No More Doctor Mommy, Peas?

"NO! NO!"

"NO DOCTOOR"

"NO PEENCH"

"NO! NO!"

This is what Mark and I have been waking up to night after night... ever since my little Kyle has been sick. It breaks my heart....

Imagine this:

It's the middle of the night and we are sound asleep. Suddenly I feel Kyle's little feet kicking me in the legs and moving the blankets all around...

"no" he whispers quietly.

"no, no" he says a little louder as he turns sharply towards Mark's side of the bed.

Suddenly he sits up and starts wailing "No, no docor, no docor, no!"

He grabs his arms and he tries to hide them.

"NO PEENCH ME DOCOR! NO!"

Mark picks him up and holds him tight and rubs his arms gently... he whispers, "Shh... baby.... Daddy's got you".

"No! MOMMY! NO!"

"No Mommy?" Mark asks him, "Shh... Buddy it's o.k. Why 'No Mommy'?"

"Mommy No Docor" he says sadly.

This breaks my heart... my son doesn't want me in the middle of the night. Why? you might ask. Because I took him to the doctor."

The next morning Kyle wakes up as if this episode never occurred. Plays on the floor sweetly, like he does every day. Crawls up on my lap, hugs me and says, "No mo docor mommy, pwease?"

I hug him tight, kiss his head...

"No more doctor baby doll, no more doctor."

The Birthday

Kyle's second birthday... what a special time for us. We even took the time to teach him the word two so when you asked him how old he was he could tell you "two". Although sometimes he would say "fwee" and then he would giggle that silly little giggle that he has... Silly kid.

I had to work that day, but I managed to squeeze some time off early to come home for cake and ice cream. Unfortunatley, Jacob was sick that day and I had to keep him home from school so when I arrived home, he had gone down for a bit of a nap or maybe bed time... but he wasn't himself. Poor Kyle, we didn't want him to think that we had forgotten his birthday... but he was only two so I didn't think he would remember if we decided to have his cake the next day... but then Jacob woke up and decided we needed to have cake... so we did.

Everything appeared to be great..... at least until it was time for bed... then it happened.

Kyle was laying kind of "on" me. (As he still sleeps with Mark and I). I thought this was really sweet... "My baby, loving his mommy on his birthday" and it gave me a chance to just snuggle him close... so sweet.

Then

He began to cry...

and cry...

maybe he had to poop (we thought as he has been struggling with this)

but then

we got our answer....

he lifted his head, looked at me and puked - all over me - all over my face, my hair, my glasses, my pajamas... he just let it go...

I guess he didn't like being two...

The Best Thank You

As I was calming the house down for the night, it was time to get Jacob into the shower before bed. He took a "hurry-up shower" as he likes to call them... he didn't want to miss any of the Power Rangers he had been watching.

After his shower, we picked out his pajamas and he got himself dressed. After which I said to him "Thank you for taking such a great quick shower tonight buddy". After all, it is so nice to have that part of the evening go smoothly. He looked up at me and said "And thank you for being the nicest Mommy."

So sweet... melted my heart.

Time Flies and Children Grow

As I sit here tonight and review my blog, I realize how sad it is that I haven't taken the time I have needed to record every memory of my children over the last 6 months.

There are so many stories I know I shared along the way with others... i swore I record every word so I would not forget. I forgot.

I am amazed as I read back at the stories of Jacob. He is so big now. In kindegarten and growing so much every day. How I wish I would have taken 5 minutes out of each day to write down the funny things he has done. He is still my little Monkey Man.

At night, he and i lay in his bed, read bedtime stories and then say our prayers. Each night, he prays to "King God" (as he calls him) and he thanks him for the wonderful day he had, asks Him to please let him have a fun day tomorrow, asks for "wishdom" to remember the things his teacher tells him, and then tells Him how he loves his mommy and daddy. It is really a sweet thing. Some nights he says some really sweet things... I wish I could remember them all now.

Time goes by so fast and our children grow so quickly. It saddens me that I have failed to record these precious memories.

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.