Remembering

Eulogy. What does that mean to you? By definition it's a formal speech or piece of writing praising a person or thing, especially a person who has recently died. Sadly, my grandpa passed away a few weeks ago. I know that I shouldn't be overtaken by sadness as he lived a good life. He was 93 and up until the last 3 years or so had remained fairly active. Unfortunately, Alzheimers Disease robbed him of his more recent memories and caused him confusion and his family heartache knowing that he had no idea who we were. I will say that the last time I was able to see him, while he didn't "know" us, he treated us as friends and seemed to know that we were someone special to him. I was unable to fly out to Michigan to be with my family and I have to say it made me think about a lot of things. How much I miss my family. How much I feel like the odd person out, like I don't even know what's going on with them. I worry about my parents and it saddens me that they don't get to spend any time with their grandkids. I haven't spent much quality time with my siblings or cousins either, which made me feel awful. It made me wonder what others, especially my children, will remember about me when I'm no longer on this earth. My grandpa has a life story posted on a website that is an amazing memorial of his life. You can view it here http://www.lifestorynet.com/memories/89014.
Whoever is able to write about someones life and stir emotion from their friends and family because of the truth in it, is quite a talented individual. I am definitely not a writer so I think I would be forced to use bullet points. It poses the question as to what is important for my family to remember about me. I hope its things like-- Kind. Fun. Loves family. Plays Super Mario Bros with sons. Flies kites on windy days. Lets kids splash in puddles. Never goes to bed angry. Encouraging wife. Makes a mouthwatering cheesecake. Will they remember what perfume that I wore? The sound of my voice? I guess all of this just makes me want a family portrait even more as we don't have a good family picture. I could just kick myself for not getting someone to take one when the twins were babies. Now I will have to fight two wild and crazy 2 year olds and a 5 year old that suddenly doesn't remember how to smile his normal smile when a camera is brought out. I will have to say I do like this "digital age" that we live in as it is much easier to keep track of some of the everyday things that occur with just a picture or two. I love the ability to quickly delete the bad pictures as well. That being said, I hope to put together some digital scrapbooks through Costco or Shutterfly so that I can be sure to write down some of the everyday things. The funny comments my kids say. Things that make us, "us". I want the everyday pictures with the snotty noses (I know, eww) and dirty feet. I want to remember the way things are and how things felt because family is the most important thing that I have and I want to remember it as best as I can. And if I can't remember it because I have "old-timers", well, I want to be able to read about it.

Tumbleweed Park

Last week I ventured out of my usual routine and actually got out and did something with the boys and a coworker and her daughter, Annalise. We met at a Playtopia that neither of us had been to. Wow. Just  WOW. Lots of playground space. Kind of a little concerning with 4 little ones to keep an eye on but we still had fun.  My boys are quite adventurous. My friend's daughter, not so much. She had an easier time, lol. Thankfully Elijah is amazing at keeping his brothers in eyesight and helping his mamma out. 

Afterwards we had a picnic lunch and then went to the dentist. I know. Nice one mom. Let the kids have fun and then take them to the dentist.  But good news. No CAVITIES! Not even Noah who has some discoloration on his front teeth. Apparently its just a defect in his enamel. All the boys have cross bites, which will probably mean they have a fate like their parents....braces. Oh well. So long as they can be healthy teeth, they don't have to be straight from the get go!

All for now!

Nemo!

I am a terrible blogger. I'm terrible at keeping up with ANYTHING, at least right now. I have the thought that I WANT to write down the crazy things that my children say, but somehow it doesn't get done like I'd hope. I feel like when I'm 49 and the kids are graduating high school I will realize how much I truly stink at remembering things about my children. 

So here's at least one cute thing that maybe I will remember.

Arizona Mills has a Sea Life Aquarium. It's pricey for what it is. If a money plant truly existed, we'd go, but since I haven't found one (and if you have and aren't sharing SHAME, SHAME!)  Anyway. We went on a window shopping excursion and out to lunch for Gaga's birthday and when we passed by the Sea Life front Jonah discovered something. "It's NEMO!" he said. Yes, it's a teaser tank to sucker you in. And it's full of clown fish. I think they would have looked at the tank for quite awhile if we would have let them. Sad thing to think that if this tank was in our house it probably wouldn't get a second glance. Things are so much more interesting in places other than where we live.

Speaking of where we live. This is the GORGEOUS time of the year. I love it! Sunny. Warm. Play outside kind of weather. Funny children I have though. I had to do some MUCH needed front yard work the other day. You know, pull out the plants that the frost killed, pull weeds, sweep our rocks (yes, I said sweep our rocks. How else can you get the dead leaves from them?)...you know. Stuff that is just SO fun to do but if you don't, not only do you look like a redneck family, but you get slapped with a $50 HOA fee. I know, focus on the story, ok, ok. We are outside for all of 5 minutes and Noah says he wants to go inside. Why? Because it's too hot outside. Um. It's 77 degrees. Little man, if you think this is hot you are in for it! Oh if only we could escape to cool weather in another 2 months! I know. Dreamer. So anyways, we ended up planting some seeds in some pots as well. I thought the kids might like to actually grow something and could really use some mint, basil, and chive plants. Do I think they grow? Well, given that the twins wanted to throw the soil instead of plant seeds in it, I'm not so sure. Of course we had to water too...we won't even go there.

By the time we were done, we were all covered in dirt so I gave the twins a bath and a snack and rounded them up for a nap. Elijah was getting ready to take his own bath (which he fought me about because apparently he likes the smell of stink and the feel of dirt/sand in all of his cracks-ewww!) when all of a sudden Jonah takes a mad dash and leaps into the tub. Did I mention the part where they were getting ready for a nap. Meaning he was fully dressed. I'm not kidding you. The kid was like Superman. Faster than a speeding bullet. He was next to me, then he was sitting in the tub looking at me like, "what?" Good thing we don't have a pool!

Sometimes I really wish I had a video camera taped to my forehead so I could perpetually capture the many things that just lead me to shrug my shoulders and say "eh". Maybe we would have a winning AFV moment. I'm fairly certain it could happen... 

KIDS!!

Kids! They say the darndest things right?

With Elijah starting kindergarten in August (GASP!) I have been trying to encourage the whole idea and make it a positive thing. Each time I do, I get tears and yelling. Who is this child? I don't think he is related to me because I LOVE, LOVE, LOVED school. I finally asked him how we could talk about this in a positive way. His response was that MAYBE if Mr Rogers went to school, he'd watch it and talk about it, a little. Well guess what? Mr Rogers went to kindergarten in 1979 and that's when the Neigborhood of Make Believe got a school! So thanks to Google I was able to find the exact episodes and because we have Amazon Prime we watched the whole weeks worth of shows. Thank you Fred Rogers! You were an amazing man and so many children have been helped through their fears because of you! Now if we can just figure out which school to go to...why is this all so confusing to me? Anywho...

Ok. On to Jonah. Let me start by saying that this kid has the POOCHIEST lip that could ever exist on the planet. It sparks an imediate "Ohhhh, whatsa matter?" The other day (I'm stealing this from Jake's Mom's Facebook by the way) Jonah says "Gaga, I huuungyyy!" Her response, "ok, let's see what mommy brought you to eat...how about...Honey Bunches of Oats!" Jonah (with his bottom lip pooched out and a sad voice very low) "Gaga, I can't eat a bunch of boats...."  Bawahhahaaa! Love my kids! They crack me up!
Well, they crack me up until I have to wash ALL the sheets and blankets in the room (including those stored under the bed) TWICE because SOMEBODY who shall remain nameless (NOAH!!!) takes his diaper off while he is sleeping and pees all over everything!!!!!!!!!  AUGH!!! Laundry city at our house on one of my few full days off. Grrr. I think I may have growled at him. I was quite grumpy. I will be SO AMAZINGLY HAPPY when they are POTTY TRAINED!!!!!

I'm SOOO Behind

I feel like I am so far behind in blogging! I haven't even blogged anything about Christmas!!! I guess it's just been a little bit busy around here. Three small and rambunctious boys will do that to you!

So just how are we doing? As good as it gets I suppose.

Elijah went for a follow up on his broken arm. He has new bone growth and full range of motion. Definitely a positive thing! No further follow up with orthopedics...again...a good thing. I am just hoping that even though my boys are wild and crazy we won't be on a first name basis with the office. The PA recognized me when we were in the first time. "Didn't you have a different little boy with you awhile ago" she said. Yes...yes...that was me. Nursemaid's elbow. Twice in a year. That's enough for awhile...hopefully ever!

It's hard to believe, but in August Elijah will be starting kindergarten. I've been trying to prepare him for the experience. His responses have not been very positive.  According to him, he knows everything and doesn't want to go to school. When told he doesn't know everything he retorts, yes I do. I know my letters and numbers. I can count to 100. I know my shapes and colors...I'm set. I told him he doesn't know how to read. Well, apparently I can read him what he needs and then he'll tell me what I said. Somehow I just don't think that's going to get him through college.

He loves to play games and LOVES attention. Of course what kid wouldn't, right? Agreed, but he demands my attention more than his brothers do. If he had his way, I would play Monopoly with him every waking hour of the day. 

What can I say about Noah? He is a little stinker. He is extremely sensitive to things. He has a "thing" with clothes and is VERY picky. He loves his hoodies/jackets...so much so that he takes them to bed with him and carries them around when we go places. For some reason we have a LOT of these. I have acquired clothes from a few different individuals and so I have probably 8 or 10 of them. In fact the other day Jake asked him if he had ANOTHER jacket. His response, very matter-of-fact, was, yeah, momma got it at Target. Uh..nice try. I get a lot from Target but not the new jacket he found in the pile of clothes. He prefers knit/fleece pants and is very picky about how his socks sit on his feet (Hmmm...I think my mom would say he's a lot like me as a kid). He also loves blankets and pulls out any that he can find...even when I try to hide them. He is a big helper and always wants to be near me doing something...making dinner, washing the dishes...he wants to help. He loves to wrestle. He loves all things superhero...especially Spider-Man. He tends to get picked on by Jonah. His calming mechanism is still to rock back and forth on the couch which still remains a concern of Jake and I. He is just so particular about things and doesn't handle things as well with more people around. We're not quite sure if it is just his personality, that he's two, or if it's a sign he might have something like Aspergers. I know....worrywart...but really, with all the information out there and so many kids diagnosed with it, it's a valid concern. Overall, he's become our "easiest" now that we have learned what his quirks are. 

Jonah. My true TWO YEAR OLD. Why? TANTRUM, TANTRUM, TANTRUM! He is STUBBORN! Love him to death but man is he a STINKER! He is sweet as pie one second and then on the floor yelling the next. I think one of his favorite words is MINE! He thinks every toy is his and even if he has a toy motorcycle for each hand, if Noah has one as well, he wants Noah's too! He loves stuffed animals and likes to be surrounded by a menagerie of them when he sleeps. Of course, he doesn't sleep on a bed. Not that we don't have 3 perfectly good beds for him to choose to sleep on...he just prefers to sleep on the floor next to his big ol' bear. He LOVES to read books and asks for a few very specific ones before bed. He is our little parrot and copies everything we say!

What's going on here? Well, Jonah is trying to lick (yes, lick) Elijah to get him to give him the game he is playing. Sound odd? Well, I have an even odder (is that even a word?) story.

I have been getting a lot of headaches lately...well, for months actually, and I happened to get a superficial blood clot (my 3rd time) so I decided to follow up with my dr. We're waiting in the room and Elijah is the one acting up. I tell him to sit in the corner next to Jonah on the chair. I'm talking with the Dr and out of the corner of my eye I see Elijah LICKING Jonah's HAIR! "Stop that!" I tell him. "That's gross, we don't lick people's hair." I go back to talking and again, see him out of the corner of my eye. He is licking Jonah's TONGUE! "Elijah!!! We do not lick each others tongues or anything else for that matter!" By this time I realize what just came out of my mouth and started giggling. Who expects to tell their kids that? The Dr was chuckling too. So then I have to add that I'm not laughing at what he is doing, I'm laughing because I cannot believe I actually had to SAY that.  I'm pretty sure I lost my effectiveness at that point. Augh. BOYS!!! (Oh and in case you are wondering, I had an MRI to double check things and it was normal...YAY! Now...why the headaches?)

One thing we liked to do before Christmas was take walks around the neighborhood to look at lights. I would make the boys hot chocolate and we'd scope out the good displays. There were only a handful of good ones, and some of the streets had nothing to which the kids would yell loudly "BUM STREET!" It really was interesting when we walked by a house with a dog outside in the backyard. The dog would bark and then three little voices would start barking back WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! and wouldn't stop until we were well away from the dog. Yes. We were THAT family.

Christmas was good. The boys were WAY spoiled. The twins loved opening gifts. Especially Noah. In fact we woke up Christmas morning to the sound of ripping paper. Thank you Noah!

 Jimmy and Rebecca came in Christmas Eve night and we were able to spend some time with them for a week. We had a lot of fun and played (not enough) games. Too bad they don't LIVE here!

Here the boys are making some craft projects Grammy, Grampy, and Aunt Heather sent. They love coloring and doing fun things! Jonah's favorite thing is coloring...and eating the crayons.

Noah...well you have to watch him. He likes to color on more than paper.

Just today I decided to make some copycat Aunt Annies Pretzels. I found the recipe on Pinterest. SOOO good. YUMMY!!!!

Elijah helped while brothers were sleeping.  He had lots of fun kneading...and eating!