My Growing Boy

Once upon a time I had a little boy...

Today, he was "gettin' bigger, bigger, you know". This is what he tells me. And he is.

Today was his first visit to the dentist. I know, he should have gone sooner, but, nonetheless, he went today.

On the way there, we passed a gravel pit.

"Mama, when I grow bigger, I want to work there."

"Really? Why is that?"

"Because, I could play in the dirt all day. It would be so much fun Mama. And you know what else Mama? I could hunt for all my favorite rocks!"

"Wow, that does sound like fun."

"It will be. It will be so cool."

Hmmm... my little baby, already wondering about what he'll be when he grows up. I just want him to still be my baby.

Then we pull into the parking stall across the street from the dentist office. I stop the car and he hops out. Sometimes I forget that he has the whole seatbelt thing figured out, and he can even get the door open all by himself.

"Mama, just so you know, you don't even have to hold my hand until we get to the street. I am not a baby anymore you know."

"I know buddy. You remind me a lot."

"I know I do, but I have to, because I am a bigger boy."

"I know."

We got to the dentist office and I got him checked in. On the way in to get his teeth cleaned, he looked up at me and said, "Mama, you can hold my hand now, I think I would like that."

I just smiled, took his hand, and thought to myself "I think I would like that too."

Jacob the Monkey Man

So there we were - at the hospital - 5:45 a.m. Tuesday morning. Mark and I are both sleep deprived and stressed out. Kyle's surgery would take place at approximately 7:30 a.m. Jacob and Kyle were both wide awake and ready to go... It was early - especially for our family - we are the "Sleepers" - you know, the 9 a.m. get out of bed - noon get up and go kind of family... Tuesday? We saw the sunrise. I don't remember the last time I saw the sunrise. Oh wait - I do - I remember one day around Thanksgiving I had to be into work before 7 a.m. - and I actually made it - except the whole way there I kept thinking that there was something wrong when it was DARK on my way TO work...

Anyway,

So you know, I think any 4 year old child that is up way early after staying up way too late will become overtired. At our house, we refer to this as "Loopyville" - a description I believe I picked up from my sister.

Whatever it was - Jacob had it.

Picture this...

Kyle is out of surgery, out of recovery and ready to go home. The nurse comes to our room with the wheel chair and tells me to sit in it and put Kyle on my lap - hospital policy. Mark goes ahead to get the van by the door. Jacob? He decides, and even convinces the nurse, to let HIM push me out of the hospital.

Around the corners, through the cooridors, through the Lobby - this is what I hear and so does the rest of the hospital...

"Tarzan the monkey-man, swinging from a rubberband. He don't care. He don't swear. He don't wear any underwear."

Over and over and over.

Jacob is entertaining everyone who hears him....

My face is red.

The nurse's face is red.

Jacob is smiling from ear to ear.

What a monkey. I wouldn't trade him for the world.

In the Eyes of a Child

Mark called me today...

"It's summer" he says proudly.

"What?" I question him. I thought maybe this at-home-Dad stuff was too much for his head...

"It's summer" he repeated.

"O.k." I said, questioning a bit.

"Jacob decided it was summer today," he explains, "He saw a squirrel and a bird - so it's summer."

And now you know...

Days Gone By

In a perfect world, I would be taking time to write about my children every day. Of course, in a perfect world, I would have time to write about my children every day... but... a perfect life would be boring.

Wouldn't it?

So we have had a few big milestones this last month... Alex turned 9. I can hardly believe it. He was very funny about turning 9 too. He was at his Father's house for the big occasion. I called him up first thing in the morning to wish him a happy birthday...

"Hello?" a very tired sounding voice says to me.

"Hi Baby... Happy Birthday"

"Mmmm" he moans back to me, very sleepily.

"What's the matter Sweetie?"

"I couldn't sleep last night."

"Oh, I'm sorry baby, that will make today kind of hard, being so tired."

"Yes," he said, "Only I couldn't sleep because today was my birthday. I was so excited about turning 9 Mom."

"Aww..."

My poor little one. I hung up with him and told him to try really hard to have a fun day with his Dad...

I could hardly believe he was 9. It seems like just yesterday he was my little stinker - learning everything faster than any baby in the world. Walking by 10 months, getting into everything... challenging my everything...

It's funny, now he has a little brother, just like him.

Kyle. He's been so silly lately. Definitely growing up faster than he should. He got his first hair cut this past month. Mark would tell me every day how much he looked like a little girl. I just didn't want to cut it because as long as his baby hair was still there, he would still be my baby. But little Kyle... he would get mad and pull his hair so hard until he would cry. So finally, one night, I couldn't take it anymore. I picked him up and off to the bathroom I went... clippers in hand.

15 minutes later...

I had a big boy.

No more baby curls.

No more beautiful long blonde hair.

Just a fuzzy head.

But still cute as a button.

And, still my baby.

He will always be my baby. Just like Jacob. Only Jacob is getting too big too! This month brought him to kindegarten screening. That's right - SCHOOL.

Jacob will start kindegarten in the fall. I can't believe that either. I just don't understand how it is that my children seem to be getting so big and I am still 25?

Life. It happens all around us every day. Sometimes I just wish I could capture every second on a camera in my mind so I could I play it over and over again and never miss a moment of my baby's lives...

Can You Hear Me Now?

"Can you hear me now?"

"Good."

We all know this... we are all sick of this. Try living it. We have cell phones, from Verizon, and guess what? we can't hear A THING! There are so many areas that we have no reception... I would like to send that guy from the commercials here to test them... but nonetheless we know when we are going to drop a call, when we are going to lose reception, and when we need to just not call.

Tuesday morning, 8:30 a.m. driving down hwy 41 to Menomonee Falls. My phone always works here. After all, when you travel to big city, dumb phone works...

Guess what?

My phone rings... I answer.

"Hello?"

"Hello? Hello?"

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

click

I look at the number, it's a number from my kid's school.... instant panic sets in... my kids never call my cell phone and also - they knew I would be gone this morning.

I call the school back.

"Hello? This must be Sue... I can't hear you but I hope you hear me" the voice on the other end of the line says to me.

"Hello?" they say again.

"If you can hear me Sue, your son has been hurt and you need to get him to the doctor. His knee is badly swollen and he's in a lot of pain."

"I hope you can hear me."

Guess what? I heard her alright - but she couldn't hear a thing from me...

5 minutes later I arrive at a payphone and call the school back - I let her know that I am an hour away and they will have to call my son's father.

Everything turned out o.k. - my son? A sprained knee... .crutches, you know the routine...

But guess what? No one could hear me... it was horrible. My heart raced all morning. Stupid cell phones. What was life like before them? I bet that my son's father would have been called immediately. Instead, my baby had to sit at the school for an hour in pain before someone came and got him.

I wonder if Verizon would care.

Bedtime Business Blues

The routine is the same, night after night, 8:00 p.m. is "bedtime business" time.

Jacob learned this from Blue's Clues... first, p.j.'s (and he HAS to wear zipper jammies that he can zip up a time or two), the toilet, then washing up and brushing his teeth. This has been something we have done together for a while now... the other night, it was different.

It was 8:00 p.m and I announced to him that it was bedtime business time... he raced me down the hall. When I finally reached the bathroom, he was already going potty. He finished and I asked him if I could help him with his jammies (sometimes they get turned inside out).

"No Mama" he said, "I can do it by myself."

"O.k." I said as I watched him struggle to finish, but he finally did it.

Then it was brush teeth time. I got up to help him and he told me to wait. Then the little stinker climbed up onto the sink just enough to reach everything. He even put his toothpaste on his brush.

The tears started dribbling down my face.

"Why you crying Mama?" he asked.

"This makes me sad." I told him.

"What?"

"That you can do this all by yourself. That means your getting bigger bigger now" I told him.

"Yeah, me are" he said.

Then he came over and gave me a hug, "but don't you worry mama, I may get bigger bigger, but I will always be your baby."

He's right. He will.

Chores

During a recent visit to my sister's house, Mark and I learned about a wonderful system she has for her children to do chores and get rewarded... but the rewards are enough to make them want to do the chores. We liked this and decided to start a similar system at our house. Even little Kyle has a chore! :)

Today, Jacob started his morning helping me clean. He yelled at me because I did one of his chores (cleaning off the tv with glass cleaner/paper towel) so I let him do it again. Though our system really doesn't start until Monday, these chores and the points he will receive must be on Jacob's mind.

At dinner time, Jacob announces to Mark and I, "Mommy, your chores can be 'portant stuff, cleaning, vaccuuming, laundry, cooking and hmm... I think that's all. Daddy, your chores can be battling with me and playing Spyro (on PS2)."

Mark and I both laugh... only 4 years old and he has the boys role all figured out.

Snow Day

So Mother Nature decided to dump about 5 inches of snow on us today. Of course, for those of us in the working world, this sucks - having to get up, shovel, and make it to work on time. Well, this didn't happen for me today as the plows decided to skip over our little country road today. So it was time for me to try to shovel out.

I was outside for about 5 minutes when the front door flew open "Mama! Mama! I am coming out to play with you!!"

That little boy had been sound asleep 5 minutes earlier... I couldn't believe he could be so wide awake and ready to play that quick - but he was.

I went inside and dug out his winter clothes and then Mark got him ready. 2 minutes later he was outside throwing snow at me.

We had fun.

I shoveled and he threw snow at me.

We laughed as we jumped around in the snow. It was really a great morning. But I still needed to get to work, so it had to end....

"Mama, can I go in and have some hot coffee now?"

No, I don't give my 4 year old coffee - he meant cocoa!

"Of course you can baby doll" I smiled at his little red cheeks and nose.

We went inside and I made him a cup of hot cocoa.

"Mama, you make the bestest hot cocoa" he smiled at me.

"Thank you buddy."

"You're welcome."

"Thank you for playing with Mama today - that was the best" I said to him.

"You're welcome," he said again and then gave me a big hug and kiss.

I think I like snow days.

Making Me Weepy

If there is anything that can make me sad, it is to hear my little boy(s) tell me that they just miss me and want me to come home.

I receive a phone call at work today from Jacob, "Mama, I just want you to know I miss you," he says very sad-like.

"I miss you too" I tell him.

"I just want you to come home."

"I know baby, Mama will try to be really quick and get out of work as soon as I can" I tell him.

Mark gets on the phone, "He just wants you today. He doesn't feel good and he doesn't want anything or anyone but you."

This breaks my heart. I just wish I could be there. But I can't. It makes me want to cry.

First Steps

For the last few days, Mark has been trying to show me that Kyle can walk. He tells me that during the day, he takes a few steps here and there all the time. However, as soon as I come home, this walking stops.

Tonight, he did it.

Kyle took 3 steps towards me and then a big dive.

It was sweet.

I cried, just a little.

My baby is getting bigger and bigger - step by step.

The Middle of the Night

It's funny, I think it was a week ago now, but I haven't the time I used to have to tell the tales of my funny son, Jacob's perspective of an early morning.

Last week Friday morning, somewhere around 5 o'clock a.m., Jacob ran down the hall and climbed up into bed with Mark and I.

"Dada!" he yelled, waking up Mark.

"Dada, please get me some juice."

Mark grumbled a bit, but got up and got Jacob a cup of something to drink.

Both Mark and myself rolled back over, assuming that Jacob would soon drift back off to sleep as he usually does.

6 o'clock a.m. - my alarm clock goes off - (my alarm clock being Kyle). He is awake for his morning feeding. I sit up in bed to nurse him and who is laying next to me, twiddling his thumbs, watching the weather, WIDE AWAKE, but Jacob.

"Hi Mama" he smiles.

"Hi Silly" I smile back, "what are you doing?"

"Watching the news" he says.

I laugh. Feed Kyle and climb out of bed to wake up the older two boys for school. The bus comes to our house at 7 o'clock a.m. so it's early mornings for us.

I was in the kitchen with the boys, getting them breakfast, when all of a sudden I hear this little voice say, "Mama? What the heck. Why are my brothers eating breakfast in the middle of the night?"

I laugh. I look out the windows and it is in fact very dark at this time of the morning.

"Buddy, it's not the middle of the night," I tell him.

"Yes it is."

"O.k."

"Mama?"

"Yes?"

"Can I eat breakfast in the middle of the night too?" he asks me very slyly.

"I think that would be o.k" I tell him.

Jacob joins Travis and Alex at the table and you could just see by the look on his face that he thought he was getting away with something that wasn't right. It was so cute.

A few minutes later, it was time for Travis and Alex to leave for school. Afterwards, Jacob asked me, "Mama, would it be o.k if you and I snuggled on the couch and watched cartoonies in the middle of the night too?"

"Yes," I said.

"Really?" he asked.

"Mmm... I think so" I agreed, knowing I could use a little quiet time myself.

"That makes me so happy," Jacob smiled.

After we watched a few cartoonies, I needed to get up and get ready for work. But before I left for work, Jacob leaned over, gave me a kiss and a big hug and said, "Mama, tomorrow, do you think you and I could snuggle and watch cartoonies in the middle of the night again?"

I just smiled at him.

"You got it buddy" I told him.

"Goodie!" he said, "Because, Mama, I sure like the middle of the night with you."

Two of Them, Actually

It all started Saturday night with the arrival of Mark's step-mom Betsy and his little sister Emily. A side of our family that we don't get to see so much of as they live quite far away.

Jacob's little eyes got real big and then he ran and hid. He is pretty shy around new people and even more shy around girls. He didn't want them to look at him. He felt mostly safe by Daddy.

After a few hours, Mark and Jacob went outside for a few minutes and chatted a little about Betsy. When they came in, Mark informed us that Jacob had asked him "Daddy, you mean I have TWO grandmas here?"

This was a very sweet thing to hear. After all, since the death of both Mark's and my mother, Jacob has always known that he only had one Grandma - Mama Co. So to him, knowing about Betsy - who is Mark's step-mom and being able to call her Grandma, Jacob was very excited. What was even nicer was that Betsy told him he could call her "grandma" any time he wanted to.

Not much more was said about the "grandma-thing" for the night or the next day. We all said our good-byes and headed our own directions. We probably won't see Betsy again for another year or so as they live so far away.


That night, we finally reached home and went to pick up Jacob's brothers, Travis and Alex.

It took about a minute for Alex to be in the back seat by Jacob before Jacob proudly announced his exciting news to his brother.

"Guess what Alex?"

"What?"

"Guess what I got?"

"Did you get another new toy or something while we were gone at our Dad's?" Alex asked.

"Nope."

"Then what?" Alex asked.

"I got another Grandma" he said.

I smiled from the front seat hearing him say this to Alex.

"You mean Mama Co?" Alex asked.

"No" Jacob said.

"Mama, what's her name?" he asked me.

"Betsy" I reminded him.

"Oh yeah, Betsy" he said to Alex.

"So Jacob has a Grandma?" Alex asked me, knowing that Grandma Jo is really his great-grandma and that the boys have always talked about Jacob not having a Grandma. (This is a sad conversation in our house, but one the boys like to talk about periodically).

"Yes" I said.

To which Jacob responded, "Two of them, actually."

He was so proud.

I was proud for him.

2 Teeth, 5 Shots and a New Doc

So they finally arrived - Kyle's teeth.

Yesterday morning, we woke up late (as usual) and as I was getting ready for work, I heard Mark yell from the other room, "They're in!"

"What are in?" I yell back from across the house, wondering what in the world has him yelling like that at 8 a.m. and who the heck was in where?

"Kyle's teeth! They're in!" he yells again.

At this point, I must go see. I have been talking to these teeth for over a month now, begging and pleading with them to appear, if they are in, I have to see.

"Sure enough" I say with pure amazement.

I guess the average parent who has been through the teething thing might think we were crazy getting excited over such a silly thing, but let me tell you, this is BIG news in our house!

So the crabbiness is finally going to end...

or is it?

"Today is Tuesday, isn't it?" I ask.

"I do believe so" Mark answers.

"Crud."

"Why?"

"Today is Kyle's doctor's appointment with our new doctor... he's getting caught up on his shots." I inform Mark.

"How many?" he asks.

"I think maybe 4" I respond.

"Have fun!" he says with a laugh, knowing good and well he will be making that trip with me.

A few hours later, I was home from work and we were headed to the doctor's office. I was a little nervous about the whole thing. See, we actually found one of those family doctors you just wouldn't want to trade for the world, so the fact that we had to give him up just broke my heart. But I reminded myself that MAYBE this doctor would be o.k. too and that I should just keep an open mind.

After checking in, a very friendly nurse came to greet us. I guess I don't really recall her name, but she seemed nice enough. We got things started and then it was time to meet our new doctor.

He knocked on the door first.

"Come in" Jacob yells.

"Why thank you little man" he says with a smile.

O.k. so he seems o.k. First impressions are important you know.

After the normal check-up, he lets us know that because Kyle had fallen behind a little bit on his shots, he would be getting 5, NOT 4, but 5 shots tonight.

"Wow" I said.

"I guess we should just get them done" Mark says.

Easy for him to say, he doesn't have to hold him down while the nurse gives them to him.

"O.k." I agree.

In comes the nurse.

Let the crying begin.

5 shots later, we are on our way home.

Kyle?

He cried a lot, but fell asleep on the way home.

I guess it would be just my luck that he finally gets his teeth so the crabbiness can stop and then the shots begin so the crabbiness can continue for a day or two.

The doctor?

I guess he was o.k. but I had this terrible feeling the entire time we were there. It was almost as if we were cheating on our favorite family doctor. I guess in time, I will get over it. But in the meantime, we sure are going to miss him.

"Mama," Jacob asks on the way home, "Now we go to see Dr. Lewis?"

"No baby," I sigh, "Not tonight."

"I miss him" he says.

"Me too."

My Teething Prayer

As I picked my children up from the babysitter's house tonight and began my 7 minute journey home, I decided that children should get all of their teeth at once. Enough of this teething garbage - over and over and over again.

Tonight, once again, Kyle displayed all the signs of the unhappy teether. The happiness, followed by sudden screams of terror, and the gnawing and drooling.

The thing is, these stupid teeth have been right there, RIGHT THERE, for 3 weeks now!!! It's like they are teasing me. They are deliberately hanging out just below the gum line to see how long it takes before I pull out all my hair and go crazy. At that point, they will pop out. So I have already gone crazy and Kyle is working on my hair so it shouldn't be long.

I have learned in the last few years of my life that prayer is the most wonderful thing you can do in your life. In fact, you should do it every day whether you need something from God or not. I have found that in the last few years, God doesn't only know my name, but He knows the sound of my voice. He knows the tones of my voice. He knows when I am in need or when I just want to chit-chat. Tonight, before I go to sleep, I have already constructed my prayer to God. It goes a little something like this:

Dear Father God,
I realize that it is too late to change things in the life of my child Kyle, but in the future, I think it would be a most beneficial thing to other parents if you would just allow their children to cut all of their teeth in at the same time. One night of crying and then "Presto" make all of their teeth appear....
And since it is too late to do that for Kyle, Father, I ask you to please, please, please, please, please, please, please let these two stupid teeth come in tomorrow...
Once again, thank you.

P.S. then the next day, can you make the rest appear?

At Long Last...

The Mitchell Park Domes, a trip to Illinois, and some much needed R&R!

This is how I spent my last week with my children...

Alex (my 8 year old) has his class field trip to the Metro Park Domes in Milwaukee. I chaperoned this year as I had recalled enjoying this field trip myself when I was little. It was a nice day. Alex and I butt heads a lot since we are so much alike, but that particular day was so nice for us. We joked around, smiled, laughed, and really enjoyed having the company of one another. I learned a lot about him that day - including that when I pack him lunch, he eats the dessert first. HOWEVER when I am there, then he has to eat it last!

Wednesday, Mark and I got up early and packed up to head to Illinois with Jacob and Kyle. We spent a few days at Mark's grandparents home in Oak Forest. I think the fun part of this trip is Jacob's pure excitement. The entire way down there he spoke of the fun things he was planning on doig when we got there.

"First, I am going to go down the bumpy stairs, then I am going to dance with Papa. Maybe I am going to teach him my bowling dance" he said with so much excitement that I thought his face was going to fall off!

The visit was very fun for him. He spent most of the time playing UNO cards with Grandpa. Sorting the deck and then pretending to attack Grandpa's cards, taking all of them. They laughed and laughed. It's so sweet to see this.

Jacob even made a new little friend while we were there. A little boy named Ryan who stays with his grandmother sometimes. They played sidewalk chalk and Spiderman. I even traced the two of them in the driveway with chalk so they could see how big they were and then they color themselves in. He really enjoyed him. In fact, the two of them played so well together, Jacob cried when it was time to come in and have dinner because then Ryan had to go home.

Kyle was another story. He was into everything. Standing by the tables, desk, chairs - Mark and I spent more time chasing him around picking everything up before he could wreck it! He was funny and I think Grandpa and Grandma really enjoyed him as well.

Our trip home was long as we hit Friday afternoon traffic leaving Chicago. I am so glad I don't live there! We sidetracked a little as we went to visit Papa Wayne for a bit. Jacob must have asked "How much longer?" about 1,000 times! But at long last, we were home.

Now, it's just laundry and time to clean and to deal with the dog who missed us all terribly.

It's nice to get a vacation once in a while, but it really stinks to know that come Monday, it's all over for another year!

When I Grow Up

Latest topic of conversation at my house? What do you want to be when you grow up?

Travis, my 11 year old, says he doesn't know. He thinks maybe he'd like to be a football player. Or maybe a professional Golfer. Both of which would help me retire well... ha!ha!ha!

Alex, my 8 year old, has always loved animals. He has persistently told me he would like to be a veternarian, or a zoo-ologist (I obviously can't spell) or maybe just an animal trainer, but he knows - animals. All of these things I think would be fascinating.

Jacob, my 4 year old, the one I think should be someplace in the entertainment business, has decided for him it will be an artist. He discovered the other day that artists get paid for coloring pictures and since that is his FAVORITE thing to do - he is pretty certain he would be good at that. In fact, he asked me "Mommy, do people really pay money for pictures I color with my crayons and markers?"

"Well, kind of" I told him.

"That's so sweet" he said, "How easy that will be, cuz I'm good."

He is good. As good as a 4 year old can be I suppose. He is learning how to stay in the lines when he colors in a coloring book, but his favorites are things like houses and people. I find his drawing adorable... but I am his mom, and I don't have to pay for them.

Whew! I'm Old!

"Mom, Mom, can we do this please!!! ??" Alex begs as he comes home from school one day.

"Do what?" I ask.

"A 1/2 mile run for Audubon Days?"

"Sure, I wouldn't see why not."

"Will you walk with us?"

"What? I thought you said it's a half mile run?" I ask with a tone of confusion.

"It is, but you can walk too. Won't that be fun, Mom?"

Fun? Fun? Does this child realize how out of shape I am? I do realize that it ISN'T running for me - but I can hardly walk a half mile up the road to my neighbors, let alone 2 MILES! Ugh!

"Sure honey" I agree, "I'll walk."

What? What did I just agree to? I am crazy!


This was a week ago.

Today, is day two after this walk and I am still sore! I have managed to learn one extremely valuable lesson from this whole mess - no matter how cute your children are when they beg - THINK before you agree!

This started on Saturday morning. I wake Jacob and Kyle up early to take them with me. Oh, did I forget to mention that I would also be PUSHING a double stroller while I struggle to make it 2 miles? Yes, I am crazy.

We get up, dressed, fed and out the door by 8:15 a.m. This in itself is quite the record at my house. We get in the van and Jacob wants to say one last good-bye to Daddy, so I need to roll down my window.

"Good Bye Daddy!" he yells and is quite happy now.

The problem? My window won't go back up. The second problem? It's 34 degrees out!!

The 7 mile drive into town that morning was enough to make me want to crawl back in bed under a blanket! But, we arrived to pick up Travis and Alex and head to the park.

We get to the park, register and away we go. (Alex stayed behind as the half mile run was an hour later).

The first part of the walk didn't seem too bad. We walked down Main Street - pretty simple. Travis kept me company and we talked. I thought, "this is nice - a nice walk with my children on a beautiful Saturday morning". Then we turned the corner, and we turned the corner again...

a hill

a steep hill

with a stroller

a double stroller

UGH!!!

Now I needed help. I was dying. I never thought I would make it up that hill. Travis even had to help me push a little so I could catch my breath! Wow! I am old and out of shape but this will be over soon, right?

WRONG!

We venture around a corner, down a steep hill, around another corner and then...

in front of me....

a sign...

"1 MILE MARK"

"What the hell is that?" I ask my 11 year old.

"MoM!" he says.

I can't possibly make it another mile!

Meanwhile he is skipping around!!!

So I put on a smile and push and push that stupid heavy stroller and finally 22 minutes later (a total of like 45 minutes since the start of the race) I cross that finish line...

Travis?

Yep, he ran across that finish line and was still ready for his 1/2 mile run in only 15 minutes!

Old?

Yes... that's me!

A "Bear"-y Special Day

Today was a day our family has been waiting for since the NFL schedule was posted - the big Bear/Packer rivalry game. Travis and Alex are Packer fans as they have grown up in Wisconsin and have learned that is what they should be. Mark, born and raised in Illinois - a Bear fan in the truest form. Me? Well, my heart belongs to the Broncos, but I have adopted the Bears as my team. I have learned it is kind of fun to be a Bear fan in the middle of Packerland!

The morning started with Travis at breakfast, "So mom, are you ready to watch the Bears get crushed today?"

"Oh young son, how you are wrong," I inform him, "the Bears are going to win today."

I said this with a laugh, as I know, the Bears ALWAYS lose.

Game time, I have company so Travis begins watching the game without me. It took no time at all for the Packer's to get on the scoreboard, and no time at all for Travis to inform me.

"The Bears are already losing Mom" he yells from the next room.

I run to see, 3-0. Not too bad, I anticipate this only to get worse.

The room is quiet for quite a while and so I check in to see what is going on. I notice the score, 10-3.

"Hey," I say to Travis, "how is it you can inform me when the Packers score, but you say nothing that the Bears are WINNING?"

He gives me a look.

I laugh.

My company left and I joined him in the living room to watch what turned out to be a very disappointing game for him. I bugged him throughout the game, with each turnover, penalty and Brett Favre interception... he gave me look after look after look. We really had fun.

At the end of the game, I even sang him a little song (to the tune of Happy Birthday)

"Happy Bear Day to me"
"Happy Bear Day to me"
"Happy Bear Day to me"
"Happy Bear Day to me"
"Sad Packer Day to you"
"Sad Packer Day to you"
"Sad Packer Day to you"
"Sad Packer Day to you"

"Very funny" he says to me when I am finished.

"Kyle thought so" I say with a smile as Kyle is smiling right back at me.

I asked him if he was glad to spend the afternoon with his mom for once and enjoy such a good game.

"I guess" he says, "but it would have been nicer if the Packers would've won.

"Maybe" I said.

"Will you play chess with me?" he asks.

I agree and we set the board up to play. 10 minutes later, I win.

"Hey Buddy, guess what? Not only are you having a sad Packer day, but you are having a sad chess day too!" I say with a smile, as I NEVER win when Travis and I play chess.

I agree to one more game and he wins. He looks at me and smiles then says, "At least someone right is winning around here today."

I smile.

You know, there is something about spending an afternoon watching a football game with your kids. It is almost like for those few hours you are on the same page and thinking the same thoughts.

Today, truly was a "Bear-y" special day.

Boo? Boo Who?

Young love. Isn't it sweet? My little 4 year old Jacob has had his share in his short little life, but there has only been one Boo. Boo, as we call her, or Rebecca, is the daughter of my best friend Michelle. She is just 3 months younger than Jacob and the two of them have been playing together since before Boo could, well, I guess before Boo could do anything!

Michelle and I have playfully coaching our two children and therefore, the two of them have always referred to the other as their boyfriend/girlfriend. This was very cute when they were little. Now, at 4, Jacob seems to think he knows all about girlfriends and has decided that Boo is NOT his girlfriend anymore.

Michelle watched Jacob and Kyle the other day while I worked. She informed me when I picked them up about a funny little story that happened that day. She had to take the kids in her car to pick up her older two daughters from school.

From the backseat she heard "I love you Jakey" (Jakey is what Boo has always called Jacob). "Yeah, well, I don't love you," Jacob responded. "I said I love you Jakey" Boo said again. "I said I DON"T LOVE YOU" shouted Jacob back at her.

Poor Boo. It hurts when the one you love doesn't love you back...

I asked Jacob about the incident. He informed me that he didn't love Boo anymore and that I was the only one that could be his girlfriend because he only loved me. He then mentioned a little something about Courtlyn. Hmmm... the other woman. Courtlyn is the 4 year old daughter of my new babysitter, Tammy. Now, this explains it all.

So the other night, Michelle calls me, laughing. She tells me that Boo came up to her and said "Mom, Jakey doesn't love me anymore. That's o.k though, he's still my boyfriend even if he doesn't love me".

She's in that denial stage - come on, all you women out there that have had your heart broken, you know right where she is.

Poor little Boo.

Young love... easy come, easy go. Who knows, maybe someday they will be married, going through Jacob's old baby books and will come across this story and laugh! Or maybe it will be Courtlyn and she will secretly think "Ha! Ha! I won!"

Jacob's Special Day

Early last week, Mark declared that Saturday would be Jacob's "Special Day". He had gone through a difficult week of missing his Daddy and Daddy missing him too... Saturday, Mark would be home all day and so that would be Jacob's "Special Day."

We started out the morning slow. Waking up late (a usual at our house), a quick breakfast, a few errands and then off to Fond du Lac we would go. Jacob decided he wanted to spend the day shopping with Daddy for a special prize for trying really hard to work through his stutterring last week.

Much to Jacob's disappointment, Mommy and Kyle had to come along too... he got over that pretty fast though and decided it would be "O.k." if we had to go.

We really didn't do anything out of the ordinary. We went to Target and Jacob found a special toy that he had wanted for his prize and walked around the store for awhile. The two of them (Mark and Jacob) were so cute to watch though - playing the PS2 "trial" games together and checking out all the toys... I was starting to think I had one more child with me that day.

After Target it was off to the mall just to walk around and "window" shop. We decided to check out the book store to see if they had Jacob's favorite book "Bear Snores On". We own this book, but it's a small paperback that we got from the Cheerios box last year and are always losing it in the house and I was hoping to find the hardcover copy for him. Jacob helped me search all the shelves, carefully checking out the stories. We found one about kisses from Mommy - Jacob said "Aw, that sounds nice, you think mama?" I did think. But we kept searching for Bear. Unfortunately, we couldn't find that book anywhere. Jacob was very disappointed. Just then, Daddy walked around the corner and joined the search. He managed to find a different book, "Bear Wants More" - the sequel to "Bear Snores On". Jacob's little face lit up - he was so excited.

"Thank you Daddy, thank you, thank you!"

Off to the cash register to pay for it. The cashier put it in a bag and Jacob carried it around for the rest of our trip.

We stopped at the OCB for dinner that night. This is Mark's favorite type of restaurant - not only do you get good food, but then there is dessert. He got Jacob all exicted about making his own sundae for desert. That little boy ate the best dinner ever - because without it, there would be no desert.

As I fed Kyle his last few bites of babyfood, I looked over and Mark had just finished his last plate of dinner. When he was finished, he opened his napkin and laid it over the top of his plate. Two seconds later, there was little Jacob, opening his napkin and carefully laying it over the top of his plate. Mark then took a different napkin and wiped his mouth, patted his lips and set the napkin on the table. Two seconds later, there was Jacob again, with another napkin - wiping his mouth and patting his lips - copying everything Mark did. It was really sweet.

"Desert time Daddy!" he said suddenly, breaking the moment both Mark and I were enjoying watching him copying his Dad.

Off to the desert bar they went. Jacob came back to the table with some chocolate cake. Mark with ice cream and cake.

"You share Daddy?" Jacob asked keeping his eye on Mark's food.

"You bet buddy."

The two of them sat and ate while I changed Kyle. When we were finished, we decided to go to the park by the lake for a visit.

Mark and Jacob climbed up to the top of the lighthouse at the park. I stayed in the car with Kyle as he was napping. Jacob yelled for me from the top of the lighthouse and waved his arms so I could see him.

When they came down, he had the biggest smile on his face. He climbed in the car and we headed back home.

"Thank you Daddy," he said from the back seat on the way home.

"For what buddy?"

"For the bestest day."

"You're welcome," Mark said with a smile.

"Daddy, I just love you," Jacob said with a big yawn.

"I love you too buddy."

We got home and Jacob stayed up to play with his new game for a little while. Then he climbed up on the couch by Mark and laid next to him until they both fell asleep.

I looked over at the two of them, before nudging Mark up to help me get Jacob to bed, and I just smiled thinking of how much that little boy loves his Daddy and how he tries so hard to be just like him. It's so sweet to watch that from the outside looking in, I can only imagine how it feels for Mark, being inside moments like that.