We're a geeky family

I wish this were a link to a news story but nope, I'm talking about us. I just did probably the geekiest thing ever (tho knowing who the old man was in Dr Who last night was pretty far up there on the geek scale LOL). I just set up my 7yr old with his own blog and account on Shelfari. The kid is just starting to be able to read and still can't read much independently nor can he write (or type) well enough to be understood but I've listened to him begging me for the blog for a year now and I finally caved to the big green eyes.

So um, yeah, my 7yr old has a blog that he currently dictates to me what to type and I do so for him. But you know what??? That big huge grin on his face, the great big hug, and the sweetest little voice saying "Thanks mommy! You're the greatest!" makes it all totally worthwhile. *sniff sniff*

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
People should remain in society and carry out their usual profession. While contributing to society, they should internally carry on analysis and practice. In daily life, one should go to the office, work, and return home. If would be worthwhile to sacrifice some late evening entertainment, go to sleep early, and get up early the next morning to perform analytical meditation.

Happy Mother's Day!

I got just what I wanted!!! NOTHING!!! Seriously, Mark and the boys orchestrated breakfast, he had them clean up, he did the dishes, and then he took them AWAY! They all went to go see Speed Racer while I stayed home and enjoyed the silence. I read. I cross-stitched. I watched 1/2 of Shogun. I graded a crapload of school papers (you knew I couldn't go a whole day without having to get something off my to-do list LOL). We had MIL and FIL over for dinner with the huge Costco ham we've had sitting in the fridge for almost a month now (so glad to have the room in my fridge again). The boys made me a ton of stuff with model magic and were very sweet to me all day but best of all, I stayed in my pjs all day and never, ever, set foot outside. Glorious!!!

To all the mother's out there (especially mine)...

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
I believe that to meet the challenge of our times, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. Each of us must learn to work not must for his or her own self, family, or nation, but for the benefit of all mankind. Universal responsibility is the real key to human survival. It is the best foundation for world peace, the equitable use of natural resources, and through concern for future generations, the proper care of the environment.

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Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.

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In human beings, parents - especially mothers - and children have a special bond. Mother's milk is a sign of this affection. We are created that way. The child's survival is entirely dependent on someone else's affection.

52:36 The Cat Who Had 14 Tales by Lilian Jackson Braun

Not exactly sure why this one is included in the "Cat Who" series as it has nothing to do with any of the characters from it. A collection of 14 short mysteries involving cats so I thought maybe we would at least see one with Koko from before he met Qwill or something but no mention of him, YumYum, or Qwill anywhere in the pages. The stories were quick fun reads, typical for stories of under 15pages each. You could easily read this book without ever having read anything else she'd ever written tho.

52:35 The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander

The second book in the Chronicles of Prydain see Taran get chosen to participate on a raid to deal a tremendous blow to Arawn, Lord of Annuvin, by stealing the Black Cauldron. His part is to be small but he is growing up and learning that being any part of something like this is an honor not to be taken lightly but of course, he still manages to get his pride pricked along the way. In this story we see him begin to take on more leadership, not just of others, but of himself and learn that what sometimes seems like a huge loss will hurt but friends are the greatest treasure you can possibly have and that there is greater honor in a field well plowed than a field steeped in blood.

52:34 Bonjour, Babar! The Unabriged Original 6 Tales by Jean De Brunhoff

I remember vividly the first two stories of Babar from my own childhood even to remembering the pictures and book covers. I have no idea why I hadn't gotten it into my head to get them for my boys before now. This volume was an absolutely beautiful book. All 6 of the original tales in one hardbound edition. The same enchanting stories that I remember plus 4 that I don't remember ever having read before. Wonderful stories to delight a child's imagination and what better way to read them as an adult except to be curled up with one or more children on your lap or at your side as you share them together. Truly, one of those childhood classics that every child should have on their bookshelf with Curious George, Madeline, and the Wizard of Oz (ok, there are a lot more that I think belong on every shelf but I'll stop there).

What a character!

I've been meaning to post about this for a while now but other things keep coming up so before that happens yet again, I'm going to post this. LOL

The last couple of weeks have seen a full emergence of another side of Nico's personality and what a character he is turning out to be! He will do anything for a laugh it turns out and has discovered the art of the slow-motion pratfall and playing "dead". He practices them constantly and if no one notices and laughs appreciatively, he will come over to you, yell at you (translation "HEY, LOOK AT ME HERE!!!!"), and repeat the performance. I'm hoping to try and get this on video as it's just the funniest thing to watch him do.

And in with all of this, his sweeter side is starting to come out on top more often. There have been a lot more hugs, a lot more kisses, and tons more cuddles from him. All spontaneous (it's still 50/50 whether or not I'll get a kiss if I ask for one LOL) but all so sweet. I'll frequently disappear into my room when they are having snack to just kick it and read and he'll usually end up coming in and climb up onto the bed with me, laydown next to me, and cuddle up for a minute. Of course, then he usually ends up jumping over me until I shoo him down or pushing the crib out to "get stuck" between the crib and the bed so he can show me how well gets himself unstuck. Funny guy! He is also doing a lot more spontaneous sharing which is so sweet. He'll get two snacks and present one of them to someone, just to share.

He is also having a lot of fun playing at being a doggy or kitty and will crawl around the house with objects in his mouth while making animal noises and chasing his brothers around so he can lick them. This, of course, elicits wonderful screams from them to which he takes great delight. But on the flip side, he'll use his stuffed animals the same way and then feed them part of his snack and put them to bed, tucking them in gently under his blankie and giving them a kiss good-night.



He's also decided that he LOVES outside time and is constantly wanting to go out. We did replace the deadbolts on the doors going out to make sure he doesn't just let himself out but we are also in the process of making the backyard more Nico friendly (just added a mini-trampoline and hopefully the sandbox will be set-up this weekend) so Matthew or Christopher can take him back there to play. Of course, he is still demanding with his new demand being that Matthew take him for rides in the wagon. LOL I get phone calls from Matthew when they are playing in the backyard telling me that either Nico won't let him come inside yet or that Nico insists they go for a walk. Matthew is such an obliging older brother and will so often go along with whatever Nico demands so they have frequent walks around the block together. Matthew assures me that Nico stays in the wagon and holds Matthew's hand if he gets out to look at something closer. I'm so glad to see the two of them growing so close and I get a glimpse of what a wonderful father Matthew will be if he chooses that path.

It's just been so wonderful to see all the sweet parts of his personality starting to shine through amidst all the temper tantrums and demanding behavior. It's nice to be able to see that and say to myself "hey, he really won't be Nico the Destroyer forever". It's nice to see things turning around instead of just hoping and praying day after day that you are doing an okay job of turning your toddler into a civilized person.

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
We need to actively cultivate the antidotes to hatred:
patience and tolerance.

52:33 The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander

I read The Chronicles of Prydain as a child and loved it. I kept my copies but haven't read it in years but you know what, you can always go home. Reading this book was just as magical now as it was when I was younger. I cared just as much about the characters even knowing the full outcome of the story. I was still swept up in their adventures and transported to that magical place. I can only hope if this book retained so much magic for me that the whole series will do so as well.

For those of you who have never read it, I can't recommend it more highly. This is probably the weakest of the books with the strongest being Taran Wanderer (book #4). It is a wonderful fantasy adventure but more than that, it's a fabulous coming of age story.

Matthew is going to be reading this book for a novel unit and I'm hoping he enjoys it. I'm making Christopher read the entire series and then I'll be having him do a literary essay on Taran's character growth. I have to say that I secretly hope that this will show him that there are many paths that one can walk to becoming a man and that sometimes the searching is worth more than the finding.

Wow...14 years?!

Hard to believe but yep, it's been 14yrs since Mark and I stood before our friends and family and pledged ourselves to each other. 14yrs + 4 kids = lots of good times and bad. We've had our ups and downs but our love has always remained strong. Each day he gives me reason to be thankful for how blessed I am with such a devoted lifemate and perfect partner. He may not be "perfect" perfect but he's perfectly mine: heart, body, and soul. Everything else can be worked on.

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
Whether one believes in religion or not, there is no one who does not appreciate love and compassion. Right from the moment of our birth, we are under the care and kindness of our parents; later in life, when facing the sufferings of disease and old age, we are again dependent on the kindness of others. If at the beginning and end of our lives we depend upon others' kindness, why then in the middle should we not act kindly toward others?

Bowling season is over!

Well, another season over and done with although I have to say it's been the most interesting one yet. Who would have guessed at the beginning of the season that the "will turn" 2yr old would end up taking 2nd place in the bumper league....
ahead of his 7yr old brothers 3rd place....
and score a 114 during their fun bowl time before awards were handed out....


including throwing by himself without the ramp a strike on his first ball of the day??? Nope, I wouldn't have either. It does seem logical tho considering his predisposition for mayhem and destruction that throwing large, heavy objects in an attempt to knock stuff over is something that he would be quite good at. But the reality is that after throwing a few (and right at naptime), he does start to get tired and the balls will start slowing down and eventually start rolling back down the lane towards him rather than towards the pins. That's when the ramp comes in handy (when you can get him to use it)...






Now normally, I'm the one taking Matthew's position in keeping Nico in line but I couldn't very well photograph and be int hat position too now could I?! And with my bum ankle, it was much easier to stand against the wall and shoot than chase Nico so Matthew kindly obliged by putting his game on hold for a little bit to come help with Nico. Thank you Matthew!

Not to be outdone by his little brother, Jonathan bowls with a great deal of gusto (and a whole lot of running, jumping, and throwing 6lb balls high into the air)


And last but not least, here are all the boys with their trophies (and Monka)....


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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
As far as your personal requirements are concerned, the ideal is to have ewer involvements, fewer obligations, and fewer affairs, business or whatever. However, so far as the interest of the larger community is concerned, you must have as many involvements as possible and as many activities as possible.

(gee, ain't that the truth *sigh*)

Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow

Stupid freaking ankle turned on my today when I was walking to the truck. I didn't do anything weird, just walking like I've done 1000s of times in the last 10yrs we've lived here but it just twisted right under me and I came down hard. Put ice on it and Advil in me but oh, man, it freaking hurts! Slight swelling even now (30min later with elevation and constant ice) and of course, Mark has a release tonight so it's just me and the kiddos.

I'm just really looking forward to trying to help Nico bowl tomorrow if it's really badly sprained. Normally I'd skip (I've done a lot of that this session) but it's the pizza party and awards and I'd hate for the kids to miss it. I may just be bowling on a crutch.

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
If there is one area in which both education and the media have a special responsibility, it is, I believe, our natural environment. This responsibility has less to do with questions of right or wrong than with the question of survival. The natural world is our home. It is not necessarily sacred or holy. It is simply where we live.


State of my sink: Need to get today's dishes in the dishwasher. Just not sure how I'm going to do that yet. *sigh*

52:32 The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

An interesting end to the series. Not totally unexpected and certainly in line with most tales of that sort tho still not quite what I had thought was going to happen. All in all, a very good series, very enjoyable with wonderful descriptive writing. I'm looking forward to doing a unit study with Christopher on the whole series and getting his thoughts on it.

In mourning...

After 3 full overtime periods and well into the 4th....Rest in Peace Lord Stanley. We so prayed to have you grace our Sharks with your beloved presence but the Hockey Gods had other plans. On to next year! (and I hope Detroit kicks Dallas' butts!)

I think I need a 12 step program

Seriously, what is wrong with me??? I have 270+ books in my house on my to-read list. I have hundreds on my wishlists at Amazon. And what do I do today???? Go to the bookstore and buy yet more books that were not on my wishlist because I heard from friends or recommendations on Shelfari that I should read them. I was going to try to come up with an excuse, but, well, I can't. I don't have one. I'm weak willed when it comes to books. I love to read and am working my hardest to instill this habit on my children.

Hello. My name is Jena and I'm a Bookaholic.

(and darn proud of it!)

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
Buddhist texts speak of four principal obstacles that on e must overcome for meditation to be successful. The second obstacle is dullness and drowsiness, or the tendency to fall asleep.

So nice to see

I have to say it was one of those mornings at gymnastics to just melt a mom's heart. Nico showed so many examples of how much he actually is learning on how to behave with other kids. First he bounded up to a kid with one of the big balls but when he realized that the ball was taken, he said 'hi' (or what I assume to be his variation of it) and grabbed the other ball rather than knock the kid down and take his ball. Then he actually followed the course for about 1/2 the time we were there rather than running around like a maniac (that was the other half the time but still, we are down from full-time so it's an improvement).

He held my hand on some parts so he could practice balancing. He slowed down and waited for other children to go ahead of him. He stopped and let me show him the numbers on the number walk and when we went back and they were out of order, he put them all back in order as I handed them to him. He shared and was gentle with the other kids. In the whole 45min, there was only one instance of typical toddler behavior when a little boy was playing with the big ball he had been playing with first. He did try to take it away but was very easily pulled off by the offer of the other ball. He also did a lot of listening to me with color matching.

The biggest surprise of the class tho, was how well he listened to me about jumping off the big blue block. Normally his favorite game is to climb up the block and jump down from the top to the floor. This is not recommended since even tho it is a padded floor, toddlers have still been known to break their legs doing this as it's a jump off of approximately 42". They are supposed to jump onto the padded wedge and roll down. Today, he only jumped once and when I talked to him it actually seemed to sink in. He would climb up there, go over to the tall edge, stop, look at me with a grin and point off the edge. I would tell him "no, we don't jump off there" and he would go over to the correct edge, stop, look at me with a big grin, and point. I would say "yes, that's where we jump" and he would proceed to jump and roll. He did this several times, even going so far as to start climbing down the high side but climbing back up when I told him no, that's not how we got down.

So wow, not only can he hear, he can listen too!

For the record, no, I do not expect to see this same level of wonderful behavior next week and fully expect we'll be back to daredevil child but it's nice to know he is capable of it and that the constant encouragement and repetition has not fallen on totally deaf ears. It gives me hope that he really will eventually use all this boundless energy for good.

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
I get the impression that when people are not much interested in religion they also neglect values like compassion, a sense of sharing, a sense of caring-all the things that people consider to be a religious message and reject. That's a mistake. These are secular ethics, not a religious message, and they are for everyone.

A few updates

Well, first off, the sleep prayers were not answered. His Nickness was up twice last night as has been his norm for a while now. I'm so not amused.

Second update is good tho. I've been really following WW well for the last two weeks, really pushing to get to Curves and pushing myself when I'm there, and I am now down 2.8lbs in that time. I definitely think I've found the way for me to manage my sweet tooth which has been one of my biggest downfalls and I've found a good way to get exercise into my life. I hope to add more walks and such once summer hits and try to create some routines that can follow me through the school year. One thing I'm very happy about is that I didn't lose a ton right off the bat and get hit with the "you're starving me" munchies from my body. I had that for one day and did my best to feed it without totally giving in to it and while it did result in a temporary gain, it was easily brought back under control. I'm managing to keep my snacking healthy and light but still satisfying which I think is also a big part of it. Here's hoping I can continue to be a loser! LOL

Testing update. Testing is over for another year. Not sure how things will be handled next year with Christopher tho I'm sure there is more testing to be had in high school. Jonathan was asking constantly when he would get to do testing and was quite happy to hear that he'd be going off next year for it. LOL

Found out more details about Jonathan's summer school. It's not actually summer school which would be 4hrs/day and just concentrating on math and lang arts but true extended school year which means 5hrs/day and all subjects he is currently enrolled in. Basically, continue doing what we've been doing all the way through July. Bit harsh for a little guy imo, especially since it's really just because he needs to continue to receive his services but we'll work around it and make sure he has plenty of fun things to do too. That does mean I have zero incentive to push him to finish anything during the actual school year tho. We will just maintain an easier, slower pace and not stress. I just hope we don't get some nazi of a summer school teacher who will be all over our case if he isn't doing the minimum number of hours and lessons per day. He is already signed up to do a MWF summer camp at the beginning of July and I'm not pulling him out of that. I'll do some simple reading with him those days and we always end up doing some school work on the weekends anyway so that can count towards it. I'm sort of hoping we end up with Julie for our summer school teacher. I know she won't care at all what we do and I can handle her for that short assignment.

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
If distressing emotions such as anger were in the very nature of the mind, then from its inception the mind would always have to be angry. Obviously, this is not so. Only under certain circumstances do we become angry.


State of my sink: Shiny!
Morning routine: In progress (a bit behind schedule cause I caught up on some sleep this morning)

14hrs and counting + My prayer for tonight

That's how long Nico has been awake straight today! Little booger woke up at 6:30a and refused to sleep both times I tried putting him down for his nap. He then started claiming he was tired at 7p but based on previous experience I didn't go for it since that usually ends up with a late, long nap and a 3a bedtime. Of course, we then got caught up in the Sharks game and it's now 9p and he is finally in the tub so we can clean his grubbiness and get him down. I'm only praying that after dealing with him all day, he will actually sleep through the night.

Please bow your head and pray with me now...
Please G-d have mercy upon me and if it be thy will that he give up his naps, let that be for the greater good of sleeping through the night. Thank You!

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

52:31 The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

I could have sworn as I started reading this series that I had only ever read LWW before but once I started getting into this one, I know I've read it when I was younger. I have to say, I think it's my favorite after LWW. Yes, loads of religious overtones to it but they fit in and are woven so well that it's not an "in your face" kind of thing. You can simply accept what is happening and know that that is just the way it should be in that world. Another enchanting tale by C.S. Lewis.

52:30 Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb

Absolutely fabulous book! The author weaves her tale well, allowing the reader to be completely submersed in the rich world she creates. Unfortunately for me, I just discovered that this was actually the third book in the trilogy and I've read them out of order as I'm about to start the 2nd book now but even knowing how things will turn out I don't think it will diminish it in anyway. I do think Royal Assassin will answer some of the questions I had when I started this book tho. LOL

But definitely, if you like good fantasy I would definitely recommend this series and am very thankful to my friend for the loan of them! I think I'll have to get my own copies and look into her other works to share with Christopher.

52:29 The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

A good adventures story filled with run-aways, lost twin brothers, and a thwarted surprise attack. I enjoyed this one a lot and rank it up there with LWW and the Silver Chair as one I particularly enjoyed.

52:28 The Cat Who Played Post Office by Lilian Jackson Braun

Another in the series. I really enjoyed this one as it really picks up the story where the last book left off with Qwill's inheritance of the K estate. He manages to sniff out a suspicious disappearance and the book follows as he tries to figure out what happened. Some of the stuff was obvious and it was a little annoying that he took an extra 50-100 pages to figure out what was pretty obvious to those reading it but the ending was a nice added little twist. Something I had considered to be sure but had been discounted...until it was brought back up after a few more loose ends were wrapped up.

1st Day of Testing down

Only 2 more to go! I managed to get all 4 kids out of the house on time and everyone to where they needed to be by the appointed times they needed to be there which was no easy feat since all 3 of the big boys needed to be at one of 2 locations 5 miles from us (thankfully 5mi in the same direction LOL) at 9:30a. But I got it done and then headed to the hardware store to pick up double-key locks and to the garden shop for some playsand then back to speech to hand over Nico and do phonics with Jonathan since his OT wasn't there this week. Then we went to the local produce stand to get yet more peas since the kids are going nuts over them. We get home, I take care of a few things and hear from Matthew that he's done but Christopher isn't and Matthew has no idea how much longer he'll be. So I start my lunch. I no sooner sit down to eat it when the phone rings and Christopher is now done so I scarf that and go grab them and head over the hill since I promised Matthew and Jonathan a trip to the Lego store some time back and it's kept not happening. We had lunch with Mark at the mall and then I grabbed some stuff from BE and we hit the Lego store then off to Costco where I actually managed to get out for under $50 (obviously this was not my usual monthly trip LOL). Nico of course decided to nap on the way home at 3:40p so we got home and pretty much all collapsed for a bit before getting ready to head out for KSW & Curves. Mark got home on time (YEAH!!!!!) and I left him with the sleeping Nico and off we went. He called just as I finished my workout and was getting ready to do the grocery shopping and I could hear just what kind of mood Nico was in so I hurried through the grocery shopping get out for under $50 there as well (did I mention how much I LOVE the GG and having all these stockpiles in the house?!) and went to grab the big boys. But what's this that I'm met with???? 3 children bearing white testing slips from KSW to get their blue stripes!!!! I couldn't believe Jonathan was getting this already since it seems like he just barely got his yellow belt but the other 2 were no surprise. We just have to figure out if Matthew can do it this month or not because of his arm. SaBuNim is trying to figure out what can be done to make sure he doesn't get his wrist put in a bad position since we don't see the Ortho until the following Monday. Of course. LOL

Oh yeah!!! Mark has just informed me that we are no longer locked in the house involuntarily. He had installed the new locks but they weren't right and when he went to lock the door, he couldn't unlock it so had to take it all apart again. But that is thankfully now all fixed (on the front door, now he gets to install the back door) and we have double-key locks to keep a certain someone IN the house. Sheesh. Silly me always thought locks were designed to keep people OUT.

More testing tomorrow and I'm heading to the city for more chocolate. I've been doing well on WW and I definitely think that for me, having that good piece of chocolate at the end of the day where I can say enough after one piece is helping tremendously so who am I to argue with that. LOL

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
I am basically an optimistic. In the early part of [the twentieth] century people used up resources and dumped waste as if there were no end to anything, whereas today even the smallest children have genuine concern for the quality of the air and water and the forests and animals.


Morning Routine: Basically done this morning
Sink: Shiny!

I guess I got something done

It sure didn't seem like it with all the constant interruptions this weekend but I did manage to get a few things accomplished other than gaining the knowledge that I need to go shell out for new locks for the house when I thought I'd managed to avoid all that 5yrs ago.

• Got the shed put back together again so we can walk in there and get what needs to be gotten easily. Still have a couple of bags of boys' clothes to be sorted and put in their proper boxes but that's a task for another weekend.
• Got the clothes for Matthew, Jonathan, and Nico's new sizes out of the shed and have started the mass washing.
• Helped big boys study for state testing which begins tomorrow
• Graded a ton of school papers, updated PE Logs, and made weekly lesson plans
• Cleaned off the breakfast bar (already getting cluttered again tho *sigh*)
• Had a family meeting and got all the chores assigned. Now I need to start working on formalizing the lists, when they are to be done, making the chore packs, and updating the PEG board.
• Folded socks and underwear and kept up on laundry (still need to take care of those pesky clothes that like to be on hangers tho)
• Listed a bunch of old Nico toys on Freecycle
• Listed baby gates on Craigslist
• Mark got some parts out of Twoey and put a For Sale sign in her
• Mark also fixed Christopher's DS and the movie database and started working on fixing Matthew's computer.

So not a bad weekend's accomplishments. There were a few higher priority items that didn't get done but we'll just keep plowing along and hopefully get them done this week.

On a sad note, I'm out of good chocolate. :( I keep looking at the empty box and my schedule and realize there is just no way I can get up there before Tuesday. I'll have to be strong to make it through tomorrow without the good stuff. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
When we pray together, I feel something. I do not know whether you would call it blessings, or grace-but in any case there is a certain feeling that we can experience. If we utilize it properly, this feeling is very helpful for developing our inner strength.


State of my sink: Shiny! Thanks Mark!

Buying double-keyed locks

Well, I guess it was inevitable but I need to buy double key deadbolts for both the outside doors because Nico has figured out how to break off the child-proof doorknob covers. We've tried three different brands/styles and he's managed to pop them all. We had a hotel flip lock with Jonathan but the door frame won't take it any more and there isn't enough structure behind the molding to attach it to if we took the molding off so this is the only thing I can think of to keep him safe. We found out about it today when Mark was cooking in the kitchen and I was teaching in the bedroom. He took his eyes off Nico for a few minutes to work on dinner and the next thing we knew, the doorbell was ringing because he had managed to open the door and he's fascinated with ringing the doorbell. He is also fascinated with the backyard and wants to be outside all the time so I'm off to the hardware store tomorrow to replace the locks so I can lock us in 24hrs a day. Sounds awful when said like that but I'd rather that than he gets out again unsupervised.

I swear, I'm surprised I don't have a full head of gray hair. Jonathan was almost this bad but not quite. I have no idea how he's going to survive. *sigh*

Sasquatch sighting

Well, not like it was ever in doubt, but the boys have definitely inherited my side's Sasquatch genes. I bought new sandals for the boys this week and ended up buying size 8½ and 6½ mens for the older boys, a 2½ in Kids, and a 9½ Toddlers. So yes, my 13yr old's feet are almost as big as his dad's already and since the 9½yr old is almost as big as the 13yr old, I think we can see that they will both easily surpass their father's dainty feet before long. Unfortunately I had to get my own feet measured as well because I'd noticed that a few pairs of shoes are not fitting well since having Nico and sure enough, my feet have grown by a ½ size so I'm now a 10-10½. Of course, the shoe store had no section for 10½ going from 10 to 11 with no stop in between and it didn't really matter because I didn't see any shoes there that I wanted to buy. Bummer cause I really need a new pair of sandals for myself. My old pair were wearing out and pinching. :(

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
It is not possible to find peace in the soul without security and harmony among the people.

As I sit cross-stitching

It is 6:45a and I'm enjoying the quiet and sitting in my chair working on my cross-stitch when I start to hear the sounds of my oldest 3 stirring. What do I hear next? A loud fart followed by Christopher's loud exclamation of "OMG...Jonathan!" and Matthew's sleepier grumble "gross" to which all is replied by this small impish voice saying "At least I woke Matthew up!" I could hear the grin as he said this.

Ahhhh...the joys of boys. LOL

(from a mom who was very thankful not to have been in the room but safely out of nose shot)

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
The person who has a tremendous reserve of patience and tolerance has a certain degree of tranquility and calmness in his or her life. Such a person is not only happy and more emotionally grounded, but also seems to be physically healthier and to experience less illness. The person possesses a strong will, has good appetite, and can sleep with a clear conscience.

(**This is what I strive for**)


Morning Routine: Done!
Sink: Shiny!

Just babystepping away

Spent a lot of the day on the phone catching up with various friends and taking care of other business but managed with all that phone time to get almost all the laundry caught up so that was a good thing. Now I'm looking at the page+ long list of things that are needing to get done and have managed to stay in the front of my mind long enough to get written down (a miracle on its own). My biggest push is going to be solidifying what I want my morning and evening routines to be and start working on turning those actually into routines that get accomplished step by step in a timely manner rather than interspersed amongst everything else that comes up on a constant basis around here. Also bought more for my skin care regiment (in the hopes that helps kick my butt into remembering my morning/evening routines well, and to help my skin which ain't getting any younger) and had that dropped off. Tisa is still trying to get me to be a consultant for the company. Can't work it out right now but maybe later. I'll see how I like this new stuff before making a decision. Not that I think I'd really sell much but it seems like some of the perks might be worth it.

Nico seems to be growing some sort of immunity to the melatonin. It's taking longer and longer to get him down even when he takes it. I've started giving him a bit more (getting him closer to 1/2mg) but still doesn't seem to be having much effect. I hope to G-d it's just a weird phase and he'll start sleeping again but his 7 day sleep average has already dropped a 1/2hr down to 10hrs a day. This really isn't fair. :(

On a good note, the only schoolwork the kiddos have this weekend is studying for state testing next week and a little work to help catch up on all the stuff they have slacked on previously but they have all worked very hard not to fall behind this week. Yeah!!!!

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
This blue planet is our only home.


Follow the three R's:
Respect for Self
Respect for Others
Responsibility for all your actions



State of my sink: Shiny!!! I'm starting to actually think this may have finally become a habit!!! Yeah!!!

A bit of catch-up

Things have just been going, going, going here. Nothing really exciting, funny, surprising going on just actually nothing extra to throw schedules off so we've been working on trying to get things caught up around here again. I know....boring. That's ok, I'm not minding that kind of boredom right now. The big boys have their state testing next week so we are making sure they do some of their study programs and such to prepare and I'm going over results with them and helping them on the parts they aren't doing as well in. Nico has decided that sleep is once again for losers and has been waking multiple times at night, waking super early in the day, or managing to stay up past midnight despite a double dose of melatonin. Needless to say, this has not been helping anything around here.

**Disclaimer**
Lest anyone feel the need to CPS, a usual dose of melatonin for Nico is 1/4mg and the neuro said we could do a max of 1mg so we were still well under his alloted max. I was not actually overdosing my child.

Mark and Mike are doing a Whiskey Bros. pouring for Diageo tonight up in the city and Mike has gotten a gig pouring for Pinot Ricard (?) tomorrow night. Mark is going up to do the schmooze thing and get himself in as well so I'll be single parenting for the next two nights. Let's just say, I didn't feel too guilty about making him take Nico duty when we went out with my family for dinner last night. I know technically the last time we went to sushi with his family he also had Nico duty so it might seem unfair unless you consider that I was in the ER with Matthew at the time and while he did bring me chocolate, he didn't bring me sushi and most times we go to sushi with his family and I take Nico so he can spend time with them and we rarely go out with my family like that. So no, it wasn't unfair at all tho even I will admit that Nico was definitely in rare form last night including a diaper blow-out the likes of which have not been seen in these parts in many moons which is my excuse for why there was not a spare change of clothes for him in the truck. Whoops.

In other news, my beloved Sharks actually managed to show up for Game 7 of the Western Conference Quarter-finals and blow the Flames out of the water. Fantastic game and a good win. Now onto the Dallas Stars! Go Sharks!!!

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
All human beings come from a mother's womb. We are all the same part of one human family. We should have a clear realization of the oneness of all humanity.


State of my sink: Don't ask. I'm still catching up. :(

52:27 The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

This one really reminded me much more of the LWW and not just because of the witch part. It just seemed like the magic came more alive, the characters were a little better fleshed out, a storyline that carried you through the entire book, and description without boredom. It's still a magical series and I was glad to see the magic strengthen itself again in this chapter. On to The Horse and His Boy.

52:26 The Laptop Lunch User's Guide by Amy Hemmert & Tammy Pelstring

While I love the Laptop Lunch system for any time we have a field trip, I have to say I was less than impressed with the user's guide. I guess if you've always done prepackaged, heavily processed foods for all meals it's a good guide to get you started eating healthier but I found all the suggestions in there pretty basic and ones that get repeated to you every time you turn around and which we've been practicing for years. I'm not perfect with them and we do occasionally have chips and such but those are treats, not the norm. I was really hoping for a lot more recipes and such for snacks and lunches in it but the ones they gave are either a lot more work than I typically want to apply since the boys' generally make 90% of their lunches or didn't sound appetizing to me so not sure how I would sell them to the kids. *shrug* At least it was free with our system and there were a few recipes and helpful tips in there but I'm glad I didn't pay extra for it. I do plan on checking out their website to see if I can find some more interesting recipes. We've definitely been in a bit of a food rut around here lately.

And with this, I'm half way to my 52 books this year and it's not even the end of April! WooHoo! Good thing tho as I'm planning on pulling out some of my thicker classics this summer for some *ahem* light reading. LOL The complete novels of Jane Austen anyone? And I need to re-read the LOTR series too as I'm hoping to do that curriculum with Christopher next year.

Next year in Israel

Happy Passover to everyone. May G-d richly bless you with more than you need and deliver you from whatever is oppressing you.

Deja vous

So it was a little funny when this school year started and Jonathan had the same math and music texts that Matthew had started CAVA with and Matthew had the same math text that Christopher had when we started CAVA but now it's just weird as Matthew has just about finished all of the 4th grade materials so we now have our old 5th grade materials back from Science, then History, and finally today Lang Arts. It's very surreal in a way and yet brings an odd nostalgia with it. I guess I better get used to it tho since starting in the fall Jonathan will be in 2nd grade stuff across the board so it will be old hat teaching that. Hard to believe but I've done taught everything in the K12 curriculum from 1st through 8th grade now except 1st grade math and some of the art and maybe music (Christopher opted out of a lot of that stuff). Makes me look back and go, "Wow, we've really done it, I must be insane". LOL

Just running around....

like a chicken with my head chopped off again today. We left the house at 9:30a and got home around 5:45p, utterly exhausted. Our list of accomplishments for today goes as follows:

1. Take Nico to gymnastics
2. Drive into town to put $20 gas into tank
3. Drop off book for fellow freecycler
4. Pick up checkbook register for Matthew from different freecycler
5. Drop off bag of toddler clothes and pick up advantage for cats from yet another freecycler
6. Stop briefly at home to get a few things we had forgotten
7. Go to Post Office to mail Jonathan's AYSO summer registration and a few other bills and get mail
8. Pick up textbooks from a fourth freecycler
   
9. Make a donation at Goodwill
10. Take boys to lunch at Taco Bell/KFC
11. Walk to Kragen to get some fuel injector cleaner
12. Go to Costco for gas and shopping
13. Go to DMV to pick up personalized license plates for suburban (thank goodness I had an appointment so it was only a 25min wait *insert eye roll*)
14. Go to bank for boys to do their banking
15. Stop at produce stand and pick up more fresh peas (the last 4 lbs disappeared in about an hour)
16. Go through the car wash
17. Arrive home and collapse

Of course, Nico didn't go down for a nap until after the bank and so spent the entire bank trip screaming at the top of his lungs and throwing a major tantrum. I held him and my ground and tried to just get us out of there as quickly as possible. After he continued to scream outside at Matthew while I did my ATM transactions (quicker than yet another teller transaction since I had forgotten to write out a slip for it) we started heading back for the truck. A woman was in her car pulling out and rolls down her window and says "Excuse me". Of course, I'm thinking I'm going to get some asinine comment considering the show we were all just enjoying but instead she tells me that she thinks I'm a good mom for being so patient with my boys. Considering I know patience to be the quality that I am lacking most often, especially with my boys, it was nice to hear that at least once in my parenting life I managed to keep my cool and someone actually noticed.

Oh, yeah, and I did good on WW yesterday. Today was a bit more of a challenge but I'm continuing to at least log in what I'm eating so I can at least be conscience of it.

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
We believe that there are four types of rebirth. One is the common type, wherein a being is helpless to determine his or her rebirth, but only reincarnates in dependence on the nature of past actions. The opposite is that of an entirely enlightened Buddha, who simply manifests a physical form to help others. In this case, it is clear that the person is Buddha.


State of my sink: Shiny!

Ready For Summer!

Well, not actually ready for summer to hit but I've successfully registered all three big boys for all their summer activities. The two biggest boys will be going to College for Kids (Christopher's third and final year, Matthew's first) which will keep them out of my hair in the afternoons for 3 wks. Jonathan, besides summer school and regular therapy, is signed up for summer soccer, 3 days (1wk) at Camp by the Sea, and a 1wk afternoons Lego Camp. So July will be supremely busy with College for Kids, soccer, summer school, playgroup camping trip, and Camp by the Sea in addition to all the regular activities including KSW, therapy, and gymnastics (poor Nico is still get shorted on the whole activity thing) but June will be fairly mild with just soccer in addition to getting done with the official school year and August will see things quiet down a lot with just Lego Camp and getting things ready for the start of the new school year and hopefully a family camping trip.

In between all the activities there will be swimming, beach trips, park days, and hopefully enough hang time to allow me to catch up on a few projects of my own and read a few more books.

Hey, a girl can dream.

52:25 The voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

Nice adventure story. Flowed much better than Prince Caspian. Definitely feeling a lot more of the religious tones in this one as they are a lot more obvious. Wondering what will happen now that Aslan has told the Pensieves that they won't be able to come back to Narnia.

52:24 The Cat Who Played Brahms by Lilian Jackson Braun

Nicer pace to this one from the last. Takes place in a more laid-back atmosphere and the writing reflects that while still moving the story along nicely. Nicely unanswered question at the end too. So glad I have the next one ready to go. Yet another nice, light, fun read.

That time again

All the stresses of the last 1½mos have not been kind to me and between constantly eating on the run and never getting to the gym....well....yeah, I need to kick it into gear and lose some of this weight. That stupid lying scale has been putting lead weights in it's base or something to make those numbers go up but I know I need to do my part to get them to go down too. So it's back to WW I go. Expect tons of whining about how I'm starving the first couple of days while I settle back into it. Thankfully there is a piece of good chocolate at the end of the day if I behave. Always good to have additional incentive. Also, I'm really hoping that while things are continuing to be stressful at Mark's job, he can at least get home on time 2xs/wk so I can get to Curves again. I really did feel a whole lot better when I was able to work out.

So....Wish me luck!

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
In daily life, you need money. It's really a matter of balance.


State of my sink: Shiny!!! (thanks honey for taking care of that last night!)

Mine, all mine, my sweet, my precious

Yes, I turn into anyone possessed of the ring when I have found and procured good chocolate. Mike's girlfriend found this incredible chocolate store across from Mel's and brought me some back in January. This is not just good chocolate, my friends, this is the "take a minimum of 5 minutes to savor once piece as it gives you a glimpse of heaven" type of chocolate. I've been promising myself that I would get back on WW and use this as my reward each day for being good. 1-2 pieces a day is really all you need to keep you on Cloud 9 (and allow the children to live) so since Matthew had his video game survey in that area today, I killed some time by finally paying a visit to that store myself. Except, well, I got a little side-tracked first. I found teuscher on the way and just had to stop in to take a look. Nice truffles there and some good looking marzipan so I dropped my $30 there and took my little bag with a smile and an admonishment to my children that touching could mean death. We then headed over to Cocoa Bella which had been our original destination. O....M....G!!!! These are truly works of art. Not just the chocolate itself which I've already talked about how incredibly it is but just the look of them is artistry in and of itself. I got a few that I had had last time and a few new ones including a few for Mark (grappa and white chocolate truffle anyone? or how about a rum and dark chocolate? Irish coffee? Tiramisu?...I could go on). I bought Creme Brulee eggs for everyone tho somehow Nico's disappeared *insert surprised and innocent face here* tho Christopher's is safe since he's not feeling good. See, I can be a nice mommy....sometimes.

But as for all the rest that were not specifically earmarked for Mark.....

THEY'RE MINE!!!! ALL MINE!!!!

Yep, they are boys alright

Not like there was really any doubt whatsoever about their gender (tho with Nico's hair getting longer I'm starting to get a few more "girl or boy" comments but that not withstanding) but just to make sure they prove it yet again, now Nico is getting in on the belching and farting humor, even going so far as to figure out to drink a few sips of something so you can then force out a belch, stick out your tongue, point your finger in your mouth, and laugh hysterically. *insert huge eye roll here* This is done to the background of Matthew forcing belches continuously for over 5 minutes.

Yep, boys, gotta love 'em. Or at least so I'm told.

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
I don't know whether the universe, with its countless galaxies, stars, and planets, has a deeper meaning or not, but at the very least, it is clear that we humans who live on this earth face the task of making a happy life for ourselves. Therefore, it is important to discover what will bring about the greatest degree of happiness.


State of my sink: Off to go shine it right now.

Poor Baby :(

Not sure what happened but Nico was pretty clingy today. Then tonight he wouldn't touch his dinner, just wanted some milk. A little while later he just started projectile vomiting all over the living room. Of course, he had eaten a shocking pink go-gurt shortly before this so the color of the vomit was just amazing. And wouldn't you know it, our little green Bissell decided to stop working properly. Ugh! At least he's finally asleep peacefully and the mess is cleaned up. Just praying that this was an isolated event and not something that is going to linger or make the rounds.

All is right in my driveway again

My beautiful (if desperately in need of a bath inside and out) truck is back in my driveway with a rebuilt transmission and new starter and seems to be much happier. Now it just needs an oil change and a good cleaning and all will be right with it for hopefully a long, long time to come.

Now to try and get everything else back on track again after Matthew's video game survey tomorrow afternoon. This last week has really taken it's toll on our schedule and any hopes of getting things done around the house with all the added appointments and car issues. I'm hoping Matthew's survey will be the last interruption for a while.

Things are still crazy with Mark's work but he has gotten some good advice on how to turn his bit around and is going to be putting all his efforts to that. Please continue praying for him that he is able to do so and figure out what the best path for him will be.

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
The main cause of suffering is egoistic desire for one's own comfort and happiness.


State of my sink: Waiting for the dishwasher to be unloaded and then it will be shiny again.

Walking Zombie

OMG I'm exhausted this morning. I didn't get much sleep on Saturday night with getting ready for the party but then last night 3 of 4 kids were up and needing attention and I know I lost at least an hours worth of sleep from that and then Nico got up at 6a this morning so I stayed in bed trying to play asleep to get him to go back to sleep which didn't work. I got about 5hrs of broken sleep last night and I think Mark's was even worse since I had two up needing attention at the same time at one point so I had to call in some reinforcements. Then Matthew & Jonathan took forever to get out of bed this morning and I wanted to get some clean up done before Gabriella showed up and Nico's been super cranky (go figure) so it's 9a and I'm about to run out the door with my first cup of tea in hand and no breakfast. Ugh! Not a good start to the day.

At least I'll be mailing the 2007 taxes while Jonathan is at speech this morning! WooHoo!

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
The foundation for the development of good relations with one another is altruism, compassion, and forgiveness.


State of my sink: Not too bad. Just did a huge load of dishes and there were just a few more to take care of. Thanks to Gabriella it will be shining when I get back from speech and OT this morning.

Doing a major happy dance!

Got the mail today and saw something from the FTB. Opened it up to find....A letter stating that they had applied the refund from our 2006 tax return to our balance!!!! So that letter the other day was an error on their part and all is well there! I can not begin to say what a relief this is! Now I wonder if I can send them a bill for all the stress and mental anguish that letter caused me???

To add to the happy dance, my 2007 tax return is sitting in my printer waiting to be signed and mailed, the cakes are coming along happily, the laundry is all caught up, presents are wrapped, Mark just returned from the Party City/Costco run and will be heading out shortly for the Safeway run (couldn't do that in this trip since Nico fell asleep on him), the 2 biggest boys have been working hard on their schoolwork and their room is almost picked up (according to them, I still need to inspect).

So in short, a very fine day indeed!

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
Can the mind even see the mind? We have to answer yes and no. No, because the mind can't be a subject and object at the same time. The mind interferes, whether it wants to or not, whether it knows it or not, in all that it observes; and with all the more reason when it is a question of itself. But the mind cannot see itself completely. However, the principal tool for purifying the mind is the mind itself. The mind is its own creatr, at every instant. Hence its responsibility, which is essential.



State of my sink: Filled with cake dishes waiting to go into the dishwasher one Christopher unloads it. LOL

Coming up for air

But just for a moment. As Wednesday's post clearly outlined, it was not to be a quiet week around here. Thursday saw things starting to look up a bit as Mark called the FTB and the recording said that case number had been resolved. I still want to have a human actually confirm that it means what it sounds like. I'm just not trusting when it comes to any tax organization. Sue me. I was out of the house all day between our f2f meeting (which went well and our teacher thankfully got us out just after an hour since Nico had had enough of everything this week since stupid mommy left his good stroller in the truck which is still in Berkeley) and then I was able to drop off the rental car in San Jose and get a ride to my mom's house to borrow her old station wagon. While I'm grateful for the loan of it (Thank You Mom!) after spending 2 days in the rental car (Ford Taurus) and now the station wagon (Ford Escort Wagon), I'm really missing my truck. We have to cram Christopher between the two carseats in the back because I don't want Matthew's arm to get messed with since he just got his cast off and pin out. This leads to Nico kicking Christopher, wanting Christopher to roll the window up and down every 2 seconds, and screeching at him just for fun. This leads to Christopher screaming and yelling at Nico which then leads me to screaming and yelling at both of them to just shut up. Forget cell phones being a distraction, I've never been as distracted by a phone conversation as I am by the two of them. Sheesh!

We stayed home today as a) I didn't want to have to drive anywhere and b) we haven't been home to get anything done all week. Jonathan got all the schoolwork done that I felt we really needed to get done and the big boys worked on theirs. They've yet again been pretty lax with mommy's preoccupation and they are going to have to work hard tomorrow if they expect to play at the party on Sunday.

Speaking of which, tomorrow is baking day. The cakes we are trying this time should be much simpler and today was just too beastly hot to attempt baking if it wasn't necessary so we'll get two cakes baked tomorrow, one frosted and totally ready and the other one shaped for a quick frosting job on Sunday morning. I'll be sending Mark out for a few staples we need from Costco and the paper goods I haven't been able to pick up this week. Maybe he can take the 2nd pair so I can get some presents wrapped.

On the car front, I was supposed to hear back today when I would be getting it back but true to form, they didn't call to give me that information. I called this morning to ask and was told that they had my transmission out and off to the shop that will rebuild it and they would be getting it back either today or Monday and it would be ready the following day. I also talked to them about the state of my starter which we know needs to be replaced. They quoted the price for the part (about what we knew it was going to cost) and said there would be no labor charge since they already have everything apart so we are getting that done too so it's just all happy again. At least, that's the theory.

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Insights from the Dalai Lama:
Anger and hatred cannot bring harmony. The noble task of arms control and disarmament cannot be accomplished by confrontation and condemnation. Hostile attitudes only serve to heat up the situation, whereas a true sense of respect gradually cools down what otherwise could become explosive. We must recognize the frequent contradictions between short-term benefit and long-term harm.

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Cooperation is imperative for a healthy family, body, society, and nation. How does one develop cooperation? By force? Impossible! So what is the alternative? Voluntary actions, altruism, an showing concern for the welfare and rights of others.

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Buddhist texts speak of four principal obstacles that one must overcome for meditation to be successful. The first is mental scattering or distraction, which arises at the course level of mind and refers to the tendency for our thoughts to be scattered.



State of my sink: Shiny again!

52:23 Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

All I can say is Wow! At about 100 pages left in the book, I just felt I HAD to finish it and could not put it down. Well fleshed out characters, incredibly political intrigue which kept me wondering and guessing how it would all work out right until the end (gotta love that), and a neat new world to explore. It really seems like this was a well through out book where she knew her world (even if we don't know all of it yet), she gives us enough detail that we aren't lost but spends most of the book developing the characters and the story. I'm really looking forward to the next one in the trilogy.

52:22 Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

Well, being too pissed off to do much else today, I decided to lose myself in my books as much as the kids would allow (which was quite a bit as they realized I was not in a mood to deal with any of their usual crap).

So my impressions of Prince Caspain (made before getting in such a horrid mood). Decent book but way too much emphasis on descriptive scenery with a decent nod to a plot and almost no character development. In all honesty, this would have been much better cut down and used to start an adventure book rather then being the entire thing. Just not enough meat on the bones of this one. On to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Can't F*cking Take Any More!!!!

Seriously, stick a fork in me cause I'm way over done. On top of Matthew breaking is arm in Feb, more Dr. apts than I care to remember between that and their "Nico is autistic" crap, the state deciding that the statue of limitations had run out on any return we were due for an old tax return even tho the money due was because they had garnished Mark's wages for over $700, Mark's job stress, then my transmission blowing out yesterday...as if all that weren't enough...Today I get a letter from the State saying that they didn't receive my 2006 return and they want over $3600 in late fees, penalties, and everything else under the sun! I filed them late, yes, I admit that, but I filed before the deadline they gave me!!! I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT!!!! But now the receipt that I had proving that I mailed it has mysteriously vanished (I'm blaming a pair of feet almost 3' tall for that) and I'm just done. I literally broke down crying hysterically because this is just more than I can take any more. We will try talking to the state but CA is so freaking broke that they really don't give a sh*t about anything except f*cking people for every little cent they can. Our post office sucks so I'm sure there is no record I could possibly pull. They have cost us sooooo much money by not delivering notices and bills until they are on their final notice and tons of late fees and penalties have been incurred.

Seriously, I can't take any more. I'm shaking and trying to keep the tears back as I really need to go deal with the kids. I just don't understand why this is all happening. We are trying so hard to be good people, help others who are in need, and get our act together and out of debt and now out of nowhere in 24hrs, we are looking at another $5500 worth of debt staring us in the face and more than half of it is totally undeserved! I HATE THIS!!!!

Matthew's taking a bath!!!

Yes, I know, it shouldn't be a big deal for a 9½yr old to be taking a bath but it means that HE IS CAST FREE!!! The xrays showed that he has healed beautifully with nice new bone growth and it seems we may have dodged the bullet and it hasn't actually damaged the growth plate. Big, huge sigh of relief there. His pin is out, his arm is sore, but he is a very happy guy right now just soaking in a big bathtub of warm water.


In truck news, it was the transmission as we were afraid of. This has not been a good year for the budget in regards to my truck. We've already spent $500 on new tires, $200 on new brakes, now I've just authorized $2200 for a rebuilt transmission and we still need to spend another $200 on a new starter. It better be nice and happy for a good long time now after all this TLC. I know it's 12yrs old and it's pretty normal wear and tear, but sheesh, did it all have to happen within a 2mo period of time??? *sigh*

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
If our love for someone is based largely on attraction, whether it be their looks or some other superficial characteristic, our feelings for that person are liable, over time to evaporate. When they lose the quality we found alluring, the situation can change completely, this despite their being the same person. This is why intimate relationships based purely on attraction are almost always unstable.


State of my sink: I'm afraid to look

Got stranded in Berkeley today

My transmission decided to crap out on my suburban when I was out there for a field trip with the boys today. I know it could have been worse as we were able to pull over easily in a safe location, get towed to local AAA shop and get a rental car all within 2hrs of this happening but still. We had just come up with a plan for busing out butts to come up with an emergency fund and get out of debt and now this! We are totally broke right now and will be until next week when Mark gets paid again and we will likely have to borrow money to get this fixed. It just sucks and I am trying hard not to just break down sobbing at this newest set back. Doesn't help that the repair shop didn't call back today like they said they would and by the time I got back home and could call them, they had all gone home for the day so now I have to wait til tomorrow to see just how bad this is going to be. I'm guessing since I saw the guy pushing it into the bay because the transmission totally gave out when he tried to testdrive it that it's not going to be good.

Of course all of this had to interfere with Nico's nap too so now he's ultra cranky and I'm ultra-stressed. Not a good combo. Ugh!!! And then add in Mark's job stress and it's just not happy times over here right now. I keep trying to look at the bright side...Mark is still employed, we were able to get home safely, and while we will probably have to miss Baycon totally now to pay for this, we should be able to dig out of this quickly and get back on track.

But it still sucks.

A few quick updates on things...

I realized after talking to several people in the last week that I have been lax on updating a few things around here so let me take a moment to do so now.

• Baby Jonathan (my friend Jen's son) is home now safe and sound where he belongs. The meds and transfusion did their job and his liver is repairing itself so no transplant needed, thank G-d. He is on a special formula tho, along with several meds, and will continue to receive out-patient care for a while to come but he is mending and he is home so that is wonderful news.
• On the homeschool ruling that was basically saying that all children needed to be in a classroom with an accredited teacher. That ruling has been dismissed and the case is to be reheard. I have been following what's going on through various homeschool organizations and our charter school but it has not changed how we are doing things in the slightest.
  
• My friend Crystal who was having all the problems with pre-term labor gave birth on Sunday to a healthy baby boy at almost 38wks gestation. Mom and baby are doing well.
• Matthew's arm has been itching and driving him nuts and I'm very thankful he hasn't gnawed the cast off (tho he does need to watch how he moves that thing LOL). We have an appointment in Ortho tomorrow for x-rays to see how things are healing and hopefully they will remove the cast. He has a countdown ticker on his blog for this event. LOL
• Things are still crazy with Mark's job situation. Still overworked and understaffed. *sigh* He keeps getting told to hire some people but then everything blows up and the time he tries to carve out for reading resumes and interviews gets eaten up by other emergencies. He's planning on working late for the next bit to try and get the time to do that and catch up on some other work but he's really down about the whole work situation right now. Please continue to keep him and his company in your prayers.

I think that's about it. It's another crazy week here with a field trip today, drs apt tomorrow, and our face-to-face Thursday plus our usual activities and getting ready for a birthday party on Sunday. Thankfully the boys' speech teacher is on vacation this week so we don't have that and Jon wasn't feeling great yesterday morning so we called off OT and that gave me a few extra hours to my week. I managed to get everything ready for our f2f so that's done and I've started in on the taxes. As much as I would love to just get an hour or two all at once to just get them done, I don't think that's going to happen so I'm going to try and just do a little piece at a time so they get done and filed sooner rather than later.

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
I feel that Americans are interested [in Buddhism] because they are open-minded. They have an education system that teaches them to find out for themselves why things are the way they are. Open-minded people tend to be interested in Buddhism because Buddha urged people to investigate things--he didn't just command them to believe.


State of my sink: Shiny!

So what did I get done?

Glad you asked. Still not everything on my list since, as always, things crop up but I don't think I did too badly.

Saturday

• Thorough clean of cat box area (Mark & Chris)
• Thorough clean of rat stuff (Mark & Chris)
• Thorough decluttering of boys' room (me & big boys) (ok, not a thorough decluttering but we found the floor, their table, their bed, their lego shelves, and their game corner and got through a whole bookcase. We still have the other bookcase, toy chest, and stuffed animals to get through but it was still a ton of work.
  
• Phonics lesson with Jonathan (actually did on Sunday and only got the one done but hey, better than nothing)
  

Sunday

• Get tax software from mom (Mark & Nico)
  
• Balance checkbook & Pay Bills
• Clip coupons, make menu & shopping list (and the rest is almost done)
  
• File taxes (nope, didn't get near this one *sigh*)
  
• School with boys
• Agendas, PE Logs, Attendance records, pull work samples for F2F meeting this week (not much left to do here)
  
• Update wall calendar

Dishes stayed done and the laundry kept getting cycled through but not folded. Probably won't get to that tonight but we don't have speech tomorrow, just OT so that frees up a little time. Yeah!

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State of my sink: Shiny!!!

Introducing Ruby and Louise

Our two newest family members were brought home today, a birthday gift to Jonathan from his Grandma and Papa Davis! Ruby is a very light lilac hooded rat and Louise is a black hooded rat. They are both very young, not yet full grown and were actually saved from being snake food by our intervention. They are still a bit skittish but are responding well to being handled and hopefully will calm down with more constant affection and maturity.

52:21 The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Ok, this one is a re-read for me but I haven't read it in ages, I loved it as a child, and I want to read the entire series (I know, I know, bout time) and then we are going to use it as a literature study for Chris.

What can I say about this book that hasn't already been said 1000s of times before? Nothing really. It's an enchanting and lovely tale of Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy discovering Narnia and Aslan. A fairy tale with mythological leanings that creates, by the, end a place ripe for imagination to delight in. I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of the series holds.

Weekend to-do list

So in the interest of actually, maybe, hopefully, possibly getting everything done, I'm trying to pare down my to-do lists to a more manageable size. So here goes with this weekend's list:

Saturday

• Thorough clean of cat box area (Mark & Chris)
• Thorough clean of rat stuff (Mark & Chris)
• Thorough decluttering of boys' room (me & big boys)
• Phonics lesson with Jonathan

Sunday

• Get tax software from mom (Mark & Nico)
  
• Balance checkbook & Pay Bills
• Clip coupons, make menu & shopping list
• File taxes
• School with boys
• Agendas, PE Logs, Attendance records, pull work samples for F2F meeting this week
• Update wall calendar

And of course, stay caught up with dishes and laundry which is never ending.
Wish me luck!

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Insights from the Dalai Lama:
When in the company of others
I shall always consider myself as the lowest of all,
And from the depth of my heart
Hold them dear and supreme.

Happy Birthday Jonathan!

Hard to believe it's been 7 years since my monkeyboy entered this world. Our adventure actually began on April 2 when I started having this very intense pain like a sword running through my mid-section. Mark was working late trying to get a release out but by 12m, I was not longer able to hold anything down and could tell something was very wrong. I finally got ahold of him around 2a after trying for 2hrs and he came home and got some sleep. I tried to sleep but couldn't through the pain. I knew it wasn't contractions but I had no idea what was wrong. I called into L&D later that morning and we all agreed I should get checked so we headed in after dropping the two big boys off at school.

Then the fun began. I wasn't contracting but the tests showed I was dehydrated and my kidneys and other vitals weren't happy. They decided to put me on IV fluids to see if I just had a virus or something and they would rerun the tests in the evening. They did say, however, that if the numbers didn't start looking better, they would induce in the morning. I wasn't overly concerned at that point but did ask what the risks were since I was only 36½wks along. They told me at this point, the lungs were developed and the risks would be minimal to Jonathan. Mark hung out with me for a bit then went to go get the boys from school and get the suitcase. They hung out with us for a bit and then got picked up to go home. Mark went and rented movies from Blockbuster and we just continued to hang out. The tests were rerun and the levels were not where they wanted to see them so we were put into a better birthing room and the administered the cervical gel in preparation for inducing in the morning.

I wish that night were a blur but it's not. I'm a huge advocate of nurses as I think they are a vital part of the medical field and perform some of the most thankless tasks in the name of patient care but oh, man, the nurse I had that night almost got strangled! They needed to keep an eye on Jonathan's vital signs. Got that. It's kind of important to make sure he's doing okay. They want my blood pressure to stay down. Okay, I can understand that too. Unfortunately, in order to keep my bp down, I needed to be on my left side but in that position, they couldn't get a reading on Jonathan so this nurse came in and treated me like a piece of meat on a spit, rolling me from back to side and back again every few minutes. All this when I'm contracting and am supposed to be getting induced in a few hours which means LABOR! I finally told Mark if she came in and tried to turn me again, I would rip her head off (this had been going on for over 2hrs at this point and I still think I deserve a medal for not having gone off on her already). He, being the most wonderful husband ever, went out to talk to the midwife and told her the problem and said she needed to choose which was more important, my bp or monitoring the baby and that she needed to get a new nurse in there pronto before there was a serious smackdown administered. She confirmed that all of that was not good for me and that monitoring the baby was most important. She also got a new nurse in there (apparently we were just about at shift change). The new nurse had an awesome system. She kept me on my back and resting. When I had to get up to pee (which was frequently enough because of the IV fluids), she would notice and come in to help me get back into bed on my left side. She would leave me there for 10min and then run the bp, then get me back onto my back and reposition the monitors to keep an eye on Jonathan. Worked like a charm. I got to rest, they got to keep an eye on Jonathan's vitals, and they got a nice bp reading at least once an hour. I also begged her to let me take a shower before the induction as I knew I'd be bedbound until the baby was out once they started. She talked to the midwife and it was agreed I could have a 15min shower just before they got things started. Ahhh...heaven!

So around 6a they started the pitocin. I was determined to try and go as natural as possible but by 8a I had had enough. The contractions were strong and constant and my body had zero control over them so I begged for an epidural. They started checked me out and realized I was at 9cm (so much for the epi) but something wasn't right. The midwife got the dr to come in and check with an u/s and sure enough, little stinker had flipped and was now breach (we aren't sure when this happened but Mark still thinks it was that nurse flipping me for hours that caused it). Due to my almost non-existent platelets they didn't want to risk delivering him that way so now we were talking emergency c/s. Ok, fine, can someone stop the pitocin then? They are prepping the room but because of the platelets again and how fast he's trying to come, they are going to have to do a general. Great, can someone PLEASE turn off the pitocin?!?!?!?! They all go about getting the c/s prepped, Mark can't be with me, I'm going to be out for the birth but the only thing going through my mind is that I need to PUSH! I tell them that and they freak out and tell me absolutely not to push. WELL, THEN TURN OFF THE PITOCIN!!!!! I was knocked out by 9a (and very relieved to not have to keep from pushing).

The next thing I remember it was 12n and I was waking up in recovery (different area). The nurse came over and told me I had a son. Thanks, knew that. And I fell back asleep. I woke a few hours later (3p maybe) and was finally able to be wheeled up to the maternity ward. Mark met me there and showed me a picture of Jonathan. It was all I was to see until after 5p. He was in the Level II nursery and the nurse couldn't be bothered to bring him to me (amazing how the day nurse never could but the night nurses had no problems at all). His blood sugar was too low and he needed to be on IV fluids until my milk came in. It wasn't a big deal but one that made it very difficult while we were in the hospital as I was always fighting with the nurses to be able to see my baby, even going so far as to have to walk down the hall less than 36hrs after my c/s to go nurse him. Ugh!

But a few days later we were all home and a bit of jaundice was our worst problem. He grew quickly but refused to sleep unless being held. And in 7yrs now, that hasn't really changed. He still won't go to sleep unless there is someone in the bed with him. LOL

It has been such a joy and blessing to be his parent. In 7yrs, we have all been blessed with his joyous smile that truly does make the world a brighter place, his laughter that seems to make the sun shine, and his cuddles which can make the worst thing in the world not quite as bad. He is one of those people who literally just makes the world a better place simply by being him.

In 7yrs, we have seen him go from a constantly squirming babe-in-arms to the true monkey that he is, climbing everything with abandon. We have pulled him off of furniture and refrigerator tops when he was 18mos, off walls and doorways before he was 4yrs, and out of trees with branches too small to hold him when he was 5yrs. He's gotten a tiny bit better at realizing what could be dangerous to climb but we all know, if you can't find Jonathan, look up.

In 7yrs we have watched him grow into the sweetest, cuddliest, sensitive, caring, compassionate, energetic, helpful, cheerful, joyful, and just generally happy child. We love you sweetie. We love being your parents. We love being part of your life. We love watching you grow. We love your smiles, your laughs, your cuddles, your hugs. We love you!

The Holiday Shopping Has Begun!

Yep, it's official, I just crossed the first two people off my Christmas shopping today. WooHoo!!! I also have one niece's birthday all wrapped up and the other one started and one of my nephew's done as well. And almost everything was 50% or more off! *doing the happy dance* Oh, yeah, and I picked up a couple of cute new shirts for me too at 60% off. Yeah!!!

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
I always say that every person on this earth has the freedom to practice or not practice religion. It is all right to do both. But once you accept a religion, it is extremely important to focus your mind on it and sincerely practice the teachings in your daily life.


State of my sink: Still shiny!

52:20 The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

A dear friend of mine read this book and recommended it so I checked it out and I'm so glad I did. Not a get rich quick scheme but it showed us a few of the errors we were making with our money while trying to get out of debt and I think it will help me to convince Mark of what we need to do to live debt-free which has been our hope. We will have our emergency fund fully funded by the end of this month with his bonus and by June will be starting to really knock down our debt while saving for all those things that come up like birthdays, holidays, car repairs, clothing needs, etc. We've been trying on our own but our plan was a bit faulty which always left us scrambling when a car would break or life just decided to smack us. Now we have a simple but very workable plan and we hope to be debt free except for our house in 2yrs or less and then we can start saving for retirement, college funds, and a new house in earnest!

Busy Couple of Days

Nothing super exciting, just getting lots of little things done around the house. Almost found my breakfast counter again, cleaned out the closet late last night so I had a place to put Jon's presents which I had just wrapped, cleaned out the beach towels, listed a bunch of stuff on freecycle and it's almost all spoken for, taught a bunch of lessons to Jonathan, talked to our new mortgage company (apparently our loan got sold), basically read an entire book (yes, in two days), took the boys to game night, got the laundry caught up including getting everything hung up properly, kept caught up with the dishes and shining the sink, cleared off the changing table which had gotten buried yet again, and got Jonathan's invitations out. So yeah, just a few things are getting done. Yeah!!!

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Insights from the Dalai Lama:
In my childhood, I had a religious assistant who always told me, "If you can really laugh with full abandonment, it's very good for your health."
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Ultimately all human beings want to pursue the path of peace.
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The creatures that inhabit this earth-be they human beings or animals-are here to contribute, each in its own particular way, to the beauty and prosperity of the world.


State of my sink: Shiny of course!

What is that?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

April Fool's!!!!

So excited!!!!

Yes, I know this is my third post basically in a row but each of these has been so different in content from the others that I felt they each deserved there own space and this one in particular has me wanting to cartwheel in street. Matthew has finally taken to reading!!!! As in, he has actually finished a chapter book voluntarily and found one of his other barely started chapter books and has been reading in it every spare moment lately reading!!! This the child who I had to bribe (with basically no success) to read anything other than Garfield or Bone books. I'm thrilled beyond belief that he has finally realized that reading is so wonderful. He also started his own Shelfari page and posted it on his blog and I've set him a challenge of a book a month from March til the end of the year. He has finished the first one and is close to halfway through the second one even now. What does he win if he meets the challenge??? A trip to the bookstore to buy any new chapterbook he wants of course!

Day 1 on the schedule

Just thought I'd update on how our first day (yesterday) went on the new MOTH schedule. Mr. Anti-Schedule was up to his usual tricks and woke for an hour at 5:15a, just when I was scheduled to have my morning routine time to get dressed, start laundry, answer emails, etc. Despite this, the morning did go fairly smoothly through until evening when Mark ended up working very late so I didn't get to Curves and we ended up eating Safeway chicken for dinner because Mark wasn't home to cook while I was shopping during the boys' KSW. This did end up leading to the kids going down a little later than desired, but not by much. All in all, I have to say it was a very good start.

Now technically that schedule is only for MWF but the morning routine will be the same through 9a every day (yes, even most weekends) so we tried it again this morning. Of course, Nico decided to wake up again during my morning routine so again, that time got thrown off but we recovered....until we had a visit from a strange dog that just wanted to play with the boys. It took about an hour and a lot of running around on the part of the boys' to return the dog to it's owner by which time we had to leave for Nico's hearing test and to run some errands. By the time we returned Christopher was sporting a severe headache and the other boys were just done in so we will do a bit more reading but otherwise, call it a day in regards to schedule or school. Actually our TTh for the next two weeks have something to throw them off (more dr's appointments, field trips, ect) so we will just be concentrating on the MWF full schedule and trying to stick to our morning and evening schedule the rest of the time. Have I mentioned yet how much I'm sick of Dr's appointments and how happy I'll be to go a month without one????? Hasn't happened yet this year. *sigh*

Wow, really, he can hear?!

Gee, think I've seen too many drs lately that love to state the obvious? Yes, Nico had his hearing test today and the results were astounding. He has absolutely no problems with his hearing whatsoever. Really, I'm shocked, speechless even. *insert huge eye roll here* Actually, the two amazing things of the appointment were that he actually behaved well and did what he needed to do so we were out of there in 10min and that I heard everything too so I guess he hasn't damaged my hearing yet with all his shrieking. I do think I've suffered some brain damage tho as every time he does it, my head wants to split wide open and leak my brains all over the place.

Also got the results of the abbreviated ASD screening in. What a freaking crock. I was right to worry that they are going to do everything they can to find something, anything to be able to label him. The report went so far as to say that what I was reporting as behavior likely due to motion sickness and lack of sleep is not consistent with what they expect. Well, f*** that. I guess I must be autistic too then because that is EXACTLY how I behave under those circumstances. I can NOT look people in the eye when I'm like that as the peripheral movement makes my head swim worse and tends to make me throw up. What freaking ever. Honestly, even if he is (which I highly doubt), he is an even milder case than Christopher. He doesn't have any of the really worrying signs which would point to a case that truly needs intervention and I know that I actually let them keep testing him, they'll find someway to label him. It's the new fad diagnosis and since everyone can technically fall somewhere on the spectrum anyway, it's easy enough to get diagnosed with something. At this point, I'm done with this witch-hunt unless I start seeing something that actually troubles me or one of the Drs or specialists we see on a more regular basis tells me to be concerned. I will admit that I had to look at Mark and say "told you so". You'd think by now he'd just listen to me straight off, it saves so much time and trouble.

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Insight from the Dalai Lama:
If you must be selfish, then be wise and not narrow-minded in your selfishness.


State of my sink: Shiny!!!

52:19 Wicked by Gregory Maguire

Not quite sure what I was expecting after all the hype and reading Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister but it wasn't this. It's not a bad book by any means and I did enjoy it but not as much as Confessions but I'm not sure why. I think there were just a couple of places where he just stopped the story only to pickup a few years later and it felt jarring to me and left me wondering "so what happened in between?" I really wanted to know more about what her life had been like when she went underground before Fiyero found her. I'm sure that what she experienced during that time would have had a further impact on her worldview and outlook but that part was totally skipped. On the whole an interesting concept and a good read but it did leave me scratching my head a bit in places.