My Little Man

Sunday Best: Time and Love edition

Yesterday at church, the bishop (our minister) talked about raising your kids right. His message was that the two things kids need are time and love. I know we have the love part down because we are very affectionate in this house (both physically and verbally), but I worry about the time part. I needed the reminder to be a more present mother and to spend time liberally, spontaneously, and individually with the kiddos.

It's all about the food

I have been enjoying some good food lately. Tuesday night, I went to the Melting Pot with my mom and sisters. Anything dipped in cheese and chocolate tastes delicious, right?

Then, yesterday, I told my classes they could bring in food for an end-of-year party. In the past, this usually meant chips, sodas, and packaged desserts from WalMart. However, this year I am teaching solely ESL students and the dishes were much different. I am not sure of the names, but I enjoyed these amazing biscuit things from Columbia, a Puerto Rican rice dish, and lots of different Mexican dishes. My students were bringing in big, disposable metal pans full of food. One girl told me to take the rest of her food home. It was rice with the chicken and gravy you pour over it. Tom will NOT eat leftovers and he definitely wouldn't eat anything a student made. So, I just pretended like I cooked it and served it for dinner last night. He commented on how good dinner was and I was all, "thank you." I just hope he doesn't ask me to make it again.

Ironman Texas

My dad and two brothers competed in the Ironman this Saturday. For those you you who don't know, the Ironman is a 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112 mile bike ride, and then finishes with a 26.2 mile run. My brother Mark had already completed an Ironman previously, but Daniel and my Dad had "only" done half Ironmans. Even though I was feeling pretty sick, I wanted to go cheer them on so as soon as Tom got home on Saturday, I drove out to the Woodlands for the event.

The Ironman is expensive. It costs over $600 to enter and the training takes up a lot of time. So much time, in fact, that my mom and sister-in-laws wore these shirts the day of the race:

The Ironman officials are very strict. If you do not finish each portion within a certain amount of time, they will pull you out of the competition...all that time and money wasted. My sister saw one swimmer reach shore just seconds after the cutoff time and they pulled her out and wouldn't let her finish. Pretty intense, right?

My brothers finished the swim and bike portion faster than expected. And each time we saw them on the run, they were smiling and looking great. After their last loop, we headed over to the finish line. We expected to see them within the hour, but no one showed. Meanwhile, my mom gets a call saying my dad passed out during the run and is in the med tent. So, she headed over to the tent and we continued to wait for my brothers to finish. An hour passed and still no boys. Finally, 1.5 hour after we expected them, they went running by. Daniel seemed in great spirits, but Mark looked a little out of it. Apparently, 6 miles to the finish line, Mark got really sick and couldn't keep anything down. He was on the ground and the medics kept coming over to him, but if you get any medical assistance you are pulled out of the event. So, Mark and Daniel kept fighting them off. The medics were getting ready to override Mark's decision so he staggered a few feet down the road and hid behind a bush. Daniel stayed with him for the next 45 minutes until he recovered enough to finish the last few miles.

My dad ended up with IVs in both arms and an EKG. I am proud of my dad for finishing the swim and the bike. And I am proud of my brothers for finishing the Ironman by 8:00. However, I think all three of them are COMPLETELY INSANE and I hope they have it out of their systems because it is REALLY STRESSFUL being a spectator at these things.

Ellie graduates

Yesterday, I walked into Jack's daycare room right as his teacher was checking his temp. "102," she informed me. Because I had already taken off work the day before and I had just read the school-wide email saying we didn't have any subs available for Friday, I made Jack's teacher check his temp again. Still 102. I believe my exact words to her were, "You're killing me." You see, this is so not the weekend for sick kids. Tom was leaving for Austin to coach the Congress Avenue Mile and I had Ellie's graduation to attend on Friday and the IronMan on Saturday. There was no time for sickness. I took both kids back up to school with me so I could write out sub plans (even though we apparently didn't have any subs).
This morning, Jack still had a fever, but seemed in a good mood. In fact, when I went to take a picture of Ellie all dressed up for her graduation day, he jumped right in shouting, "Cheese!"
After dropping Ellie off, Jack and I played for awhile and then laid down for naps. While I was sleeping, I missed a call from daycare saying that now Ellie has a fever and is hunched over the trash can saying she is going to throw up. Most parents would be concerned about their sick child, but my first thought was, "I paid $20 bucks for a cap and gown that she will never wear?" Plus, I was really looking forward to her graduation and the cute photo op (with my old, crappy camera since my nice one STILL isn't working) it would make. They decided to let Ellie stay for her graduation, mainly because she was begging them. I gave them permission to dose her up with Tylenol and patted myself on the back for my excellent parenting.

Because Tom is out of town, my mom came with me to graduation. I don't think she realized we would be crammed into a small room and have to sit in tiny, chairs that had tennis balls on the feet. It was so hot in there that I thought I would faint. But Ellie was super cute in her little white gown and cardboard hat.

Here she is accepting her "diploma" from Ms. Ginger.

All the kids read a speech they had prepared. Here is Ellie's:

I have been at Montessori since I was 1 year old. I learned my ABCs and how to read. I learned addition and subtraction. I still haven't learned to nap, but I made a lot of friends.
Completely adorable.

The graduation ceremony last 1 1/2 hours. The kids were getting restless and none more so than my little Ellie. I started keeping track and she got in trouble 4 times during the ceremony. And by "got in trouble," I mean that a teacher had to go to the back row and reprimand her. Nice.

It seems strange to say I am proud of my girl for graduating preschool of all things. Because, let's be honest, everyone graduated. The preschool dropout rate isn't really a big concern. But, still, I am proud of my little girl.

Happy Birthday, Mia!

What's this? Two posts in one day? That's because when I was getting my anniversary pictures (all TWO of them) off my phone, I saw that I had taken like a million pictures at Mia's birthday party this past weekend. And what a fun party it was! Mark and Rosie set up their backyard for a day of watery fun. After swimming and playing on the water side, the kids played a game of balloon toss on the sport court. Jack just played with the balloons. And then he went around with the wagon picking up balloon fragments. Such a good helper! After the balloon toss, the kids played kickball with wading pools as bases and a sprinkler and tarp as home base. No one was keeping score and kids were running every which way, but everyone was super excited about the game. Except for Jack who couldn't stay away from the bubble machine. He was pretty much just drinking the bubbles straight from the bowl and I was getting a little worried about future diapers.

We have been on a streak of birthday parties lately. I even had to turn down an invitation for one this Saturday because we will be in the Woodlands cheering on my Dad and brothers as they do the IronMan. I am looking forward to summer when the fun isn't just reserved for the weekends.

9 years and going strong

Yesterday, Tom and I took the day off from work so we could celebrate our 9^th anniversary. Tom still had to wake up early for practice (heaven forbid his team should miss a workout) and I took the kids to daycare. Afterward, we met up at IHOP for breakfast. One of my former students waited on us. Even on my day off, I can’t escape my students. Then we went home and took a nap before hitting the matinee. After the movie, we went out for fajitas and then picked up the kids. The night before, I had explained to Ellie about our anniversary. She really wanted to celebrate our “married time” with us so after picking them up, we went for ice cream. It was the perfect way to end our day of celebration.

I’m not going to lie to you; the past nine years haven’t all been sunshine and roses. But even when Tom and I are duking it out in the trenches, I always know in the back of my mind that we will be okay. I sure do love that husband of mine and I always will.

Sunday Best: Cranky Mom edition

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Seriously, every little thing was making me angry. So, when my expensive SLR camera refused to take pictures when I finally had my kids standing still and posed, well, I was just furious. The thing has been doing that more and more lately. It just clicks and clicks and won't let me take the shot. It will focus on anything else in the room, but never my children. So, I resorted to my old point-and-shoot camera, but the kids were no longer willing to cooperate. And this is why I never take pictures anymore (although I took a ton of pics yesterday with my phone at Mia's fun birthday party, which I plan on posting tomorrow in all their blurry glory). Anyway, I was really mad and I just wanted to yell at someone so I yelled at Tom (because that is what husbands are for) and I am not usually a yeller so Ellie quickly appeared and started scolding me for "talking mean" and I was all, "Don't you tell me what to do. Now let's go to church and think about Jesus."

Sunday Best: Mother's Day edition

I think this would be such a cute Mother's Day photo if only Jack wasn't wearing his pajamas and ELLIE'S SHOES! Sigh.

I left Jack at home with Tom today because I had to give a talk in church. What a disaster that was. I was scheduled to speak right after the children did their special musical number. Since Ellie was already up on the stage to sing, she didn't want to go sit back in the audience if I was going to be on the stage. Not wanting to get into a power struggle in front of the entire congregation, I just told her to sit down behind me and stay there. Yeah, that lasted two seconds and then she was hanging on me. I am trying to stay focused on my talk, but Ellie is all over the place. At one point, she climbed up on the stool next to me and was waving to people in the audience. Thankfully, one of her Primary teachers was sitting on the front row and somehow got Ellie to come sit with her family.

Other than having to speak in church, my Mother's Day was awesome! Tom cleaned the house while I was gone. He even mopped and vacuumed all the rooms! Plus, he kept the kids quiet so I could take a two hour nap! I feel so well-rested and content in my clean, little house.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

My child the genius

I forgot to write about the Parent-Teacher Conference I had with Ellie's preschool teacher last Friday. It was pretty basic, but she did mention that Ellie has mastered addition and subtraction and can now do double digits and carry over numbers. Yeah, yeah, math is boring. What really caught my attention was she said Ellie is now reading. Say what? I read to the child every night and she has never once given me any indication that she could read. So, I pulled out some beginning reader books and, sure enough, Ellie was sounding out all the words. I guess I need to start having her read to ME!

Although I didn't have anything to do with teaching Ellie math and reading, I did teach her what the speed limit signs mean. BIG MISTAKE. Ever time we pass a sign, Ellie will have to yell from the back seat, "Mom, go 40! Are you going 40? Go 40!" And if I don't respond and tell her that I am going 40 (or whatever the sign says) then she will just keep repeating herself over and over. Have you ever noticed how many speed limit signs there are? Because there are A LOT of them!

Two very different parties

The birthday parties just keep on coming. Friday, we went to Olivia's party. She went with the Tangled theme and Sabrina was super creative as always. I didn't get any pictures of the birthday girl, but check out how cute she looked on Sab's blog. I did, however, get some phone pics of my kids loving on Olivia's sister, Naomi!Jack can't get enough of Naomi. As Ellie likes to say, "That is so ADORABLE!"
I also got an action shot of Ellie hitting the piñata with a frying pan. She didn't crack it open...that piñata was made of steel!

On Saturday, Ellie attended a very different birthday party...one that I had complete forgotten about. About two weeks ago, the neighborhood kids came by with an invitation for the boy next door's 6th birthday party. He is the one Ellie plays with the most. The invitation was actually a Spider Man thank you card. The outside said "Thank You" and the inside said "Thanks for making my party a swinging good time." Handwritten was the day April 30, 3pm, and the address. I completely forgot all about it because I didn't plan on attending. However, the morning of the party, little Ariel (that's HIS name) was knocking at our door demanding to know if Ellie was coming. I made a quick trip to Walgreens for a gift and took Ellie over at about 3:30. Even though she was almost 30 minutes late, there was hardly anyone there. Over the next couple of hours, the party grew bigger and louder. I felt a little awkward staying because all of the adults spoke strictly Spanish and seemed to know each other really well (Ellie was the only non-Hispanic in attendance). I kept expecting the party to end, but each time I would go to retrieve Ellie from their backyard, she would insist on staying til the piñata and cake. They didn't do that piñata until 6:30. I made her come home because the party was turning into a bit of a boozefest. That party lasted until after midnight! Crazy party for a 6 year old, right? But Ellie had a blast at both parties.

Oh, one more random thing...we had a showing on our house Sunday. I was in a rush to get out and I guess I forgot to turn off Jack's sound machine that plays music. Here is the feedback we got:

Nice home. But all of the closed doors made my client think someone might be home in the master and master bath. I would recommend leaving all bedroom and bathroom doors open and turn off the nursery music. It is creepy in an empty house.