Dylan's new adventure

Dylan recently finished his first year of soccer. He LOVED it! He was a bit timid at first. He wasn't sure he'd be able to do it. After his very first practice, though, he looked at me, eyes shining and said, "I can do it!" He was so proud of himself and finally realized that he really is a big boy now. Practices were so much fun for him.

The day of his first game, we drove over to the school, and he completely freaked out. He didn't want to play at the school in front of all those people. He wanted his first game to be at the park where he practiced with only our parents. He flat refused to play in the game. Afterwards he said he didn't want all those people to see him. Way too scary! I told him that all those mommies and daddies weren't there to watch him play, they were there to see their own little boy or little girl play. Once Dylan determined that no one was going to see him play, he willingly walked onto the field for game 2. When he wasn't chasing the ball, he was jumping up and down because he was so excited to be playing. It was down right adorable.

Dylan had a fantastic season. As the weeks flew by, Dylan blossomed and naturally gravitated towards defense. That was kind of a shocker because he started the season out strong on offense. He was an awesome defender charging at anyone who came near him and the goal. It didn't matter how big the player was, Dylan only saw the ball and made sure it was going the opposite direction when he was done. I've never seen Dylan happier.

The Saturday before Thanksgiving was the last game of the season. Dylan was quite upset he wasn't going to be playing soccer anymore. He got over it as soon as we reminded him that he would get a trophy at the team party. That snapped him right out of his funk. He spent the whole party running around the pizza place with all his little friends. So many kids were calling his name, I couldn't help being happy for him. He's changed a lot since this summer. Not all of it has to do with his soccer experience, although it did play a big part.

Santa Cruz with family

Left to right: Owen, Me, Auntie Norma, Britney, Marlyn's husband-Steve, Dylan, Brandon, Cousin Marlyn, Samantha and Russ

We spent some time in Santa Cruz with my cousin, Marlyn, and her family this summer. We spent time at the beach, shopping in Capitola, hiking in the forest, going on rides at the Boardwalk and poking around the wharf. The weather did not cooperate at all. The sun may have been out a few days, but the wind was just horrible. The beach was tolerable behind the wind barricades, although the kids didn't even notice. They played in the ocean and sand for hours. At least we were able to enjoy a little vacation time together. The boys loved that they were able to share their special place with their cousins.

Sisters: my Aunt Norma and mom, Gloria

Love this shot of Sam giving Dylan a piggy-back ride

Second cousins: Brandon, Britney, Samantha, Dyaln and Owen

No more diapers...or so I thought

Well, it took quite a long time, but Dylan was finally out of pull-ups by the end of July. Talk about a LONG hard road to haul with that kid. Once he conquered his fear of "poo on the potty," he was wearing underpants and never looked back. Thank God! I swore he was going to start school still in pull-ups. How horrible would that have been?????

Owen was well on his way to potty training, too. He would have long stretches of doing everything on the potty. Then he wouldn't do so well at all. He wanted so badly to be the big boy, but sometimes playing took precedence over his body's needs. We recently went from wearing underpants to bed to wearing pull-ups...too many mornings of wet sheets. We are almost diaper-free. Really looking forward to that day!

Russ opens his own business

For those who don't know, my husband was laid off from his job of 23 years in December 2008. 3 weeks before Christmas to be exact. A "Happy holidays! Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out!" kind of moment. It was a horrible time for Russ. It took some time, but it eventually seemed to be a blessing in disguise. While Russ was working, we never saw him during the week because he worked 14-16 hour days. On the weekends we barely spent time with him because he did all the work he never had time for around the house. He lived here, but we rarely saw him. Then he suddenly didn't have the job that took him away from us. The boys got to see him every day. Russ got to see his boys grow and change day after day. It was wonderful. He was bonding with them, and they were completely enveloped in Dad's love and attention.

In the time between then and now, Russ finally accepted the fact that there were no garage door companies or fireplace companies that were looking to hire a salesman. Why would they when no one was building new homes? That's when he decided that he was going to go forward with opening his own company. It's been slow and difficult, but he's finally done it. The jobs have been slow in coming, but what work he's been able to drum up has been good. He's building his reputation slowly through these clients. The folks he's worked with just love him for his honesty, knowledge and work ethic. He's probably one of the few businessmen that is interested in getting to know his customers. He walks away with people telling him time and again, that they will pass his name on to their friends. I'm proud of him, and I'm doing my best to help him succeed.

Last Swimming Lesson

Dylan, Brandon and Owen with Amanda

I got to be at the boys last swim lesson. They did such a fantastic job learning to swim. Brandon was swimming across the pool unassisted and retrieving items from the bottom of the deep end. He was so proud of himself and loved that I was there to see it all.

Dylan was working on his kicks and scoops. He was nearly there swimming on his own. It was a coordination thing that he needed to continue working on. He for sure will be swimming by next summer.

Owen looked at swim lessons as play time. He did more playing than actually learning to swim. The plus side was that he was completely comfortable in the water, and that is really half the battle.

The boys loved their few weeks of lessons and look forward to seeing Amanda again next year.

Lots of writing to be done

Feeling bad that I have not written since July, but the motivation to keep up on the writing has been lacking. Never mind the lack of time now that I'm working so much. I'm going to try to do my best to write about the little things that have happened between my last post and now. I do apologize about being a horrible blogger.

Swimming Lessons

The boys have been taking swimming lessons the last couple of weeks. Brandon went from being a non-swimmer to swimming across the pool by himself and grabbing a toy from the bottom of the deep end. He is clearly proud of himself.

Dylan has also begun swimming on his own this week. He tells me, "Mommy, I'm doing my scoops and kicks like this," and shows me while standing up. He is also very proud of his progress.

Owen is still swimming with a swim noodle, but he shows no fear of the water. He's proud no matter what he does.

I haven't been able to go to swimming this whole week due to my deadlines at the paper. Completely bummed, but my saving grace is that our swim instructor has an opening at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. They can show me everything they can do now instead of just telling me.

Dylan scooping and kicking to Amanda

Owen jumping in with Amanda

Brandon showing off his swimming skills

Photos taken by Diane Fuller, aka Grandma

Independence Day

River Park 4th of July Parade

We had a very busy 4th of July. We joined in the neighborhood parade this year. We actually had to force Brandon to ride his razor and there was no talking Dylan into anything other than riding in a wagon. Owen was the only one on board. He couldn't wait to ride his bike in the parade. We decorated everything in red, white & blue flag garland and pinwheels. Everyone ended up having a great time. My crazy mom chased us down the street snapping pictures like a paparazzo. She actually got some good shots that I'm thankful for.

Dylan was the only one who played until the thing broke

The rest of our day was spent hanging out at the house. Russ BBQ'd all day, the boys played on the slip n' slide and the rest of us watched until they broke it. I think it lasted an hour. They were pretty bummed. As it got hotter outside, we talked the munchkins into watching a movie, so we could all enjoy the air conditioned house. Napping, munching and general relaxation was had by all but Russ who was still BBQing. Once he was done though, we ate until you had to roll us away from the table.

When it finally started to get dark, we all crowded across the street for the annual 4th of July dessert potluck and fireworks show. The first loud pop or crack, sent Owen running for safety within the confines of our home. My mom trailing after him. He did not want to watch much more than a movie at that point. Brandon & Dylan were in full participation mode: doing the sparklers, checking out the fireworks table, picking out the fireworks they wanted to see next and eating tons of yummy desserts. We actually weren't able to pull Brandon away this year to see the big Cal Expo display. He was having too much fun.

Owen's brief view of the fireworks

Dylan & Brandon loved it all!

Dylan "graduates"

Dylan has graduated from preschool. I don't think he really understood what was happening, and if he did, he wasn't letting anyone in on the secret. He was pretty happy about his graduation picture. It listed the following:

• Favorite color: All the colors
• Favorite thing to do at school: Play outside and do jobs
• Favorite food: Jelly Sandwich
• My best friend at school: Owen and Ty-Ty
• When I grow up I want to be king of the video games. (Hence the Wario background)

Sadly the graduation ceremony was super lame, and the parents were super silent through the whole thing. I think they were speechless. Being a parent, I think I was in shock that the graduates were lined up, asked each child only 1 of their favorite things, handed their picture to them, and moved on. The whole thing lasted about 5 minutes. Not that the kids noticed. I'm just so used to our old director, Miss Shari, making a big deal over each child and making them feel special. I felt our middle child was cheated out of what could have been an even more special moment. When it was all over, I think Dylan was thankful. He looked like he was getting tired of holding that cap on his head (stupid thing didn't even fit). Not one smile on stage, but big smiles once he came down. He was so excited to show us his Wario picture.

Did I just get stung?

Last night Russ & I were talking on the phone (he's in SC again) and he says, "You want to hear something funny?" The story he tells is so not funny, unless you were the one who experienced it and a year has gone by...at least that's what I think. Let's see what you think:

Russ has been trying to clean up the landscaping around the house these last couple of trips. Yesterday he did some weeding around some stepping stones than no one steps on anymore. He noticed a big black bee buzzing around him, but ignored it because he figured, "I'm not bothering it, it won't bother me." Next thing he knows, he feels a sting. Of course at this point expletives are gushing from his mouth and he's checking his skin for a stinger. No stinger is found, so he assumes he wasn't stung. After all it's been 3o years since he was last stung by a bee, so he can't be sure what it should feel like. (His words, not mine.) Ok, to me, this is just crazy talk! You flippin' know if you've been stung by a bee! Anyway, Russ goes back to standing on this stepping stone to continue weeding. It doesn't take long before he feels *sting* *sting* *sting* *sting*. Only then does he notice that he is surrounded by yellow jackets. They are in the air, on his skin, on and under his clothes. Panic soon sets in and he goes running--yellow jackets still on him. Shaking to get yellow jackets off--yellow jackets sting him. Runs in the house--yellow jackets still on him and stinging him. In full panic mode he manages to kill all the yellow jackets he's brought into the house. He says he was stung at least eighteen times. He spends the next few hours jumpy and flinching at anything that remotely sounds like buzzing.

Fast forward a bit...Russ has been to Home Depot to buy a spray that shoots something like 24 feet to kill this nest he's disturbed. He's dressed in long pants, his sweatshirt with hood on cinched tight so you can only see his eyes, gloves and bottom pants taped tight so nothing is getting into his clothes. He sprays the nest and goes running. A couple of hours later (not the full recommended 12 hours he should wait) Russ goes out and flips over the stepping stone and takes off running again. No yellow jackets. He jams a stick into the heart of the nest and goes running again. Only a few remaining yellow jackets come out. Russ is successful and has destroyed the nest, which by the way was attached to the bottom of the stepping stone. No wonder those critters were so pissed. Russ was squashing their house!

Good news & bad news month

The month of May was a crazy busy, sometimes wonderful, sometimes horrible month. The wonderful part was getting to enjoy the beach with my family and friends. It was just a weekend, but it was a great weekend. We also celebrated Owen's 3rd birthday at an art studio. Lots of painting and coloring was had by all. I loved the personalized paintings the kids got to take home as a party favor. (I have spot picked out by our front door to put them on display). The party was a big hit and Owen had the best time. He was just loving the attention and imaginative play areas when he wasn't painting.


On the flip side, this was the month of our wedding anniversary, that we really didn't get to celebrate; my dad ending up in the hospital after a heart attack and having quadruple bypass surgery; being "fortunate" enough to be on my boys' preschool's executive board and having to assess the future of the school; two boys with projectile vomit illnesses; and volunteering more than most for our son's baseball team during snack shack week. The day I began writing this I should have been out celebrating a friends 35th birthday, but to be honest, I was so exhausted I preferred crawling into bed to shut out the world. That is May in a nutshell. Hoping June will be a better month...

Giving up FB games

So my excuse for not blogging? Playing Farmville and Cafe World on Facebook. I knew I was addicted, yet I'd still waste many hours playing those stupid games. I can't believe I haven't written anything since the beginning of May! So much has happened since now and then I have my work cut out for me, if I can even begin to remember what actually happened! I know. I suck. I apologize. Facebook is evil.

And the 2010 rookie champs are...

...not the Diamondbacks. The fact that the D-backs made it to the championship game surprised all of us parents. Brandon's team was the surprise of the season. One parent said, "I feel like I'm watching the Bad News Bears!" at one of the tournament games. Our boys weren't that bad at the beginning of the season, but they'd improved so much since March. It was a pretty spot on analogy. They were truly amazing to watch as they dug their heals in and beat team after team. Ok, they only had 3 games before championships, but it seemed like a long haul. On the big day the kids faced off against the best team in our division. The Cardinals hadn't lost a game all season, and they certainly weren't going to give up a game now. At the end of the 1st inning, the D-backs were only down by 1 run. I thought, "Wow! They are going to make this team work for it." It was a fleeting thought as the Cards scored 5 runs the next inning leaving the score 8-2. In the end we lost 18-10, but the kids had a blast. Brandon got to score one of those runs. He says it was his favorite part of the game. He didn't seem sad or disappointed when the game was done. He said he had fun and wanted to get an ice cream from the snack shack. I love that boy!

River Park Diamondbacks

Facing your fears

That is exactly what Brandon did last night at his baseball game. I had told him earlier in the day that all he needed to do at his game was focus on swinging his bat as hard as he could. "Even if you are afraid of the ball, swing as hard as you can. You don't even have to try to hit the ball, just swing hard. If the ball hits the bat, it will go flying out into the field." I must have sounded like a broken record because I kept telling him, "Remember, the ball isn't going to hit you. You're going to hit the ball." I don't know if any of that helped, but he sure faced down his fear of the pitching machine last night like a champ! He made it to the batters box twice and hit 4 or 5 foul balls and 2 base hits. The second time he got up to bat he yelled, "Mommy! I'm not afraid of the ball!" from the batters box. He sure wasn't! He actually did a happy dance and spun around and around on the first base bag. Coach thought he did so great, he gave Brandon the game ball to take home. The boy was walking on air! He promptly put the ball on the shelf next to his other trophies. It is the one thing on that shelf that he's most proud of.

An Easter moment

We spent another Easter at my mom's house. She has the best backyard for the Easter Bunny to visit. He was busy again this year hiding another 100-something eggs. Of all those eggs, my brother always dyes a special egg and hides it really well. The finder of thus egg wins a special prize. This year it was Dylan. The look on his face was just awesome. You could see it written all over his face that he just could not believe he was the one who found it. Once he got over it, his smile just lit up his face.

Deets and the winning egg (found in the compost pile)

Deets with his prize

What does the word "fight" really mean?

Over the past few weeks Russ and I have come to see that Brandon does not really understand what fighting means. He interprets anything that involves pushing, shoving and general horse play to be fighting. Although we are pretty sure the first incident he relayed did involve older boys getting a bit carried away, he has since been participating in rough play with other boys in his class.


He came home from school one day and over a plate of oreos I asked him what he did that day. When it came to recess he told me, "I don't want to tell you, because you might get mad." I prodded a bit more and he told me that he and another boy were fighting with someone on the playground. Well after a few more questions, it turned out to be play fighting. I had to explain to Brandon the difference between play fighting (everyone laughing while hitting and pushing) and real fighting (mad faces, mean yelling, crying and people getting really hurt). Now I think he gets it. It's definitely interesting to hear that he's starting to do more "boy stuff" rather than wander the playground by himself everyday.

Ok, this is a total "mom" post. So sorry!

Sorry, but I have to report that Owen has tackled the scariest part of potty training tonight. He's been saying for weeks that he wants to "go poo on the potty" right before bath time. No luck beyond the pee. Well tonight he was victorious. I left him in the bathroom for some alone time, and sure enough, I hear this excited yelling that he he went poo in the potty. I came in to this radiant smile. It was just awesome that he had no fear like my other 2 boys. He just decided tonight was the night and made it happen. He walked away with a fist full of M&M's which he proudly showed to his brothers. That's when Dylan whined, "When do I get M&M's?" He now has seen what he gets if he ever goes poo on the potty. I am hoping and praying this will be Dylan's turning point, and he'll stop being a non-pooing stubborn mule of a boy. Maybe, just maybe, Dylan will be potty trained before he starts kindergarten.

Why do they wait so long to tell you the important stuff???

All 3 boys got into trouble today for, I guess you could say being themselves. They were fighting and crying and carrying on, so I put all 3 on time out. After their time out, I sat down to talked to all of them about being brothers. We had this discussion about protecting each other when they are out in public, and how it should be the same at home and how we need to use our words and listen better.

Anyway, after this is all said and done, Brandon tells me that he and the neighbor were walking together at recess one day, when two older boys came up to them and just pushed them down. Well, the neighbor pushed back and so did Brandon. I guess punches were thrown and my boy ended up in the nurses office with ice packs on both eyes. Apparently this all happened "a long time ago." I was so pissed that I was never told. I vaguely remember noticing Brandon's eye looking a little red and asking him about it, but I got an "I don't know" answer. I'd say that was at least a month ago. I was relieved that he actually fought back and didn't just stand there while some older boy beat him up. I'm not happy with the teacher's response when Brandon told her what happened. She basically told him not to go to that part of the playground again. WTF! I'm so livid I can't wait for school to open on Monday.

What I hate is the uneasy feeling I have now just wondering what else I don't know.

Spring Break in Santa Cruz

I am very thankful the way the calendar played out this year. Typically Easter falls later in the month than it did this year, making it impossible for me to get away for spring break with my family. (My work schedule has me Sacramento bound between the 5th and 20th of each month.) This year with Easter so early, I was able to "relax" with the family on the coast for the week. I admit the rain did dampen our plans, but we still made it out of the house nearly every day to do something.

We spent a good 4 or 5 days at the beach and a couple more hiking in the forest. On two separate occasions, two of my boys were nearly run over by cars. If you find gray hairs on my head, you will know where they came from. Brandon was very nearly run over by the lifeguard truck because he had layed down in a hole right in the path of the beach patrol. He'd go huddle in that hole when he felt cold, and we thought nothing of it. When I saw the truck pass by on the beach, it slowly dawned on me that Brandon was laying in it's path. I looked back and sure enough the tire tracks head directly at him and then veer around his hole. I stood shaking my head, because I felt like an negligent parent and also because Brandon saw the truck coming and still didn't move. The lifeguard made sure to let us know Brandon shouldn't be where he was, because it was a busy weekend and if there was an emergency, a lifeguard may not see him laying in his hole. Talk about feeling like an idiot. All I could do is nod my head, because just the day before the beach patrol and paramedics had been called because a couple of people were pulled pretty far out by a riptide. Brandon for sure would have been run over that day.

The second incident happened the last day we spent at the beach. We were carrying our things back to the car. Owen was out ahead of everyone because he wanted to be first. We told him over and over as he reached the sidewalk to wait for us. "Owen, wait there!" All he could see were his brothers coming and he wanted to be first to the car, so he ran out in the street in front of a moving car. I just about died. I literally could not make my body move. I was frozen as I yelled my baby's name. He stopped and came back on the sidewalk looking completely confused. He had no idea what he did wrong. We were so lucky that driver had slowed down because Owen was standing right on the edge of the sidewalk. When he bolted in the street, the van was going slow enough that stopping wasn't difficult. I am so thankful for that careful driver!

Aside from those heart stopping moments, we had a wonderful time collecting beach treasures and playing in the water and sand. The hikes in the forest were fun too, but convincing all of them to go was difficult. They were usually too comfy in their jammies playing XBox games. In the end we forced everyone to go. Nisene Marks was lush and green and beautiful. Even when it began to rain, it was a wonderful place to be. The boys loved it.

The kids could have stayed longer in Santa Cruz. They just love it there. Who cares if they sleep on the floor. They wake up to views of the ocean, property ripe for lizard catchin, and the guarantee they are either going to the beach or the forest that day. They have it so good. If only they knew how lucky they are.

Musical beds (without the music)

Owen has suddenly become very scared of sleeping in his bed. He cries and hides under his blanket at bedtime. He looks like a Winnie the Pooh version of Cousin It from the Munsters...only, I don't think Cousin It shook and wailed like it was scared to death. The first couple of times it happened, I thought, "This can't last too long. I'll just let him get tired, he'll stop and go to sleep." Right! Twenty minutes later, the boy would still be under the blanket crying, only now he was a big sweaty, snotty mess.

My easy solution? Take the boy to bed with me so he can relax and go to sleep...only this backfires and I fall asleep too. Not cool when I had planned on working after the boys were in bed.

Ok, obviously that didn't work, so I tried letting him sleep with a brother. Logically the safest place would be in bottom bunk with Dylan. Not from Dylan's perspective, though, because I get, "I don't like Owey!" when I ask Deets if O can sleep with him. He doesn't just say it, he yells it with this horrible scrunched up face...and he wonders why Owen wants to beat the crap out of him and take his stuff on a daily basis, but that's another blog entry I'd rather not go into.

That leaves only one other alternative and that is top bunk with Brandon. Brandon is far more nurturing and tolerant of his baby brother, so I knew Brandon wouldn't mind having Owen to cuddle in the middle of the night. It was the top bunk thing that had me worried. "But then again, Owen never gets out of bed on his own", I reason. With that one thought I lamely convinced myself to allow the "slumber party" in top bunk because I didn't know what else to do. I just figured that after all my boys were asleep, I would climb into top bunk and carry all 35 pounds of that boulder back to his bed. Well, that didn't work out either, because Owen would wake up at 2am shivering and crying under his blanket until I came to get him. So now I just let him stay with Brandon all night, and he usually doesn't wake up until morning. When he does, he calls me to come get him, because, after all, he's still the baby and he needs Mommy's arms and warmth first thing in the morning. It won't be long before I no longer have warm snugly little bodies climbing into my bed, so I relish every moment I do have it.

Diamondbacks win their first game!

Brandon had such a great first game. He was really paying attention while he was in the outfield, which is saying a lot about our chronic daydreamer. He may have struck out the first time he was at bat, but he nailed it the second time and got on base. When he turned around to face the crowd from first base, he was smiling so big my heart was just bursting. Sorry, but I am a mom, and can't help myself. When he got to home plate, he just stood there smiling until coach called him into the dugout. Oh, and he was extra cute all geared up to play catcher. He was killing us all that he practically walked the ball to the pitcher every time. My sweet boy didn't know what he was doing. He'll know what to do next time, I'm sure. The whole team did so great. It really was a lot of fun to watch.

River Park Youth Baseball Opening Day

I LOVE River Park Youth Baseball's Opening Day! It's such an overly sweet bite of Americana, you can't help but take another bite. I love seeing all the teams in their brand new uniforms piled into trucks, trailers and even limos (don't get me started on that). Each kid has a huge bag of candy to throw to (and sometimes at) the spectators along the parade route. Each face in the parade is a smiling beam of sunshine. Unless, of course, you were pelted with a lollipop. Then you may think otherwise about that smiling face. I always wonder how many blocks they make it before they run out of candy, because they inevitably come back they way went. Only this time they are holding out their hats asking the crowd to throw candy to them.

Once the trucks, trailers and limos are parked, the teams come pouring onto Ciavarella Field for the opening ceremonies: hats off for the national anthem, teams are introduced, thanks are made to the MANY volunteers, special guests are introduced and finally the first pitch is thrown to officially open the season. While all of this is going on, you look around and see this beautiful, well maintained field covered in a rainbow of jerseys and mostly crisp white pants. 350 or so kids who just want to play baseball. Tiny t-ballers all the way up to the majors. It really is an amazing sight. I don't know what it is about the whole experience that makes me feel so nostalgic. There just seems to be something special about this sport and the people in our neighborhood who support it.

Oh! This is what it's like to have friends!

Maren Hanchen and Dylan loving the jellies at Monterey Bay Aquarium

We spent this last weekend with our friends, the Hanchens. Between the two families we had 6 kids to entertain. It's always so much work with just our kids, I was afraid 6 kids just might kill me. I couldn't be more wrong. The boys had the time of their lives with the girls. They spent the whole weekend playing with the girls. Owen was Maren's shadow practically the whole weekend. She was so patient and kind to Owen, that he couldn't leave her alone. Dylan and McKenna hung out together a bit, which was nice since they are about the same age. Brandon played with everyone. A highlight of the weekend wasn't the Monterey Bay Aquarium (2 kids asked if we could go home within 1o minutes) or the beach with all the treasures to be collected in buckets and hauled home just to sit in the same buckets in the garage never to be seen again...no, it had to be running around the yard capturing and innocently tormenting lizard after lizard. I couldn't watch the kids with the lizards for more than five minutes (sorry, no pics of this). I kept wincing thinking that this next moment one of the little critters was going to become road kill from over zealous feet. At least the lizards were able to "escape" from their enclosure at night. We parents felt so bad for the little critters, they had to be released from their pink plastic box of a home. Poor things were probably too stunned to move more than a couple feet that night.

When the kids were finally in bed at night, we would have some adult time around the fire outside. It came up that the last time the 4 of us were in Santa Cruz together was our 1st wedding anniversary in 2002. It doesn't seem possible that it's been almost 8 years. Back before children. I think that's when everything changed for us. Children. Our own and everyone else's kids. The life we were used to became irrelevant. The kids became the focus, so we threw ourselves into it as we should have. But at the same time, we stopped making time for our friends and didn't realize what we lost until this last weekend. Time to reorganize our life and make time for the people who we have unintentionally shelved but have always been important to us.

Maren and Brandon found many treasure washed up on the beach. Here they are collecting shells and rocks with Maren's dad, Scott Hanchen, at Rio Del Mar Beach.

Battling the boys

I sometimes get so frustrated with the things my kids choose and refuse to eat. I don't get why Owen won't eat sandwiches, but he'll gobble up diced ham and steamed broccoli or carbonara for lunch. Ok, I admit I should not be complaining about that, but when I don't have leftovers to pack in his lunch for preschool, lunch packing becomes a challenge. His teachers must think we're lazy always packing salami & crackers. I sometimes think, "It's been weeks since he's had a sandwich. Maybe today he'll eat one." I proceed to make a jelly sandwich. He takes one bite and says he's done. Frustration ensues and I eat a jelly sandwich for lunch.

I worry that Owen will do the same thing as his brothers: stop eating almost everything. Brandon bounced back, so he gives me hope. But that stubborn, pig-headed Deets is killing us. He eats so few things, he's practically weightless when you pick him up. He's like a bird with hollow bones. I worry the main reason is because he doesn't get enough calcium in his diet. He doesn't drink milk or even allow us to put it in his cereal. If we insist, he flat refuses to eat. You probably think, "Let him go hungry then." We've gone down that path. Dylan will spend hours vomiting because his blood sugar has dropped and his body can no longer function. We tell him that will happen again if he doesn't eat. Makes no difference. If he doesn't want it, he's not eating it no matter what. End of story. Don't waste your time. Our biggest problem is dinner time. He comes into the kitchen every night saying, "Don't give me something I don't like," gearing up for the nightly fight. Russ, thankfully, has figured out why he has such a problem with dinner time: it's the only meal where he isn't choosing what he eats. I make dinner and put it on the table. It could be something I know he'll eat, but because he didn't choose it, he won't eat it. We have since asked him to help us plan dinners. We'll see how that goes. I just want the anxiety to go away first. The look in his eyes when he comes to the table breaks my heart. The food at this point is secondary. We have given in for now, and let him pick what he'll eat for dinner.

Mmmm! Carbonara!

One of my favorite winter meals is carbonara. It's so warm and creamy with a hearty flavor. There is something about this dish that makes me groan involuntarily. Whenever I'd have this craving, I'd talk Russ into going to Spataro for dinner. I'd satisfy my craving and also get to spend the evening chatting with my husband in a setting far removed from home. Seeing as our dining out has come to a screeching halt due to one less job in the family, I no longer have this to fall back on.

Tonight was the night I had my craving, so I thought tonight is the night I would brave the kitchen. I've been told that it's a fairly basic dish, but having the knowledge that the sauce is raw egg, cream and cheese makes me hesitant in the cooking department. None the less, I felt confident that I would succeed. It kind of helped that during my blog reading, Sobrina posted the following: http://www.quietlikehorses.com/2010/01/roys-carbonara.html giving me even more confidence that I could do this.

It turned out pretty good, and my craving has been satisfied.

Found a new blog to follow

I'm making my best effort to get back into the swing of things with my blogs. So I remembered that when I had nothing to write, I would check in at a couple of blogs that I like to follow. I would also check the Blogger "Blogs of Note."

Well, I found this gem of a blog with nothing but one-liners muttered by the husband in his sleep. I was looking for a good writer, like Sobrina, but found Sleep-Talkin' Man instead. If you're looking for a chuckle, it's a good spot to waste some time. I included it in "My Blog List" to the right. Happy reading!

First rookie division tryout

We kept checking the website in hopes that today's tryouts would be cancelled again due to weather. No such luck. Russ and I stood around watching Brandon's baseball tryouts for 2 hours this cold, wet afternoon. None of us wanted to be there today, not even Brandon. He was so happy in the warm house playing video games. Even in his head, it was insane to go out in the rain to play catch and hit balls.

Brandon did as well as we expected. The cold definitely made a difference in his performance. His poor hands were so cold, that he couldn't catch as well as he would have liked. During the batting tryouts, he made contact with the ball 2 of 5 pitches. The only thing that made us frustrated was he wouldn't run after the ball. He walked just about everywhere. That's ok though. He'll figure it out next time.

On the way home from tryouts, we asked Brandon if he had fun. He immediately said yes. Then a few seconds later he said, "Not really." I can't blame him. He spent most of those 2 hours catching pop flies and grounders. When he did get to bat, he only got 5 pitches. There truely wasn't time for more than that. There were over one hundred kids trying out for just the rookie division. The president of the league let us know that there are more kids than teams available, and they aren't sure what they are going to do yet. Good to hear that our league is strong and growing, but leaves me feeling a little concerned. We will see what happens on that front soon enough.

We did get the low down on the tryout process from our neighbor who has coached rookies for 2 years: all the coaches care about is the batting. At this level, almost all the outs made are strike outs. The kids are still too little to catch and throw the ball to base for an out. When it does happen it's a big deal. So after all the tryouts are done, the coaches gather for a draft, which I can't help but find funny. Some coaches take the draft much more seriously than others. Our neighbor is one of the "others" who just wants to get all the kids' friends and neighbors on the same team regardless of talent. After that's accomplished he fills with talent if he can. This was good to hear, because we really wanted Brandon to be on a team of familiar faces.

Owen's new bed

We decided Owen is just too big to still be sleeping in a crib. What we didn't realize was that he actually liked his crib.

Every night he would climb into those sea of blankets, stuffed animals, books and pillows, find a little spot for himself, and snuggle right in with a sippy cup of milk. The best part was when he finished the milk. He'd stand right up, bang the cup repeatedly on the rail while yelling, "Mommy, I done!" until someone would come and take his cup away. We never got that on video, now that I think of it.

A couple of weeks ago, Russ and I went shopping for Owen's new bed. We thought it would be so cool to get him a Thomas the Tank Engine bed, since Owen love, love, LOVES trains. As soon as we saw the price tag on the Thomas bed, we turned straight away to a more practical bed. It actually looks a lot like his crib (same finish and same slats on the headboard). We were so excited to replace Owen's crib with the bed, but erred on the side of caution and waited until Owen agreed to the upgrade. We asked him if he wanted to sleep in a big boy bed instead of his crib. He said, "No," without hesitation. Not willing to accept that answer, I showed him a picture of the bed on our computer. He still said, "No." Russ and I just looked at each other in defeat.

So what did we do? We waited a week and asked again when Owen was in a really good mood. Owen hesitated before he answered, "Yes?" The look on his face said it all. He was answering what he thought was right, but just wasn't quite sure he was doing the right thing. Needless to say we ran with the answer. We took the boys to my mom's house that day, and when he came home we presented him with his new bed. He screamed and dance around. (Another video moment we missed.) We asked him if he liked it, and he said, "Ya!" Once we had the Thomas bedding on, he got even more excited. He exclaimed, "That's cool!" and immediately tucked his penguin into bed.

His first night in his new bed went off without a hitch. I realized that he needed a tiny little bedside table so he could put his cup somewhere when he's done with his milk. I figured the sit & spin would work just fine, so now it's his make shift table. No more banging and yelling when he's done with his milk, which I have to admit I'm going to miss. The baby stage has been gone for quite some time (some will argue there never really was a baby stage with Owen), but the changing landscape of the boys room makes it official.

The funny thing about the new bed is it took Owen almost a week to figure out that he could just pop out of bed and come running down the hall. Up until this morning he was still calling out "mommy." He wouldn't come running until he heard me call out, "Mousy! Come here!" That boy is the happiest morning face in this house. He's like a little ray of sunshine, and he makes me smile no matter how tired I am.

Santa Cruz update

Russ asked me a while ago to post the photos he took of the deck he has almost completed. He is proud of how the project turned out, and I'm proud of him as well. He just needs to add the top detail piece to the rail and we can call the top deck done. I can't wait to see it for myself!

The following link has photos from the beginning to where it is right now:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=45339&id=1132970605&l=febcd84723

Ok, ok! I'll write already!

I heard it from Russ last night. He asked me when I'm going to blog again. He keeps checking and ends up disappointed when he finds nothing new. For me blogging is kind of like going to the gym or for a run. If you stop your routine, it's very difficult to pick it up again. Russ actually said, "You stopped [blogging] because I was in Santa Cruz, but I'm home now." He's cute. I have 6 months of cobwebs in my head. After that long, the words aren't coming as easily as they used to.