! )

Taking a day off

Well, it's not a whole day off. I can't completely get out of everything like diapers and feeding children and such but I have decided as my birthday present to myself that I'm taking a day off of being a chauffeur. No gymnastics, no bowling, and as little schoolwork as possible (well, that's one thing the kids aren't complaining about LOL). We just spent all last weekend running, running, running like crazy and while it was fun, I'm feeling the need to decompress. I was home basically all day yesterday with my mom visiting and while that is wonderful, I'm also really enjoying a day of reading, catching up on emails, and doing a whole lot of activities where my brain is not engaged. LOL

The boys all worked together this morning to throw me a "surprise party". It was so adorable. They filled balloons and set out all the stuffed guests and then Matthew came and covered my eyes while I was eating breakfast and led me to the couch for the "party". Right after I sat down with a pillow at my head, Nico came and sat down on my lap and just snuggled with me (a rarity these days LOL). Christopher put on a video game I enjoy playing and we all played for a bit and just had fun. It was a lot of fun and a true reminder of just how blessed I am.

Those funny Movie/TV moments

I was sharing one with my mom today and just saw another one. Those moments where you know that a line was written and then very specifically directed a certain way simply because of the actor who ended up playing the part was able to give a nod to a previous well known role they played. I love those little zingers. It's like seeing one thing and getting a wonderful little glimpse of a character you already knew so well.

I know that there are no TV/movie writers reading my blog, but if that ever changes or you know of any, tell them to keep it up. A well placed, well directed line is a thing of beauty.

New Nico funnies

You just have to love the stuff that toddlers come up with. Except for the whole tantrum thing, I really love this age of exploration and creativity. So far this morning he has already complained and made me replace broken cookies (the look on his face when he realized they were broken was hilarious) and then wanted to play fetch with his brothers nerf gun which entailed me sitting on the floor shooting it while he went and got the darts and loaded the gun up again. When I would accidentally shoot his butt (truly, it was accidental LOL), he would turn around and grab his butt and look at me saying "oooooo". LOL

I find it amazing how much he manages to communicate with me while having almost no words. He had close to 10 a month or two ago but has dropped them as he is coming up with new sounds and adding in new signs. His favorite new sign is "Please". Anything he wants, he adds a Please afterwards and if he knows it's a forbidden treat, he'll add hugs and kisses too. LOL And his please is so funny. The sign is the right hand rubbing a circle on the chest but his Please is both hands rubbing up and down his chest with tons of enthusiasm. Truly adorable.

He's starting to imitate vocal patterns now too, even if he can't get the right sounds out. When at gymnastics and he wants to ride the car coaster, I always make him wait while I count to three to make sure no one is in the way as he zooms down. I'll tell him "1, 2, 3...Go!" so now when he gets to the top of the coaster or a slide or anything else, I'll hear him say "O, O, O.....Oooooooooooo!"

Yeah, I'm loving this age!

Books on my To-Read List

So I'm doing a challenge with an online group of mine and I'm loving it. It's 52 in 52, so 52 books in 52 weeks. It started the beginning of the year. I joined late but I'm hopeful that I'll actually complete the 52 books by the end of the year. I made a list of books that were on my shelf that I wanted to read (realizing that some were a pipe dream right now LOL) and it was around 70 books long in March when I started it. Here it is now (with notes on the ones I've finished):

1. The Lone Drow by R.A. Salvatore (read, ok)
2. The Two Swords by R.A. Salvatore (read, ok)
3. Promise of the Witch King by R.A. Salvatore
4. Road of the Patriarch by R.A. Salvatore
5. Dissolution by Richard Lee Byers
6. Insurrection by Thomas M. Reid
7. Condemnation by Richard Baker
8. Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards (read, very good)
9. Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud (read, fun)
10. Eragon by Christopher Paolini
11. Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult (read, very good)
12. 19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult (read, very good)
13. Knight Life by Peter David
14. Loving Your Child is Not Enough: Positive Disipline that works by Nancy Samalin
15. Raising Boys by Steve Biddulph
16. Raising your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka
17. Siblings Without Rivalry by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish
18. How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish*
19. Raising Happy Kids on a Reasonable Budget by Patricia Gallagher
20. A Family of Value by John Rosemond
21. 401 Ways to Get Your Kids to Work at Home by Bonnie Runyn McCullough & Susan Walker Monson
22. Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley - The FLYLady
23. Thinking About You, Thinking About Me by Michelle Garcia Winner*
24. Inside Out - What Makes the Person with Social Cognitive Deficits Tick? by Michelle Garcia Winner
25. Navigating the Social World by -Jeanette McAfee
26. The Illiad by Homer
27. The Odyssey by Homer
28. The Shakespeare Collection by William Shakespeare
29. Eleanor of Aquataine and the Four Kings by Amy Kelly
30. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
31. Your One Year Old by Louse Bates Ames, Frances L Ilg, & Carol Chase Haber (read - useful)
32. Your Six Year Old by Louise Bates Ames & Frances L Ilg (read - useful)
33. Frienships: The Aspie Way by Wendy Lawsom
34. Learn to Play Go: A Master's Guide to the Ultimate Game by Janice Kim
35. The Way of the Moving Horse (Learn to Play Go, Volume II) by Janice Kim
36. A Tale of Two Cities (Signet Classics) - Charles Dickens
37. The Grapes of Wrath (Centennial Edition) - John Steinbeck
38. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (read, very good)
39. Animal Farm (Signet Classics) - George Orwell (read, okay)
40. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
41. In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord (read, cute)
42. Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey
43. Kushiel's Chosen by Jacqueline Carey
44. Kushiel's Avatar by Jacqueline Carey
45. Through Wolf's Eyes by Jane Lindskold
46. Wolf's Head, Wolf's Heart by Jane Lindskold
47. The Dragon of Despair by Jane Lindskold
48. Wolf Captured by Jane Lindskold
49. Cold Fire by Dean Koontz (read - enjoyable)
50. Fear Nothing by Dean Koontz (read - enjoyable but not his best)
51. The Key to Midnight by Dean Koontz
52. Mr Murder by Dean Koontz
53. Phantoms by Dean Koontz
54. Midnight by Dean Koontz
55. Hideaway by Dean Koontz
56. The Bad Place by Dean Koontz (read - enjoyable)
57. The Door to December by Dean Koontz
58. The Eyes of Darkness by Dean Koontz
59. Tick Tock by Dean Koontz
60. Winter Moon by Dean Koontz
61. Sole Survivor by Dean Koontz
62. The Harlequin by Laurell K Hamilton (read - better than her last book)
63. Kushiel's Justice by Jacqueline Carey
64. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Greggory (read - very good)
65. The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
66. The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
67. The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
68. Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
69. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
70. The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis
71. The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis
72. Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey
73. Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris
74. Freaks, Geeks, & Asperger's Syndrome by Luke Jackson (read - very good)
75. Asperger Syndrome and Difficult Moments by Brenda Smith Myles & Jack Southwick
76. Asperger Syndrome and Adolescence by Teresa Bolick, Ph. D.
77. Do Penguin's Have Knees? And other imponderables by David Feldman (read - good book for short periods of time)
78. The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lillian Jackson Braun
79. The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern by Lillian Jackson Braun
80. The Cat Who Turned On and Off by Lillian Jackson Braun
81. The Cat Who Saw Red by Lillian Jackson Braun
82. The Cat Who Played Brahms by Lillian Jackson Braun
83. The Cat Who Played Post Office by Lillian Jackson Braun
84. The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare by Lillian Jackson Braun
85. The Cat Who Sniffed Glue by Lillian Jackson Braun
86. The Cat Who Had 14 Tales by Lillian Jackson Braun
87. The Cat Who Went Underground by Lillian Jackson Braun
88. The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts by Lillian Jackson Braun
89. The Cat Who Lived High by Lillian Jackson Braun
90. The Cat Who Knew a Cardinal by Lillian Jackson Braun
91. The Cat Who Moved a Mountain by Lillian Jackson Braun
92. The Cat Who Wasn't There by Lillian Jackson Braun
93. The Cat Who Went into the Closet by Lillian Jackson Braun
94. The Cat Who Came to Breakfast by Lillian Jackson Braun
95. The Cat Who Blew the Whistle by Lillian Jackson Braun
96. The Cat Who Said Cheese by Lillian Jackson Braun
97. The Cat Who Tailed a Thief by Lillian Jackson Braun
98. The Cat Who Sang for the Birds by Lillian Jackson Braun
99. The Cat Who Saw Stars by Lillian Jackson Braun
100. The Cat Who Robbed a Bank by Lillian Jackson Braun
101. The Cat Who Smelled a Rat by Lillian Jackson Braun
102. The Cat Who Went up the Creek by Lillian Jackson Braun
103. The Cat Who Brought Down the House by Lillian Jackson Braun
104. The Cat Who Talked Turkey by Lillian Jackson Braun
105. The Cat Who Went Bananas by Lillian Jackson Braun
106. The Cat Who Dropped the Bombshell by Lillian Jackson Braun
107. The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers by Lillian Jackson Braun
108. The Private Life of the Cat Who... by Lillian Jackson Braun
109. Otherland by Tad Williams (read - very good)
110. Straczynski Unplugged by J. Michael Straczynski
111. Demon Knight by J. Michael Straczynski
112. Othersyde by J. Michael Straczynski
113. The Computer Connection by Alfred Bester
114. The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
115. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
116. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
117. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
118. Burning Chrome by William Gibson
119. Neuromancer by William Gibson
120. Virtual Light by William Gibson
121. Contact by Carl Sagan
122. The Foundation Trilogy by Issac Asimov
123. I, Robot by Issac Asimov
124. Robot Novels by Issac Asimov
125. Wolfwalker by Tara K. Harper
126. Shadow Leader by Tara K. Harper
127. The Lore of the Unicorn by Odell Shepard
128. How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill
129. Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D.
130. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
131. Fred the Picklepotomus and the Case of the Missing King by Crystal Ruzicka (read - very cute)
132. The World of Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
133. The World of Christopher Robin by A.A. Milne
134. The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter by David Colbert
135. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (read - enjoyed)
136.. 1-2-3 Magic: Effective Disipline for Children 2-12 by Thomas W. Phelan., Ph. D.
137. Your Nine-Year-Old by Louise Bates Ames, Ph.D & Carol Chase Haber, M.A.*
138. Your Ten-to-Fourteen-Year-Old by Louise Bates Ames, Ph.D, Frances L. Ilg, M.D., & Sidney M. Baker, M.D.
139. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
140. The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
141. Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
142. Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb
143. Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb
144. Parenting with Love & Logic by Foster Cline, MD, & Jim Fay
145. The Power of a Positive Mom by Karol Ladd
146. Manners Matter by Hermine Hartley
147. Life Skills for Kids by Christine Field
148. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin
149. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
150. The Last Wife of Henry VIII by Carolly Erickson
151. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
152. Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
153. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (read - good)
154. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (read - recommend)
155. A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle (read - recommend)
156. A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle *
157. Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle
158. An Acceptable Time by Madeleine L'Engle
159. Long Way Round by Ewan McGregor & Charley Boorman (read - enjoyed)
160. The Thief of Always by Clive Barker
161. Return to Labyrinth by Jake T. Forbes & Chris Lie (read, has potential)
162. War of the Worlds by HG Wells
163. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
164. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
165. The End (Book 13 in the Series of Unfortunate Events) by Lemony Snicket
166. The Sea Wolf by Jack London
167. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
168. The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
169. The Return of the Indian by Lynne Reid Banks
170. Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard & Florence Atwater
171. Holes by Louis Sachar
172. The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud
173. The Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stroud
174. Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander
175. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
176. The Starlight Barking by Dodie Smith
177. The Witches by Roald Dahl
178. The BFG by Roald Dahl
179. So you are not Wonder Woman? by Melanie Wilson Ph.D. (read - excellent, definitely recommend)
180. Mommy Mantras by Bethany E. Casarjian, Ph.D., & Diane H. Dillon, Ph.D. (read - excellent, definitely recommend))
181. Star Trek:TNG Death in Winter by Michael Jan Friedman
182. Water for Elephants by Sara Guren (read- very good)
183. War of Gifts by Orson Scott Card
184. A Lick of Frost by Laurell K. Hamilton (read - really enjoyed)
185. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
186. Shadow Hunt by L.M. Prieto & Jayson Taylor
187. After Dark by L.M. Prieto
188. After Midnight by L.M. Prieto

*Currently reading

So, um, yeah, it's grown just a tiny bit. The big thing I love about doing this challenge with another group of women who are so diverse is that it's helping me to break outside of my normal niche and explore new things. I'm not browsing just the fantasy section any more but looking through the whole fiction area and finding new gems. I've read some really good new authors and become hooked and there are still more out there that I want to try. Thanks to homeschooling, I've now decided that I want to read the classics and am working on collecting those and will work on reading my way through them. Yes, it will take time which is a precious commodity around here but it's my favorite way to relax and escape while still being able to see what Nico is attempting to destroy. LOL

So this is the current list. I'll do an update at the beginning of the year pulling out everything I've read in one list so anyone who is interested in my brief thoughts on a book can see it and then there will be the ever growing list of what is currently on the to-read list. Of course, you can always visit the Shelfari tab on the sidebar to see what's currently there too (most of the time, e-books don't show there).

You just gotta laugh

(yeah, okay, apparently I'm in a talkative mood today LOL) But you know, I just gotta laugh at Nico. He can be infuriating with his tantrums some days but then we have days like today where he's just in a good mood all day. He runs through the house saying "tickle tickle tickle" and laughing hysterically at himself. His newest phrase is "Uh oh". Over and over and over again he'll do something and say "uh oh" and then crack up laughing again. Pretty much everything he does results in either his laughing his head off at himself or a tantrum and I much prefer the former. Of course, I have to say I prefer the uh-oh to his other 2 new tricks, one of which is to lick his fingers and then wipe them on people (all while laughing) or acting like he's going to give a kiss and then at the last second handing out a raspberry instead. Crazy kid!

Fun at the dentist

Okay, I admit it, I'm the horrible mom who forgot the kids 6mo check up at that was due in January of this year and hasn't taken them since. Keep meaning to call and keep forgetting when I'm near the phone and number at the same time. Jonathan has the abscess last week so I got him in and made the appointment for all of the big ones to be seen today. The outcome of over a year without seeing a dentist:

Christopher - The child who will not brush his teeth unless threatened with horrible things...Not a single cavity. Beautiful, perfect teeth. If only I were so lucky. :( He got a cleaning, x-rays, and sealants put on his 12yr molars.

Matthew - Another one who is not great about brushing unless constantly reminded. One cavity but it was on the big side in a tooth that had a small filling already. The dentist filled it but it may need a baby root canal and crown just because it's right near the nerve. We'll keep an eye on it for now and make sure he gets seen in 6mos if not sooner. We also have to talk about getting caps on his bottom canines. Not because he has cavities but because his baby enamel is so week that they are just grinding down quicker than they should and the nerve canal is exposed already. I need to figure out when to get him in to get that done. Poor guy, sometimes genetics just suck.

Jonathan - 1 small cavity and a few fillings that needed to be replaced so nothing major. Still keeping an eye on the tooth with the abscess but so far that's looking better so they are leaving it alone for now. Odds are tho that since it's one of the molars which are the last to come out that it will be capped at some point.

It was really a good visit tho. The boys all behaved, nothing major going on with their teeth, and we got all the fillings done today too so we don't have to go back until we decide on what's going to happen with the caps. But yes, I will be making sure that they get in for their 6mo check ups on time. Even tho there was nothing really major going on, I still feel horrible for dropping the ball there.

Long Lost Friends

One of my many faults is that I'm a horrible correspondent. I know this and I am working desperately to change it but it's there. I lose touch with people easily, not because of a lack of caring but simply due to my own distractablity. I think "Oh, I must call/email so-and-so" when I'm doing the laundry or driving the kids to an activity or in the middle of whatever mundane task I'm in and I may even hold onto this thought for a bit if I'm out and about but once I'm actually home and able to do something about it, all coherent thoughts about maintaining relationships with other adults flees in terror in the face of everything that needs to get done around the house or the kids constant demands on me (I'm not sure which tho I'm guessing both).

So imagine my surprise that anyone at all actually tries to maintain a friendship with me but somehow I've been very blessed with persistent friends who see past my many faults, such as this one, and track me down to touch base. Today was one of those days where out of the blue, someone I haven't talked to in close to a year popped up to say "Hi there, remember me" and it has brought such a smile to my face. We exchanged blogs and websites and I'm working to catch up with all that has been going on in her life and will be working on catching up reading all the wonderful stories she has written (I can't wait!).

So to all my wonderful, persistent friends....Thank You! Thank you for putting up with me and hunting me down to check in. I do notice, I do appreciate it, and I do care. And I will try to get better!

Why do they suck????

I mean seriously. The San Jose Sharks are supposed to be this wonder team full of scoring depth and awesome goaltending. Can someone please tell me why they can rarely manage to score more than 2 goals and the goalie seems to have holes that anyone can shoot through????

*sigh* It's going to be a long season and I'm not sure there are enough Sharkakazis to get me through.

Everything's kind of dark

Well, at least it was tonight. And not just at my house but the entire town directly south of us as well. Never did find out what happened but El Granada and the whole mobile home park were pitch dark for about 3hrs tonight. Nico managed to bonk his head in the 2min it took me to get candles and flashlights together. Of course this happened just as I was about to start dinner so as soon as Mark got home we threw the chicken on the BBQ, threw together some salad, and made a pot of couscous on the stove. The boys played Munchkin by oil lamp and the lights came back on just in time for us to eat.

And you know, I had forgotten just how cool power outages were. No computers, no phones, just kicking it with my boys.

Just another manic monday

Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing crazier than any other Monday, just a pretty typical day around here. I took Jonathan to OT and came home to teach math to the two older boys which consisted of me alternating problems with each of them while all curled up on my bed with Nico nursing off to his nap (hours early thanks to the time change) and the housecleaner taking care of things in the background. It was a really nice morning. After Jonathan got home, I made them lunch while the baby still slept and then watched as they played card games and I graded some papers. The afternoon was filled with more lessons, repeatedly telling Nico to leave the phonics kit alone, and yet more math. Then off to drop them all at Kuk Sool Wan and pick up a few items for dinner where Mark joined me to take Nico so I could work out.

Yeah, I could handle a lot more days like this one. Just flowing along life's river.

Quiet day

Today was a mostly quiet day. Jonathan and Matthew both had soccer games in the middle of the day. Kind of kills doing anything else with your day when you have soccer stuff from 11:30a-2:30p. Did I mention how thrilled I am that next week is our last game??? And it's not just having my Saturday's back that thrills me. I'm so over sending out daily emails trying to get refs for all the games. We live in an area known for it's generosity and volunteer spirit but yet we only have 2 constant refs for the AYSO soccer games. Truly sad.

So we had that and then took a family walk for an hour and just spent some time teaching the big boys how to play solitaire with an actual deck of cards. All in all, a nice family day.

Lions & Bears & Giraffes, Oh My!

Didn't see the tigers this trip but we had a lovely outing at the zoo yesterday. The weather was just gorgeous and the big boys all enjoyed their classes. Nico, of course, had to remind me why I hadn't gone out of my way to take him to the zoo before by wanting nothing to do with the animals unless it was to get in the cage with them so he could run free. *insert eye roll here*

Jonathan learned all about habitats during his class while I was roaming with Nico. I went on the docent led tour where we visited and talked about the habitats of the Flamingo, Koala, Kangaroo, Green Anaconda, Polar Bear, Anteater, Seal, Hippo, Penguin, and Lion.

Matthew and Christopher told me about the animals they saw on their docent tour but I'm still trying to get details of their class. I do know that they got to visit the Animal Rescue Center which is a special treat. Wish I could have done it. :(

After the docent tours, Christopher and Matthew met back with us at the playground, the natural habitat for boys. LOL

We had a nice lunch and then wondered over to ride the train. I still hadn't had a chance to see the new Grizzly exhibit so we headed over there and then started winding our way back out.

We got home about 4p and then I took care of a few things until Lucero showed up to watch the boys. Mark had scored tickets to the Sharks games, 3 rows from the glass. Good seats, too bad the Sharks didn't show up. We left when the score was 4-1 to relieve Lucero and also to spare ourselves the pain of watching the trainwreck.

Got Snot???

Unfortunately we do, in abundance. Nico has been stuffed for a few days now but today it's pouring out. I suction his nose and 2 seconds later, it's draining again. Poor babe. He's staying a pretty good mood despite it all for which I'm thankful.

Jonathan also has a bit of a cold and is blowing his nose every 3 minutes or so. He's even saying now that he doesn't want to go to game night tonight so I know he's not feeling too good. Of course, we have a field trip to take a zoo class tomorrow. I'm hoping everyone will be well enough for that.

And on top of it all, Jonathan has an infection near the roots of one tooth. The filling that is in there is rubbing on the nerve and caused it so he's on antibiotics for that and we are looking at the very real possibility of his needing a baby root canal. Poor guy. :(

Happy Halloween!

The boys all had a good time tonight. Nico was more interested in bubbles when I was trying to show him how it was done but according to daddy caught on very quickly to this whole getting candy idea. Of course, his most brilliant idea on how to get candy was wait to get home and snag it from his brothers when their backs were turned. LOL He's a right rotter that one.

So I had to wrangle them, I mean cajole sweetly using nothing more than a please, to get photos of them in their costumes earlier today. I had no idea we were going to end up doing Kuk Sool Wan for almost 2hrs but between us being way early (oops, Mommy looked at the TTh schedule instead of the MW schedule of classes) and then there was extra play time on top of it, we barely had time for dinner before getting them out the door. It was Mark's turn to take them out this year so I stayed home and passed out candy. After a few blocks, they came back in but Christopher decided to grab his cell phone and hit a few more houses. Still having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that he's old enough to do that. *shaking head* When the heck did that happen anyway????

So here are my boys:
Nicozilla (the costume even made the Godzilla sound effect!)





























Curious Jonathan















Optimus Matthew










Yu-Gi-Christopher

Officially the mother of a Teenager!

Well, in a few more hours. LOL It's so hard to think that just 13yrs ago I was in a hospital bed with the final hours of my first pregnancy ticking by quickly. I knew he was going to be delivered soon but I had no idea today was the day. I was really holding out hope for Oct 8 (my Grandma Kay's birthday and FIL's 40th birthday) but somewhere just after lunch, the dr made the call that things had now tilted and his odds (and mine) were better on the outside. I was terrified but there was that bit of excitement that I think all soon-to-be moms have of finally getting to see their baby. Once you know it's going to happen and there is nothing you can do, you start wondering what they'll look like and who they are. Well, I found out what he looked like that day:


And the day he came home:



and in the last 13 years I've gotten to see so many sides to who he is. I remember his baby smiles and his toddler tantrums. I remember watching him stuff graham crackers in his mouth so his uncle wouldn't steal them. I remember taking him places and his eyes lighting up with amazement and wonder. I remember his first time at Disneyland when he was 3½ and that special glow children get when going to the Magic Kingdom. His bravery when starting something new. His caring when someone smaller than him was upset. His giving nature when he had something and another child didn't. His love of animals that causes him to walk up to everyone with a dog and ask to pet it. His first days of school. My heart breaking when I dropped him off and how it would race when I picked him back up again as if it had been waiting to beat properly until he was home. As he's grown up I've seen his fascination with dinos and cars, Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh, and now it's Manga and Music. He can be moody one minute and the next giving his brothers his only cookie. His helpfulness and consideration, kindness and generosity, bravery and compassion, loyalty and laughter are all just some of the many wonderful sides of him.

Happy Birthday Christopher!!! You've come such a long way and I'm so grateful to G-d for letting me be part of your life, to guard you and to love you and to always be there for you. I love you!

If you give a toddler a pair of socks...

He'll want a pair of shoes to go with them.

If you try to distract him, he'll go over to where he knows they are and start throwing a temper tantrum til you give in and hand him a pair.

Chances are, if you give him his shoes, he'll sit down and try to put them on the wrong feet but look proud of himself for doing so but you'll cringe looking at them so help him put them on the right feet.

Then once he has his shoes on, he'll decide it's time to go for a walk so he'll take you by the hand and lead you to the front door. He'll start pointing and nod his head with a big smile on his face if you stupidly ask if he wants to go outside.

If you try to distract him, he'll take your pinky finger and bend it in unnatural angles until you scream for mercy while he leads you again to the front door. All while throwing a temper tantrum.

Soon you'll decide it is not worth the pounding headache that will ensue if you don't go for a walk so you'll put your shoes on while he looks on with an air of satisfaction, grab your keys, a bottle of water, and your 6yr old and head out the front door.

Now that you are out the front door, he'll decide it must be a walk, not a drive, and he must sit in the wagon where he can climb in and out while on the street so he can watch your hair turn grey. If you try to put him in the stroller instead, the neighbors will soon be coming out the front door asking you to please give him what he wants as their ears are now bleeding.

So you'll let him climb in the wagon.

And chances are, if he's in the wagon, the 6yr old will want to ride too.

So now YOU are going for a walk while they go for a ride.

So you'll decide if you are doing the walking, you'll walk to the produce stand to get some fresh fruits and vegetables for the week. You'll walk the mile there, laughing and joking with the kids and everyone's having a good time.

The nice farmer on the way will give your beautiful happy children a big bag of fresh peas to take home.

Then you'll end up at the produce stand and your toddler will climb out of the wagon and start running around like a maniac so you'll ask your 6yr old to watch him so you can get the shopping done. So they run around in the back up and down by the plants while you get your vegetables.

And chances are, if you have a family of 6, you'll buy a lot of fruits and vegetables. And just when you think it's enough, your 6yr old will beg for just one more item and look adorable and you'll say "ok" when he sticks the bag of grapes on the counter.

Then you'll realize there is barely enough room to stick the toddler in the wagon and the 6yr old will have to walk and you are now out of water. So you start heading for home.

And while you are heading home, your toddler will be busy trying to choke himself on grapes which he's never had whole before so you will be stopping every few steps to bite another one for him until you hand the bag to the 6yr old with the plea of "keep feeding him 1/2 grapes while we walk please"

Then you'll keep walking until your 6yr old lets out a shriek that let's you know there is something amiss so you'll turn around to find that your toddler is now squishing all the bananas while trying to pull one off for himself. So you'll grab one and give him half and watch as he leans back content for a moment so you start hurrying up trying to make it home before your luck runs out.

And chances are, as soon as you've thought of that, he'll decide he doesn't want to ride in the wagon any more and needs to get out RIGHT NOW!

And if you try to distract him, he will just keep climbing out while screaming his head off causing all the passing cars to slow down to see if you are actually killing him.

So you'll give in as the lesser of two evils and make him hold your hand while you pull the wagon with the other and the 6yr old walks beside you.

And if you decide that letting him walk is actually the lesser of two evils, he will make sure to try and prove you wrong as he throws himself to the ground with every other step in an attempt to dislocate your shoulder so you'll have to let go of him so he can go play in traffic and pick up rocks to choke on.

So you change your mind and put him back in the wagon and tell him to just stay there until you get home.

So he screams bloody murder and at this point you think your head is going to explode and you are ready to welcome the blessed silence that will follow that event.

But then you see your house and you pull up your wagon and your toddler stops screaming and runs into the house to see his other big brothers.

And chances are, as soon as you sit down ready for a long nap, he'll grab your hand and lead you toward the door because you see, he wants to go for another walk.


(Nope, I've never lived through this, never, ever, ever....oh....wait....this was last weekend)

First Day of School

Well, it started off really well. Only a few minutes behind schedule which I consider nothing short of a miracle. Matthew actually worked quickly and without me being all over his case (a rare, almost freak occurance...I'm hoping he's finally gotten the point that being homeschooled is a privlege not a right). Jonathan worked very well with me and I made sure he had frequent breaks to move around and break off concentration. He struggled a bit with the math as it was much more writing than he's used to (it was a lesson on writing out number words) but he managed to get through it. Christopher was steady as I've come to expect. It's so nice to be able to say that as there were times he was impossible to work with as well.

Nico on the other hand, well, he was not in the mood to let anyone do anything. After about 11a, he decided that he was tired but would not sleep nor did he want to do any art projects for more than a few minutes nor did he want to play with the new toys I brought out for schooltime. Stinker! LOL I was much relieved when he finally went down.

The only thing we did not accomplish today was music with Matthew and Jonathan. Jonathan's math lesson just took too long for him to do music and Matthew's music requires me to actively teach it so that didn't get done either. But, for a first day, I'm totally thrilled by the effort everyone displayed and the progress that was made. The schedule was basically adhered to until around 2p so a great success. We just wont' talk about tonight. LOL

Oh, and for one of our breaks I needed a few things at the grocery store for dinner tomorrow so we went into town and I got the three big boys signed up for Kuk Sool Wan and picked up their uniforms. It's a Korean martial art and the teacher there is absolutely fabulous. I've heard nothing but glowing praise for him from so many other parents. Christopher took a break from gymnastics over the summer and decided that he wanted to do something different and choose this. Of course Matthew and Jonathan had to follow suit so they've now quit gymnastics and now they are all signed up. I'm a bit bummed that Jonathan stopped the gymnastics as he really is a natural at it but I can certainly understand the lure of wanting to do what his big brothers are doing. So now Nico is my only one still at the gym. But with Kuk Sool Wan 2xs/wk, bowling 1x/wk, and soccer practices 2xs/wk, it's a bit nuts in the afternoons around here. I'm glad the kids are all active tho and having a good time. I actually think the Kuk Sool Wan will be very good for them as the teacher puts an emphasis on discipline and a strong mind.

Speaking of which, I'm also now on the board of our local AYSO. Insane, completely, but the insanity doesn't stop there, I made the mistake of calling around to see what I could do to help. :banghead: You'd think I'd know better by now. LOL

Well, I can hear Nico continuing to serenade Mark. Like getting me up at 4:50a instead of letting me sleep til 5:30a wasn't bad enough, apparently I don't get to go to bed at a decent hour tonight either. Ugh!

He was so cute earlier today:


The boys doing their handwriting practice (still trying to figure out how you practice handwriting while chewing on your pencil, tho you know, that explains so much about his handwriting LOL):


Jonathan being silly:


Hoping the big boys behave as well tomorrow as they did today. And please, oh please, let Nico settle down too!

What is with the shoes????

Everyone told me when I had kept having boys that I could be thankful that at least it wouldn't be so expensive in terms of clothes and shoes, wouldn't have to worry about bathroom time, etc like those with girls do. How wrong they were! No, my boys don't wear make-up but they will occasionally get a haircut that requires 20min in the bathroom getting it "just so" and usually requiring my help. Now they are bugging me for $100 Heely shoes and they want clothing that you can't find anywhere so it would have to be custom made for them.

Oh, yeah, boys are soooo much cheaper than girls. NOT!

How to homeschool with Nico

I get asked that question a lot by anyone who has seen Nico in action....How do you do it?!

It's true, he's a non-stop, always climbing, always looking for the next bit of trouble, but frequently charming monkey. Well, the answer to the question is -->

Katsup and Mustard (sometimes pudding, sometimes Jell-o, sometimes cornstarch and water, you get the idea). We just tried this yesterday instead of regular fingerpaints and while the mess is no less, I'm a) pretty certain it was cheaper using condiments than finger paints and b) it was totally edible since most things still seem to make their way into his mouth. He had a great time with it, kept signing more and pointing to his tray. I got a whole 30min of just having to occasionally reload his tray while teaching History to Jonathan. And the katsup and mustard cleaned off everything just as easily as finger paints do.

His other favorite thing is puzzles right now and building with blocks so we schedule time for those activities too and I'm currently browsing Amazon and teaching stores for more puzzles and arts & crafts books for new things to do with him. In the meantime tho, I just plan to buy stock in Heinz 57 and French's.

Boxing Day...

has come and gone. I'm thankful that a) Christopher and Matthew got some of their classes in last school year and b) not everything for everyone came all at once. I'd forgotten what it was like having a new full student and how much stuff they get all at once. 6 boxes for him alone!!! The UPS guy said I'd get a bill for his chiropractor. LOL I laughed and told him he should be glad the 7 boxes for the other two had shown up last week. He just gave me this look that said it all. LOL I'm thankful tho that I was able to get everything sorted, organized, and put away in it's new homes.

We have started slowly trying to get everything going according to schedule. Of course with the anti-scheduler it's been interesting but I'm even working on him.

Jonathan is excited but nervous too. It's going to take some time to get him up to getting everything a day. He's just not used to sitting still for that long so I've made sure to schedule him up some movement and break time hourly.

Matthew is on probation for staying home but he seems to be finally getting it and has been working the last couple of days. I hope that this new pattern continues.

Christopher is steady as always. It's nice to know that I can just tell him what needs to get done and rarely get any flack or have to ride him in anyway. It makes me hopeful that Matthew will eventually get there too.

The hardest thing for me, besides trying to convince Nico what a schedule is, will be getting up so early and actually start moving. I want to start making exercise and meditation a priority so that I can feel my best for my boys because they deserve nothing less than my best in everything.

So screwed

Today Nico learned a new trick, a lovely new trick, one that was inspired by Jonathan....He learned to climb out of his crib. Like having a high-energy, high-maintenance, highly demanding, stubborn, opinionated, non-sleeper was not enough....Now I have NO place to safely contain him!!! Look out world, here comes Nico the Destroyer! Nothing can stop him now!

And we're off!

Seems like we always are but yet again, we are gone for a long weekend away. We were going to go camping Sunday-Tuesday with my dad but my step-mom has been ill so they can't make it. Things are crazy at Mark's office right now so we decided to leave Friday late afternoon and come back Monday early afternoon so he takes less than a day off (he'll work from home on Monday after we get back). I'm soooo looking forward to this trip tho. The woods we are visiting are just beautiful. There is no internet, no cell phones, no tv, nothing except the banana slugs, the birds, and the huge redwood trees (okay, skunks and raccoons too but we try to ignore them LOL).

Smore's anyone?