Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Happy Birthday Cam!!!
Today is Cam's 7th birthday. What an awesome kid. It's hard to believe he is only 7. I was so amazed last year when he read my birthday card! Well, I'm off to work, I can't wait for the before school birthday party. I hope he likes my presents!
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Three Poems
What follows are three poems inspired by BBB's math homework. He had to write a poem using number patterns. I showed him how to write a Haiku and he wrote one. Then he wanted to write another, for fun. And another. I'm so happy to share these with you. I hope his teacher loved them. Enjoy!
Football Haiku
(pattern: 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables)
The wide receiver
He's going for the touchdown
Then they go for two
2nd Poem - Baseball
(number pattern: 7 words, 8 words, 7 words)
He hits the ball, then he runs
He tries to beat the throw, Out? Safe!
But wait, he's going for second - Out!
3rd Poem - Black Ops
(number pattern: 6 words, 7 words, 6 words)
He runs, he gets to base
Intruder alert! Incoming! They shoot, glass falls
Ow! Then they break into base
Monday, August 22, 2011
Back To School!
Whew! What a summer! You must be wondering "Where have they been these last few months?" We didn't leave you. On the contrary, we have been living it up so we'll have plenty to talk about for the rest of the year.
Today was bittersweet, or as Mom (the boys' mom) would say "Sweet and Salty." It was so sad to know the baby and I wouldn't see the older boys as much. On one hand, less games, less laughter, less companionship, less everything! And on the other; less fighting and less stress. Their mom and dad took me and their baby, or Moo Shoo Chicken as he is fondly termed by most everyone in the house by now, out to breakfast to celebrate.
Cam is in second grade, his older brother, Bryce is in 4th, and Ash has gone away to begin middle school in the sixth grade. And he LOVES it! All he could talk about when he got home today was how he couldn't wait for school tomorrow. Weirdo . . .
Today was bittersweet, or as Mom (the boys' mom) would say "Sweet and Salty." It was so sad to know the baby and I wouldn't see the older boys as much. On one hand, less games, less laughter, less companionship, less everything! And on the other; less fighting and less stress. Their mom and dad took me and their baby, or Moo Shoo Chicken as he is fondly termed by most everyone in the house by now, out to breakfast to celebrate.
Cam is in second grade, his older brother, Bryce is in 4th, and Ash has gone away to begin middle school in the sixth grade. And he LOVES it! All he could talk about when he got home today was how he couldn't wait for school tomorrow. Weirdo . . .
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Pokemon Love
We have only had two days of summer, and I am already exhausted. The boys are fun, but sooooo hard to control when they are all together, but when I get one-on-one time with them, our experiences are infinitely richer.
Yesterday, the baby took a long nap and the two older boys were out with friends. It was just me and Cam. We spent time playing a basketball game on the Play Station 3. Not only am I FINALLY learning which buttons to push to shoot the ball and pass the ball, but I'm learning NOT to score too many points. Cam is a great coach and happy that his instructions are leading to improvement, but I definitely don't ever want to beat him in a game. That may lead to the next half-hour of our time together being devoted to calming the temper tantrum. I will forever be learning how to prevent and cure a tantrum.
All kids express frustration and anger differently. This little one needs to express himself physically. For now, we will try using a blow up thing for a punching bag. It was only seconds of punching when a smile crept along his face and the tantrum turned into a game.
Anywho, I wanted to focus this blog entry on the good times. Did anyone see the movie Monster's Inc.? To sum it up, the mosters use children's screams of fear to power their city. By the end of the film, they have learned that a child's laugh yields infinitely more power than a scream. So, instead of sneaking into children's rooms at night to scare them, they barge in with their own comedy routines in order to make them laugh. The tantrums are tough, but the good times are exhilarating.
Later that afternoon, Cam was having some alone time in his room with his Pokemon cards. I asked if I could come in and hang out, and he said I could after 5 minutes alone. When I returned, he laid out all his coolest cards. We discussed which ones were his favorite, which ones were more powerful, etc. (We did this for longer than I thought possible).
Then he held up two cards and asked me which one I thought was cuter. I thought Turtwig was cuter cause he has a little sprout coming out of his head. Cam thought Team Magna's Aron was cuter. I said Aron looked like my boyfriend's dog Dante. After a few more minutes discussing the cards, Cam gave me both cards to keep. He wanted me to have Aron so that I may be reminded of Dante when he passes. It was such a sweet and tender moment. My eyes welled. Any stress he caused me earlier was washed away in that moment.
Yesterday, the baby took a long nap and the two older boys were out with friends. It was just me and Cam. We spent time playing a basketball game on the Play Station 3. Not only am I FINALLY learning which buttons to push to shoot the ball and pass the ball, but I'm learning NOT to score too many points. Cam is a great coach and happy that his instructions are leading to improvement, but I definitely don't ever want to beat him in a game. That may lead to the next half-hour of our time together being devoted to calming the temper tantrum. I will forever be learning how to prevent and cure a tantrum.
All kids express frustration and anger differently. This little one needs to express himself physically. For now, we will try using a blow up thing for a punching bag. It was only seconds of punching when a smile crept along his face and the tantrum turned into a game.
Anywho, I wanted to focus this blog entry on the good times. Did anyone see the movie Monster's Inc.? To sum it up, the mosters use children's screams of fear to power their city. By the end of the film, they have learned that a child's laugh yields infinitely more power than a scream. So, instead of sneaking into children's rooms at night to scare them, they barge in with their own comedy routines in order to make them laugh. The tantrums are tough, but the good times are exhilarating.
Later that afternoon, Cam was having some alone time in his room with his Pokemon cards. I asked if I could come in and hang out, and he said I could after 5 minutes alone. When I returned, he laid out all his coolest cards. We discussed which ones were his favorite, which ones were more powerful, etc. (We did this for longer than I thought possible).
Then he held up two cards and asked me which one I thought was cuter. I thought Turtwig was cuter cause he has a little sprout coming out of his head. Cam thought Team Magna's Aron was cuter. I said Aron looked like my boyfriend's dog Dante. After a few more minutes discussing the cards, Cam gave me both cards to keep. He wanted me to have Aron so that I may be reminded of Dante when he passes. It was such a sweet and tender moment. My eyes welled. Any stress he caused me earlier was washed away in that moment.
 |
| Turtwig |
 |
| Aron |
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Every Caregiver's Worst Nightmare
Yesterday, after the pool, the unthinkable happened: a certain little boy who was supposed to meet me on the other end of the mans locker room ditched me and the baby and took off home by himself.
I didn't know right away that he went home by himself. I was calling into the locker room, making the male teenage lifeguards a little uncomfortable. They went in there and checked. No luck. I go back into the pool and I'm searching around, feeling like a huge failure. Everybody knows I lost a kid. I'm starting to panic.
So much can happen in those seconds when he is alone in the locker room, or went back into the pool, or was alone outside of the locker room. What if something happened? How would I explain this to the parents? All those horrible thoughts going on in my brain. I call the oldest brother, who has a cell phone, and he confirms that his brother is home. I'm shaking and starting to cry as I push the stroller home as fast as I can. The beach bag feels like there is an anvil in it!
I'm not sure how the best way to deal with this is. I feel like when I see him, I want to go berserk all over this little boy; what he did was soooooo serious. But despite my fury, I calmly enter the house, see him, and calmly ask him to retire to his bedroom. He can come down when his dad comes home (the three of us will talk about it together) or when dinner is ready; which ever comes first. He goes without a sound. The first sign he is guilty of deliberately leaving on his own. His brother tells me that he asked if I knew he was home, and there was no reply. Guilty!
Knowing his is safe and sound, the damn breaks and the floodgates open. My only regret is not sobbing outside his bedroom door so he can hear how scared and worried I was.
On my way to work! I know mom and dad had a talk with him. I will have a talk with him too. I'm not sure we are going to the pool today. What would you do? How would you handle that if it was your kid, or someone else's kid? Please feel free to comment and let me know. I can use all the advice/tips I can handle. Also, the parents have a little trick up their sleeve to try and scare him into good behavior. If it works out as planned, I will share it with you at the end of the week!
I didn't know right away that he went home by himself. I was calling into the locker room, making the male teenage lifeguards a little uncomfortable. They went in there and checked. No luck. I go back into the pool and I'm searching around, feeling like a huge failure. Everybody knows I lost a kid. I'm starting to panic.
So much can happen in those seconds when he is alone in the locker room, or went back into the pool, or was alone outside of the locker room. What if something happened? How would I explain this to the parents? All those horrible thoughts going on in my brain. I call the oldest brother, who has a cell phone, and he confirms that his brother is home. I'm shaking and starting to cry as I push the stroller home as fast as I can. The beach bag feels like there is an anvil in it!
I'm not sure how the best way to deal with this is. I feel like when I see him, I want to go berserk all over this little boy; what he did was soooooo serious. But despite my fury, I calmly enter the house, see him, and calmly ask him to retire to his bedroom. He can come down when his dad comes home (the three of us will talk about it together) or when dinner is ready; which ever comes first. He goes without a sound. The first sign he is guilty of deliberately leaving on his own. His brother tells me that he asked if I knew he was home, and there was no reply. Guilty!
Knowing his is safe and sound, the damn breaks and the floodgates open. My only regret is not sobbing outside his bedroom door so he can hear how scared and worried I was.
On my way to work! I know mom and dad had a talk with him. I will have a talk with him too. I'm not sure we are going to the pool today. What would you do? How would you handle that if it was your kid, or someone else's kid? Please feel free to comment and let me know. I can use all the advice/tips I can handle. Also, the parents have a little trick up their sleeve to try and scare him into good behavior. If it works out as planned, I will share it with you at the end of the week!
Monday, June 6, 2011
Last Day of School!
Today was the last day of school. I have been mostly excited, but a little bit nervous. Over the past few weeks, I've gotten mostly nervous, but I'm mostly excited again. Our life will basically look like this: Swim practice, workbooks, reading, lunch, pool and playtime, dinner, baseball.
When I got home I packed my beach bag, shaved me legs, and wondered how I will get into the pool every day this summer. I hope I can use the parent's pass. Or do I have to get a membership for the summer? I can't believe this hadn't occurred to me. Whatever, not a big deal.
Also, I'm certified in CPR/AED and First Aid for adults and children and babies!!!!!!!!
When I got home I packed my beach bag, shaved me legs, and wondered how I will get into the pool every day this summer. I hope I can use the parent's pass. Or do I have to get a membership for the summer? I can't believe this hadn't occurred to me. Whatever, not a big deal.
Also, I'm certified in CPR/AED and First Aid for adults and children and babies!!!!!!!!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
My First Baseball Game
Last night I took Cam to his first baseball game of the season and he rocked it! His team won 24-17 with only 2 practices under their belt. I captured his first and last hit on my phone's camcorder. I think his first hit was a single and his last one a double. He also made an out somewhere in between but it was hard to keep my eyes on the game with my eyes on the baby too.
There is nothing cuter than watching a bunch of 5 and 6 year old boys play baseball. It's funny to see them standing in the field, motionless, picking their noses until . . . Bam! The batter hits the ball into the field and the players scramble all over the place like cute, little, uniformed cockroaches when you flip the light on. I can't believe how good they are. The coach pitches to them, but they do the rest themselves.
I played a season of soft-ball when I was about that age. It was very different from what I saw yesterday. To start, I was on a girls softball team. It was supposed to be coach-pitch, but we were so bad it became tee-ball. I don't remember the tee making it any easier.
I don't think I ever really understood the game. I'm not sure they explained it. I have only two distinct memories from that time. The first was the mantra I chanted when my team was in the field: "Please don't hit it to me. Please don't hit it to me. Please don't hit it to me!" If they did hit it to me, I'd grab the ball as fast as I could and throw it to the pitcher. It didn't matter what position I was playing in the field, or where my opponents were on the bases; I only had to remember that one thing.
My other memory comes from my turn up to bat. That was so frightening. Every time. Swinging, missing, and my mother's encouraging shouts: "Pretend it your brother's head!"
There is nothing cuter than watching a bunch of 5 and 6 year old boys play baseball. It's funny to see them standing in the field, motionless, picking their noses until . . . Bam! The batter hits the ball into the field and the players scramble all over the place like cute, little, uniformed cockroaches when you flip the light on. I can't believe how good they are. The coach pitches to them, but they do the rest themselves.
I played a season of soft-ball when I was about that age. It was very different from what I saw yesterday. To start, I was on a girls softball team. It was supposed to be coach-pitch, but we were so bad it became tee-ball. I don't remember the tee making it any easier.
I don't think I ever really understood the game. I'm not sure they explained it. I have only two distinct memories from that time. The first was the mantra I chanted when my team was in the field: "Please don't hit it to me. Please don't hit it to me. Please don't hit it to me!" If they did hit it to me, I'd grab the ball as fast as I could and throw it to the pitcher. It didn't matter what position I was playing in the field, or where my opponents were on the bases; I only had to remember that one thing.
My other memory comes from my turn up to bat. That was so frightening. Every time. Swinging, missing, and my mother's encouraging shouts: "Pretend it your brother's head!"
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