The Simple Things

Jace's Day:

1. He regained the Wii back - he'd been grounded from it for three days.

2. He got his backpack for kindergarten - I caved and allowed a Star Wars one. (I wish I could have gotten a picture of the two boys struttin' around Target wearing their new backpacks)

3. I let him and Cole get a Ring Pop at the check-out counter.

4. They got to watch a movie in the car.

5. We went swimming for Bryan's company party.

6. He got to have McDonald's for dinner.

After all of this he declared, "This is the best day of my life, EVER!" I love that the simple things in life make him so happy.

Neighborhood Hang Out

A few months ago, my aunt and her family stopped by my house for a little visit while they were in town. While they were at my house (it was a total of about and hour) I had three different little boys over at my house to play. She asked me if my house was the "Koolaid House;" you know, the house that all the kids hang out at. Well, it kind of is. And I don't mind. It's nice to have the kids here and know where they are and what they're up to. It's kind of fun to see who all stops by and asks if Jace can play in a day's time.

Well, apparently my house is super cool. Because not only are the neighborhood kids dropping by and hanging around, but the critters like to hang out too. Yes, I've talked about the scorpions, lizards, gross bugs, and the tarantula; the last couple of days a snake has joined the mix, and it really didn't want to leave.

It started Saturday afternoon when I went to get the mail. I saw something sticking up out of the grass and thought it was a stick, but as I got closer I realized it was a snake "standing" up pretty straight and high in the air. I took a picture of it on my phone to show the boys and then Bryan and I chased it off into the neighbor's yard.

Saturday evening, Bryan discovered that the snake was living in a hole behind a sprinkler head at the corner of our driveway. The boys and I found it entertaining to sit and watch it peak its head out of the hole and slide in and out. A couple of neighbor kids came over as I was getting up the courage to kill it with the shovel when the little 11 year old girl asked if she could catch it. So I let her. She patiently waited for about an hour but the snake never came back out again enough for her to catch it.

Well, today things changed. As I was getting out of the shower, Jace came running into the bathroom and said, "The snake's on the front porch and Rusty's cats are attacking it." I wrapped myself in my robe and went out my garage and my neighbor was standing there with her son, another little boy, and her two cats were on the porch by the snake. Here's the story:

She said she was in her back yard when she heard this blood curdling scream...and it wasn't stopping. So she sent her son to see what was going on. Apparently the other little boy had come to my house when I was in the shower, and saw the snake all stretched out across the step that leads into my house and he started screaming like a little girl. So she came over and brought her cats to try and kill the snake, but they lost interest and wouldn't do the nasty job. So there were six of us standing at the end of my porch watching this two foot snake. It had curled itself up and so my neighbor got the guts up and put a bucket over the top of the snake and said she would send her eleven year old daughter back over to dispose of it in a couple of hours.

Well, I couldn't wait that long and so I called my neighbor boy and asked him, "Shamon, are you afraid of snakes." He told me, "No, I'll be over," without me even having to tell him what I needed. He came over and tried to get the snake into the bucket, but it just wasn't working out they way we had hoped. His mom then drove by and stopped and she ended up being the hero. She took the shovel and did a series of dragging, then scooping and throwing the snake down the driveway, across the street, and over the edge of the cliff.

I am just a little puzzled as to why all of the nasty creatures seem to love my house. Enough already!! AND.... why is it that all of the critters like to play as Bryan's away? If we ever move, it won't be because we don't like the neighborhood, it will be because we don't like the creepy crawlies that COME with the neighborhood.

A Reprieve

Ah, Fathers and Sons.

The one night and morning that you look forward to for several weeks, maybe even a whole year, that guarantees you some "alone" time. Some time to do all (okay, some) of those things when you always think, "If I didn't have to take the kids, I would do that." So you can imagine how excited I was to enjoy this alone time.

Well, as the day was going on and I was trying to plan out my evening of excitement, a couple of things hit me. The first was trying to decide what I actually wanted to do with all of my time. I even made a list. Should I go shopping, clean the house, work on a craft, call up a friend and go out, plan for trek, of just plain veg. So many good options because all of these are accomplished much easier when the kids aren't around.

As I sit here typing this I still can't decide what I'm going to do with the rest of my time tonight.....

Also, as I was taking down the tent (because it was set up in the basement), gathering blankets and pillows, shopping for their dinner and other necessities, and preparing some of their dinner ahead of time, I thought how ironic this Fathers and Sons thing is. Here the MOTHER is preparing and gathering and making sure they have everything they need so that the BOYS could dash out the door as soon as DAD got home so that they could go do some bonding.

But then again, I guess I want to ensure they get gone for my own selfish desires.

Well, this night has turned out to be even more ironic. The weather has not cooperated at all. Wet, cold, rainy weather is not going to be an enjoyable time for a five and three year old. So Bryan decided that they weren't going to sleep over, and unfortunately that brand new tent just isn't going to be used quite yet for some actual camping. Maybe basement camping is all that tent's going to see. He also decided that it would be best to feed to boys at home where it was warm and not so miserable.

Which I have to agree with. He's absolutely right. I would do the same thing if I were in his shoes.

However, now that I have spent my entire day preparing for them to go off and enjoy themselves so that I could enjoy myself, I am now left with dishes and a messy kitchen to clean from their Father and Sons dinner.

And I can expect them back at 10:00-ish (or maybe sooner).

So much for a restful night to myself, sleeping in, and a lazy morning.

So much for my reprieve.

Guess How Much I Love You?

I love you 18 freshly ironed shirts.

(said Big Nutbrown Hare)

Lily Beans

I can't help but post these pictures of Lily. She is seven months old with two teeth and about four more about to break through, blonde hair growing in like crazy, and a sassy personality to boot.

Thank you, Rissa for the adorable skirt.

Preschool Graduation

On the 19th of the this month, Jace graduated from his cute Happy Hearts Preschool. Jace absolutely loved going to preschool and he especially loved his fantastic teacher, Teacher Nisha.

Having a child go to school makes you realize just how fast time passes by. As a student myself, I use to think that the school year dragged on. Now, as a mother, the school year is gone in what seems like a matter of minutes.

It has been fun to see what Jace has learned over the past year. Some of Jace's proudest accomplishments are counting to 100 by 1's, 5's, 10's, counting to 1000 by 100's, and he is now reading.

At his graduation, Bryan and I, and also some of the other parents, got a kick out of watching and listening to him. Their little graduation program consisted of them repeating the sounds of the alphabet, counting to 100, and singing three songs. Let's just say that Jace was definitely the loudest student and he kept everyone on track and led the pack in their sounds and numbers. Bryan called him the little Valedictorian.

Jace, you are such a smart little man and you amaze me at your ability to learn and absorb new information. I am so grateful that you love to learn and I hope you carry that with you throughout the rest of your life. I thoroughly enjoy being your mother and you challenge me every day with your questions and inquisitiveness. I love you.

Cole's Third Birthday

On April 28, Cole celebrated his third birthday. When he woke up and ran out to see what his presents were, he wasn't too excited. He woke up to this:

And as he saw it he asked in a tone of complete disgust, "A bicycle?" It was as if he was saying, "Why the crap did you get me a bicycle?" When I asked him what he wished he would have gotten instead he said, "Where's my dragon cake?"

(You see, the cake was a big decision. Every year for their birthdays I make the boys whatever kind of theme cake they want. This year, since Cole loves to do whatever Jace does, he said he wanted a Yoda cake. If it wasn't going to be a Yoda cake he would change his mind to whatever other kind of cake Jace would suggest. So I finally got him to decide on his own what kind of cake he wanted and he chose a dragon cake because he really loved the "How To Train Your Dragon" movie.)

Well, he eventually warmed up to the bicycle and has loved riding it outside - on the few days it's been warm -and also in the basement.

For a fun activity that day, he chose to go to Kangaroo Zoo and McDonalds for lunch. We then had dinner at home with Grandma Pam and Papa Gene and were able to end the night with the long awaited Dragon Cake.

Cole, you are something else. My feelings for you can go from one end of the spectrum to the other in a matter of seconds: totally in love with you to then wanting to pull my hair out! You can look at me with those deep set eyes framed by those squishy cheeks and curly blonde hair and tell me "Mom, I love you too,"and absolutely melt my heart. Then you have this air of defiance and do things just because you know I don't want you to. Then, when I'm trying to talk to you about not doing those things, you raise your nose in the air and stomp away from me swinging your little bum from side to side. Or another reaction when I catch you doing something naughty is to turn your head to the side, close your eyes, raise your nose in the air, and say "No!" in a snappy little tone.

You have so many sides to you: you are funny and mischeivous; loving and defiant; sweet and sassy; soft spoken and LOUD; cuddly and rough.

You are so completely full of energy and spunk and love to be a rough and tumble little guy. You love to box, sword fight, jump, run, and yell. I don't believe you quite know your own strength and you have a hard time containing it. You are constantly falling but you never let it keep you down for long. You usually laugh and hop right back up and start running again.

You love your brother so much and love to play with him and cry and beg for him when he leaves to play with other friends. You are adventurous and not afraid to try new things. You easily got on that new bicycle of yours and took off in a matter of minutes. You just want to go and do - no matter what it is - and you usually succeed quite easily at any new physical challenge.

I have been amazed at the level of comprehension you have developed just this past month. At scripture time and Family Home Evening I wasn't quite sure you had been listening, but now you want to listen and learn and have come to understand so many new things.

So far I believe you are the one that I feel the need to protect the most. I think it is your trusting nature and your inquisitiveness that makes me nervous. I have a feeling that there are going to be many challenges in your life that you will have to face and I don't want you to have to go through them, so I have this urge to keep you young and safe.

I can see your older brother growing up so fast and changing so much and I don't want that to happen to you yet. I feel like I have already lost these last couple of years with you because you have grown up so quickly with an older sibling to follow and imitate and try to be just as old as. With Jace being the oldest I was always ready for him to go on to the next stage and see what he could do and learn. But with you, I want you to stay young. I don't want to lose that "babyness" in you. I want to always have that little boy that begs me to be his "snuggle bunny" and just to hold him.

I will always be here to be your snuggle bunny when you're having a bad day. Because if your day starts off rough and you're grouchy and just plain having a hard time, that's what we do: we snuggle. And it makes all the difference in the world.

I love you so much,

Mom