They wouldn't have made good pioneers

This afternoon, we had a heckuva storm blow through. It actually passed through pretty quickly, but it was strong. I was sitting in our bedroom nursing Evie when it first started to come through, and Stephen came in to show me (dramatically) how the tree in the back was blowing around (complete with sound effects).

When the thunder started, it was really loud. Normally, the kids (especially Marc-Adam) are afraid of thunder, but I've been trying to calm them down about it every time it thunders. The best thing I could come up with was to tell them that it was "just a sound". I told them it was a sound just like the quack of a duck is just a sound...don't ask me why I compared it to the quack of a duck, it just popped into my head.

So now, anytime they start to freak out about thunder, I say "Quack quack!"

When the thunder started today, they all stayed totally calm, Marc-Adam came to me smiling and said, "Don't worry! It's just a duck, Mama!" :) Love that boy.

Shortly after that, we lost power. At first they were a little lost and confused. They kept saying, "Well we can watch a DVD!" (as opposed to being able to watch the satellite.) Or, "The computer might still work!" And they still attempted to turn the lights on in every room they went in....but then again, so did I. Finally they gave up and we started reading some books and playing silly games like singing everything we said instead of talking. Once they wandered off to play, they kept getting so excited when they found a (battery-operated) toy that worked. Then, when Marc-Adam went to the bathroom, he came out screaming, "The toilet works! The toilet works!"

When dinner time rolled around and the power was still out, that's when the whining and grumbling began. By that time, the storm was long gone and the sun was even shining and we were all starting to get a little sweaty with no A/C and no ceiling fans. I didn't want to open the fridge or freezer so we had to eat of the pantry. We ended up with peanut butter on crackers and a can of fruit salad (I could've come up with more/better, but I'm lazy when I'm hot). Stephen tried to turn on the dining room light and started grumbling about it when it didn't work. I asked him if he had started feeling grateful for all the stuff we take for granted every day. He said, "Yes, but I still want it to come back on now." I told him that there were people in the world right now that live without power every day. Zachary asked me what their names were.

When the lights finally came back on, they weren't even excited about being able to turn the TV or computer on. They were seriously happy that the A/C kicked on! And that they could eat something out of the refrigerator.

It was a fun little break in our day, but I'm so glad I live in the time with all our modern conveniences!

Cue the tight rope music

This week, at the boys' gymnastics place, evaluations were held (and YES, this post is kind of about the kids, but also about me). Every few months, the coaches evaluate the kids to see where they are skills-wise and to make sure that the class that each kid is in is still challenging for them. They last did evaluations in May, and both boys got promoted (they started their new levels in June). Then this week, evaluations were held again, which I thought was kind of soon since they'd just been promoted 2 months ago. But I guess they wanted to move up the kids that didn't move up in June so they could make room for the new folks that are signing up at the beginning of the school year.

ANYWAY, the point of all this is that my boys were VERY excited about it being evaluation time again. I tried to tell them gently that they were not going to be promoted since they've only been in their new levels for 2 months. They understood, but were still excited.

Lo and behold, Stephen got promoted. Again.

Zachary did not.

So began my tightrope walk of being super-excited for Stephen (promoted! again! for the 2nd time in 2 months! to the acclerated level! you're getting so good!) and trying to explain to Zachary that it's okay that he did not (you've only been in the "green" for 2 months. you're still learning all those tricks. you have another full year before the kindergym level and if you promote now, you'll be in the next level for a whole year. we talked about the fact that you were not going to be promoted. it's totally okay! you're are really good, but it's just not time to promote yet.).

Zachary was having none of it. He was totally fine with not promoting until we went to pick Stephen up and Stephen ran up waving his paper that told us what new class he was in. Z didn't understand why Stephen could promote and he couldn't. It was awful trying to contain my excitement for Stephen while being supportive of Zachary. I really am proud of Stephen and was so surprised that he promoted again. But I didn't want to make a huge big deal out of it because Zachary was already feeling badly. It was totally fine that he didn't promote. It doesn't mean he's not good at it. He really is good and he's a quick learner, but like I told him, he's only been in this level for 2 months and he's only got one more level before he starts the kindergym. And he's only been promoted once in the last year. But he didn't care. The fact that Stephen got promoted negated everything else that I tried to tell him. And the more excited Stephen and I were, the more upset he got.

Now, normally, I would just tell Z that that's just how things are and that it's not all about him and that his time will come. But this was genuine disappointment and I'm trying hard to not let him fall into the "middle child syndrome". But it was also hard because I didn't want to hold back our little "mini-celebration" in the car on they way home simply because Zachary was disappointed. That's not fair to Stephen. And we all have to learn to live with disappointment and we have to learn that sometimes other people get what we want.

Thankfully, things have settled down since then. This Sunday is promotion Sunday at church, so the kids will get to step-up to their new Sunday School classes. That helps. I'm just praying that next time evaluations roll around that Stephen will stay put and Z will get promoted (or at least that BOTH will be promoted).

For real!

*When I came back to read this post to Hubby this evening, I realized that the text was broken. It must've been because I just copied and pasted straight out of the e-mail. I think I've fixed it now. Sorry about that.*

My dad forwarded this to me in an e-mail this morning. I was laughing so hard, I had tears and had to quit reading at one point. I e-mailed him back and told him it was like someone followed me around yesterday and wrote down everything I thought about. Ok, so some of it's not stuff I actually think about, but a lot of it is, and it's still hilarious! I did delete a few because they weren't entirely appropriate for what I've got going on the blog here. And just FYI, there are still some words or phrases that aren't appropriate for little eyes that can read.

Random Thoughts of the Day:

* I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.


* More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think
about is that I can’t wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own
story that’s not only better, but also more directly involves me.


* Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize
you're wrong.


* Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're
going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be
going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction
from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch
or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that
no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching
directions on the sidewalk.


* I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was
younger.


* The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This
recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be
ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again.


* Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't
work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix
the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to
fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just
figured it out. Today's kids are soft.


* There is a great need for sarcasm font.


* Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and
suddenly realize I had no idea what the hell was going on when I first saw
it.


* I think everyone has a movie that they love so much; it actually becomes
stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes
shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right
parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a
millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really,
really gets it.


* How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?


* I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than
take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.


* I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your
computer history if you die.


* The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish
a text.


* Was learning cursive really necessary?


* Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to
say".


* I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.


* Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron
test is absolutely petrifying.


* My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads.
Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired
about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you, and you hate us." Classy,
bro.


* Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I
hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".


* How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and
smile because you still didn't hear what they said?


* I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to
prevent a **** from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!


* While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and
instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.


* MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I
know how to get out of my neighborhood.


* Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the
person died.


* I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the
shower first and THEN turn on the water.


* Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty,
and you can wear them forever.


* I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.


* Bad decisions make good stories.


* Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile
is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red
Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!


* Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every
year?


* If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would
probably just be completely invisible.


* Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go
around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly
nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from; this shouldn't be a
problem....


* You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you've made up your mind that you just aren’t doing anything
productive for the rest of the day.


* Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want
to have to restart my collection.


* There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going
to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.


* I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if
I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I
did not make any changes to.


* "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.


* I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching
TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if
I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren’t watching this. It's
only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we
still be friends after this?'


* While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for China
and USA. No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that
when Chinese athletes don’t win, they are executed.


* I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Darnit!),
but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to
voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run
away?


* I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing
anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.


* When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't
already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.


* I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then
I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.


* As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but
no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.


* Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not
know what time it is.


* I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to
answer when they call.


* Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to
with it.


* Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys
in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the
Donkey - but I’d bet my a$$ everyone can find and push the Snooze button
from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every
time...


* My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would
happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?


* It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the
link takes me to a video instead of text.


* I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they
drive behind obeys the speed limit.


* I think the freezer deserves a light as well.


* I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.


* The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw
they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone
at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and
then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require
such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There’s
nothing like being made to feel like a fat b@st@rd before dinner.

Hey! This is MY blog, too!

I don't really like how my blog has become a place for me to post little snippets of things going on with the kids that I want to remember. I mean, it's great that I have a place like that since I'm so horrible about the baby books, and I'm glad that I can share the happenings of my kids with you, but it's not at all what I really intended. I also meant for my blog to be a place for me to unload thoughts and my own goings-on and to have "conversation" with other folks. The kids are a huge part of my life, obviously, and so of course they will be a huge part of the blog, but I don't really want it to become all about my kids. I really want to get back in the habit of blogging every day or every other day about real life and my experience with it and my thoughts on things in general and some such nonsense.

So.

Now I have to think of something to write about that doesn't have to do with the kids.



*crickets chirping*



Okay, so it'll take some getting used to NOT blogging about the kids since that's obviously become the habit. I'll come up with something. Seriously. I will.

OH! I have something!!

Several months back, when Sweet Hubby was having his health issues, we had to go to a medical supply place to get him some wrist splints to help with the pain/tingling he was feeling in his hands. The lady that owned the place called our insurance company right then and there to make sure that they would cover the cost before she let us out of the place with the splints. She was kind of rude about it, too. That was March. Last week, I got a call from her and she told me that she hired a professional biller of some sort who was supposed to file claims with the insurance companies on about 50 different transactions. Apparently, the biller filed nothing and now the medical supply place lady was sitting on all of these claims that she's not going to get paid for because they are all outside the 90-120 day time limit that providers have to file a claim. She then told me that she tried to file with our insurance company but they said that we are no longer with that insurance company, which is true. May 1st, Hubby's company dropped our previous insurance and put us on with a new company. That sent a little question mark up in my head because how would she know that we were no longer with our old insurance company? She then asked for our NEW insurance information and wanted us to come in and sign a new "delivery slip" with that day's date on it so she could file with our new insurance company. I had big neon signs flashing in my head, saying, "INSURANCE FRAUD! INSURANCE FRAUD!" The lady seriously had no trouble asking me to commit insurance fraud with her. I politely told her that I would get in contact with the old insurance company to find out what she could do. I found out later that when she had called me, she had ALREADY commited fraud because she ALREADY changed the date and then tried to file with the old insurance company. And the date she changed it to was May 5, which is why they denied and is why she knew we were no longer with that company.

She told me that if our old company would't pay, then she would have to charge us for it. But I have no intention of paying because she made a poor decision in hiring that biller. AND, now that I have proof that she commited insurance fraud, I plan on using that information in getting her to back off from us. But I have a feeling that I won't be hearing from her again, because I think she knows she's stuck. She's already lied to me and the insurance company. She can't fix it now.

I'm still fuming about it....the audacity! I can't believe there are people out there whose first solution to a problem is to commit a felony. And that she was so quick to suggest it to me.

Geez.

Little boy

I feel like I've neglected my poor Marc-Adam on my blog lately. It's not because he's not giving me blog-worthy material...he is a constant source of amusement. It's just that most of the time, so many of the wonderful or cute or smart things he says or does can't properly be expressed on the blog. Truth is, he is such an amazing kid. He's smart and funny and hard-headed and sometimes, I just want to squeeze him, he's so sweet.

Today, as Sweet Hubby was putting on his shoes, Marc-Adam asked him where he was going. Hubby told him he had to go to work. Marc-Adam was not happy with this and told Hubby that he was coming too. We tried to explain that he couldn't go, but he asked Hubby, "You going to Mal-Mart?" Hubby said, "Yes, I'm going to work at Wal-Mart." Marc-Adam replied, "You going shopping. I coming with you." :)

When he's lost something and I ask him where he last had it he sadly says, "I tan't mememba." I love how he says that.

He often gets the other boys attention by yelling, "BOY-EEEEEZ!"

Everytime we pray, after we say amen, he yells "For Evie!" while pumping his hand in the air. No idea where he got that from. Our little Braveheart.

The kids were watching some Zula Patrol the other day and someone mentioned Neptune. Marc-Adam hopped up from what he was doing, said, "I know Neptune" and went to the playroom and pointed to the Solar System poster we have hanging up in there. He couldn't point out the exact right planet, but he knew it was a planet.

We were discussing letters and letter sounds one morning, and when I pointed out the B and asked him what sound B made, he replied, "Bzzzzzz!" I wondered what in the world he was saying, and then I realized what he meant (or what he thought I meant).

He goes nowhere without either his goggles, sunglasses or cap, or some combination of the three. One day last week, he went to his Nonny's wearing his sunglasses, bike helmet and his Bob the Builder tool belt. A sight to be seen.

He loves playing Thumb War and Rock Paper Scissors...but I think it's because he always thinks he wins. He yells, "ROCK PAPER SCISSORS SHOOT! I WIN!!!

He came to me the other day and said, "I love Mama and Daddy and Stephen and Zachary." I tried to remind him about Evie and said, "And....?" "And Jesus," he replied.

My sweet baby boy. He's getting so big so fast!

The best sound evah

I'm really trying very hard to not let this blog turn in to "All About Evie". But with all the firsts going on and what with me being SO.IN.LOVE. it's pretty hard. I do have posts currently in the works about the other short people running around my house (that I'm also head over heels in love with), but because I'm using my little blog here as somewhat of a baby book for my own future reference, I have to mention the following:

Evie laughed out loud for the first time yesterday. Well, actually, it was probably more of a series of little grunts. And if she hadn't been smiling while she was doing it, I might have thought she was pooping. But she was smiling. And squirming while I tickled her. And it was definitely her first attempt at a giggle. So sweet.

3 Months!

I almost forgot to do this today and I would've been so disappointed if it had been late again!

Evie's 3 months old today! Here's what's going on in her young life:

• She's becoming much more aware of her surroundings. One of her favorite things to do is sit as our centerpiece in her Bumbo at dinner. As we talk and laugh, she looks from person to person with a very serious look on her face as if she's taking it all in.

• She found her fingers, particularly her thumb, this week. She's constantly trying to cram some combination of her fingers from both hands in her mouth. And she's even using them to self-soothe.

• Up until the last few days, she had been consistently sleeping 8-12 hours at night before waking to sleep. The last few nights it's been closer to 5-6 hours, so I think she hit a growth spurt.

• I haven't weighed her recently, but I think she's up to about 11ish pounds.

• She's wearing mostly 0-3 month clothes, but I can still pull off some of the newborn clothes that I want to get one more wear out of.

• She's rolling over consistently from tummy to back and it's definitely on purpose. She's a tummy sleeper, and most mornings when I go in to check on her, she's laying on her back, looking around and sucking on a finger or 10. She also rolls over to her back when I lay her down for a nap and she's decided it's not naptime.

• Nursing is going great...she eats about every 3 hours (give or take 15-20) during the day. When the boys were her age, they would just close their eyes and get to business, but she likes to look around and look at me. When I talk to her, she tries really hard not to smile but a smile always sneaks out. I love it.

• She is definitely a hip baby and prefers to be held most of her day. Putting her down to "play" only lasts a few minutes at a time, and even then she's looking around for someone to look at or play with. After that, she gets bored and fusses to get picked up. Usually, I happily oblige. :)

• She's putting herself to sleep at night and for naps. Nap lengths are pretty inconsistent, lasting anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours, but as long as she puts herself to sleep, I don't mind.

And here are her pics for this month...much less drama than the previous two months. The tiara stays up a little longer before falling in her eyes and she holds herself up longer. I tried my hardest to get a good picture of her smiling, but she wasn't in the best of moods when I took these pictures, so most of them look like she's just tolerating me. And her head was at a weird angle...she wouldn't hold it up and I couldn't get the pillow positioned right to prop her up.

This is actually pretty good one of her face aside from the translucent tiara.