Mommathon

Liam has a loose tooth! Not only does he have a loose tooth, but the permanent tooth has already pushed through behind it. I called the dentist to make sure this was okay. She said not to worry. Just keep wiggling the baby tooth and the permanent one will slide right into place. Liam wanted to know today if the tooth fairy brings real money or fake money. :)

Colm LOVES this book and I will say it is pretty cute! It's about a trashman and his truck and all of the places they stop to pick up the trash. They stop at the pizza parlor, the school, the doctor's office, etc. and then they have to take it all to the dump once the truck is full. The part Colm likes the most is that at the end of each page it asks if the truck is full. For most of the pages the answer is no, until you get to the end of course. He loves looking for the word "no" and then the word "yes" once the truck is full. The ending of the book is also cute because now that the trashman has cleaned up Trashy Town he has to go home and take a bath. Colm would give it two thumbs up!

Wow! What an interesting and well-written book that looks into the lives of the working poor...the people who clean your house, who serve you your dinner at your favorite restaurant, who take care of your loved ones in nursing homes, or work at your local Wal-Mart. The author takes on various jobs such as these and lives off of her income. She has to pay rent, buy food, etc. Oftentimes, she has to take on two jobs to make it and she isn't having to pay for childcare either and she also has a car which gives her an advantage over many in her situation. She also lives in some pretty shady places, but that is all that she can afford on what she is making. Very easy read and well worth it.

A couple of nights ago I came upstairs from the basement and smelled something foul. I accused both Sean and the dog of fouling up the air. I then smelled it again the next day. What is that smell? Is it me? Nope, it was not coming from anyBODY. This morning Liam found the source of the odor. SOMEONE, I am assuming it was Liam based on the cup it was in, had put a glass of soymilk in this little compartment that is in our china cabinet. Who knows how long it had been there, but it was STINKY! I am washing it in the dishwasher right now, but I might have to just throw it away. I don't know if it can be saved.

We have a roof with shingles now. We also have a garage floor and a porch and they have started to do the electricity. The boys got to go in it for the first time today, too. They got to see where their rooms are going to be which they were very excited about. :)

My step-mom just called from Colorado to let us know that one of my younger brothers just won a MAJOR wrestling tournament and he is now on his way to Bejing, China this summer for some sort of Olympic thing. I am not sure of all of the details, but I know it is a BIG DEAL. I am so proud! Both of my younger brothers are so smart (and my older one, too!) and they have worked so hard to get where they are right now, both in school and in their wrestling. Congrats!

We went to Paradise Park today and we FINALLY got to go outside. This is the third time we have been there, but the first time it has been warm enough to actually go outside. As usual, the boys had a blast.

I got brave today and took the boys to the Nelson. There was fear and trepidation on the faces of the people who work there when they saw us walk through the doors, but the boys did pretty well. It was not a leisurely stroll through the gallery admiring all of the fine artwork while reading all of the plaques that tell all of the pertinent info, but it was still a nice little adventure. One docent asked Colm not to walk on a platform what was holding a statue, but no real harm was done. I think the worst we did was that Colm turned out the lights in one room and I couldn't figure out how to turn them back on. Oops! The best part was Colm looking at a statue sans loincloth and asking where his diaper was. In the car home I asked them what their favorite parts were. Liam's response was the shuttlecocks and Colm's favorite part was riding the elevators. I would like to take them back again, only one at a time. There were too many things they each wanted to see, but they both wanted to go in different directions. It got to be a little frustrating towards the end. After all of that culture we then took a requisite trip to Winstead's to fill up on french fries, onion rings and chocolate milkshakes.

I saw this last weekend and totally forgot about it until we drove past the same park again today. Last weekend, we were out returning something to the Apple store and we drove by the cancer survivor park in which someone was sunbathing. I was laughing so hard. (Don't take it the wrong way. Cancer is not funny.) I wanted to go back and ask her to scoot over so I could take a picture of here near the cancer survivor sign. The irony...it was just too much.

Have you seen this movie? No matter what your thoughts or beliefs, you will find it intriguing.

What does this word mean? No cheating!!! Don't look it up!!! Any guesses? This word was in a book I was reading to Colm. It was just a normal, regular children's book...and then I came across this word. Rarely do I come across a word I don't know or have never even seen, for that matter, in a book geared towards the preschool set.

We had great fun on our trip to Krispy Kreme. Any trip that involves eating donuts is a good trip as far as the boys are concerned.

The boys and I went to the arboretum yesterday. It was such a beautiful day. The boys liked listening to the birds and the waterfalls as well as the Monet garden. Their favorite part was trying to follow the map though. They love maps! (Thanks, Dora!) I will say that the children's garden was a bit of a disappointment though. The tunnel was neat as was the Copper Chopper Hopper, but that was about it.

Liam discovered this game at the grandparents. God love grandad! He played it with Liam for a good hour a couple of weekends ago. I am tempted to buy one, but I think I will let it be a special treat that he can look forward to at Grandma and Grandad's house.

In the past five days we have had two incidences at two different playgrounds, both of which included a child or children calling Liam names. The first one was at the park at our new subdivision. We stopped by to play after looking at the house and there were a bunch of other children there riding their bikes and trikes around the tennis court. We obviously didn't have our bikes with us so my kids were just standing there watching the other kids go around and around on their bikes. Well, one kid, who was probably in second grade, decided to start calling Liam a baby every time he went by. Why? I'm not sure. Liam was just standing there. What also bothered me was that the kid's mom wasn't twenty feet away. Liam said he didn't care, but I do. Then we were playing on the playground after church yesterday and there were two kids, probably about the same age as the other kid, that kept calling him weird and they were kind of taunting him. They sure got sheepish when I went over to them, but that didn't stop them. As soon as I walked away they started up again. Again, Liam said he didn't care. But how many times does that half to happen until he does start to care? What can I say to him that will help him when I am not there with him? How should he handle these pint-sized jerks? That's it, I am putting him in a bubble and not letting him out until he is 40.

It's that time of year again...it's time to plant the garden. My mom and step-dad had already tilled it and gotten the soil ready for us (thank you!), so all we had to do was come in and plant. We planted three tomato plants (cherry and regular), cantaloupe, watermelon, cilantro, sunflowers, lavendar and basil. Our purple salvia from last year has come back and is doing great.

Planting the sunflower seeds


Counting out the pumpkin seeds


Digging a trench for a tomato plant


This picture was taken right before he turned around and soaked all of us...oh he thought he was so funny! :)


All of that hard work deserves a snack

Liam's school picnic was on Thursday and the boys had a lot of fun. They gobbled down their lunches so they could go play on the equipment. They played hard for a good hour and a half. Colm took a very good nap when we got home.

Liam was finally able to get a new violin today. Since it was so close to concert time she didn't want to have him upgrade to a bigger size since they get used to putting their fingers in a certain spot and changing the size changes where your fingers go...just a little bit. But the concert is over now, so we got the green light to trade in. He was definitely ready. The lady who fits the violins said that he is almost ready to move up to the next size. This is Liam's third violin. It is so funny when you get these violins because they are rentals so they have a history. The violins and bows usually look okay, but the cases look like they have been through a war. We battled with our last case because the zipper was broken when we got it, as was the clasp that holds the strap on. (I eventually just threw the strap away, it was useless). The case we got today is no better. The outside looks okay, but the inside it all beaten up. The thing that holds the bow in place doesn't hold the bow in place. Hmmm... that poses a problem. Colm will soon be getting a violin, too. He is very excited!

I don't think I have read a book written by this author that wasn't a pageturner. She knows how to tell a story and you can't put the book down because you HAVE to know what happens next!

I can't handle graduations...any graduation. I cry. It's just too much! The music, the nostalgia, looking forward to the future...I can't handle it. It doesn't matter whose graduation it is, either. You could probably send me to the graduation of a complete stranger and I would still cry. Now, what happened tonight? Our eldest child graduated from preschool and let me tell you folks, it was taking every ounce of strength not to really start weeping. It was the slide show with the MUSIC that really got me and then all of the kids brought their moms carnations. Now come on...who can make it through that!!!? Congratulations, little man, you are really growing up. :)

This is not a place you want to take the kids, but if you are ever in Tulsa, eat at the Garlic Rose. We went with a group of about 15-20 people last weekend, so there was a lot of food sharing. We ordered several different appetizers, the baked brie was yummers as was the domestic and imported cheese plate which had a lot more to it than just cheese. We had some great wine, too. I had salmon for dinner and it was done just right and Sean really liked his pasta as well. I don't know if I will ever have a reason to go back to Tulsa, but if I do, I want to eat there again.

I just have to sound off about something that really bothers me. Now before I begin, let me state that my children watch TV. They know there are rules about how much and what they can watch and that includes computer time, too. However, when I see a mom pushing her preschooler in a stroller and he has a portable DVD player with him I have to say something. Come on, now. Is it really necessary to watch TV while you are on a walk? Is it too much to ask to maybe talk to your child while you are on a walk? Or maybe just let them be alone with their thoughts for a while. The same goes for TV in the car. Now I can understand if you are traveling across the country or something, but do the kids really need to watch TV while they are on their way to preschool or the grocery store? I don't care how educational the TV is, kids need time to just sit and think, stare out the window, or look at books, maybe even color. They don't need to have a screen in their face everywhere they go. Oh, and that reminds me. Yesterday the boys and I went to go tour a local healthclub to see what they had to offer as far as swim lessons go. They make you go on the complete tour, however, even if you just want some info. Anyways, that was fine. They have an awesome pool-inside and out. We also went into the childcare center where parents can drop off their kids so they can go get fit and trim. Do you know what most of those kids were doing while their parents were exercising? Yep, they were sitting on their bums watching TV. They were all lined up in a row, maybe about twelve of them. There was one kid playing basketball maybe three or four kids playing on the play structure and one little girl coloring. Turn off the TV for a while, folks, just for a little bit.

This is a really well-written book that tells a very difficult story. It is fiction, but as I was reading it I saw so much of a former student of mine in the main character it was scary. The boy in this book has horrendous things happen to him. I had a student once who, sadly, lived through a very similar situation. The emotions, personality and anger this boy exhibited were almost identical to some of the things I witnessed my former student going through. It was scary. I never really knew exactly what happened to my student, but I knew it was bad and that he and his siblings weren't allowed to live at home anymore. I wish I would have had this book to read then. I think it would have helped me to understand him and what he was going through a little bit more.

We got to feed some stingrays, too.






This toy Liam got at the giftshop is going down in the record books as one of the world's most ANNOYING toys.

1. LOTS of dead turtles and armadillos on the side of the road.
2. We saw someone get bucked off a horse.
3. A deer processing plant
4. The amazon.com Kansas processing warehouse-it was HUGE. (Now we know where our books are coming from.)
5. A Planned Parenthood with a drive thru...not sure what you do in a Planned Parenthood drive thru.
6. A sign that said something about selling semen...it was for cows.

Congratulations to the two newest doctors in the family! We are all so proud of both of you!

I have complained since we started violin about how UNpunctual Liam's teacher is. I mean REALLY unpunctual...it's like she has no sense of time. If your lesson is supposed to start at 1:30, you will be lucky to start by 2:15-that's on a good day. And she never apologizes or even acknowledges that she is late...EVER!!! That's not including travel time there and back. So basically, about a quarter of your day gets sucked up by violin lessons. That has been okay and I have managed to tolerate it for the past two+ years because she is so good with Liam. And remember, only Liam plays right now. Colm is going to start soon...can you imagine how much time is going to be wasted just WAITING for our lessons to start???? So, tomorrow I am going to go observe another teacher. I interviewed her over the phone and she sounds good. I couldn't come up with a polite way to ask her if she is punctual though. I guess we'll see if she in on schedule when I go to observe the lesson tomorrow. Another reason why we are thinking about switching is because of kindergarten. Liam won't even get out of kinder until 3:45. Group lessons begin (or atleast they are supposed to begin) at 3:30ish. By the time I wait in the carpool line and drive all the way to his lesson, they will have missed half, if not all of the group lesson. Not to mention that I am going to be in a mad rush to get them from point A to point B every Monday...I don't want that. Another bonus is she costs about half us much. Money talks, folks.

The GPS I have in my car has traffic alert so it will tell you when you are about to hit a traffic jam so you can presumably find a different route. So, I am stuck in traffic today on the freeway and my GPS says, "There's traffic ahead". Hmmm....really...thanks for telling me. I think the trouble is that it won't tell you there is traffic on the freeway until you are on the freeway and when the traffic jam starts before you even get down the exit ramp, you are kind of stuck.

It is so exciting to drive by and see how much progress they make each day. It is amazing what a difference just a day can make.

Colm LOVES Kindermusik. We only have two more sessions and then it is over for the spring. I am so glad that I enrolled him in it. He is such a good listener and wants to do everything just the way Miss Lin does it. He loves it when she reads stories to them, and when it is lullaby time and she turns out the lights and also when they get to hold hands and dance around in a circle...but I think his favorite part is when they get to hide their scarves and then find them...he thinks it is absolutely hilarious.

I have been reading this book FOREVER! I had to turn it back into the library and then put it back on hold and wait for it again. Luckily, it is a book of short stories (memoirs), so it wasn't a tragedy when I had to turn it in...you can just pick up where you left off. I made it to the last two stories, however, and decided that I could not invest any more time in this book. Some of the stories are very interesting. They are all about children whose parents were missionairies, dignitaries and the like. Children who did not have a home country and often lived in five different countries, speaking as many different languages and trying to absorb and assimiliate into that many cultures before their tenth birthday. Children who were sent to boarding schools or American schools in the country they were currently residing in. Many of the stories are very interesting, but towards the end I had had enough. Time to move on to another book. I need some fiction.

Liam specifically asked for me to put this picture on the blog. What is he doing? He is using some cardboard from some packaging to scratch the cat. The cat loved it. There were several other pieces of cardboard that he used that afternoon to make into various spaceships from Star Wars.

One more down, three more to go! I finished another class last night! I am going to take one class this summer and one in the fall. After that I will have one more class to take and I am not sure when I will take that one. We'll see. I have until 2010 to finish this degree up and then may classes start to expire. What does that mean? It means that I have to start taking them over again and I definitely don't want to do that!