Doggy Cow

A quickie for today, setting off tonight to cub scouts, one of our neighbors was outside with their dog. They have a very cute terrier, as we drive by Aaron says, "look Mom there's a Doggy Cow!"
The dog was black and white like a cow..........................................oh the things that come out of the mouths of kids!

X is for X-ray!

You know when teaching your children the alphabet you go through the A is for apple, B is for balloon, C is for cat stage, well Mr Aaron has been addicted to an alphabet episode of Blue Clues were X is for X-ray. Well he got to see first hand what an X-ray looks like this past week, because I had to take him to Urgent care this past Thursday!

Earlier on in the week both of the boys had decided that if they took the cushions off the couches we have in the loft, it would be fun to climb and jump around on them! Never mind the fact that their play area is full of toys, and it didn't matter that they had been told numerous times not to do that because "someone was going to get hurt!" Well Mr Aaron ended up falling and catching his hand hard on one of his toys, screaming and crying followed, and I managed to get him calm to check out the damage. All fingers were moving and no swelling seemed to be forming, so with lots of kisses and ice he went about playing. Over the next couple of days and during our zoo visit I noticed that his hand had swollen and his knuckles where a wonderful shade of purple. Plus he was not using that hand at all and that is the thumb sucking hand and even that seemed to be giving him some problems. So off we go to urgent care and having an X-ray done of his hand was not easy, the first one they took was fine, but have you ever tried getting a 3yr old to position his hand and hold it, not an easy task. But Aaron got the all clear, nothing broken, he has just strained it, but the coolest thing was he got to see the X-ray of his hand.

Off to the Jungle!

We are currently on Spring Break here and the week has been somewhat relaxing, but yesterday we hooked up with some friends and the boys and I went off to the Zoo. The weather was nice, a bit brisk but still good weather for seeing the animals. We packed lunch and headed out, all the way in the car Aaron kept saying "we are going to the jungle!" which was too cute. We got to the Zoo just after 10am and WOW it was busy, we queued for about 20 minutes before we made it in through the doors.
I gave Brendan the task this day to be able to point out 10 different birds and we would write them down, as that would be an elective for Cub Scouts that he could get done, perfect task seeing as we were in the Zoo! The place was packed, almost to the point were you wished you had eyes in the back of your head to be able to keep an eye on the 6 kids we had with us. The kids had fun looking at the animals, and the adults were constantly doing head counts! My favorite saying from the day was "there are plenty more animals to see"

The Kids!

Endangered Species of the Southwest
We had a fun day at the "Jungle!" the boys and I had to leave by 2pm but they had a great day, and passed out in the car on the way home!

Twilight Craziness

For those that have no clue about the Twilight movie, 4 book saga by author Stephanie Meyer, and have no clue who Robert Pattinson is, if you read further you will probably think I have lost my marbles. For those that do know what I am talking about, you know that this past Saturday the movie was released on DVD. Well I was a newbie to all the craziness surrounding Twilight, until I saw the movie about a month ago, and then read the first 3 books in a week (they are addictive) So when the Borders near me had a midnight release party organized for the DVD, Brendan and I decided to go. It was insane, very busy, but fun. Some people came in costume, a lot were wearing Twilight T-shirts (my personal favorite "I heart boys who sparkle") and there was even a woman who had fake bite marks on her neck.
The Borders staff had giveaways and had organized Vampire Baseball, Twilight Movie Awards, and even a Twilight themed Scavenger Hunt, which saw us all running around Borders trying to fine certain books. They played a message from the cast of the movie and the whole place went nuts. By 11:20pm the festivities had finished and people were told to line up ready to get their copy of the movie. Well the cheap Mommy that I am decided to first of all give our ticket/wristband away, we were #127 and I was not going to wait forever to get the movie. So off we went to Walmart (personally now wish I had stayed at Borders) thinking that it would be quiet, plus movies are cheaper at Walmart. Oh was I wrong about the quiet part, it was worse than Borders, atleast Borders had organized the whole thing, Walmart was a free for all, you took your life into your own hands!

I grabbed this shot from my cell phone just as they took the cardboard down from the display, it was insane. I managed to get a copy of the movie, but I really don't think I will be doing this again!
For those that haven't seen the movie or read the books, it is a love story with a bite!

What does a $1 buy you at recess?............................

Not only was today the start of spring break for us but it was also Teacher/Parent conference time this afternoon. Both Jon and I are very pleased, and proud of Brendan, he is doing so well.

At the end of the conference I told Brendan's Teacher about a note he had received from the cafeteria about not being aloud to charge for meals anymore.
You can imagine the shock when I received this note because I always give Brendan the cash whenever he eats at school (I know silly me for thinking it would actually pay for lunch) Now granted I did not realize that you have to pay extra if you want milk, it is not like he eats lunch at school every day. So I logged online to check his balance and I was fearing some ridiculous amount of money..............................a whole $2.10
So checking back through the school year I see that there were times when no money was deposited into his lunch account or less than a $2 was.
So I asked the teacher what happens when the lunch money is collected, because my darling son swears that he gives the $2 to his teacher. Now when she told me what happens I must of looked like one of those cartoon characters, because my mouth must of hit the floor! Apparently there has been a few occasions that Brendan has only given the teacher $1..................................

You know I always jokingly say that kids don't come with an instruction manual, but you know what sometimes I wish I did! So of course Jon and I sat down and talked to Brendan about this, and my darling son is sticking to his story that he always hands the money to the teacher. Of course Daddy wanted to know what a $1 buys you in the playground these days!

Luck of the Irish!

Happy St Patrick's Day to one and all

So maybe this is just coincidence because of what today is, but when the phone rang this morning to tell me that our TV was ready and that it would be delivered this Friday(it has only taken 5 weeks to be fixed and numerous phone calls), I guess Irish eyes were smiling on us today!

Yes folks the hole in the wall will no longer be, our TV is coming home!

NO!

Oh that 2 letter word that is an essential part of our vocabulary. As a parent I seem to use it more than I would like too,

"Mom can I have heely's"................. "No"

"No, do not touch that"

"Mom can I stay up tonight?" ..................."No it is a school night"

But when your 3 yr old, reaches that delightful stage when everything is "No" it takes on a whole new meaning. Not only does No constantly come out of his mouth, but the foot stomping, hands on hips, glare that accompanies the two letter word certainly brightens your day.


Yes, Mr Aaron has been at that stage for a few months now, and these last couple of days have been a struggle, everything is NO, or my personal favorite WHY. I have got to the stage now where I pretty much know which response he will use if I ask him to do something, which yes can be funny, but on the flip side is frustrating.
So this morning I was reading some articles online about the Toddler/No stage and I have never been really one of those parents who reads all the self help stuff, but these articles where interesting, some what informative, and funny. Because I seriously did not know how healthy it was for my 3yr old to constantly tell me NO, are you kidding me, yes people, after the 20th time your toddler has told you NO, please remember that it is normal and healthy.

Lazy but busy weekend

Somewhat lazy weekend for us, but busy, I know a contradiction in terms! But for us lazy weekend is pottering around the house getting those jobs done that have been put on the back burner. No Cub Scout activities this weekend, which was nice, the kids spent the weekend in their PJ's and played, Jon cleaned the car inside and I got to some craft projects that have been neglected.
It is nice sometimes to just stay home and get jobs done around the house. Even sat on my behind and watched a couple of movies, would of much rather been playing some Rock Band, but seeing as our hole in the wall is still vacant, I settled for some movies on TV


Weekends are a bit like rainbows; they look good from a distance but disappear when you get up close to them. ~John Shirley

A movie worth seeing

Hubbie and I saw this the other day, and it was really good, one of those movies that the trailer looks good but I wasn't sure if it would live up to the 60 second clips that grabbed my attention. Well it was REALLY GOOD especially being a parent, granted we don't have daughters, but it was just good action packed, edge of your seat viewing. The movie follows Liam Neeson's character who has a teenager daughter, she jets off to Europe and disappears. Liam Neeson's character is a retired CIA agent, which at first you think this is going to be one of those predictable movies, but it was more than that, it was a Dad kicking some serious behind to save his little girl.

A good date night movie!

Haven't made one in a while

I haven't made one of my blankets since Christmas, in fact the last one i made was one of hubbie's Christmas presents and it was a HUGE 3 yard one that took me all day! But with the Blue & Gold Banquet the other week they had a silent auction and I was very lucky to get my hands on some of the Cub Scout Fleece so I made one of my blankets as a donation for the auction.


To be honest it was very hard to part with it, because it turned out great, although I do think I should of gone with a blue for the backing, but this Cub Scout fleece is very hard to come by but it went well in the auction and I actually got another order for one, but now I have to find the fleece!

Hole in the Wall!

You goggle "Hole in the Wall" and a bundle of web hits come up ranging from a site about the silly Fox TV show where people try and fit themselves through a shaped hole in a wall! to a bar in Austin, Texas. Growing up in England we used the phrase Hole in the Wall when you needed to go to the ATM.

Wondering what on earth I am going on about! Well Hole in the Wall took on a new meaning in our house just over 3 weeks ago............................

Our Hole in the Wall

Normally sitting covering the above hole is our very nice 57" flat screen TV, but for the last 3 weeks we have been staring at the above. The day after Jon's knee surgery the lamp went out in the TV, and it was picked up 3 days later for repair, this was 3 weeks ago. Who knows when we will get it back, getting an answer from the service department is like pulling teeth. Mr Aaron has been funny playing imaginary TV and it has been good to sit and have dinner and talk as a family, instead of having the TV on.

But I am now tired of staring at our Hole in the Wall and I really would like our TV back.

Our youngest, Mr Aaron

Our youngest, our bundle of non-stop energy! Mr Aaron was a miracle for us, we had tried to get pregnant and was not having much luck. Low and behold in December of 2004, after I passed in Walmart! we discovered that I was pregnant. Again total surprise.

This pregnancy was slightly different for us, I had morning sickness and severe heart burn, and I had to be monitored every month because an artery had collapsed in the umbilical cord. But on July 22nd 2005 at 3:40pm Aaron J arrived via C-section into the world. He weighed 8lbs 2oz and was 22 inches in length and was one angry dude!

For me I became I first time Mom all over again, see when Brendan was born I returned to work when he was still a baby and Jon became a stay at home Dad, so I missed a lot of the first's, when Mr Aaron was born I got to experience the first smile, first crawl, first ga ga go go, with the help of big brother Brendan.

Aaron is our tough nut, and seriously has superhero energy! Most toddlers are active and on the go, but Aaron most days has the energy of 2 children, and certainly keeps me on my toes! His days are filled with playdoh fun, blues clues, story time and learning his ABC's and his numbers. He is constantly on the go and is obsessed with anything Blues Clues, he loves Blue and Steve and has an array of toys, movies and even his own mailbox that I painted for him to look like mailbox from the show!
Aaron is certainly the opposite of his big brother, and in an odd way each of their individual personalities compliments the other. But Aaron certainly looks up to big brother and the excitement from him when big brother comes home from school every day is priceless.

My Eldest, Mr Brendan

We have 2 boys, and our eldest, Mr Brendan, turned 8 this past December. Finding out I was pregnant was a bit of a surprise to say the least! We were living in England at the time and I was suppose to be having surgery, routine questions led to congratulations your pregnant!

Brendan was born December 16th 2000 in Bebington, Wirral in England at 12:40pm. My due date was suppose to be 27th November, yes 19 days later he graced us with his entrance into the world! As a first pregnancy goes it was pretty smooth sailing, no morning sickness, hardly any heart burn, it was a breeze. Up until they finally took me in, 36 hours later, all the drugs you could possibly think of to ease the pain, and an emergency C-section, Brendan Matthew was born. He weighed 9lbs 1oz and was 24 inches in length, and a very quiet and calm baby, compared to all the others on the ward.
2 days after his birth, the doctors discovered that he had a hole in his heart, as first time parents Jon and I were freaked out and scared, but after his first appointment with the heart specialist we were some what put at ease. Through the years Brendan has been monitored and he now has to go about every 3 years for a check up, the hole has been closing on it's own and we have been very lucky that he has not needed surgery.


Brendan is our Computer, video game nut! If the boy could spend all day playing on his computer or video games he would! He is currently in 2nd grade and loves to play soccer, and is also a cub scout. He can be very emotional at times, but has a very caring nature about him. He is a great big brother, although the 5 year age gap does rear it's head sometimes!
For his age Brendan is very tall, and I have a hard time keeping up when it comes to buying pants, as my Mom says, stop putting him in the grow bag!
Brendan is alot like Jon in many ways, but Brendan has my temper, and has a shocking resemblance to my brother!
Oh and the boy has a mouth! and we haven't even reached the teenage years yet. Whether it is something that makes you laugh, which he does on a regular basis, or just out right attitude, Mr Brendan has a vibrant spirit that brightens up our day!