Self-Serve Breakfast

This is what happens during summer vacation when I get lazy.  The boys decided to make waffles all by themselves.  Aside from the mess Brayden made with the batter, they did a really great job!

Random April Events

Children’s Museum of Phoenix:

Brayden and I went here with his kinder class for a field trip in February.  He loved it and they gave us all a coupon for one free admission if we came back in the next four months.  I promised him we’d come back over Spring Break, but that didn’t happen because I got sick.  So finally on Good Friday, we went.  (As did every other stay at home mom in the Phoenix metro area.)  It was totally crowded but the boys had a great time.  Ian brought a friend and Brayden finally got to do a project in the craft room, (which was something we didn’t have time for on our last visit.)  The only negative part about the day was the $25 parking ticket I got from parking in a lot across the street that I needed a permit for.  Oh well…

           

This is the boys at the top of the giant play structure.  It’s kinda like a McD’s playground on steroids, but all made from recycled building materials.  It looks really cool in person!

This was the little girls’ room.  The four sink at four different levels cracked me up.  And three of the mirrors have this funky reflector stuff in them, so you can’t even use them.  But they do look cool.

Driving a Stick: 

On Easter Sunday while we were all wishing we could nap off the sugar crash from easter baskets, Grandma decided to take Taylor out for stick shift driving lesson #2.  He did well.  He has the typical boy I-can-do-anything-if-you-will-just-let-me-do-it attitude.  Sometimes that’s good, sometimes that’s bad.  Grandma has more patience in the driver’s seat than I do, that’s for sure.   

America’s Next “Top Shot”?

When’s he’s not asking me to borrow the car, he’s often in the back yard doing this.  He has big dreams of one day being on Top Shot.  We have a friend who sent in an application for Season 4, so maybe we’ll get lucky enough to know someone who’s been on Top Shot.  I like that idea better.

Flutes and Field Trips:

At the end of the month I got to go on a Field Trip with Megan for band.  Her school band performed at a Band Festival in Mesa and then went to Amazing Jake’s afterwards for lunch.  I’ve never been to Amazing Jakes before and I’ve avoided it because it seems so pricey.  But in reality, it’s a pretty good deal, especially if you have time to spend the whole afternoon.  All you can eat buffet (pizza, pasta, salads, drinks, dessert) and games for $15.  Some games are unlimited, and you get a $5 card to play the coin-op games.  I think we’ll have to plan a day to go this summer.  It would be a great way to get out of the heat for an afternoon and enjoy someone else’s A/C. 

   

   

Heat Wave

Yesterday we had record heat.  97 degrees on April 1st.  Very uncool April Fool’s Joke by Mother Nature. UGH… I’m not ready for summer!  This has been the first real hot spell this year.  Two weeks ago we were pushing it at 90 a couple days, but it didn’t last long and it still got cold at night.  (Cold at night here translates into the 50’s.)   When the boys got off their bus, they were so hot and miserable.  They decided today would be the first swim day of the year.  Here’s the problem… the pool is only 68 degrees right now.  They didn’t’ let that deter them.

As soon as they went outside I had the thought… GRAB THE CAMERA!  As I rustled around for the camera, I heard the splashes of their cannonballs, but grabbed the camera and ran out the door.  I didn’t know how long they would last in the freezing cold water and I wanted to grab a couple pics.  I was worried that the lens that was on my camera wouldn’t be the right one, it was the 70-300 zoom that Eric got me for Christmas.  But look at the results!  I am in LOVE with these two photos.  In love.  It’s rare I can get Ian to genuinely smile at me.  He is very self conscious of his teeth, and so it tends to affect how he smiles.  You can tell by his eyes that he’s smiling, but he gets to keep his teeth hidden.

And this is the epitome of cuteness.  I know I shouldn’t brag, but I can’t help it sometimes.  And I am so thrilled with how that drop of water is dripping off his chin.  (Taylor thought it was drool.  It’s NOT. It’s pool water.)  Turns out they were shivering after about 5 minutes, so they came inside, wrapped up in jumbo towels, sat down to watch a movie and begged me to make them some hot chocolate.  Not bad for a Friday afternoon. 

Birthday Boy Gets the Party of His Dreams

Finally, a month later, after the actual day of birth is celebrated, we had Ian's birthday party.  When your birthday is less than a week before school starts, it's generally not a good time to try to schedule a party with friends.  Too many other things going on.  So we waited a few weeks, and it paid off well!

Ian has been dying to visit Jump Street, the local indoor trampoline play zone.  Think Pump It Up for big kids.  Let's just say that it did NOT disappoint.  And a tip for my local friends - Tues/Thurs are the cheapest days to go ($10 for 2 hours) and it was totally empty, too!

The Group... all tired, sweaty, thirsty and hungry.  We headed back to my house for Pizza and Cake.

Happy Birthday Ian.  You are such a wonderful kid to have in our family.  You bring much joy and happiness to us.  We can always count on you to make us laugh, usually when we least expect it.   We love you!

Back to School Photos

I was so frazzled last year that I never got one single "first day of school".  Not one... and later that week, I could have taken them, but never did... and the longer it got from the first day of school the more I regret not getting any photos of them last year.  So I got extras this year to make up for it.

Taylor had a great first day yesterday.  He liked all his teachers, including the new Seminary teacher, who we have heard nothing about.  His biggest disappointment?  Getting "C" lunch.  We'll have to pack extra snacks for him to eat after he gets done with Swim Academy.

Megan was also nervous about her first day.  We didn't know any of her core teachers going in, but come to find out one of her best friends from the ward next door is in every single class with her but one.  Seriously... what are the odds of that?

Ian had a great day too, despite the fact that his best friend is in another class.  They have been together for 3rd and 4th grade now, and I didn't realize what a comfort that was to my special little homebody.  Last night well after the other kids were asleep, I went into his room to put something away only to find him sobbing in his bed.  Apparently, he didn't make any new friends on the first day, and he doesn't know anyone in his class very well, and he wanted to stay home and be home schooled.  No kidding.  As if staying home with me would solve his problem of making friends.  This kid is the sweetest boy you ever met, but he sure has a hard time with change.   I'm hoping today goes better and he finds a new friend in his class to pal around with.

Brayden was so excited to go to school yesterday.  He did really well, and I didn't get any phone calls after the lunch hour, so he must have survived the cafeteria.  He has a severe dislike of bread and crackers and can smell it from a mile away.  Whenever we sit next to him with those things, he wigs out.  I've been worried sick all summer that he would have a screaming fit on the first day of school when all the kids around him had sandwiches, but he says he was good.  My mother-in-law (bless her soul) came up with the idea for him to "use the Force" to keep the bad smells away from him.  Most of the time it works.  Notice we got him a special Jedi t-shirt to wear on the first day of school to help him remember. 

I felt so bad for him this morning though... I don't think he understood that he's going to school every single morning.  It was hard to convince him that he had to put the Lego's away and get dressed and ready this morning.  If it wasn't for the promise that he would get to ride the school bus to school this morning, I would have had a real battle on my hands. 

Just walking to the bus stop gets you hot and sweaty right now... can't wait for things to cool down a little bit.  He was so excited to get on the bus today... thank goodness all the buses are now equipped with a/c.

Now I just need to prepare myself for the meltdowns tonight.  They are inevitable for the next two weeks while the kids get used to their homework load, their new teachers and the routine.  Maybe I should make a trip to Dollar Tree to arm myself with some good old' fashioned bribery.  Works like a charm!

Weekend Funnies

I love being a mom to boys.  I love that my one girl isn't a crazy intense "girly-girl".  I wouldn't be able to deal with that every single day.  I always considered myself a "tom-boy" growing up, and while I don't consider my daughter a tom-boy, she isn't girly-girl either.  She's a happy medium in between.  Just perfect.

Ian got his Bear badge a couple weeks ago at Pack Meeting.  I wanted to blog about it right when it happened, but I didn't get to it.  I thought about blogging about it just now when he said the funniest thing.  He was on the couch watching a DVR'd episode of Top Gear (arguably Ian's favorite TV show ever), when I walked into the room.  The main host, Jeremy, was laying on a race track writhing in agony when I looked at the screen.  I asked Ian what happened.  He said, "Oh, Jeremy got hit in the Gentleman's Area with a paintball." 

I didn't teach him that phrase, but I like it a lot better than other's ones I've heard.  Maybe watching all this British TV is rubbing off on him.... in a positve way. 

The Great Toe Fracture of 2010

This is very old news... but Ian fractured his toe 3 weeks ago. During the closing ceremonies of the Olympics he was walking around the coffee table and caught his pinkie toe on the corner. He cried and cried and cried. The next morning it was still hurting. I gave him some Tylenol and sent him off to school. The third morning it was hurting even worse than it did the second day, so I decided to run him to an urgent care clinic and get it checked. The x-ray showed that it might be fractured, but it was too early to tell. So they instructed us to "buddy tape" it and treat it as if it was broken. If it was still hurting in one week, to go back and get it checked again. Here is the ritual we went through every morning.

One week later it was still very tender to the touch, so I took him back in for more x-rays. And sure enough, it was fractured... the above diagram shows where the fracture is... yellow are the bones and growth plates, the red is where the injury is.

It's now been three weeks and it's feeling great. He needs to be very careful with his foot for one more week, get one more follow up x-ray and then all should be back to normal! Just in time to go back to school after spring break. Whew!

I am afraid of jinxing myself when I tell you this, but this is our first "broken" bone in the family. I've been a mom for 15 years and none of my kids have ever broken a bone. Crazy, huh? Knocking on wood now, just in case...

School Photos

In case you are wondering, it was sunny/breezy the day I took Ian and Brayden over to do photos. When I took Megan and Taylor is was overcast. There definately is a noticable difference in the photos! But I am happy with them all and glad to have that chore out of the way!

Paradox

Mornings are never a good time for Ian and I. Neither of us likes mornings, and mornings are full of stress and deadlines.

If I wake Ian up early, he is grumpy because he never seems to get enough sleep. If I let him sleep a little longer, then he is grumpy because he doesn't have enough time to get ready for school.

Either way, I lose.

And guess what? I hate mornings too, and now I have to get up at 6:00 every day. And I hate it, so I'm not inclined to feel sorry for Ian when he is grumpy. Which means that two of us are grumpy instead of one.

Not a good combo...

And why is it, that I have to drag that kid out of bed by his toenails every single day, EXCEPT Saturday? On Saturday, he is up at the crack of dawn, ready to watch TV or play video games... what gives?

On Dentists and Dental Work

Brayden getting his teeth cleaned:
Several years ago, when we lived in the Bay Area, Taylor needed a very small, very simple, and very near-painless dental procedure done. Our family dentist, was explaining to him what needed to be done, and unfortunately, he began by telling him he was going to give him a shot to numb everything up. Once Taylor heard the word "shot", he fell apart, starting freaking out and wouldn't let our dentist do the procedure. I ended up having to go to a pediatric dentist 20 miles away just to have this procedure done (which literally took 30 seconds.) It was a big pain in the rear for me, and I was annoyed with many parties involved over the whole incident, including my child, who had a meltdown in the dentist chair.

When we moved to Phoenix, I asked around for dentist referrals, and got the good recommendation of a pediatric dentist in the next town over. I figured this would be helpful so I wouldn't have to hunt one down just to have any extra dental work done on the kids above and beyond the routine 2 visits a year.

My kids love going to this dentist. They love the two Labrador retrievers that Dr. L brings with him to work each day. They love the playground in the waiting room and the fish tank. I love the "hygiene area". They have three beds all lined up in one big room so I can conceivably have 3 of my 4 kids getting their teeth cleaned all at once! I love Dr. L because even though my older kids don't have perfect teeth, he doesn't pressure us into orthodontics (which this office also provides.) It's a win-win for all.

Two years ago, we got the bad news that Ian had a cavity. And not only one, but two. So, I scheduled the return visit to have them taken care of. Here's the stickler... the insurance doesn't pay for the laughing gas. And they give all kids laughing gas to help them relax and stay calm. So, what should be mostly (80%) covered by insurance is only half covered by insurance. And to add insult to injury, they are so nice about it to the kids. I know they are trying to keep kids from having bad experiences at the dentist at an early age, so they are sweet and nice and all that, but I'm not personally thrilled that they didn't give my child a stern lecture about brushing/flossing and good hygiene practices.

Again, this week - Ian has a cavity. This one is between teeth and so is likely a result of him not flossing. Dr. P said that we could probably have avoided this by having him rinse with mouthwash everyday, which I was buying for a while after the last cavity, but stopped because it's so expensive and with 4 kids using it, it was costing me a fortune. Yeah, but not as much as this dental bill is going to cost me... $117 for one cavity. Ouch! I had threatened Ian after the last one that if he got more cavities, I would take the dental bill out of his allowance. He remembers that, but is that too harsh? I would never make him pay the whole thing, but I'm tempted to bill him for part of it. I don't know of any other way to help him realize the importance of brushing and flossing. I think refusing the laughing gas would be harsh, so I won't do that, even though I'm tempted. What do you think?

Uncle Sam Wants YOU!

Ian's 9th birthday party! He turned nine a month ago, but when your birthday is the week before school starts, we've learned the hard way that it isn't a good time to plan a party!
Crazy cool, carboard soldier, huh? I borrowed him from the local Army Recruitment Office, and even though I was nervous as heck to go in and ask for party props, the officer who helped me out was the nicest guy you've ever met. He even sent me home with free t-shirts and hats and other fun goodies for the birthday boy and his siblings! (We didn't get to keep the soldiers...)

We made a chocolate cake with a few extra "pieces" mounded on top for a hill, then ground up chocolate graham crackers and animal cookies for the dirt topping. Taylor saw me trying to arrange the battle scene on the top of the cake, and promptly pushed me out the way so it could be done properly. I guess I didn't have the right battle scene skills...

Our good friend who is in the Marines, Aaron Wolfley, came over and did a "mini boot camp" with the boys. As you can see, they aren't all taking him very seriously. When he threatened to smash Ian's birthday cake to bits if he didn't do a good push-up, that got Ian moving in the right direction.

Once they finished boot camp, they swam and jumped on th trampoline.

Then we took them back out front for a water balloon fight using "water bomb grenades". They had a blast, but wished I'd filled up more. I thought 100 would be enough... 200 would have been better!

Then back inside for cake, ice cream and presents...

I was so relieved when this party was over! Of course, Ian is already planning his 10th birthday party...